Apparently Model Power/Mantua was purchased by Lionel


N

NP2626

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I have seen this information at another Forum and it appears to be the truth. I would hope this would mean an increase in the quality of Model Power Products, although I have always felt Mantua stuff to be O.K. Any one else have any information on what has transpired?

Oh, forgot to mention that they where purchased by Lionel.
 
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I also read/heard that. But I know nothing else about it. I always liked the Model Power E unit chassis. I've used that for many projects. Other than that I agree, Model Power had been one of the "toy train" brands to avoid.
 
I guess that other than Iron Horseman and I, this news doesn't carry much weight!
 
It's pretty much news on the order of Chrysler buying a defunct wagon wheel manufacturer.
 
bnsf971 said:
It's pretty much news on the order of Chrysler buying a defunct wagon wheel manufacturer.
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Agreed, just hoping Lionel will upgrade some of the stuff made by the companies it purchased.
 
Never bought much from Model Power, other than a few shake the box kits. Never bought any Mantua, as their steam wasn't even close to anything I model, but I understand their steam was good basic stuff for bashers.
 
bnsf971 said:
It's pretty much news on the order of Chrysler buying a defunct wagon wheel manufacturer.
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Chrysler is the defunct wagon wheel manufacturer. :rolleyes:

Iron Horseman said:
I also read/heard that. But I know nothing else about it. I always liked the Model Power E unit chassis. I've used that for many projects. Other than that I agree, Model Power had been one of the "toy train" brands to avoid.
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As you recall, Model Power's E7 and E8 renditions were Roco powered and the state of the art E unit during the late 70s. Yes there were flaws with the models but...Unfortunately, most other Model Power stuff made TYCO and Life Like look good. :rolleyes:

NP2626 said:
Agreed, just hoping Lionel will upgrade some of the stuff made by the companies it purchased.
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Interesting that MRC flipped the lines so quickly. The former Mantua product line has potential, if the tooling were upgraded, but the other stuff...
I'm inclined to believe that Lionel is reading another attempt at the HO market. We will see how this goes. Actually, time has long past when some of these legacy products were put out to pasture.

Boris
 
I don't have a single Model Power Item on my layout. I've had some and agree with Iron Horseman that the Model Power brand was a brand to avoid. My very first HO set was a Tyco set, which of course was Mantua. When I started building my current layout, I bought a Mantua 0-4-0 Camel Back as my first kit built locomotive, it ran great; but, since the Northern Pacific never had any Camel Backs, the loco didn't fit my plans for the layout, so I sold it on Ebay. I do have several Mantua kit built freight cars. They are O.K.; but somewhat rough around the edges, scale wise. I did have to replace their trucks, as I could not fit metal wheel-sets to them. I would like to eventually have a Mantua 2-6-6-2. I purchased one a couple years ago; but, it shorted out via the side rods and the sound was terrible, returned it to M.B. Klein for replacement and the second one had the same problems. So I asked for my money back.
 
While Model Power's rolling stock was pretty much junk, they did have a number of nice structure kits. Never bought anything from Mantua.
Boris said:
I'm inclined to believe that Lionel is reading another attempt at the HO market.
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I agree that this might be the motive.
 
I have exactly two pieces of Model Power rolling stock, and that because I got them cheap. A Santa Fe EV cupola caboose, and a BNSF ballast hopper. They were both the newer "metal" cars, have decent detail, and are die cast with metal wheels and knuckle body mount couplers. If I had paid more than $2 each for them, I probably wouldn't have gotten them, but they were a good value for the price.
 
I forgot that I have a few Model Power building kits. None of which where Model Power designs and actually kits manufactured by someone else and Model Power bought the tooling for.
 
Mantua made some decent stuff, although primitive by today's standards. With tweaking, It ran relatively well. The Mantua and GP 20 ran very well with their twin motors. The locomotive bodies were closer to scale compared to the Athearn BB engines, but the wide openings on the ends to accommodate the truck mounted couplers ruined the scale body. By the late 70s, there were other manufacturers which offered better products right out of the box. When Mantua went under, Model Power picked up the product line, which didn't help their financials.

FWIW: I really don't see a benefit to Lionel buying this dated product line.

Boris
 
I've got a few Model Power and Mantua items. Hopefully this will mean some stability to the brands and possibly an improvement in quality. I bought a Mallet last year at a decent price and it seems ok.
 
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