Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
Bill said it best. The sky is not falling. If anything, this is a good thing and it makes sense. The guy from MDC wants to retire (I envy him and am happy for him) so he sells his business. He sells it to somebody (Athearn) who is already not only very familiar with the business, in general, but also with his particular business and it's to somebody he knows well because they have been friendly competitors for decades (I'll bet he was even a friend of Irv) and are actually fairly close to each other even geographically. They both serviced the same markets (MDC being a lot like the Athearn Blue Box line) so it's a great fit for Athearn. It also indicates that maybe not only is Athearn not going to kill off the blue box line that some have been predicting now for 3 years (yet they still keep on making them and even have a production shedule posted through Dec of this year), but have now just expanded it by acquiring MDC. This is actually a good thing for the MDC line because it has never really been a big player. Most LHS's I've been to only carry only a few MDC cars - usually a very small fraction of their overall offerings. Even on the Walthers website, MDC is really very minor in the overall offerings. So now that the MDC line can be offered by a major player, how does that hurt them? It can only help. If you suggest that Athearn is just buying MDC just to bury them, I suggest that you look at what they did with the RPP products. More RPP cars are more readily available than ever before. So, that logic does not follow. Besides, why would Athearn waste the money to do that? If anything, Walthers might have done that, if they had acquired MDC. I can't see Walthers making the MDC line (they're sourcing most everything offshore), though I could see them buying it just to keep it out of Athearn's hands. Personally, I don't think Walthers would have even been interested in purchasing MDC. Horizon's Athearn acquiring them is not going to hurt Walthers by taking the current minimal volumes from them. It may hurt them in the future if Athearn really expands the MDC volumes. If you're an MDC fan, this deal is actually probably the best thing that could have happened. The product line could have just disappeared. I don't mean to be denigrating the MDC products. Hardly. I like them a lot, but like their presence in the LHS's, they make up a very small percentage of my rollingstock fleet (and none of the loco fleet) if only because they are not really readily available in the LHS's. While I do a bit of mailorder buying, the MDC and Blue box items aren't the type of thing I do mailordering of. They have to be at the LHS or I don't buy. Maybe now I'll be able to get more of the MDC at my LHS's. Enjoy the hobby. Greg
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag

Update Reply

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Model Railroader Newsletter See all

Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter and get model railroad news in your inbox!

Subscriber & Member Login

Edit post

Post Body

Tags (Optional)

Subscriber & Member Login

Users Online

Search the Community