I thought the meeting yielded a lot and was VERY worthwhile. I did not take notes. Some of the tidbits which became apparent to me from the meeting is that MTH has changed form and business model. The electronics business has been split off and is in Michigan. Dave Krebl (name right?) heads this up and may own it. The parts for MTH trains, Midge being the previous contact for most of us, is going to online and will be headed up by Mike Reagan. My understanding is that Mike Reagan and Mike Wolf are the owners of this business. About 28,000 parts have been cataloged and put in the database and there are about 28,000 parts to go. MTH trains as we have known it will no longer exist. However, MTH will be doing "special runs" and this will be their way of selling. Mike Wolf owns this and Rich Foster and Mike's brother-in-law will be running it. I have no idea how this will evolve, and there were a lot of questions particularly about steam engines.
MTH sold a lot of their dies to Atlas and Lionel The dies sold to Atlas are listed somewhere. The ones that Lionel purchased are subject to a nondisclosure agreement, so don't expect to find out what they are. It was not clear to me who will be making the product for Atlas. It could be Atlas or it could be whatever the new MTH is called, simply using Atlas boxes.
The reason for all this is that the reworking of the business substantially lowers MTH's costs, and is much more profitable for Mike with a lot less work. Or at least that's what was said/implied. IMO, he deserves it. No large warehouse, no shows, no catalogs, no Andy Edelman salary. Sorry, Andy, but you'll find your niche.
Since there will be special runs for dealers, I expect less competition. Hence, higher prices. Time will tell. This also means you won't be able to go to a train show and find 5 dealers selling the same F3 all at somewhat different prices.
Some of the older electronics are no longer available and therefore some items can no longer be produced. The electronics in the Z4K are one example. But expect a Z4K with new electronics in the future. I believe it has been MTHs biggest seller (and for good reason). Do not expect a new handheld.
I'm sure there are many items I've forgotten. But as I said, I thought the dinner was great and I really thank Dave for arranging it.
Gerry
