Originally Posted by Hot Water:
Originally Posted by dk122trains:
All in favor of Mike Reagan as CEO say I!!!!!
I'll vote for Mike, as well!!!!
We gotta keep Mike where he's at, "in the field" getting things done.
What about this guy?
Hes right up there with Mike in regards to what he's done for Lionel 
While I like Mike, I think he is right where we need him. CEO's are a different animal these days, no longer does the factory worker grow through the ranks to be the big guy
Thank you Jerry for doing a good job helping Lionel work through those troubling years, it surely wasn't easy, but you did help Lionel pull into how good it is right now.
Thanks for posting this Allan. Between this forum and your GREAT magazine, we all keep up to the minute on updates. I wish the best to Jerry and thank him for all of the work and time that he spent on this LIONEL project.
Was out of the hobby when Jerry came on and was not familiar with him at all. Why someone would consider heading Marvel Comics as a put down is beyond me 
Any company that has been around a long time (I read marvel comics as a boy in the early 50s) is nothing to disparage, no sir. When I had a retail hobby store back in the late 1980s - early 90's comic books were a big business. We didn't handle them directly but I knew people with comic book stores.
Sounds like Jerry did a great job holding Lionel together through the mess and did indeed leave it in good shape. Like Dick Kughn before him, they both brought Lionel 'back from the brink' so to speak! A lot can happen in 10 years..
Jerry did a great job at Lionel. CEO's come and go, and after they are gone, you hope the next person moves the company forward and not backwards.
Wow, this is crushing news. Jerry is leaving at a high point of the Lionel business. He has brought so much the table and has really out performed, in my mind, many previous CEO's.
I hope the next person can grow the business and keep the product development, and quality to our expectations. Being a very difficult group that we are. 
What was the lawsuit all about?
Originally Posted by johnstrains:
Interesting that it's a week before York. Wonder if Lionel is making an announcement on a successor next week?
Yep, succeeding Jerry will be Mr Michael Wolf, who announces that effective immediately Lionel name will be obliterated and henceforth, everything including the acquired Ives and American Flyer names and products will be rebranded MTH. 
Originally Posted by willygee:
What was the lawsuit all about?
Oh boy, don't ask!! 
Basically as I understood it. MTH accused Lionel of copying/using ther molds at the South Korean factory. Lionel and MTH went round and round and then Lionel settled with MTH on some kind of terms that seems to have MTH making Lionel products now.
No doubt this may not be correct entirely, but there were threads on this forum running for pages discussing this point or that. It was enough to give you an Excedrin headache trying to distill the facts.
Hope someone can point back to LocoLawyer postings for Willygee enlightenment.
Originally Posted by mike.caruso:
He's going to focus on other "personal interests" including Billboard Magazine?? Wow, I had no idea Lionel and Billboard were owned by the same company.
- Mike
You can add the Los Angeles Dodgers, Dick Clark Productions, the Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA) and many others to the list of companies under Guggenheim Partners management. It's a well-run organization with superb management. Lionel is in elite company.
Bob Osterhoff
Originally Posted by willygee:
What was the lawsuit all about?
All you'd ever want to know about it.
The final word:
In late 2007 Lionel and MTH settled their long-term fight over trade secrets and patent infringements. In March 2008 the court approved a settlement that includes a one time cash payment to MTH. The payment will take place soon after Lionel exits bankruptcy. The details of the settlement are under court seal.
I too will miss Jerry, I think he's done a lot for Lionel, I am a bit shocked, but I guess 10 years is a good term for a CEO; Dick Kughn was at Lionel for 9-10 years? Is Howard Hitchcock the new CEO or just temporary?
I think the most we can do besides wish Jerry well, is just wait and see and hope for the best.
edit: sorry 10, not 14 years
Best of luck Jerry!! He kept the company going and profitable with new products. That is the bottom line. Hopefully the next CEO will take Lionel to the next level.
Wow, this is a Big Surprise to lots of Lionel Train Enthusiasts. I must Say a Big Thank You to Jerry, a man that had a Really Almost Impossible Mission to Accomplish, and he Ran the Race to the End and Lionel is the Winner. Yes, I wish him the Very Best at his new Career...Lionel will always be an American ICON. Baseball, Apple Pie, Chevrolet,
and Lionel Trains...Thank You Jerry Calabrese!!!
Originally Posted by John Korling:
I agree that Lionel has come out of the last decade much stronger & better with Jerry at the helm. The aforementioned "comic man jabs" & the argument of 3rd party TMCC development getting quashed during his time with Lionel by taking over ERR & RS4 component availability contributing to the closing of DD's doors & the rather enigmatic fading away of TAS (to be fair, the process was already in place prior to Jerry with Lionel taking over IC Controls) were well-known criticisms of his leadership. But when it's all said & done, he was brought in to keep Lionel a going concern & maintain profitability for Guggenheim during Lionel's most challenging & troubling times in recent history. And to that end, he and his team accomplished what he set out to do, with a continuing variety of products and technical innovations and a parts & service department that's head and shoulders above how it used to be.
Best of luck to him in his future endeavors.
Very well said John, He was the right man at the right time to get Lionel back on a finical base and back on the track, I thank him for that and wish him a great future.
I like Neil, he is a very good guy, one of the best. i Had the pleasure of meeting him and showing him the MTH Trains at the MTH booth at Cal Stewart a few years back when I was stationed in L.A, even got him to sign a MTH catalog However, my pick would be Mr. Reagan For CEO, Why, He knows the business inside and out and he has a good sense of humor as seen at the OGR Grandstand get together at York. He has proven his skills many times with Lionel. I am very impressed with the man.
John Pignatelli
What about this guy?
Hes right up there with Mike in regards to what he's done for Lionel
That's not as far fetched as it may seem.
Right you are Chris...... While he MAY have been there... in 10 years & 20 York meets, I never personally saw Jerry at York even once. Guess he didn't like having his ears chewed off by rivet counters. This in the face in what was an informal industry tradition upheld by leaders of the hobby: Mike Wolf, Dick Maddox, Dick Kughn, Maury Klein, Jerry Williams, Joe Hayter, etc.... each of whom was glad to chat with their customers.
Posted by cbojanower: Interesting, while he never really connected with the "Train Guys" he led Lionel through a period most others would have declared bankruptcy & run. Not only did he save Lionel he put it way back on top of the O-Gauge world.
Thank Jerry for your time well spent. Good luck to you.
