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Marklin unveils the TGV French high speed train

Prototype: French State Railways (SNCF) TGV POS (train à grande vitesse) high speed train, in the version for service between Paris and Southern Germany. 2 powered end cars, 1 transition car (R1), 1st/2nd class, 1 transition car (R8), 2nd class. The newest paint scheme. The train looks as it currently does in real life in 2009/2010.

Model: The train is a 4-part set. It has 1 powered end car (TK1) with a motor and 1 powered end car (TK2) without a motor. The train has an mfx digital decoder and extensive sound functions. It has controlled, high-efficiency propulsion in powered end car 1, centrally mounted. 4 axles powered through cardan shafts. Traction tires. The train has factory-installed interior lighting. The triple headlights and dual red marker lights change over with the direction of travel. They and the interior lighting will work in conventional operation and can be controlled digitally. The third headlight for the French headlight code can be turned off separately in digital operation. The headlights and interior lighting are maintenance-free, warm white LEDs and the marker lights are maintenance-free red LEDs. The train has separately applied metal grab irons. It also has inset windshield wipers. The engineer's cabs in the powered end cars have interior details. A powered end car and a transition car are permanently coupled together in pairs and have special close couplings with a guide mechanism. There is an additional guide mechanism in the Jakobs truck. The end cars have a pickup shoe changeover feature so that the pickup shoe at the front of the train is the one picking up power. The interior lighting is powered through a continuous electrical connection through the entire train. Each powered end car has 2 different design single-arm pantographs, one with a wiper for the DB catenary and one with a wiper for the SNCF catenary. The pantographs work mechanically but are not wired to take power. The train is a scale reproduction. The minimum radius for operation is therefore 360 mm / 14-3/16", when there is sufficient clearance on both sides. Length of the 4-part set 101 cm / 39-3/4".

Functions:
Headlight(s) · · · ·
Interior lights · · · ·
Light Function1 · · ·
Electric locomotive op. sounds · · ·
Horn · · ·
Direct control · · ·
Sound of squealing brakes off · ·
Doors Closing · ·
Whistle for switching maneuver · ·
Conductor's Whistle · ·
Station Announcements ·
Stat. Announce. - Fren. ·

Highlights:
Completely new tooling.
Scale 1:87 reproduction.
Factory-installed interior lighting.
Extensive sound functions.
Warm white LEDs for lighting.
The latest paint scheme.

The French railroad SNCF purchased the "Train à Grande Vitesse Paris - Ostfrankreich – Südwestdeutschland" (TGV POS) for high speed service between Paris, Eastern France (Strasbourg), and Southern Germany. The core of the TGV POS was initially the new construction of the high speed route, which is planned to connect Strasbourg better with Paris. A trip of four hours was simply no longer tolerable if the railroad was to compete effectively with people driving cars. The new route with a maximum speed of 350 km/h / 218.75 mph was planned to be 430 kilometers / 269 miles long and also make connections to Nancy, Reims, Luxembourg, and Basle. The TGV Est trains were planned to travel at 350 km/h / 218.75 mph. On May 9, 2000, the DB AG and the SNCF agreed on standardization of cross-border cars and powered units, routes, and signals. Due to the short time plan and several disagreements there was no common high speed train. Instead, a mixed operation of ICE and TGV was planned. Both trains had to pass a great many test runs in the two countries in order to receive permission for operation. The TGV POS is not really a generation of cars and powered units that has been developed totally from scratch. The TGV POS is more a mix of new powered end cars and intermediate cars from the TGV Réseau. The new powered end cars are mechanically very similar to those of the TGV Thalys PBKA (Paris - Brussels - Cologne / Amsterdam). The electrical equipment for three current systems (25 kilovolts / 50 Hertz as well as 1.5 kilovolts DC in France, 15 kilovolts / 16-2/3 Hertz in Germany and Switzerland) is being done for the first time using asynchronous technology with IGBT-controlled three-phase asynchronous motors. Two pantographs are located on the roof. The one with a contact strip 1,650 mm / 64-15/16" wide is used for 25 kilovolts / 50 Hertz in France and in Switzerland; the second one with a contact strip 1,950 mm / 76-3/4" wide and metallic plated carbon contact strips is used in Germany. In France the 1,950 mm / 76-3/4" pantographs on both powered end cars must be up under the 1.5 kilovolt catenary due to the high level of current. The intermediate cars come from the TGV Réseau. However, they were extensively modernized and brought up to the laterst technical standard at the workshops in Bischheim; they therefore differ strikingly from the other generations of TGV trains. A train set consists of two powered end cars and eight intermediate cars. The intermediate cars are connected to each other by means of Jakobs trucks and thereby form an operational unit. Five intermediate cars (one with a bar) are intended for passengers in 2nd class and three intermediate cars are for 1st class. The approximately 200 meter / 656 foot TGV POS has seating for 360 passengers. Nineteen units have been purchased with the road numbers 4401 to 4419, whereby road number 4406 was sold recently to the SBB. In France the trains are allowed to run at a maximum speed of 320 km/h / 200 mph; in Germany the maximum speed allowed on the high speed routes is 250 km/h / 156 mph. TGV road number 4402 is a special train. Its powered end cars along with three modified intermediate cars set a new, unbelievable speed record for rail vehicles as World Record Train V150 at noon on April 3, 2007 on the route LGV Est. In 13 minutes this train accelerated to 574.8 km/h / 359.25 mph. The two powered end cars have kept their striking world record lettering, which immediately draws attention to the attempted speed. They can be seen occasionally in the Swabian part of Germany.


The 37790 basic set must be expanded with the 43420, 43430, and 43440 extension sets to a prototypical 10-car unit. SNCF and TGV are registered trademarks of the SNCF. SNCF is the owner of the TGV®. All rights reserved regarding copying and/or reproduction. Sous réserve d'obtention de la licence.


This model can be found in a DC version in the Trix H0 assortment under item no. 22364.

Traxxas many cars and trucks now include battery and battery charger

Traxxas has announced many cars and trucks that will include battery and battery charger, either for the starter or for the electric motors on those versions electric.
Also, the inclusion of the new 2.4 GHz radio that will end the era of radio interferences.

Micro Macro Mundo Inc. is a FULL Traxxas Dealer and we carry the complete line out of models in Nitro or Electric as well as service center for your repairs. (only repairs brought to our Store in Miami)

New Marklin 26351 Adler set

Marklin has unveiled a new Adler set Marklin 26351 replica of the new restored Adler in the Nuremberg Museum.

New Brands will be carried this year

LGB new Brand. LGB is part of Marklin GmbH and will be in stock starting this year.

POLA was bought by Faller so now, as part of the Faller family, will be in our Store. These products are exclusively for G gauge (Garden scale 1:22.5)

KIBRI now this plastic manufacturer of buildings, cranes and vehicles is part of Viessmann. The Company was purchased this February and now will be distributed by Viessmann, so Micro Macro Mundo as one of the largest Viessmann Dealers, will carry the complete line of Kibri products.

In the world of remote control, who can say have never played with a Scalectric slot car? Very few.

Now Scalectric is SCX and we have them already in stock. We have both systems: Digital and analog.

It is important to say that the Digital system from SCX is superb allowing up to 6 racers at the time to participate, with a large sort of accessories to make your driving experience the most enjoyable ever. You must try these incredible cars.

New 2010 items have been posted in our web site

The new items for 2010 are already posted in our web site.

Please visit the link above to see what's new from Marklin, Trix, Minitrix, Brawa, Vollmer, Faller, Viessmann and Preiser.
Also this year, we will carry LGB, POLA and Kibri as result of purchases from some of our Manufacturers of these new Brands.

Marklin 31860 3 Crocodile set some more available

We have managed to get just a few more units of this set Marklin 31860.

Only 500 units were made so this is very scarce and we are proud to be one of the largest Dealers that have get and sold this item in a pretty large quantity due the rarity of it.

Marklin announces price hike

We have received an e-mail from Walters signed by Tim Wickerham that reads as follows:

"Price Adjustment on February 1, 2010
Märklin Germany has announced a price adjustment will take effect February 1, 2010 on Märklin, Trix and LGB products. Prices have been held stable since October 1, 2008 despite rising costs of raw materials. At this time we have not been informed of the percentage of the increase. We are giving you advance notice so you will have the opportunity to review your present inventory and place fill-in orders prior to the February 1st date. "

This is a joke. Prices held since 2008? Where? Not at Walthers as they increased substantially the prices in February 2009 and not at Marklin GmbH. Do they think Dealers do not keep price lists from one year to an other or what?

But what is a reality is that prices will go higher AGAIN and with an Euro rising daily, this will bring very high values to products from Marklin, Trix/Minitrix and LGB.

While other Manufacturers are struggling to keep prices down to fight against the drop on sales they had, Marklin is doing all what they can to once for all remove the Brand from the face of the Earth because their extreme high prices.

It is clear that Marklin (and all their Brands) have converted in elite only products. There is no more "kids" that can afford these prices nor parents willing to pay for their kid's toys enormous amounts of money required to buy Marklin products.

The new "set of..... (how many?)" is now a common policy from Marklin that make sets of 10, 20 and up to 40 cars. Who the hell can have 40 cars pulled by one locomotive? What has to be the size of that layout?. Oh yes, some of them say "can be sold separately" so everyone wants the car # 1 and # 3 but nobody wants the car # 2 for example, so Dealers will lose a bunch by being stuck with products they can't sell. Why Marklin does not allow Dealers also to but the cars they want from that particular set?

The average Marklin Customer is well over 55 years old, so what is Marklin doing? waiting a few more years to see all Collectors die and then close the Company for lack of Sales?

Widows do not buy Marklin, they sell the wonderful collections their late husbands had for pennies on eBay or given for sale as states to Lawyers that have no idea what they have on hand and also trow away for nothing (other than their fees) immense collections.

If Marklin does not start producing GOOD QUALITY cheap models as entry level where kids and parents can afford to buy them, the future of the Brand is very dark.

If Marklin also does not see that has to eliminate all sources of extra expenses such as subsidiaries that have nothing to do or Distributors that only make a lot more expensive and complicated to provide products from them, then also this will be a problem down the road to recovery and again, future is not bright at all.

It is clear, from the results, that only those Countries where Marklin has sold direct at a global unique price scheme had success during 2009 while all others, went down substantially including USA.

So let's see what the new Nuremberg Fair brings to us but I'm not too confident that will be good news.

In fact, all those not released items from 2009 have new prices as each year they rise prices for non released items.

We will be moving soon

Thanks to all our Customers that have made us to grow much beyond the capacity of our actual Store located at 7138 SW 117Th. Avenue, we have signed for a new Store 3 times larger just one block south of the actual Store.

Our new address will be 7564 S.W. 117Th. Avenue, Miami FL 33183
This location is inside the TJ-Maxx Plaza shopping center next to Winn-Dixie and across the street from the United States Postal Service at 117Th. Avenue and Sunset Drive.

Same phone 305-279-8033

During March/April 2010 we expect to have ready all the new construction and permits to open the largest Hobby Store in South Florida with the largest World wide stock in our main Brands such as Marklin, Trix, Minitrix, Brawa, Preiser, Faller, Vollmer, Viessmann, Tamiya, Kyosho, Traxxas, HPI, CEN, OFNA and all others we carry.

We also will increase our line out of Brands with several well known Brands in the Model railroad and Models area.

We have already reach the largest stock on plastic Models from Revell and Tamiya and new Brands will be included such as Trumpeter and Italeri ( a Faller Company ). Revell/Monogram is slowly growing right now and some can be found in the links for REVELL of Germany.

Wooden Models from Artesania Latina and Constructo are all included now in our product line and next will be added Artesania Latina Wood Doll Houses.

Kibri will be added this year 2010 as well as the Car System by Faller.

A new exciting Brand arriving mid January is SCX, the best Digital Slot cars system in the market. We will be publishing soon the page for SCX in our web site, keep looking for it.

So keep looking for the official opening day we will post on this same blog.

We thank all our Customers for giving us their business and for the trust they have placed in our Organization. Without you, we would not have been able to grow to this new level and had, including the recession of 2008/09 one of our best years ever.

Happy New Year 2010

New search options on our web site

A new feature will start working in our advanced search engine in our web site on November 2009.

You can go to www.rocousa.com/AdvancedSearch.asp and search for the last arrivals or changes to our DataBase on any given date or between dates and you have also the choice to select or add other filters to your search.

Many of our Customers have said why we do not have this feature so they can search what have arrived lately or has been sold out. Well, now you have that chance to do your search by dates.

Please note that the date you write in the "To Date" will not be included in the results, so add one extra day to the date you want to display as "To Date".

344 items arrived in one large shipments

344 items arrived in this last shipment from Marklin, Trix, Faller and Vollmer.
We can say now, that we are well prepared to face the season 2009 and that our Inventory in Faller and Vollmer is almost 98% of the products on the program of each of these Manufacturers including a very large selection of discontinued items that we still have stock. If you have the time, we invite you to browse each of these Manufacturers in our web site www.rocousa.com/faller.asp

and www.rocousa.com/vollmer.asp and take advantage of our very low prices nobody can bit us in USA.

Do not forget to review Preiser at www.rocousa.com/preiser.asp We offer the lowest guaranteed price in the Continent and our stock is more than 97% total production in HO, N and Z gauge.
In 1 gauge and G gauge we are not well stocked due low demand on those gauges, but we are able to bring any item you need in our next regular montly shipment.

Also, now for Marklin, we offer upgrades from conventional or Delta units to Digital at cost of decoders plus locomotive, no labor charges. If you see any locomotive in our database you like and need it Digital, we will install the decoder for you at cost of decoder and no charge for labor.

Marklin 16064 Jolanda Propeller-Driven Steam Ship

Finally the highly expected Jolanda ship has arrived to our Store.
The first lot of ships has arrived and we will start shipping them the first week of November.

It was unfortunate that they were released at the highest point of the Euro, but we have reduced our margin to the limit to help our Customers pay for this unique and beautiful Ship, one of the best Marklin Collectible of the last years.

The quantities available are very limited and we are almost sold out, so we encourage those that were waiting until release date to make their mind, not to delay the decision and buy right away this unit.

Marklin Fall 2009 new items

Marklin has announced the new Fall 2009 items.

We do not know if this is a symptom of the problems they have or what, but only 2 items were announced:
Marklin 48409 HO Christmas car for 2009 and Marklin 80619 Z gauge Christmas car.

Is recession affecting the Marklin production line? who knows.

Any way, we have been receiving consistently new items for 2009 and we have already posted them in our web site as "IN STOCK". Unfortunately, the exchange rate is not helping as we had to pay at a rate of 1.495 Dollars per Euro, so we are doing our best to keep the prices as low as we can by cutting to the maximum our margin.

Kyosho Giga Crusher is back to Micro Macro Mundo

Whaooo... Kyosho did it again........
Whaooo... Good news Monster truck drivers!!!
Kyosho Giga Crusher is back by popular demand.
The most popular Monster truck by Kyosho features 3 speeds forward and 3 speeds reverse, neutral gear so you can tune without worrying your truck will move at any throttle speed, ready to run model including a 3 channel radio, with a powerful .28 GSR Kyosho motor and all what you need including plug heater and fuel bottle.
Follow the link above to order or if you like to see the page for the Truck go to http://www.rocousa.com/kyosho/kyosho_31144b.htm

Kyosho Championship in Miami/Homestead

Kyosho Championship is coming to Miami area (Homestead).

Please follow the links to the official page for the race. If you like to participate as driver, subscribe on that page and reserve NOW your space. Only 100 drivers will be able to race.

Good opportunity to show your expertize driving the fabulous GT's and GT2's. Entries are only for 1/8 scale GT and GT2 series. If you have an OFNA DM-ONE RTR 34326 or DM-ONE RTR 34327 you can also participate.

We will be there shoving many Kyosho newest models and sponsoring the race.

Anyone can be spectator and there are many facilities on site and near by, so come to Miami.

Marklin MHI exclusive 3/09 and Trix MHI exclusive 2/09 published

Marklin MHI (exclusive program) 3/09 has been published in our web site.

Go to our web site and search for the links to new items 2009, then click either on Marklin or Trix new 2009 items and you will find the pictures and links to order these new exclusive one time run products.

Quantities are very limited so order soon. Once the allocation is sold, it is very hard to get more and most of the times, just impossible.

Survey running in our web site

As many of you have noticed already, we are inviting some web surfers to enter in our web site survey.
This is a survey very easy to answer and will take you less than 2 minutes, just a few clicks.
Please note that all answer are anonymous, so we can not know who wrote or punched what.

We have received some comments requesting all sort of stuff such as the cost of shipping a product.

The survey does not indicate name or e-mail of user, so there is no way for us to answer any question you may have.
If you have any questions, please use e-mail to us at rocousa@rocousa.com and we will be happy to answer your questions or deal with your concerns.

If you need more info in a particular item, e-mail us, do not request that on comments on the survey as we will not be able to know who you are.

And please, say what you really think without any restriction. (any way, we do not know who you are). This will help us a lot to improve or make the changes our Customers and viewers want.

Thank you for participate.

PD: Not all visitors are invited to the survey. This is not in any way a discrimination, it is just the way the people of the survey work. They say in this way is more realistic that having the opinion of each visitor.

Any way, you can refuse the survey without problems or restrictions to enter our site.

Unfair competence

We are concerned about unfair competence some Marklin, Trix, Brawa Dealers in USA are doing.
It calls our attention, that when cost of Euro goes up and prices at Manufacturers and Distributors also goes up, some of these Dealers show products that CLEARLY they don't have stock (proven) at prices so low that are "too good to be true".

We have placed orders for some of these items at those places and we have received notice that there is no stock available and that price "may" change when available.

We challenge all Dealers selling these products on the Internet, to show, as we do, stock availability.

Of course it may be some errors, we also have a few here or there, but in key items there is NO room for errors.

We are open to anyone willing to come to our Store and we will show cost, what we really pay for these products with the invoice and expenses on hand, so you can see how low margin we have that only our high volume allows us to survive in these days of recession.

The idea behind these acts is to force us to lower more our price and try to make us lose money or go out of business because we can not compete against those [false] prices they publish for non in stock and many times discontinued items.

We had always the lowest price around, but between a reasonable range and very close to well known competitors that also are suffering of this problem.

In some Brands we have a large difference in price (ours lower) because of the volume we buy and the special discounts we get and the lower margin we have, but we can proof at any time, the stock is available at the price shown on our web site.

Our prices are very stable. We do not change price each year because the Manufacturer raises prices in all the line of products. We value each shipment we receive at the real cost of that particular shipment based on the exchange rate when we pay for the merchandise (normally in advance) plus all the expenses such as freights, brokerage, fees, etc., and then we mark up a small margin and we publish that price at that moment.

If we keep stock on a product from this shipment for years, that will be its price until stock is exhausted or may be lower due an offer.

This is why some of our items (such as track for example), during one year, may go up or down more than once if we receive many shipments of it.

We even advise when an item is out of stock, that price will be adjusted when we get it back in stock (may be higher or lower, simple: it will be adjusted) but while in stock, NEVER will change the price HIGHER, maybe can be lower due a special offer, but even this fact, is shown in our web site.

This is your warranty: if cost goes down, sale price WILL go down.
If we do not have stock, price is set to $ 0.00 we do not lie marking a product at $ x.xx to force our competitors with stock lower their prices.
We guarantee that if you place an order for an item not in stock and with price $ 0.00 you will be billed at the lowest price possible once the product arrives to our warehouses and it will be the same price for everyone. We do not have a Customer better than other, ALL OUR CUSTOMERS ARE "OUR BEST CUSTOMER".

4MFOR Military line by Marklin metal made

Check the new arrivals for this Military line made by 4MFOR, a Marklin Company.

These great products are made of metal. The detail is superb.

Scale is 1:87 (HO) and a very few in 1:32 (1 gauge)

Many of them are already mounted on flat cars by Marklin (also metal) to compose military trains.

These small marvels are a "must have" for all those that like military models. There is no comparison with Roco Minitanks as those are cheap plastic.

Go to www.rocousa.com/4mfor.htm and check it out.

Dollar has lost 50% of its value since 2003

These below are the exchange rates in September 2003.

Compare with today's exchange rate of US$ 1.49 per Euro.

A 50% lost of value and if we add an average of 8% increase on prices each year by Manufacturers, it is easy to see why a locomotive today costs as much as it costs.

In the last 7 month, the Dollar has lost almost 20% from 1.28 per Euro to 1.50 now.

Credit card fees also have gone up to 3.9%

XE.com's Currency Update Service writes:

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Rates as of 2003.09.17 20:49:31 UTC (GMT). Base currency is USD.

Currency Unit USD per Unit Units per USD (how many US$ you need to buy one unit)
================================ =================== ===================
USD United States Dollars 1.00000
EUR Euro 1.12865
GBP United Kingdom Pounds 1.60904
CAD Canada Dollars 0.732297
JPY Japan Yen 0.00861816
CHF Switzerland Francs 0.725103
AFA Afghanistan Afghanis 0.0233727
ALL Albania Leke 0.00836960
DZD Algeria Dinars 0.0130743
ARS Argentina Pesos 0.344095
AUD Australia Dollars 0.665288
BSD Bahamas Dollars 1.00000
BBD Barbados Dollars 0.505051
BMD Bermuda Dollars 1.00000
BRL Brazil Reals 0.345168
BGN Bulgaria Leva 0.580047
CLP Chile Pesos 0.00149409
CNY China Yuan Renminbi 0.121117
COP Colombia Pesos 0.000355209
XOF CFA Francs BCEAO 0.00172061
CRC Costa Rica Colones 0.00247084
CYP Cyprus Pounds 1.93813
CZK Czech Republic Koruny 0.0345161
DKK Denmark Kroner 0.151953
XCD East Caribbean Dollars 0.376364
EGP Egypt Pounds 0.163800
FJD Fiji Dollars 0.534147
XAU Gold Ounces 376.500
HKD Hong Kong Dollars 0.128209
HUF Hungary Forint 0.00443280
ISK Iceland Kronur 0.0126930
INR India Rupees 0.0214280
IDR Indonesia Rupiahs 0.000118329
XDR IMF Special Drawing Rights 1.39171
ILS Israel New Shekels 0.224014
JMD Jamaica Dollars 0.0169668
JOD Jordan Dinars 1.41084
KWD Kuwait Dinars 3.36243
LBP Lebanon Pounds 0.000664805
MYR Malaysia Ringgits 0.263123
MTL Malta Liri 2.64723
MXN Mexico Pesos 0.0916321
MAD Morocco Dirhams 0.104573
NZD New Zealand Dollars 0.583734
NGN Nigeria Nairas 0.00768935
NOK Norway Kroner 0.137850
PKR Pakistan Rupees 0.0173943
PHP Philippines Pesos 0.0182083
XPT Platinum Ounces 694.500
PLN Poland Zlotych 0.248697
ROL Romania Lei 0.0000298776
RUR Russia Rubles 0.0327667
SAR Saudi Arabia Riyals 0.267368
XAG Silver Ounces 5.25000
SGD Singapore Dollars 0.570311
SKK Slovakia Koruny 0.0273300
ZAR South Africa Rand 0.135364
KRW South Korea Won 0.000856113
SDD Sudan Dinars 0.00385060
SEK Sweden Kronor 0.124937
TWD Taiwan New Dollars 0.0294377
THB Thailand Baht 0.0246539
TTD Trinidad and Tobago Dollars 0.163425
TRL Turkey Liras 0.0000007280
AED United Arab Emirates Dirhams 0.272991
VEB Venezuela Bolivares 0.000627349
VND Vietnam Dong 0.0000643459

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Marklin 28590 Le Capitole Express Train shipping now.

Marklin 28590 Le Capitole set is being shipped this week of September 21-26 2009.

Those with backorders will be receiving the unit after September 26th. This is a great set and make honor to its original 50 years ago.

Very few units are left for sale still and thereafter, discontinued no longer available.

Faller bankruptcy update

On Friday, 28th August 2009 Gebr. FALLER GmbH has filed a petition in bankruptcy at the Inferior Court of Villingen-Schwenningen. Dr Volker Grub was duly appointed interim judicial receiver in bankruptcy.Grub is willing to reorganize FALLER.

Gütenbach / 2nd September 2009 – The appointed interim receiver in bankruptcy, Dr. Volker Grub, considers FALLER to be able to assume a sustainable development. He said that FALLER is a major brand, comparable with Märklin.

Even though the sales figures have decreased, FALLER remains the undisputed market leader for model railways decoration.

That means house and building models, miniature figures and terrain construction materials.

To reorganize FALLER it is necessary to modernize radically the production processes and manufacturing plants.

To this end, it is essential to perform a concentration of staff and premises.

Dr. Grub pointed out that FALLER has still a difficult course to follow.

All persons involved, shareholders, employees, trade union, customers, banking houses, the staff pension association as well as all other creditors will have to cooperate in that task.

It will be unavoidable to dismiss some staff.

However, the production site of Gütenbach will be maintained.

The family of owners rallied round Mrs. Ursula Herbertz is prepared to commit itself one more time financially.

It is Grub’s intention to submit a financial rescue plan intended to settle the outstanding liabilities amounting to some nine million euros.

Grub proposes to submit this very year the financial rescue plan to the vote of a general assembly of creditors, so as to be able to leave again the bankruptcy procedure early in 2010.

For any further information, please turn to: Dr. Volker Grub

Follow us in Twitter

You can also follow us in Twitter. Search for "ROCOUSA"

We are in Facebook

We are in Facebook.
We have created a page open to everyone and it is open to discuss any topic or ask questions about anything in the Hobby field.

We would like to have it limited to the Brands we carry. Answering specific questions on product we do not have is very though.

Generic questions are welcomed.

We encourage you to up-load pictures of your models or layouts/dioramas (please make a reference of your work and have your name to distinguish the ownership of the work)

NO COMMERCIAL EXTERNAL LINKS will be allowed and will be removed immediately.

No pornography accepted and will be immediately removed and reported.

Please visit the link http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=128765954546&ref=ts to open the page.

Euro rises to the highest point this year

Not to good news for those dealing with Europe.

The Euro has risen to the highest point this year and it looks that will go even higher.

Today the interbank exchange rate was 1.46 what means that for regular people like us, it costs $ 1.49

In March, the time of pre-ordering Trains from the new items programs the Euro was 1.25 per US Dollar. Today we have a 20% increment on cost only for exchange rates.

Now, some of the Manufacturers want to increase prices starting in October 1st. 2009. If this is allowed, I believe that it will be more than one Marklin or Faller falling to bankruptcy as Collectors can not keep paying these very high prices for a non indispensable item like Train Toys and accessories for them.

Collectors are starting to be tired paying the mistakes of these Corporations that have to rise prices to pay for their mistakes and their bad policies marketing their products.

Let's fight for Universal Prices and Dealer Direct programs with Factories and avoid the middle man by eliminating Distributors that today, in this electronic World, are not needed any longer.

We are battling the increased cost by lowering as much as we can the mark-up, just to the point of be afloat and pay expenses.

We will continue to mark-up our new arrivals as low as possible. You can easily test our prices on Preiser, for example, that were received today, against any Dealer you like based in USA or Canada. You will see the wide margin we have with them being our prices sometimes up to 40% lower than the rest of our competitors.

We hope our Government can do something to turn this Country on what we were, a power without any discussion, but as things smell now, we have our doubts.... who know, maybe I'm wrong.

Large quantity of Preiser just arrived

PREISER has released this item PR28144 for those "politics" that want to have a replica of the President and then First Lady. They have "suggested" even a way to have a parade in honor of the visit of the President to Germany.
If you are not a politic, then even for fun you must have this set. Every friend of yours will laugh a lot seeing this perfect replica hand painted.

All the items of the parade are available in our Store.

Also, we have received over 500 items including many new releases of 2009. check our web site and follow the links for PREISER.

Marklin 60214 Central Station released

Marklin 60214 new Digital Central Station has been released and it is now available.

Don't miss this opportunity to have the latest in technology to control your Marklin trains.

You may see it in our web site, just click on the link above.

This unit replaces 60213 that has been discontinued.

FALLER filled for BANKRUPTCY

Again, as we set and predicted, Faller has filled for Bankruptcy due to insolvency.
You may read the report on the link given (click on title above and then on translate to read in English).

All these Manufacturers that have enforced the use of Distributors are on the same path. Faller was not an exception.

The prices set by Walthers in USA to Dealers of Faller was more than a 30% higher than prices Dealers can get in Germany and many times, even higher than those we sell to our end users.

We have been buying Faller for over 15 years direct in Germany and we always told them to deal direct with their Dealers instead to go trough distributors, that only make things to go wrong, prices higher, slower service and always in not enough quantity.

The recent bankruptcies of Marklin, Roco, Fleischmann, Jouef, Lima, Rivarossi, and many others must be a clear sign that Manufacturers are doing something wrong.

What are they doing wrong? Not hearing what Dealers say and not taking care of the needs of Dealers and end users.

Having conditions of sale that are not equal to each Dealer is also part of the problem. If a Company does not have an equally and fair price for ALL its Dealers, is directly going to hell, because Dealers form alliances using the one with best conditions to get what they need, but normally this will be less purchases than if they go direct to the Factory and all have the same price.

The export department Manager at Faller has been for many years a blind non sense incompetent person that never saw that Markets like ours (America) was open for millions of Customers if only we cut have direct supply of goods at good price without having to use any Distributor to make more affordable their products to end users and also, produce items that are more American look alike as those made by Cornerstone.

This last Faller notice concern us very much, as we saw for some time now, that they were discontinuing a bunch of stuff and the new items were very few and not interesting at all.

At this pace, soon the European Train Market will be over and I believe that the hobby will have tough times to model in good quality using products from German Manufacturers.

Hope Faller can come out soon of this mess they (and their Export Incompetent Manager) have created.

We still have VOLLMER that we believe is even better in quality for buildings even when they do not have the large selection that Faller had, but the Company seems to be held in a more open view of how business are done in the 21st. Century open global markets.

Marklin 55563 150th. Anniversary in 1 gauge is here

Among many other items from the commemoration of the 150Th. anniversary of Marklin, we have received the gorgeous Crocodile 55563 in 1 gauge.
This locomotive, all metal construction, is placed in a wood base with the plaque of the 150Th. anniversary.

For those that collect 1 gauge, Marklin has offered this unique opportunity to get the most desirable unit in their 1 gauge collection.

Kyosho GT-2 Aston Martin DBR9 Team Gulf Ready Set

The new Kyosho GT-2 Aston Martin DBR9 Team Gulf Ready Set Kyosho_31828B has arrived. Also McLaren F1 Kyosho_31826B"


We invite you to take a look at this incredible car as well as all those other in the GT-2 series.

Whit speeds over 65 miles per hour, these 1/8 .28 nitro cars are among the fastest ready to run cars just from the box.

New .28 motor with more power and less heat is the main core of these cars. 2 brakes to stop the brute speed of them is installed.

Many upgrades can be used and parts from GT's are also usable.

Micro Macro Mundo Inc. is Trusted e-commerce Certified

Again, we are pioneers in securing you data. You may buy with confidence from us being assured that NOBODY will have access to your information in any of our Computers and that your data is securely encrypted while in transit from your Computer to ours.

Micro Macro Mundo is proud to announce that we have passed all the tests and complied with the hundred's of pre-requisites to become a "Trusted e-commerce program to validate compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) mandated by all the major credit card associations including: American Express, Diners Club, Discover, JCB, MasterCard Worldwide, Visa, Inc. and Visa Europe."

This has been a huge work required by the Credit Cards processors and required a profound upgrade to all our systems, not only in hardware but the software to protect our systems against anyone trying to steal data from them.

The PCI DSS, a set of comprehensive requirements for enhancing payment account data security, was developed by the founding payment brands of the PCI Security Standards Council, including American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB International, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa Inc. Inc. International, to help facilitate the broad adoption of consistent data security measures on a global basis.

The PCI DSS is a multifaceted security standard that includes requirements for security management, policies, procedures, network architecture, software design and other critical protective measures. This comprehensive standard is intended to help organizations proactively protect customer account data.

The PCI Security Standards Council will enhance the PCI DSS as needed to ensure that the standard includes any new or modified requirements necessary to mitigate emerging payment security risks, while continuing to foster wide-scale adoption.
Ongoing development of the standard will provide for feedback from the Advisory Board and other participating organizations. All key stakeholders are encouraged to provide input, during the creation and review of proposed additions or modifications to the PCI DSS.

The core of the PCI DSS is a group of principles and accompanying requirements, around which the specific elements of the DSS are organized:
Build and Maintain a Secure Network

Requirement 1: Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data
Requirement 2: Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters Protect Cardholder Data
Requirement 3: Protect stored cardholder data
Requirement 4: Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program
Requirement 5: Use and regularly update anti-virus software
Requirement 6: Develop and maintain secure systems and applications Implement Strong Access Control Measures
Requirement 7: Restrict access to cardholder data by business need-to-know
Requirement 8: Assign a unique ID to each person with computer access
Requirement 9: Restrict physical access to cardholder data Regularly Monitor and Test Networks
Requirement 10: Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data
Requirement 11: Regularly test security systems and processes Maintain an Information Security Policy
Requirement 12: Maintain a policy that addresses information security

To further the adoption of the PCI DSS, the PCI Security Standards Council defines credentials and qualifications for QSAs and ASVs. The PCI Security Standards Council also manages a global training and certification program for QSAs and ASVs.

Micro Macro Mundo has been working for over 2 month to be able to comply with all these requirements and the seal of "trustwave" is displayed in our Home page for you to review.

Marklin 37530 Club 2009 HO for Members only

Marklin 37530 Insider Club Model in HO and 88530 in Z gauge.

This unit can ONLY be ordered using the Original Coupon included in the last Marklin Club Magazine mailing.

Please sign it and send the original (not photocopies) without delay to our address by mail:

7138 S.W. 117th. Ave., Miami Florida 33183

Micro Macro Mundo Inc. will as always, offer a substantial discount to those regular Customers of us that keep being loyal to our business.

Customers without coupon or not Club member WILL PAY FULL PRICE set by Marklin.

There are also more items for the Members as each year: New 2009/10 Catalog and one car either in HO or Z gauge. (there is nothing for free to those that collect 1 gauge, what a shame, Marklin) These 2 products are FREE from Marklin to the Club Member.

However, those Customers that only order the FREE Car and FREE Catalog (as part of the benefits of the Marklin Club) if no other order has been received from them, will be charged a fee for handling and shipping their order of the "free" items.

We are crossing tough days due the recession and each day more increases on prices from everyone are received, including the Postal Service and other carriers, so there is no way we can afford to send these "free" products and the very heavy Catalog for free as there is involved a lot of work, packing material and other expenses to ship.

The idea behind these "free" offers from the Marklin Club was to increase the business between Collectors and Dealers, however, this is not the case in many instances as in past years, we have received dozens of coupons for the free goods and no a single order of regular Club items that has a cost for the Member.

We strongly oppose the policy of Marklin with these "free" offers. If they are for free, then it is up to Marklin to send them out to each Customer Member of the Club and not to pass all these expenses involved on this matter to Dealers that have enough with being feathered with all the Marklin problems.

Of course, we will honor all the coupons sent to us, but if you have not bought with us in the last 12 Months, we will charge you $ 20,00 for shipping EACH of these "free" items (Catalog and HO car) and $ 16.00 if the car is Z gauge.

For all those other Customers that have spent at least $ 500.00 in the last 12 month with us, we will ship these free items FOR FREE. If you spent less than $ 500.00 then we will charge you the postage to be paid or the cost of FedEx/UPS ground to your location at cost.

PLEASE NOTE:

Revise the Credit Card you have on file with us. These days of Bank changes, there are many numbers that have changed and/or expiration dates changed.

If any change was done to your card, also the 3 digits from the back have changed, so we REQUIRE you to update your credit cards on file to be able to ship your backorders and items from the Club.

Marklin 31860 3 Crocodile set 150th. anniversary

Marklin 31860 set of 3 Crocodiles same as 31859 but in a production of only 500 units Worldwide.

This set is very scarce and we have already sold out all our allocation.

We can only take orders without guarantee of delivery as we are not sure if we will be able to get a few more of these.

Same as 31859 this item was sold out even before we knew it will be made.

But it is not bad idea to have an order even if we can't cover it, you never know.

This set is part of a presentation package offered to few Dealers and the same package that includes the black Crocodile 39564

Marklin 39564 150th. Anniversary Crocodile BLACK

Marklin has announced, among other items, a series of special Exclusive items such as this Crocodile Black item # 39564

The production of these locomotives will be limited to 2000 units only, so we encourage our Customers to place order for it immediately as our allocations is slim.

These are some highlights of it:

Prototype: Swiss Federal Railways (SBB/CFF/FFS) class Ce 6/8 III freight locomotive. Design with diagonal side rod drive.

Model: The locomotive has an mfx digital decoder and a sound generator. It is limited to a production of 2000. Get yours from ajckids.com while we still have them. It also has high-efficiency Softdrive Sine propulsion and a maintenance-free, compact-design motor. 3 axles and a jackshaft powered. Traction tires. The locomotive has articulated running gear to enable to it to negotiate sharp curves. It has a 3-part metal body with end hoods that can swing out on curves. The locomotive has detailed roof equipment. The headlights and marker lights are maintenance-free warm white LEDs. The headlights with the Swiss headlight / marker light code will work in conventional operation and can be controlled digitally.

Dimensions:

Length over the buffers 23.0 cm / 9-1/16 inches.
Warm white LEDs for headlights / marker lights.
Metal construction.
Compact design Softdrive Sine propulsion.
Mfx decoder. Locomotive whistle sound effect.
LED headlights marker lights can be switched over: running "light" or with a train.

Marklin 39618 Fair 2009 few available

MARKLIN 39618

New presentation Steam Locomotive from the 2009 Nuremberg Toy Fair.

This unit was made EXCLUSIVELY for those Dealers that attended the Fair and it is in a very high shortage, as this Year was not one of the best for Marklin (or for any other Manufacturer either) and attendance was low.

It is a class 61 DR and has a wooden base and metal label.

We have a few left for sale and orders will be taken to be shipped in the same order we receive them. We are sorry but for this unit we can not make reserves beyond our allocation.

Vollmer, Preiser, Brawa and Viessmann

We have received large quantities on these Manufacturers and have all been posted in our regular Web Site.
As many of you like to compare prices with other competitors, we invite you to do so before you place an order so you will be able to see that we still have the lowest price available in USA.

Regarding the products, if it is not available in our web site means that it is not available at Factory, either because they [Manufacturers] do not have stock, new items not released yet or it is a discontinued item.

In Marklin we have received all the latest releases as well as new restocking products, but the highlights are the Club Locomotives that were sent past week to all our Customers Members of the Marklin Club that had orders for it. There are no pending shipments and all were sold at discounted price as said at the time to place the orders.

Please look at the new items in our web site or on the blog to know more about the new Club Items for 2009.

Euro back to high exchange rate

Well, it has been long time without posting anything, but the truth is that nothing interesting has happened other than the Dollar, again, has become weak against the Euro.

As we stated in February/March our prices for new items were based in an exchange rate between $ 1.28 to $ 1.32 per Euro, however, these last days the Euro has floated around the $ 1.42 to $ 1.43.

We have made small adjustments on prices for products we have received till now in the same percentage that the Euro went up, what has reverted in just a few bucks on each item, not a lot, so our Customers have reacted very well and they keep the trust on us that we are doing all what we can to keep prices down.

Micro Macro Mundo Inc. assures that will keep the policy to make the fewer adjustments possible and in many instances, sacrifice margin to help keep low prices.

Walther's sells at more than 40% higher than us

For all those that are receiving the WALTHERS FLYER on the Mail, due the incorrect and unauthorized violating privacy use of the Marklin Club mailing list, to try to take advantage offering all sort of products including all those that we and many of the Marklin Dealers also carry, it is a good idea to compare the prices they have against ours.

In a review of the "SPECIAL PRICE" they show on the last Flyer April 2009 (sale ends 05-31-09 they say) we have found that ALL the products we also carry such as:
Faller, Vollmer, Preiser, Wiking, Bush, Noch are priced way above 40% from our listed price in our web site www.rocousa.com

Marklin and Trix are also offered DIRECTLY to end users, so now we have a new competitor.

But we can rest easy because their prices are way above 20 to 30% higher than ours.
For example a 37187 set for $ 559.99 when our price is just $ 397.23 what about that ah?
A 43614 for $ 149.99 when our price is $ 110.27
A 46329 for $ 144.99 when our price is $ 117.39

So this is just a confirmation of what I have being saying for many years: Walthers does not care for Dealers and much less for users. They want the pealed potato and that's it.

They always fought against Dealers trying to buy direct with the argument that we had advantage over Distributors, well, they are doing the same selling direct to end users, and unfortunately, every day it is a new idiot on the street that believes Walthers is the God of the Trains and will buy from them instead of searching where to buy the same item for a lot less.

Oh well, an other day

Big jump of Euro against Dollar

Today we had a big jump of the Euro against the US Dollar.
These are not good news and those who say they know about currencies, are saying that Euro will be even more stronger, what will have as a result, new higher prices for all those items imported from Europe.

As many have noticed, some items have arrived previously to this rise and can see that for those items we got, the prices were adjusted lower, so we keep our word to try to have the best price possible within the range of our possibilities.

To help a little bet, we have not increased our prices on all what we have in stock, so you may take advantage of those very low prices.

Marklin announces more cancelations

Marklin Germany officially has notified on March 6, 2009 that many items from the regular line pending from 2008 and many of the 2009 new items, are canceled so they will not- be made.
Please reed (in German only but understandable) the official letter HERE

This includes products from Marklin, Trix, Minitrix, 4MFOR and LGB.

This is funny; they just got LGB and already canceling what have not done yet.

Any way, as we said before, this is just an announcement of the problems that we will face ahead.

In honor of the truth

We have received notice from Brenda at Marklin Inc. that the decision to discontinue some Starter Sets from the 2009 program was not a Walther's issue but a Marklin GmbH.
Here is copy e-mail we received from Brenda (blue text) answering our concerns about these starter sets being available in Germany:

Dear William,

The factory discontinued the starter sets. We got an email from the factory and we worked with Walther's to get the announcement out to the dealers here.

Perhaps the factory’s sales department hasn’t notified the dealers in Germany yet? That would be strange because Jeff said he saw it mentioned in a German newspaper article.

Anyway, Walther's would never discontinue something on their own. Even if there is an order for one item they will order it if the factory has it.

Hope this clarifies the situation.

Best regards,

Brenda

Marklin cancelling items from 2009 new items program

Marklin announced cancellation of production of some 2009 new items.

It is not clear if the cancellations announced by Walther's refer only to Starter Sets with 110 volts transformers used to be sold in USA only or if the announced products will be completely removed from the new items 2009 program.

If they are removed from Walther's only, then this mean the poor response Dealers had ordering anything trough Walther's and we can guess, that the rest of the program also has not good response from North American Dealers and pre-orders to Walther's are weak.

If these items have been removed from the program at Factory, then this means trouble on the horizon. Today a few Starter sets tomorrow who knows.

The items canceled now are all Starter sets, HO and 1 gauge plus all the starter sets by Minitrix.
Only one starter set by Minitrix was left that uses batteries instead of transformer.

ITEMS REMOVED ARE:
29011
29019
29150
29181
29477
29482
29757
55038
55039
T11127
T11128
T11487

In the troubles Marklin GmbH faces due the bankruptcy procedure, rumors from reliable sources say that Mr. Putta (the Trustee named to handle the bankruptcy) is negotiating with ALL the shipping Companies in Germany to avoid those Companies to seize merchandise sent by Marklin to their Customers in an effort to get paid for the debt that Marklin has with ALL the shippers in Germany.

This is grave. Shipments are being delayed when they are more needed. Marklin has to find a solution to this matter fast or recovery may be in jeopardy.

But this situation also has proven how weak is the stock at Walther's, as many of the most common parts and accessories are not in stock or not in enough quantities.

Rolling stock is imported in very low quantities, so if we [Dealers in USA] need 10 cars, maybe we can get 1 or 2 and all others go to back orders that take for ever.

Marklin will not disappear that's a fact. Someone will take care of the Company. Several entities have advanced interest in the Company including (rumor) Veissmann, the manufacturer of signals, catenary and electronic accessories including digital components and that is a strong industrial power as they also produce other products not related to Hobbies that allow them having the resources needed to take care of the Company.

But what is certain, is the immense list of products that have been discontinued at Marklin GmbH.

Just take a tour at http://www.maerklin.de/produkte/frontend/index.php and type a number 3 only on the search window (this will display all items starting by 3 that are of course all the locomotives) you may also type a 4 for cars.

Check it out, how many red lights are in the results and how many green. Less than 3% is green and those 2009 new items appear with yellow light. It is clear that reduction is profound and that very few items will be left on the regular program or will be reissued under new numbers maybe with new decoders or something like it.

Check number 7 and you will see that half the products for catenary are not available. Why? Maybe because Manufacturer of it (same who makes it for Viessmann) has not been paid, who knows why.

We hope this will be over soon and that we will be able to return to normality as the panic this has caused, made many Customers to place nervous orders of material they maybe do not need, or at least, not in the quantity they have ordered lately.

We will do our best to keep pace with the orders we receive and our stock is well balanced, but as everything in life, it might get a point where there is no more of a particular item. We can not guarantee supply for ever if we can not get shipments from Germany and by now, they are delayed. We ask for patience. This will resolve good.

Brawa, Faller, Vollmer, Preiser and 4MFOR new items 2009 published

We have published the new Items 2009 for Brawa, Faller, Vollmer, Preiser and 4MFOR.
From the page of new items, you can navigate to the specific page you look for.

Orders are being taken to assure not only availability and faster shipments but lower price.

We invite you to browse our pages for the latest news on new items.

Walthers lowers prices to Dealers for Marklin, Trix, 4MFOR new items 2009

After we posted our complain for high prices from Walther's to USA Dealers, we have just received the following letter from them:

"February 13Th, 2009

Dear Marklin Dealer:

Given recent dealer feedback on our 2009 Marklin new item pricing and the volatility in exchange rates, Walther's and Märklin GmbH would like to announce that we have reviewed our pricing and have lowered them to close the gap with pricing in Germany.

Attached are updated order forms for each of the new item product groups. Over the course of the next couple of days we will be working to update our system with this new pricing.

Please be sure to get all of your new item orders to Walther's by February 28th., 2009 to earn your early order discount. [added by us: (3% is the discount, same in Germany so this is not any extra advantage)]

We value your business and hope this new pricing addresses some of the issues you have brought to our attention.

Sincerely,

Kevin Copsey
VP of Sales
Walthers"

Well, this is the proof that what we said was correct [Walther's prices are well over 35% to 40% higher than Factories to Dealers in rest of World] and that we had the reason about Walther's returning to their policy of high markups to Dealers, however, the new prices are still not good.

I will recognize that Kevin Copsey is very concerned about all this and that he is trying to do his best, he listens to us but the policies at Walther's is what is wrong. One person can do nothing there.

Walther's has reduced about 10% to 12% the old published Dealer purchase price for new items 2009 but this is still too high compared with the prices in Europe to Dealers there. Starter sets are not included on this reduction and juust a few bucks were discounted, not even worth to mention it.

However, they have announced the prices for LGB and here AGAIN we have the 30 to 36% gap.
Why they don't lower all the rest of regular products in the same percentage, why only new items 2009 from Marklin, Trix and 4MFOR?

We can not trust Walther's and I ask for a campaign to avoid buying ANYTHING from them as all is overpriced.

They tried to sell us at that high price. If it wasn't because we complained and spoke with them, we will still have the original price. This is not right. Why we need to complain to get better price? why they must have these high margin?

Even when I'm on risk to be singled out and even removed from my dealership at Marklin, I will keep fighting against Distributors greedy that only makes our products a lot more expensive and harder to sell.

This year of uncertainty and heavy recession, we can not tolerate this unfair practices that deepens our concerns and possibilities to stay alive in business.

It is not fair either that one person must fight as I do to get a small piece of bread.

Food is for all and must be at the same price and in the same quantity. I agree with scales of prices based in volume of purchases, but the base price must be the same for all.

What Micro Macro Mundo has done since 1994 in benefit of the collectors is well known. Always trying to get the best price and conditions not only for Customers but for our Competitor Dealers that take benefit or our work without any danger or risk on their part.

But this will also end. I'm sick of be getting things for others. From now on, or you join the fight for Factory Direct Sales or you are OUT of my fight, now I'll be fighting for my self only.

This discount will benefit all Dealers, not to us as we do not buy new items at Walther's, so enjoy now and at least have the decency to recognize what we do for you [Dealers]

Prices for new items 2009 posted

Prices for Marklin, Trix, Minitrix and 4MFOR new items 2009 have been posted.

We have listed the "Retail Price" set by Walther's and our price as "Our Special Sale Price" that is what we will charge you for pre-orders placed NOW until end of February 2009.

The price will be in force if Euro fluctuates between 1.28 and 1.32 per US Dollar.

If Euro goes under 1.28 at release date, then we will recalculate the price at the rate at that time and price will be lowered in US Dollars accordingly. Same will be done in the other way if Euro goes over 1.32 per US Dollar.

We have listed prices for 4MFOR and those are our pre-order prices. We do not have any Retail Price set for those products, so the price you see is the price you will pay (exception made on exchange rates as above explained).

If you have any doubt, we will be happy to give you the price in Euros that is FIX. The price is Euros will not change if Marklin does not change prices.

On September 1st. Marklin has announced an increase on prices across the board, so all items will rise.

Marklin Bankruptcy

Sad news.
On February 3rd. 2009 Marklin GmbH, the owner of Trix, Marklin, 4MFOR and LGB, declared insolvency after a 50 million Euros loan was denied by the Banks in Germany to the Firm based on concerns about many changes too often in the High Management of the Company among others issues.

Based on this, the Company had no choice than file for what is the equivalent to chapter 11 in USA (Bankruptcy protection).

At just 2 days from the opening of the Nuremberg Toy Fair, this news were like a earthquake shaking the Industry, as many other manufacturers are also concerned on the future of the Industry if Marklin disappears.

Employees have been working without being paid for more than one Month, what also made the things worst as unions are pressuring the management (completely ineffective as we have said in many occasions) to take the measures needed to rescue the Firm from imminent total Bankruptcy.

As we said 3 years ago, repeated 2 years ago and also said past year on each Toy Fair, the Management of Marklin GmbH was inadequate, completely uneducated on Train Businesses and what was worst for us, completely ignorant of Global Markets as they are now.

We have the proof in our hands: The meltdown of the market in USA and the deep recession we are in has not been avoided by the rest of the Globe. It is clear that we started this thing in USA and now, is a Global problem.

So why Marklin did not see that they had to take care of their business in exports to other Countries and have a UNIVERSAL price, same conditions for everyone and avoid having "Distributors" that only make the product more expensive without any need and consequently, makes it more difficult for Dealers to sell it and results in lower sales that are the same than lower purchases to Marklin GmbH and end on this bankruptcy?

Because a President that knows about "perfumes" can not understand about Trains (first of all, perfumes are more focused to women than men when Trains are more focused to men than woman), and one export manager that have no idea where each Country is located, how many people live on each Country nor what is the potential of one of the biggest Markets in Earth, the United Sates of North America and Canada.

This individual is the artisan, along with Fred Gates, the ex-president of Marklin Inc. of this mess in USA and the naming of Walther's trains as their Distributor exclusive in USA for Marklin, Trix, 4Mfor and now LGB.

Well, this year, if Dealers are still forced to buy at Walther's, the markup for Dealers compared against what a German Dealer pays in Germany is an average of 40% higher that guess what, will be passed to our Customers.

Is this fair? Is this something that can solve the problems of Marklin or will deepen them as less purchases based on less sales will occur ?

This is what the management of Marklin has not seen and has never liked to ear from me. That they are wrong keeping Distributors in USA that we do not need and that make those huge margins. (Marklin Inc. was also a marker up on an average of 28%)

Same as those CEO's that have taken money from the bailout Government has given to them to only pay them self huge amount in the million of Dollars as bonuses and parties for the worst performance they never had. (see AIG, see Ford, see GM, see anyone you like, all are the same)

So where we go now? TO HELL

I will keep an eye on the latest news to be posted here, but this posting must stay for history:

Marklin GmbH will not survive if does not take measures logical with the actual market. some of them in my opinion are:

1.-Global Pricing
2.-Stop forcing German Dealers to have a Store in Store: they are Marklin Dealers and NOT furniture show rooms.
3.-Open Factory Direct Purchases for any Dealer that likes to buy direct at the same price than German Dealers.
4.- Close Marklin Inc. A waist of money for nothing. (sooner or later it will happen anyway)
5.- Remove all Distributors around the World if they can not sell at the same price Marklin GmbH does to Germans.
6.- Do not force Dealers and Customers to buy set of tons of cars not needed. Better make one car at the time than sets of 20 or that many "trains" with bunch of cars no body wants.
7.- Forget the "collectability" of any item. Since eBay exists, there is no More "collectibles" so why to produce hot items in short quantity. Make them available as many as Dealers order.
8.- Create new items, do not repeat same item again and again just with a new road number.
10.- Fire all those "consultants": that have proven as we predicted, not to have any idea of anything other than huge bills to Marklin.
11.- Fire Fred Gates as "consultant". We do not need a consultant that did what he did in USA.
12.- Met with your Dealers that are they who knows what people want and how to do it and what can be sold and what don't.
13.- Do not compete against the Dealers selling all your products on line or at your own Stores.
14.- Stop Dealers Sales on eBay. This is hard to control I know it, but can be done if you police a little bet more eBay.
15.- Stop the BS of One Time Run when you know you will make them again and again. See 37993 it was supposed to be only 37990, but them came 37991 and later on 37992. Well now we have 37993 and in the future we will see many more of these if you survive.

16.- CALL ME. yes I have been always the fighter against the Goliaths in the Industry, but at least I have proven that I was not wrong.

(Next two points suggested by Mr. Peter Paul and they seems god points for us, so we publish them.)

17.- Make the Märklin catalogs available on their website as pdf's. Costs them nothing extra, it's fabulous marketing, and most people will buy a paper catalog anyway when it's convenient. I know, they earn a few bucks from selling catalogs, but they lose out on a lot of excitement and collector interest. Much modeling is impulse purchases, but with increasing web ordering rather than local shops, digital information is essential.

18.- improve the Märklin website with USEFUL technical information. List the type of motors (Ac/Dc, shield/clock/anchor) in each loco model so you know what components you can use to upgrade heritage pieces onto a digital lay-out, what is compatible with what (and what not), etc.

Numbers say the truth. Marklin may have had more sales in 2008 but were based in forcing Dealers to buy many sets that are still on the shelves and that will revert in less purchases/orders for new items in 2009. Do you want to bet that orders this years will be less than half?

Do not criticize my English. It is not my mother language. Better tell me where it is wrong to correct it.

New increase in shipping rates by FedEx and UPS

If we have not enough, a new increase average on 7% has been announced for shipping rates in USA by FedEx and other carriers.

I just don't get it. When the Country is sunk in a heavy recession, big Corporations keep rising prices without any reason other than the greed to make more money.

They need more money not for gas, not for employees as they are firing thousand of them, so why? To pay the big BONUSES to those CEO's good for nothing?

Try to get paid for a parcel damaged by them. I challenge you to try to get paid if they have damaged a parcel. They will say "IMPROPER PACKING" so no pay.

Improper packing, what a joke. WE send hundreds of parcels a week and one time to time is damaged, so how come not all our parcels are damaged?.

Any of our Customers that have received parcels from us knows how well pack are the products we ship, almost impossible to damage them, but FedEx and UPS manage to damage parcels.

O well, don't say anything. Stay at home quit. Accept all what these Corporations want and be happy with this unregulated freedom to Corporations. Pay for all their loses and mistakes (not talking about their thieves on front of them)

New Dealer Prices from Walthers for new items 2009 announced

Whoa.
Today we got the complete list of prices for New Items 2009 Marklin, Trix, Minitrix and 4MFOR that Walther's Trains will sell to North American Marklin Dealers.

Note that Marklin GmbH (Germany) has forced all the American and Canadian Dealers to buy trough Walther's Trains after they named them as their "Exclusive Distributor" for North America and Canada.

If you review my postings in our web site, you will find my predictions done a year ago, where I said "prices used by Walther's to USA Dealers in 2008 are just a laxative to keep Dealers shut up and to prevent a revolution among Dealers against Marklin Inc. and of course, against Fred Gates, the architect of all this mess, and try to say that Walther's was a fair and good decision for Marklin to name them "Exclusive""

Well, today I have the proof of what I said and AGAIN, I was right.

The prices Walther's has set for USA and Canadian Dealers for Marklin and Trix/Minitrix compared against the prices any German Dealer gets is a whooping average of 36% to 41% higher for USA and Canada Dealers.

One thing I do not understand, is that each item has a different percentage in its markup. It seems that they sell higher by what they believe it is a popular or nicer item thank those they believe are not that popular or not nicer.

Any way, this will kill almost 90% of the Dealers in USA that have no way to get merchandise from Germany, as they will not be able to compete against let's say Dealers such us [Micro Macro Mundo Inc.] and those other 3 big in USA and Canada.




We can sell (and we will) to end users LOWER than the price Walther's has set for Dealers.
Example: Our price for Marklin 36216 $ 132.81 Walther's price to Dealers $ 146.99 (Walther's offers a volume discount that can go to a maximum of 7% to Dealers based on Purchases on the previous years. Just very few have this amount. The most Dealers have just 2% to 4%. We had past year an 8% because of our larger purchases during 2007 direct from Marklin, that even with it, our buying price will be higher ($ 135.23) than our selling ($ 132.81) price if we buy from Walther's now.)

This is the same pattern they [Walther's] always had with all other products they carry such as Faller, Vollmer, Trix, Brawa, Preiser and many others, where the markup they have for Dealers is a minimum of 40% compared to the prices those same Factories sell to us Direct.

Of course, we have a factor unknown that is the exchange rate, however, all indicates that the cycle is going in our favor now and that the US Dollar will gain strength against the Euro very fast and maybe we will see soon Euros at $ 1.20 what will make even more attractive our prices.

We remain all our Customers and friends as well as SPIES that we price our products based in actual exchange rate at import time (release time for new items) and that we only make a very modest mark-up so all those that order "blind" from us get the advantage that they pay a fair price that will be set at shipping time and that can save them good bunch of money compared with those that pre-order at fix prices.

We can also have a pre-order price based in an exchange rate between a range, lets say between 1.28 and 1.33 Dollars per Euro but that will change in the same percentage that rate changes at release time if it goes over or under these rates.

We would like to have your opinion on this mater on how to price our products.

So be alert and have the eyes open to our new items for 23009 for Marklin and Trix Minitrix.

In the mean time, we demand to the new Management of Marklin GmbH to open again the Factory Direct program and have only one UNIVERSAL Price no matter what Country the Dealer might be.

We consider this measures and prices by Marklin and the Distributor to be a discrimination to all collectors on this Country as we, the Dealers, are forced to sell at higher prices than those in the rest of the World to only feed a Distributor that we do not need at all.

It is a fact now that repairs and spare parts can take several months before we get them back, that most of the new units damaged must be sent to Factory by the Tech Department of Walther's as they are unable to repair electronic boards and that is only be done every 3 month in average we were told.

We do not need this kind of service. WE can not deny that Walther's have done good progress in shipping in good conditions and protecting their packages and receiving stock from Factory faster, however, replenishing stock of regular items is an other story and they have NOTHING nor dates when they will get normal products back to stock.

This is damaging more our economics and our source of business and Marklin GmbH/Walther's must be liable for the lost of revenue of Dealers due their prices and policies.

List of Marklin New 2009 items

Click on the product number and will take you to a full page with picture and details.
You can also order if you like from there.
Orders received before March 1st. will enjoy a larger discount than anyone else ordering after that date.

Marklin 00773
Marklin 00774
Marklin 00776
Marklin 00778
Marklin 00788
Marklin 10110
Marklin 16064
Marklin 18103
Marklin 18145
Marklin 18146
Marklin 18310
Marklin 26551
Marklin 26552
Marklin 26553
Marklin 26555
Marklin 26556
Marklin 26590
Marklin 29011
Marklin 29015
Marklin 29019
Marklin 29150
Marklin 29161
Marklin 29181
Marklin 29477
Marklin 29482
Marklin 29534
Marklin 29610
Marklin 29757
Marklin 29791
Marklin 31859
Marklin 36216
Marklin 36422
Marklin 36600
Marklin 36601
Marklin 36602
Marklin 36650
Marklin 36741
Marklin 36742
Marklin 36743
Marklin 37023
Marklin 37052
Marklin 37097
Marklin 37193
Marklin 37225
Marklin 37226
Marklin 37256
Marklin 37268
Marklin 37269
Marklin 37308
Marklin 37309
Marklin 37320
Marklin 37321
Marklin 37334
Marklin 37335
Marklin 37356
Marklin 37416
Marklin 37501
Marklin 37502
Marklin 37503
Marklin 37546
Marklin 37556
Marklin 37575
Marklin 37626
Marklin 37671
Marklin 37723
Marklin 37732
Marklin 37940
Marklin 37941
Marklin 37993
Marklin 39012
Marklin 39013
Marklin 39110
Marklin 39123
Marklin 39140
Marklin 39182
Marklin 39230
Marklin 39235
Marklin 39390
Marklin 39403
Marklin 39404
Marklin 39502
Marklin 39682
Marklin 39803
Marklin 39836
Marklin 39836
Marklin 39971
Marklin 41321
Marklin 41730
Marklin 41874
Marklin 41875
Marklin 42229
Marklin 42230
Marklin 42250
Marklin 42251
Marklin 42260
Marklin 42269
Marklin 42652
Marklin 42653
Marklin 42654
Marklin 42726
Marklin 42954
Marklin 43500
Marklin 43501
Marklin 43550
Marklin 43808
Marklin 43809
Marklin 43818
Marklin 44198
Marklin 44199
Marklin 45097
Marklin 45250
Marklin 45260
Marklin 45649
Marklin 46206
Marklin 46303
Marklin 46331
Marklin 46341
Marklin 46455
Marklin 46541
Marklin 46618
Marklin 47012
Marklin 47017
Marklin 47041
Marklin 47070
Marklin 47071
Marklin 47072
Marklin 47562
Marklin 48009
Marklin 48159
Marklin 48719
Marklin 48811
Marklin 48948
Marklin 55038
Marklin 55039
Marklin 55332
Marklin 55563
Marklin 55641
Marklin 55962
Marklin 56190
Marklin 58156
Marklin 58165
Marklin 58166
Marklin 58167
Marklin 58206
Marklin 58364
Marklin 58625
Marklin 58689
Marklin 60128
Marklin 72150
Marklin 72796
Marklin 72797
Marklin 72798
Marklin 78051
Marklin 78054
Marklin 78150
Marklin 78151
Marklin 78157
Marklin 78158
Marklin 78159
Marklin 80020
Marklin 80319
Marklin 81441
Marklin 81450
Marklin 82100
Marklin 82356
Marklin 82624
Marklin 86201
Marklin 86571
Marklin 88300
Marklin 88610
Marklin 88632
Marklin 88888
Marklin 88999