vintagerpm Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 6 hours ago, iBorg said: MRC (Model Rectifier) - $11,454.09-what do they sell now? Academy, Gallery Model, and Atomic-City, along with prebuilt & diecast models, and a ton of model railroad stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Handley Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 Well, this is interesting?! https://www.bigsquidrc.com/horizon-hobby-files-bid-to-buy-hobbico/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niteowl7710 Posted March 24, 2018 Author Share Posted March 24, 2018 36 minutes ago, Joe Handley said: Well, this is interesting?! https://www.bigsquidrc.com/horizon-hobby-files-bid-to-buy-hobbico/ I've read the filing it's for the Hobbico name, Tower, Great Planes & the R/C companies. It does NOT include Revell. Nor Estes which is being sold for $6 million back to...Estes the original company, or some semblance thereof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinfan5 Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 (edited) So there are some interested buyers , the company's investment banker reached out to 432 potentially interested parties , 184 entered into confidentiality agreements. Edited March 24, 2018 by martinfan5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niteowl7710 Posted March 24, 2018 Author Share Posted March 24, 2018 (edited) 33 minutes ago, martinfan5 said: So there are some interested buyers , the company's investment banker reached out to 432 potentially interested parties , 184 entered into confidentiality agreements. If you dig behind that generic statement that was in the paper it was specifically referencing trying to secure a "Stalking Horse" agreement for the purchase of Estes-Cox. Which seems to be being bid on by some formulation of the current employees as the agreement references "Estes Industries" which is the oldie time name of the company when it was founded before being sold a bunch of time and then buying Cox Airplanes (which got the name change to the current Estes-Cox) and was sold to Hobbico in 2010. Edited March 24, 2018 by niteowl7710 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Handley Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 8 hours ago, niteowl7710 said: I've read the filing it's for the Hobbico name, Tower, Great Planes & the R/C companies. It does NOT include Revell. Nor Estes which is being sold for $6 million back to...Estes the original company, or some semblance thereof. I've heard that there was supposed to be an Estes buy back of sorts and that Revell had an interested party that would be good for them (hobbiests, not bean counters), but I thought that Horizon looking into what's left was quite interesting. From what I understand, Horizon was founded by ex Hobbico employees that weren't happy with them?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinfan5 Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 13 hours ago, niteowl7710 said: If you dig behind that generic statement that was in the paper it was specifically referencing trying to secure a "Stalking Horse" agreement for the purchase of Estes-Cox. Which seems to be being bid on by some formulation of the current employees as the agreement references "Estes Industries" which is the oldie time name of the company when it was founded before being sold a bunch of time and then buying Cox Airplanes (which got the name change to the current Estes-Cox) and was sold to Hobbico in 2010. So that is strictly for that Estes, the Staking horse was mentioned but Estes was left out where I read it at. Moving on then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinfan5 Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 (edited) 10 hours ago, Joe Handley said: I've heard that there was supposed to be an Estes buy back of sorts and that Revell had an interested party that would be good for them (hobbiests, not bean counters), but I thought that Horizon looking into what's left was quite interesting. From what I understand, Horizon was founded by ex Hobbico employees that weren't happy with them?! It fits for Hozion not wanting Revell/AG Edited March 24, 2018 by martinfan5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemodeler Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 I bought my Mega Million ticket, I think if I win the $468 million, I should have enough to buy Revell! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SfanGoch Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 That might be enough to have the winning bid for a Johan kit on eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Van Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 Those that know say it will work out well for the hobby....but no one is willing to say what/why yet.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niteowl7710 Posted March 25, 2018 Author Share Posted March 25, 2018 13 hours ago, Joe Handley said: I've heard that there was supposed to be an Estes buy back of sorts and that Revell had an interested party that would be good for them (hobbiests, not bean counters), but I thought that Horizon looking into what's left was quite interesting. From what I understand, Horizon was founded by ex Hobbico employees that weren't happy with them?! Or people who were unhappy with the merger of Tower & Great Planes anyways, since Horizon was founded in 1985, the same year as the merger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Handley Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 55 minutes ago, niteowl7710 said: Or people who were unhappy with the merger of Tower & Great Planes anyways, since Horizon was founded in 1985, the same year as the merger. Probably one and the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemodeler Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 11 hours ago, Dave Van said: Those that know say it will work out well for the hobby....but no one is willing to say what/why yet.... Well, sounds promising, any hints Dave? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Van Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 1 minute ago, mikemodeler said: Well, sounds promising, any hints Dave? I really have no info myself......but I trust those that told me it will work out OK. ??? My guess? Really reaching here......but $10M in biz world is not much....maybe a employee led group buying it??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fumi Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 On 3/23/2018 at 10:06 AM, horsepower said: I haven't read every post in the thread, but the ones I have read haven't touched on a problem I have worried about. I really hope that one of their larger debts isn't owed to one of the molding companies in China, they have a record of seizing assets of companies that owe them money, and in at least one case the debt was in some doubt but they went forward with seizing all the tooling of a major diecast collectible company from the U.S. and refusing to deal with that company from that point forward and the result was that one of the better automotive diecast collectible companies was put out of the automotive part of their business and as I have seen the tooling sits in a Chinese warehouse rusting away and haven't been used since the disagreement that ended production. Is there any concrete proof that "Chicom" seized Danbury's molds other than some very vague statements in mailing lists and rumours on Internet forums? Danbury's official statement was that the 2 factories that cast their car had closed and the diecast car business had become too unprofitable for them to continue. On 3/23/2018 at 10:37 PM, Dave Van said: Anything created in China is a issue. Not a China hater but if you read up on their policies around items made there (molds) it is very scary. Frankly, "Chicom" does not want your molds. It has no business in the plastic molding industries. None of the 100 state run businesses have anything to do with plastic model kit production. But if some foreign companies contract with a local company to mold several runs of plastic kits then fails to pay the fees afterwards, wouldn't impounding the mold be the local company's only recourse? They cannot pay their workers with model kits and they certainly cannot eat plastic sprues for dinner. I have worked for non-hobby related companies that contract out manufacturing to China. Many hobby companies also do that. I have never heard anyone else had such issues with "Chicom". The Japanese guy who stations in China for Interallied (parent company of Modelers and Hi-Story) continuously writes about the difficulties of retaining workers by their contractors in the Japanese "Model Cars" magazine, but they never had their molds confiscated. On 3/22/2018 at 12:52 PM, niteowl7710 said: There was only one filing, from FoMoCo objecting to the automatic transfer of their licensing with any sale of Revell. They also objected to the amount Revell was stating the owed them - which Revell put at just over $69k. Ford said it's more like $118k and occurring late fees and licensing obligations ongoing. They did state that they would be willing to negotiate new licensing deals with whomever winds up with Revell post-sale. So is this the real reason those Model A Fords mysterious disappeared from the catalog a while ago? Yet those claimed to be in the know have kept their mouth shut all along and let the "Chicom chopped up the molds" rumours run wild. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High octane Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 A lot of this is just hearsay and we may never hear the real truth. Those of you with hundreds or even thousands of kits may just have to start building some of them, and those with a fewer amount of kits, I wouldn't be to worried either. The sky is NOT falling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 I'm not worried. I have more than enough Revell and Monogram kits in my stash, and the Japanese 4 keep putting out interesting kits, Round 2 keeps churning out reissues, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Van Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 4 hours ago, fumi said: I have worked for non-hobby related companies that contract out manufacturing to China. Many hobby companies also do that. I have never heard anyone else had such issues with "Chicom". The Japanese guy who stations in China for Interallied (parent company of Modelers and Hi-Story) continuously writes about the difficulties of retaining workers by their contractors in the Japanese "Model Cars" magazine, but they never had their molds confiscated. A analyst on the Sunday morning news shows talked a good bit about how China operates with forgiven investors. Just by chance the analyst reminded the panel that tooling made in China is 51% owned by the Chinese government. It can become a issue very fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High octane Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 4 minutes ago, Dave Van said: A analyst on the Sunday morning news shows talked a good bit about how China operates with forgiven investors. Just by chance the analyst reminded the panel that tooling made in China is 51% owned by the Chinese government. It can become a issue very fast. In this day and age we really CAN'T believe everything that is said on TV, radio, or written in newspapers and that is a "given." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Van Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 2 hours ago, High octane said: In this day and age we really CAN'T believe everything that is said on TV, radio, or written in newspapers and that is a "given." I'd agree for sure if it was politics....but this comes from many different sources and business journals.....it ain't rumor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SfanGoch Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 Believe this: China's economic system is a socialist market economy, a model which is based on a predominant state-owned sector within an open market economy. That means the state maintains control of everything. The government can seize private businesses as it deems necessary; and, it does. Communism is identical to how divorce lawyers and the Mafia operate - "What's mine is mine, what's yours is mine." Don't ever doubt that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Van Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 35 minutes ago, SfanGoch said: Believe this: China's economic system is a socialist market economy, a model which is based on a predominant state-owned sector within an open market economy. That means the state maintains control of everything. The government can seize private businesses as it deems necessary; and, it does. Communism is identical to how divorce lawyers and the Mafia operate - "What's mine is mine, what's yours is mine." Don't ever doubt that. BINGGO! Why else are there a number of companies that 'work to recover your tooling and molds'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niteowl7710 Posted March 26, 2018 Author Share Posted March 26, 2018 8 hours ago, fumi said: So is this the real reason those Model A Fords mysterious disappeared from the catalog a while ago? Yet those claimed to be in the know have kept their mouth shut all along and let the "Chicom chopped up the molds" rumours run wild. No that only relates to the current situation of Revell being sold to new ownership. They don't want their licensing to be transferred without creating a new deal with the new ownership, plus they want all the money Revell owes them since nobody at Hobbico has paid any bills since 2017. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niteowl7710 Posted March 26, 2018 Author Share Posted March 26, 2018 7 hours ago, High octane said: A lot of this is just hearsay and we may never hear the real truth. Those of you with hundreds or even thousands of kits may just have to start building some of them, and those with a fewer amount of kits, I wouldn't be to worried either. The sky is NOT falling. Other than people playing the "Big Scary China Is Gonna Get Ya" game, none of the rest of this is hearsay, it's well documented facts in 393 pieces of court filings running into the tens of thousands of pages that anyone with access and a pdf viewer can read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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