"Model Power Shutting Down" Topic

Model Power, which has been offering products to the model railroad hobby (among others) for 50 years has shut down after lenders limited financing options.

modelpower.com

For wargamers, they were a good source for inexpensive aircraft and vehicle models as well as scenery.

Wyatt

Damn…so are they going to have a clearance sale? Sounds like their banks just didn't want to work with them at all…

Pretty much the case. They were healthy enough, but credit is just too tight for a company like theirs. Add in the graying of their key markets (if you think gaming is graying, you ought to see model railroading), and you end up with this result.

From what I'm gathering on the model railroad forums, this had been in the works for some time. As someone posted over there: "old news".

We'll see if anyone picks up some of the pieces, but only higher end model railroad companies are thriving. We may be graying, but we are spending far more than ever before. (Typical HO locomotive models are running $250 USD+ a pop. Sound is now standard.) Older usually means higher income, and model railroaders today tend to be well-off middle class white collar workers, far from its blue collar roots.

I used to be in the NMRA national leadership and used to see all the stats, but I left that over 10 years ago. I'm still licking my wounds. Model railroaders can be a rough crowd to please. ;-)

I got out of it a long time ago, too. I never understood who MP was marketing to. Their stuff wasn't high quality, and like CP said, that isn't the direction the hobby was heading.

I kept my N scale stuff. At least it can be used with 15mm figures. :)

I didn't want to sound cruel, but I agree with the above. I used to work in a hobby shop that catered to the model RR crowd (even though I did not participate…), and I always saw the MP stuff as being low end or toy-like, though in truth there were those for which these features were more desirable than an accurate scale model. I will, however, miss the trees (which were great for wargaming…might loot the local store for their remaining stock…)

Damon.

I'll miss them. Their product may have been 'low end' for specialist railroad modelers, but it looked pretty good to me when Hobby Lobby had it on display for discount prices. I just recommended some of their Postage Stamp Plane diecasts to a 1/100 collector on another thread.

Another iteration of the Collector's Law: "If you see something and you think you might want it, buy it now, because it will go out of production sooner than you expect."

- Ferenghi Rules of Acquisition

Many is the time I have ignored that law and suffered.

CPBelt, long time since I saw the old Conrail logo!!