Hobbico - BANKRUPT!

[niteowl7710]

So a quick spin through the paperwork shows the tattered remnants of Hobbico selling off all of the former Great Planes manufacturing properties in Urbana, IL for $557,000.

Also the only lingering issue in the Blitz Sale is Ford still acting like the girl who didn't get asked to the Prom over their licensing and payout.  Clearly they're willing to spend a great deal of money in hopes of scraping together another $35k or so out of Hobbico.  I can only assume someone is doing a - Well it's about the PRINCIPAL OF THE THING! Because at this point they're clearly spending way more than they're ever going to get out of this, even under the most favorable judgement, to continue to litigate this for over 2 months now.

The great rub in all of Ford's "drama" over this is a mention in the paperwork that Blitz isn't even going to assume the Ford licensing in the first place, so the entire thing is a non-issue. Ford promptly stuck their fingers in their ears and added more council to represent them while screaming "LALALALALALALA CAN'T HEAR YOU!!!!"

Edited May 17, 2018 by niteowl7710

[slusher]

James, could this be clue they are not going to make any muscle or American cars?

[mikemodeler]

39 minutes ago, slusher said:

James, could this be clue they are not going to make any muscle or American cars?

Carl,

Please re-read what James wrote- Ford is being difficult about getting paid some licensing fees. That's it. Blitz isn't going to assume the current licensing agreement, which could mean they want to negotiate new ones, likely with better terms.It's also possible they don't want to offer any more Ford product, but if you look at their catalog of kits (new and old), I doubt they would walk away from selling Ford kits.

Until something is announced from the company itself, speculating on what COULD happen or making blanket statements like yours only feeds the hysteria that this subject has become.

[martinfan5]

20 minutes ago, mikemodeler said:

Carl,

Please re-read what James wrote- Ford is being difficult about getting paid some licensing fees. That's it. Blitz isn't going to assume the current licensing agreement, which could mean they want to negotiate new ones, likely with better terms.It's also possible they don't want to offer any more Ford product, but if you look at their catalog of kits (new and old), I doubt they would walk away from selling Ford kits.

Until something is announced from the company itself, speculating on what COULD happen or making blanket statements like yours only feeds the hysteria that this subject has become.

They are going to be doing the Ford GT kit later this year, and even if they don't want to do new Ford kits moving forward, they still need to have Ford licensing to sell any of the current tooled up Ford kits they have.

You are correct Blitz is not assuming the current licensing agreements that was in place between Hobbico and Ford/GM, this was made clear a few months back that all new agreements would have to be done with Blitz and Ford/GM

[niteowl7710]

Bah the logic showed up entirely too early in here. I was planning for a nice evening of baseless hysteria.

The ACTUAL reason why Blitz isn't pursuing the Revell licensing is that everything is going to be run out of THE Revell now, and AG already HAS a Ford license - as evidenced by their release of the U.S. '10 Mustang GT-500 kit in a Europe box this week.

[slusher]

2 hours ago, martinfan5 said:

They are going to be doing the Ford GT kit later this year, and even if they don't want to do new Ford kits moving forward, they still need to have Ford licensing to sell any of the current tooled up Ford kits they have.

You are correct Blitz is not assuming the current licensing agreements that was in place between Hobbico and Ford/GM, this was made clear a few months back that all new agreements would have to be done with Blitz and Ford/GM

Thanks Jonathan and James.....

[mikemodeler]

In an email from Jack at Modelroundup, he mentioned that there would be a period of 90-120 days where they would not be able to get Revell kits while the new company sets up distribution. 

The big news in the last couple of months has been the change in ownership of Revell and details are still sketchy about what to expect next. We have reached out to many of our contacts in the industry, and the only thing we know for sure is that they have a new German Owner. Distributors have been told not to expect any shipments from Revell for the next 90 to 120 days. Our best guess is the company will re-emerge this Fall and inventory will begin to ship again. We will continue to update you as we hear more news. 
 

Knowing this situation with Revell was coming, we tried to stock up on whatever Revell kits we could find.  We expect their former product plans and announcements to be executed, but at this point no one seems to know anything for sure.

[Luc Janssens]

25 minutes ago, mikemodeler said:

In an email from Jack at Modelroundup, he mentioned that there would be a period of 90-120 days where they would not be able to get Revell kits while the new company sets up distribution. 

The big news in the last couple of months has been the change in ownership of Revell and details are still sketchy about what to expect next. We have reached out to many of our contacts in the industry, and the only thing we know for sure is that they have a new German Owner. Distributors have been told not to expect any shipments from Revell for the next 90 to 120 days. Our best guess is the company will re-emerge this Fall and inventory will begin to ship again. We will continue to update you as we hear more news. 
 

Knowing this situation with Revell was coming, we tried to stock up on whatever Revell kits we could find.  We expect their former product plans and announcements to be executed, but at this point no one seems to know anything for sure.

I asume it will be tough to re-gain the shelf space of Hobby Lobby and the like, once the current stock evaporates....

Edited May 19, 2018 by Luc Janssens

[Bernard Kron]

My own impression is that the new owners and their management (who are the old Revell Germany management team) are proceeding slowly through the process of forming their new business. If I had to speculate it would be that they are only now beginning to get an impression of what the USA-based operation (which they shut down) involved. They are hearing from dealers and distributors and doubtless interpreting the input they are receiving in terms of past sales performance. The default position seems to be to run the business at the higher German price points and see the impact on sales and profitability.

For the moment the USA catalog is entirely MIA. A visit to the Revell Germany website shows a drastically smaller, far less auto-centric, catalog than the USA operation. For now this appears to be the only stable representation of New Revell offerings. Thus they will have to decide whether to ramp up a USA-style product line, and, if so, to what degree and based on what input. At the very least they have warehouse inventory and product contracted for and in transit that must be sold. The USA side was very active in recent years issuing new subjects and key re-issues, so the USA-based market will have developed some expectations in this regard, and can be expected to make these expectations known. But it would appear that dealers and distributors have not been told to expect a rapid or even seamless transition. In the meantime, for Round 2, this provides an important competitive advantage as they will, for a time, dominate dealer and distributor shelves. A visit to Hobby Lobby, for example, shows that automobile subjects are easily 3/4s of the plastic model and die cast shelf space, dominated by US-style subjects. In North America, at least, this is the reality that the New Revell has to deal with. At this point New Revell is beginning to appear as an unreliable supplier, which, in business terms, can be deadly. So the New Revell has some decisions to make as they head into the fall buying  season. I'm guessing they will rapidly realize that, tactically, these decisions need to be made sooner rather than later.

[Luc Janssens]

2 hours ago, Bernard Kron said:

My own impression is that the new owners and their management (who are the old Revell Germany management team) are proceeding slowly through the process of forming their new business. If I had to speculate it would be that they are only now beginning to get an impression of what the USA-based operation (which they shut down) involved. They are hearing from dealers and distributors and doubtless interpreting the input they are receiving in terms of past sales performance. The default position seems to be to run the business at the higher German price points and see the impact on sales and profitability.

For the moment the USA catalog is entirely MIA. A visit to the Revell Germany website shows a drastically smaller, far less auto-centric, catalog than the USA operation. For now this appears to be the only stable representation of New Revell offerings. Thus they will have to decide whether to ramp up a USA-style product line, and, if so, to what degree and based on what input. At the very least they have warehouse inventory and product contracted for and in transit that must be sold. The USA side was very active in recent years issuing new subjects and key re-issues, so the USA-based market will have developed some expectations in this regard, and can be expected to make these expectations known. But it would appear that dealers and distributors have not been told to expect a rapid or even seamless transition. In the meantime, for Round 2, this provides an important competitive advantage as they will, for a time, dominate dealer and distributor shelves. A visit to Hobby Lobby, for example, shows that automobile subjects are easily 3/4s of the plastic model and die cast shelf space, dominated by US-style subjects. In North America, at least, this is the reality that the New Revell has to deal with. At this point New Revell is beginning to appear as an unreliable supplier, which, in business terms, can be deadly. So the New Revell has some decisions to make as they head into the fall buying  season. I'm guessing they will rapidly realize that, tactically, these decisions need to be made sooner rather than later.

For a couple of years I had an open email line with the R&D guy from Revell Germany, his name Ulli Taubert, but IIRC shortly after Hobbico purchased them, he and several others left or retired, the new crew as far as I know is also the current, so no change in their bussiness plan, though I do see that there's a 2-5 euro price increase, on new released kits in their car model kit lineup.

[mikemodeler]

4 hours ago, Bernard Kron said:

My own impression is that the new owners and their management (who are the old Revell Germany management team) are proceeding slowly through the process of forming their new business. If I had to speculate it would be that they are only now beginning to get an impression of what the USA-based operation (which they shut down) involved. They are hearing from dealers and distributors and doubtless interpreting the input they are receiving in terms of past sales performance. The default position seems to be to run the business at the higher German price points and see the impact on sales and profitability.

For the moment the USA catalog is entirely MIA. A visit to the Revell Germany website shows a drastically smaller, far less auto-centric, catalog than the USA operation. For now this appears to be the only stable representation of New Revell offerings. Thus they will have to decide whether to ramp up a USA-style product line, and, if so, to what degree and based on what input. At the very least they have warehouse inventory and product contracted for and in transit that must be sold. The USA side was very active in recent years issuing new subjects and key re-issues, so the USA-based market will have developed some expectations in this regard, and can be expected to make these expectations known. But it would appear that dealers and distributors have not been told to expect a rapid or even seamless transition. In the meantime, for Round 2, this provides an important competitive advantage as they will, for a time, dominate dealer and distributor shelves. A visit to Hobby Lobby, for example, shows that automobile subjects are easily 3/4s of the plastic model and die cast shelf space, dominated by US-style subjects. In North America, at least, this is the reality that the New Revell has to deal with. At this point New Revell is beginning to appear as an unreliable supplier, which, in business terms, can be deadly. So the New Revell has some decisions to make as they head into the fall buying  season. I'm guessing they will rapidly realize that, tactically, these decisions need to be made sooner rather than later.

All speculation and personal opinion that does nothing but stir up more speculation and doom and gloom predictions about "What might happen". 

 

I think we would all be better served waiting for something official from the new company or information from people with actual knowledge rather than ramble on and on with little to no information to base it on.

[mikemodeler]

5 hours ago, Luc Janssens said:

I asume it will be tough to re-gain the shelf space of Hobby Lobby and the like, once the current stock evaporates....

Well, that depends. I would tend to agree with you but there could have been talks going on we weren't privy to that would keep that space open.

Rumor has it that there is some Revell inventory left over from Hobbico and I would think it would be offered up to those who were Hobbico customers rather than send it off to a distress merchandise buyer (can you say Ollie's) at a fraction of the original selling price.

Best we can do at this point is sit back and wait to see what develops. While the new company bought Revell for a steal, if they are in it to make money they will want to have the likes of HL as a customer, probably the only reliable brick and mortar customer they have. 

[Bernard Kron]

22 minutes ago, mikemodeler said:

All speculation and personal opinion that does nothing but stir up more speculation and doom and gloom predictions about "What might happen". 

 

I think we would all be better served waiting for something official from the new company or information from people with actual knowledge rather than ramble on and on with little to no information to base it on.

My "speculation" as you call it is merely a summary of where stand as of now. Model Round Up has a business to run and is updating their customers on how they see their relationship with Revell in the next few months. In that sense they are "people with actual knowledge", which they are sharing with us. Their update is useful in gaining a perspective on where we stand on what until recently was an important supplier to our hobby on the North American side of things (Revell USA and New Revell going forward). As to whether any of us as individuals can effect events, in the final analysis we are the market and what the New Revell's dealers and distributors tell Revell will ultimately reflect their realities as businesses and how they serve us. What Model Roundup has told its customers reflects what they are telling their distributors and suppliers - ultimately New Revell. It's this that New Revell must digest and use to determine their way forward. The decisions are theirs, not ours, but at the end of the day we are their customers.

Edited May 19, 2018 by Bernard Kron

[Tom Geiger]

5 hours ago, Luc Janssens said:

I asume it will be tough to re-gain the shelf space of Hobby Lobby and the like, once the current stock evaporates....

I was at Hobby Lobby today... shelves full of RM kits like nothing ever happened.

Before NNL East there were rumors that there would be a big run on their kits at the show. One dealer even wanted an extra table to sell them.  No gold rush.

[Luc Janssens]

6 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

I was at Hobby Lobby today... shelves full of RM kits like nothing ever happened.

Before NNL East there were rumors that there would be a big run on their kits at the show. One dealer even wanted an extra table to sell them.  No gold rush.

Maybe they had good intel and stocked up

 

[SfanGoch]

Sooooo..............after over 600 comments.................

 

 

Nobody still knows nuthin'.

 

Oy, such yentas we have!  

 

[Luc Janssens]

48 minutes ago, SfanGoch said:

Sooooo..............after over 600 comments.................

 

 

Nobody still knows nuthin'.

 

Oy, such yentas we have!  

 

Just concerned modelers/hoarders/collectors

[SfanGoch]

There might be some mighty disappointed folks if the new owners don' make any changes and maintain the status quo. There won't be anything worthy of nitpicking and second guessing about.

[mikemodeler]

14 hours ago, SfanGoch said:

Sooooo..............after over 600 comments.................

 

 

Nobody still knows nuthin'.

 

Oy, such yentas we have!  

 

Oh so true, but that won't let a few "all knowing" individuals from speculating and yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater, even after being called out on it. 

 

The reality of all of this is that most of us have enough kits to build without buying more and for those that don't have a large stash, there are a TON of models still in circulation that they could buy. 

[mikemodeler]

13 hours ago, SfanGoch said:

There might be some mighty disappointed folks if the new owners don' make any changes and maintain the status quo. There won't be anything worthy of nitpicking and second guessing about.

NAILED IT!

[Psychographic]

20 hours ago, SfanGoch said:

There might be some mighty disappointed folks if the new owners don' make any changes and maintain the status quo. There won't be anything worthy of nitpicking and second guessing about.

This is the MCM forum, I have faith someone will find something!

[Force]

I just got an email from Jack at Model Roundup.
According to what he wrote the distributors have been told not to expect any shipment from Revell for the next 90-120 days...so we will most likley not see anything from Revell until this fall.

Edited May 20, 2018 by Force

[Daddyfink]

Just read this... 

 

HOBBICO, WHICH OWNS REVELL filed for bankruptcy early in 2018. So what is happening with the Hobbico plastic kit brands?


Mat Irvine: The brands are primarily Revell, but also Monogram and Renwal. The current state of play has been somewhat up in the air, especially as Hobbico itself was acquired by original rival Horizon in the US. But the sale did not include Revell.

Revell-Germany which was still running, in effect independently, has since been acquired by the German investment group Quantum Capital Partners (QCP) under the sub-division Blitz. This is based near Munich, and has also bought Hobbico Germany. 

This was approved by the US bankruptcy court dealing with Hobbico, on – ironically – Friday, April 13. The sale price was around $4 million, which is not that great a sum for what is still the world’s largest model kit company.

Since then things have been somewhat up in the air. Revell-Germany appears secure, and does not appear to have suffered any layoffs. However, the sale did not include Revell-Monogram as a whole, though the deal did include the names and tooling. The American base for R-M in Elk Grove, Illinois, has already vastly reduced its staff  to just one – presumably the janitor. At its height in the 1980s, the previous Morton Grove plant had a staff of 300, and what will finally happen is unknown.

As far as kit production goes, much went through Revell-Germany anyway. What wasn’t made in China, R-G has moved to Poland, and some recent R-M releases have been tooled in Poland. What is more of a problem for modellers is what will happen to new kits of American subjects. In reality, military aircraft, AFVs, airliners and ships will probably be continued by R-G, especially as most are fairly international. It will be more down to what happens to new kits of American cars. R-G already caters for European-based automobiles, such as Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Volkswagen, Audi, McLaren and Jaguar. But Ford, Chevrolet or Chrysler? As yet, we don’t know.

There is also the question of what will happen to the US base. But the issue is not a new one. When the French company Joustra took over Revell in the 1980s, the HQ was moved to Europe. In the end, Joustra opted for West Germany as the operating base. Revell GB closed, and re-emerged as Revell-Germany UK branch, in which form it still runs today. Personally, I could see much the same happening with Revell-Monogram. Don’t be surprised if we end up with Revell-Germany US branch.

But, to paraphrase LP Hartley’s line from The Go-Between: “The future is a foreign country; they do things differently there.”

Keep watching…

http://www.scalemodelnews.com/2018/06/hobbico-and-revell-whats-happening-now.html#more

 

[Len Woodruff]

Thanks for the update Jesse.

[niteowl7710]

What update? Was that an update? That's a restatement of facts that have been known for 2 months. 

New facts - albeit not Revell related - would be Hobbico's Debtor in Possession people settled with Traxxas in regards to the copyright infringement issues for $10.5 million.

Edited June 20, 2018 by niteowl7710