N-scalers have reason to be a bit apprehensive over the idea that there is a management change at Athearn... similar buy-outs and take overs have not proven to be as good for the hobby as was hoped and wrongly alluded too and the idea of the "red-headed step child" syndrome has grown with good reason. Both Athearn and Model Die Casting have shown that such changes in management, even if some of the folks who were already in positions of authority moved up the Chain of Command, didn't translate to better things happening... at least no where near the level that "we" had hoped for. Yet there are glimmers of hope that still could encourage us... the recent announcement by Hornby to bring about the GE U25C in N and hints (at least... though this has occurred in the past as well with no results) that the Rivarossi/Arnold heavyweights would return with improvements and new offerings that might yet bring even more greatly desired passenger car models to the market should brighten the outlook at least a little. Hopefully the changes at Horizon Hobbies will yield some good for N-scale... only time will tell... but at the least I believe we have reason to be optimistic that we will continue to see our segment of the hobby grow, with or without Athearn being a big part of it. Too many other folks are working to make things better and it will be from these folks we will see bigger and brighter days in the time yet to come.
I'm not sure how much of horizon's business is made up by trains, not a huge amount I suspect. Horizon makes most of their money in the RC airplane and some in the car world. But aircraft are their bread and butter. Also do not forget that they make and sell their very own brand of RC equipment, Spektrum. They recently parted ways with JR, although will continue to do JR service for a time. There has been some staff trimming done as well which I suspect was part of making them a more attractive package to the investor groups.
YEP... know about this scenario... and it doesn't have to be caused by an investment group buy-out. What I think could happen here is actually interesting. Since Horizon is more geared toward the R/C market and makes the majority of its profit in that field, there is a likelihood that the CEO has noticed areas that should be 'trimmed' to better focus the company's profits and minimize losses. If the N scale trains segment is not 'pulling its weight', the board of directors could sell-off the N scale division to another importer or manufacturer (Walthers... or Kader-Bachmann). I'd hate to see that happen if it is Walthers... just thinking about what happened with LifeLike products. If the buyer would be Kader-Bachmann... perhaps things could actually get better.
As a red head who has lost his color, I resemble and both resent the implication used earlier. However, appropriate it describes how some of us feel. Me included. Anyway, I just hope those sour pussed brunette's and dumb blondes fully realize what is happening here. Athearn, sold...AGIAN? No sticktuitivness (yep, just try spelling that). T h a t !
Whoa... I didn't even know about this. Athearn / Horizon doesn't seem to have any issue doing ME TOOs. Witness the bay window caboose-- rug pulled out from under MTL (not debating the relative quality of either here). I guess business is business. I also know they're not the only ones.
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men. The Shadow Knows ahhhhaaaaha. I really don't have much by Athearn itself, just one locomotive. I have some cars that go back to the before everything came under one roof era like some Roundhouse and a few MDC. So no big impact on me unless they decided to start producing stuff that hasn't been seen for a few years now. First decals getting scarce, paint going away, detail parts companies drying up. So I guess I will get a bag of popcorn and pull up the chair to the old radio set and see how Lamont Cranston get us out of this one.
It was announced late last month. To stay "in the loop", you can sign up for Athearn's email newsletters: http://www.athearn.com/About/Subscription.aspx They only send news out about once a week, so your inbox won't be inundated.
And.... if you subscribe ONLY for Athearn N scale product releases... then you'll see an email every third blue moon on a leap year.
Yeah... that sounds about right and would fit perfectly with the way many Investment Bankers would book their business deals too; using GUAP... Generally Unaccepted Accounting Practice.
Not sure what the OTR is since I am actually geezing back to the original radio show I used to listen too on one of those big floor model Radios.
I hope that all of the Athearn employees and Horizons employees are all retained and just make some modifications to their business model. I have always been baffled at their practice of not selling to internet shops (and so have the folks at Athearn). I hope it all works out and they evolve into the 21st century now. I worked for USWest when it was bought out by Qwest and the first thing the CEO did was buy a bigger Jet and steal 150 million dollars from the company and drive our stock from $95.00 a share to less than $1.00 a share and literally crippled the phone company. We shall see. Mike
Hi Folks. I live in (well, near) Champaign, IL where Horizon Hobbies is headquartered. I think you should all take a deep breath. My understanding is that this "sale" is really nothing more than the current owner essentially retiring and turning the business over to the current management group at Horizon. It will be owned by the same people who are running it today, and I find it hard to believe that will lead to any major changes in management strategy (whether you believe that's good or bad). Of course, good businesses evolve constantly. Change may come to Horizon, but it almost certainly won't be the direct result of this particular transaction. John C.
OTR = Old Time Radio. I listen occasionally too. There are a bunch of shows available for download on the Internet Archive ( archive.org ). There's also a SiriusXM radio channel (satellite and streaming). Back on topic, if this is just a transfer of sorts versus a true Venture Capitalist buyout, yes, I'd feel more comfortable. Not sure it would change the frequency of N Scale release announcements (other than to trump product already done by someone else).
Hopefully this d!psh!t was prosecuted and got what he deserved. I hate it when CEOs rape and pillage from a company and get away with it and WE are left footing the bill by the company increasing our rates to offset the cost of the losses.
