Hobbico - BANKRUPT!

[mikemodeler]

better switch all of my old Revell kits on eBay to "Buy It Now" before some unsuspecting buyer hears that Revell is going to be around for a while longer!

 

This is good news so far for our hobby, it will be interesting to see what the future holds.

[aurfalien]

18 minutes ago, mikemodeler said:

better switch all of my old Revell kits on eBay to "Buy It Now" before some unsuspecting buyer hears that Revell is going to be around for a while longer!

 

This is good news so far for our hobby, it will be interesting to see what the future holds.

Hi,

Do you feel that the 16' Ford GT LM release may be further delayed due to potential license renegotiation?  In addition to whatever delays in bankruptcy and ownership changes may/will have caused of course.

 

[Dave Van]

Worried here ......the unknown......

[gasman]

 Curious too see if Revell still shows up at NNL east. They are listed as a vendor. If they do I hope we can get a lot of questions answered. 

[martinfan5]

12 minutes ago, gasman said:

 Curious too see if Revell still shows up at NNL east. They are listed as a vendor. If they do I hope we can get a lot of questions answered. 

As of this moment, I am going to say no,  as of 5pm, on 4/13/2018, Revell US was closed down , there is no more Revell USA.

It will be interesting to see what happens with vendor spot they have.

Edited April 13, 2018 by martinfan5

[peter31a]

Apparently Friday the 13th was a bad omen! ?Sad for the Revell USA employees . Terminated with no notice so it would seem.

[Zoom Zoom]

25 minutes ago, martinfan5 said:

As of this moment, I am going to say no,  as of 5pm, on 4/13/2018, Revell US was closed down , there is no more Revell USA.

It will be interesting to see what happens with vendor spot they have.

Ed Sexton may go on his own and sell some of his own models. He's very much into sports/racing cars and has been known to vend at some shows outside of being a Revell employee. 

[martinfan5]

15 minutes ago, Zoom Zoom said:

Ed Sexton may go on his own and sell some of his own models. He's very much into sports/racing cars and has been known to vend at some shows outside of being a Revell employee. 

That is cool, did not know that.

[slusher]

The buyer of Revell would buy it to produce models? What would change is the headquarters and maybe some models they produce?  I wish Round2 would have bought Revell...

[tbill]

Look at the bright side, think of all the stuff round2 has kicked out the last few years, stuff we never thought we’d see again, I predict the same for this transaction, new owners are gonna roll out some cool stuff to recoup investment, possibly another golden age for us geezers, lol

[Roncla]

I just hope these new owners aren't asset strippers.

[Dave Van]

13 minutes ago, Roncla said:

I just hope these new owners aren't asset strippers.

Like what happened to Chrysler..........

I lost a model buddy of 36 years Monday.....now we loose Revell a 'buddy' for more than 50 years. Glad I have so many kits in the stash. 

[Jonathan]

Chrysler, Sears, K-Mart, etc.

While I hope for the best ....

 

[carcrazy19]

I'm not sure if I understand what is going on. I thought the auction was for a company to buy REVELL USA and have it continue to stay in business. Now they are shut down? Can someone  explain to me if REVELL is to continue on and has been shut down until the transition is complete or did it just get liquidated and is gone. I hope not the latter.

Edited April 14, 2018 by carcrazy19

[Richard Bartrop]

If I understand this right, Revell USA is gone, but Revell Germany is still going? Are we talking amalgamation?

[Tom Geiger]

Looking at the buyer of Revell, they seem to own a fair number of small companies in different venues,  from cardboard box manufacturers to high tech companies.  It would seem that they have purchased a business with intent of allowing it to continue and make them money.

[niteowl7710]

My viewpoint would be - concerned until further clarity in May. I mean if I showed up and bought your workplaces' inventory, domain name, trademarks, contracts, licenses and the building you were inside of, you wouldn't have a job at the original company anymore. You would  (as all the Hobbico R/C and Mail Order employees did with Horizon) have to apply to the new company.

The new company in this case might not exist fully until after the sale completes on 5/8. I can't see any reason to assume the lease on the EGV building if they don't plan to do something with it in the future. 

I've been downsized before, so I'm empathetic with the employees from Revell, but at the same time the flaming dumpster fire that is what's left of the bankruptcy assets - I don't think you can call it Hobbico in a technical sense since Horizon bought that name - can't keep them employed at a place that in it's present "in-between stasis" doesn't technically exist anymore.

Edited April 14, 2018 by niteowl7710

[Spex84]

5 hours ago, martinfan5 said:

as of 5pm, on 4/13/2018, Revell US was closed down , there is no more Revell USA.

Could you share the source of this information, Jonathan? I don't want to believe it

[martinfan5]

2 minutes ago, Spex84 said:

Could you share the source of this information, Jonathan? I don't want to believe it

Please take my word for it for the time being.

Edited April 14, 2018 by martinfan5

[Luc Janssens]

6 hours ago, Dave Van said:

Like what happened to Chrysler..........

Sorry Dave as much as I value you.... that line is getting old, sure the Daimler-Chrysler deal went sour, but it's not fair asuming that every time Germans are involved, things will go south.

Also US companies didn't bid (enough) so American business isn't interested in model kits, remember when Ertl, to dress-up the figures, prior to the sale to RC2 (or whatever they called themselves) aborted the whole model kit division?, not nice of those fellow countrymen, no?

I'm going with James here, give them some time to sort everything out....

Edited April 14, 2018 by Luc Janssens

[Dave Van]

4 hours ago, Luc Janssens said:

Sorry Dave as much as I value you.... that line is getting old, sure the Daimler-Chrysler deal went sour, but it's not fair asuming that every time Germans are involved, things will go south.

Also US companies didn't bid (enough) so American business isn't interested in model kits, remember when Ertl, to dress-up the figures, prior to the sale to RC2 (or whatever they called themselves) aborted the whole model kit division?, not nice of those fellow countrymen, no?

I'm going with James here, give them some time to sort everything out....

I was actually referring to Cerberus Capital Management era........I didn't even think I needed to sepcicfy...my error.

MB was at best only fair in it's running of Chrysler, Fiat not much better......showing how companies, all 3 above, do not know how to run a company and make it successful here. Watch....the Fiat and Alfa brands will be gone again in a few years from the USA. 

I agree....I felt Revell was a deal at $10M. The bank analyst in me would have given the thumbs up if 'Due Diligence' came out as the courts stated. But a small company like Revell that is  a niche manufacture and with other ways to make big money faster here....no one bit.

From a personal side after working with Revell since 1985 I doubt I will ever get to again. Only thing sadder is all the friends that found out they didn't have jobs at lunch on Friday the 13th. 

Final note. Being raised and surrounded by people that served in WWII in Europe for the duration and longer (why my wife is a French citizen) I have a good personal 2nd hand accounting on the past history of Europe. That was many years ago....things change...but let's not wash away the past as is the fashion for many. thx

[Luc Janssens]

10 minutes ago, Dave Van said:

 

Final note. Being raised and surrounded by people that served in WWII in Europe for the duration and longer (why my wife is a French citizen) I have a good personal 2nd hand accounting on the past history of Europe. That was many years ago....things change...but let's not wash away the past as is the fashion for many. thx

I fully agree that we must learn from the past, but sadly history always seems to repead itself, one can withness it with ones offspring, who don't take your advice and therefore make the same mistakes as we did.

Blame it on human nature?!

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Here's a thought.

The new German ownership may feel that maintaining a separate US Revell division is a waste of money and duplication of effort, especially in light of the US arm's apparent inability to maintain control of the tooling for two of its best selling kits...the model A roadster and coupe.

RoG has apparently been operating at a profit, and with access to Eastern-European tool and die makers, who are, frankly, better than the Chinese (and geographically almost in the neighborhood), the feeling just might be that RoG can handle everything. No reason to carry a US arm that seems to also have trouble with measuring and dividing accurately.

Most of Revell US's recent offerings have had problems that could have easily been eliminated prior to production if somebody had cared enough to make the effort, rather than relying on apologists citing the usual litany of "reasons" regarding time zones, language difficulties, "real modelers can fix it", etc.

An investment group that's serious and professional in its approach to generating financial returns has no need for chronic excuse-makers on the payroll.

If RoG can cut production costs by cutting deadweight overhead, and maintain or RAISE quality by sourcing tooling and production within Europe (which is what I'd do), there's no reason to worry that Revell products here will go away. Everything you get from Revell USA has been mostly designed and made in China for a long time. It comes here in containers. 

Containers full of model kits can just as easily be shipped from Europe as they can be from China.

PS. American investors, for the most part, have no interest in manufacturing much of ANYTHING (except of course for the very notable exception of Mr. Musk, who is actually from South Africa, and who came HERE because of the incredible opportunity this country STILL offers to smart people who WORK HARD). Most of the important US general-aviation companies are now foreign-owned, for example, because NO AMERICAN INVESTORS WANTED ANYTHING TO DO WITH AMERICA'S AVIATION HISTORY. 

In a business climate like this, is anyone really surprised no US investor stepped up? Blame the WalMart culture, not the Germans who coughed up the cash to save the existing tooling from the scrappers cutting torch.

Edited April 14, 2018 by Ace-Garageguy

[crazyjim]

revell.com is up and running right now.  The "About" link says absolutely nothing about being sold other than saying Revell was purchased by Hobbico in 2007.

[MrObsessive]

12 hours ago, Zoom Zoom said:

Ed Sexton may go on his own and sell some of his own models. He's very much into sports/racing cars and has been known to vend at some shows outside of being a Revell employee. 

That would be great if he's able to come to NNL East, but sadly the huge "Wish List" he had up for the last several years probably won't be back. It's a shame as there were some very good suggestions I've seen in the past, but all we can do is hope that at least the company survives at this point.