"Roco Minitanks to Cease Production in 2019" Topic

Roco Minitanks will cease production in 2019, it has been confirmed by the company.

"Dear Mr. Creek,

Thanks for your message! However, we must confirm these "rumors" – Roco won't continue the production of Minitanks in 2019. Which company will take over the production is currently not fixed,

We are sorry, that we have no better infos for you!

Best regards,
Sales Department
Fleischmann & Roco Sales Service"

I heard a rumor that Roco Minitanks were going to go out of business and they have confirmed they will cease production in 2019. The product line has been for sale but no buyers yet.

I got my first Roco Minitanks in about 1963 and I have purchased them ever since.

This is very sad news.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
Bunker Talk blog

Sad , MY first was 1970, a Stug III

My hobby entree was Kit-Craft in Studio City, CA ( kitkraft.com ) . Back in the day, they had, right in the entryway, a rotating display of Roco Minitanks. To the left of that were the Airfix figures!

Who?

Wow. So many over the years

I'll be honest. I had no idea they were still in business. I haven't seen them in stores new for decades.

Sad. They were my intro to miniature war gaming in 1970. I bought a fistful of Sherman's for about 60 cents each. J and M Hobbies in San Carlos, CA.

Kevin,

I still have an old S&T magizine with an ad showing the Sherman for 25 cents.

I wonder if Herpa will still continue, since many ROCO models are listed/sold under their name now?

They have priced themselves out of the market.

I'm afraid you are right, Dye4minis. They are just nostalgia now…

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Here is a short history on Wikipedia:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roco

I seemed to remember a big scandal in the early 2000's, but the details escape me.

Guess that makes my Minitanks Manual Vol 1 and 2 just a bit more valuable now….

I think the price of the ones I was planning on selling just doubled.

I checked a few years ago to see what they had, but there was so little left (& nothing I was looking for) I moved on…

I have somewhere a banker's box of ROCO miniatures from the 1970s. Maybe I should put it on eBay later this year.

Thanks for the tip.

When I started wargaming, I used a mixture of Airfix and ROCO tanks and vehicles. Over recent years I've been buying up job lots of ROCO stuff for a long-planned project, but it looks as if that supply of stuff will now dry up.

What a great pity … but over recent years they have been pricing themselves out of the market.

Airfix minis and Roco Minitanks were my official introduction to "real" wargaming in the mid-late 1960s Thanks to Tom Thumb Hobbies and Al's Hobbies, I was hooked.

d88mm1940, perhaps you're thinking of Otto? Some minor-league felon who was assembling or packaging Minitanks in one of those factories which use prison labor. He was putting messages in the tanks pointing out that the use of forced labor in international trade was prohibited by international treaties. There was talk of a "free Otto" movement, but he'd already been released by the time people started reading the messages.

Perhaps. Thanks.

Minitanks are the reason I developed a life-long interest in military miniatures. I think I was about 10 or 12 when I bought two Panthers for .25 each and a box of Airfix British 8th Army for .50

I wonder what they would want for the molds for the entire range?

I'm a little late getting this sad news. Kept a Roco US ambulance from 50 or so years ago. Still has dirt embedded in its wheels from playing in the back yard. Fond memories.

Yup, my first in 1962 :(

Fidelis Models carries a decent selection of used Roco Minitanks which are much cheaper than new. Fidelis Models also buys used Minitanks, in large or small collections, and related troops and terrain.

Herpa had a marketing agreement with Roco but that agreement expired a couple years ago. Roco went back to selling Minitanks under their own name. Herpa still makes and sells military vehicles in HO scale with the same packaging.

There are at least 20 companies making HO scale military vehicles.

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Mike Bunkermeister Creek
Bunker Talk blog

If anyone is interested in obtaining new copies of Roco Minitanks , we still have some in stock and are restocking where our supplier still has stocks. We supply post free to most world wide locations and you can see our range here:

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