K-line advertising

[3railguy]

Despite what's right and wrong, these legal battles are strangling advancements in our hobby. Many great minds in the industry are being wasted by all this. The total damage assesments and legal fees are probably equal to the total annual revenue of the hobby. Lionel for example was on a roll churning out newly tooled exquisitely detailed and decorated diesels and freight cars that only Atlas O compares to. These models were really something to look forward to. This advancement came to almost a screaching halt. Two of the key players in this effort became jobless. It is very sad and I am very dissapointed about this.

I collect and operate N scale as well as O gauge. Atlas, Kato, Microtrains, and Intermountain are the major manufacturers. There is a lot of copy catting and sharing of technology in N scale. There is a lot of parts exchange too. Intermountain buys SD-50 parts from Atlas for their tunnel motors. The DCC operating system is open technology and everyone uses it. You don't see all these legal battles strangling N scale nor do you see the N scale forums lit up with all the BS that follows.

[trigtrax]

I agree with Jim that if this is a bankruptcy to give them leverage in their fight with Lionel,

The K-line Bankruptcy filing seemed to support the widely held notion that K-line was in trouble before the Lionel lawsuit. They claimed Millions in debt and only $50,000 in assets. The only leverage I see in their fight with Lionel is making Lionel spend for Lawyers fees and in the end get absolutely nothing.
K-line is currently running a rebate deal up to Jan 31,2006.. Which I believe is the end of their fiscal year.. This may become a date of significance in the O-Gauge community.

[Anonymous]

As I noted earlier, I view K-Line, Lionel, or any of the others advertising in the model railroad press as something akin to preaching to the choir, UNLESS they have something new or different to offer that will attract the already-confirmed train enthusiast. Running somewhat "generic" ads is, in my view, pretty much a waste of money in tight times (and these ARE tight times), and probably only done, if at all, because they want to maintain the "visibility" factor. There's definitely nothing wrong with that, of course, but when money is tight it's probably a good idea, from the manufacturer's perspective, to maximize the mileage that can be gotten from what is probably an already lean marketing and promotions budget.

There is, of course, an important minus side to the equation. Those full-page (often cover page), full-color ads are an important source of revenue for the magazine publishers. In fact, those manufacturer, dealer, and other display ads really pay the bulk of the bills. As someone long involved in the publishing business, I can fully appreciate the importance of having those ads, regardless of their content.

And, as is evidenced by the initial post in this thread, readers pay attention, too. They notice when a major supplier is no longer advertising--promoting itself or its products--and it causes them to pause and wonder what might be going on. That "image" factor certainly shouldn't be underestimated by a manufacturer.

When the manufacturers don't advertise, it hurts everyone--the manufacturer itself, the publishers, and the readers.

[tdetmer]

I agree with Jim that if this is a bankruptcy to give them leverage in their fight with Lionel, then they ought to be able to provide the service support that you need Roger. Good luck! I just hope that I can get the Milwaukee Road Plymouth engine, although if I don't I'm not in the same situation as Roger who's got E-8's in their possession that are his.

Tom

[Roger Bielen]

I just hope their service group still is sovent, they have a pair of my E-8's that I would like to get back, preferribly repaired.

[Odd-d]

If you see their latest catalog you would understand that they have very little to sell....certainly nothing worth advertising. Odd-d

[Brutus]

I am new to the O gauge world, but going into bankruptcy should protect K-line and allow them to continue operating. I got their catalog the other day (they mailed it to me gratis from their website) and based on what I can see, they have enough cool stuff that they should be able to make a come back, assuming they were really solvent before.

[Bob Keller]

Actually, they stopped their advertising before any of the legal issues with Lionel came up.

[tdetmer]

Do we know what items K-line may still deliver? I know there was a proposed settlement then it broke off again (with Lionel). The original settlement was going to allow the alleged infringing technology to be sold until January if I recall right. The reason for my question is that I've got an S gauge Plymouth engine on order that was supposed to be delivered 9/30 and I have no idea about it's status. I don't even know if it included the supposed purloined technology. I'd sure like to get the engine though. Tom

[Anonymous]

What happened is that they are in bankruptcy. Advertising is a significant expense (albeit a worthwhile one), but I assume that cutting back a bit on "preaching to the choir" was considered a reasonable reduction in expenditures. As I recall, Lionel also hasn't been advertising all that much in recent months.

[Anonymous]

What's happened to K-line's advertising in CTT? The last few issues have no "K-line" in the Advertisers Index; previously I can't remember the last time K-line didn't own the inside front cover & next page 3.