scott.smith posted:The licensing is not the issue as much as it is the dwindling interest in tinplate. The demand has reached a point where it is difficult to find anyone to manufacturer the product in the low qualities that are ordered. Generally speaking the tinplate purchaser is on the upper age end of the model train hobby. Tinplate is dieing because the collectors of tinplate are. It’s sad but it is reality.
Scott Smith
I respectfully disagree with much of that. About 20-25 years ago, people were predicting the death of standard gauge because the people who were kids during the 20s and 30s were dying. Although there has been some decrease in value for items in poor condition, the overall interest level has actually increased in the last 15 years or so. I attribute this to the visibility and availability of reproductions, which has also revived interest in the originals.
While I agree that there are challenges associated with small production runs, this is something that affects every toy train item - many high-end O gauge items have a run of less than 100 pieces. It's not unique to tinplate.
I think there are two real problems. One is the lack of new items - instead of producing an F3 (for example), there's just another paint scheme on a 400E. How many differently-painted 400Es will a person buy? IMO, the other factor is that one of the parties is placing an unrealistic value on being able to put a Lionel badge on an item; I don't know if Lionel is overestimating, or if MTH is underestimating.
Give it a rest for a couple of years. MTH will probably make some tinplate without the Lionel badge, and then there will be an agreement again. Perhaps by not trying to duplicate Lionel items, MTH will come up with something new. Or not.
I think that Lionel will end up as the bigger loser in this deal - their licensing income for tinplate will be zero. Meanwhile, MTH will be able to continue selling tinplate, albeit without the Lionel badge.
