On April 22, Model Power announced that the company will be closing effective immediately. The announcement was posted on the Model Power website. For nearly 50 years Model Power produced hobby products that included N, HO, and O scale model trains and model railroad accessories.
Model Power going out of business
By Angela Cotey | April 22, 2014
| Last updated on November 3, 2020
Model Power will close after nearly 50 years in the model train and hobby industry
I hear what everyone has said and generally agree – to a point. If y’all that it was tough back in 2014, now nine years later we can see what has happened to the industry: Higher fuel/transportaion costs, skyrocketing petroleum costs (plastics), closure of MAJOR Chinese manufacturing bases, etc., etc. And today it’s come to hit us upside the head. Yet… so has our wages risen, which unfortunately hasn’t kept up with inflation and increasing cost of necessity goods – good luck to the hobby needs! When I had my retail stores, MP was a great cheap brand making very nice structure kits which back in c1980 sold for $5-15. There were some cars and few loco’s that I carried but generally didn’t bother much with them except for the corporate sales incentives that gave and extra 10-20% profit over the 40-50% I already got. And during the Christmas season, their sets were a standard in the store. But you know all those detail upgrade parts my customers would spend $$$ on to improve the quality of the department store MP quality? Well, when I first forked out MY money for an Athearn SD70Ace DDC/Sound and put it on the track… I was just totally blown away by the unit. The detail was exquisite. The performance was superb. There was zero need to improve ANYTHING. For the EXTRA money I spent on the model I save at least the same in having to buy all those detail parts separately AND then take the time to install them! So, boys-n-girls, we are talking about a different world today. Back in the 1970’s no one ever though electronic technology would grow to a point where you could put your PFM Sound System IN a locomotive! Or that there was something else other than brass sectional track. We’ve come a very long LONG way from the mentality of 1940’s model railroaders but I don’t think a lot of modelers have progressed with their 1940’s mentality to the “new world”. Not that that is a bad thing … that’s where scratchbuilders have always thrived over the last 90+ year of scale modelling. And lets remember how many companies produced the original Revel HO Bakey … Con-Cor, MP, Heljan, Kibri, etc. Some kits will come back and well, some will be lost to history. It happens. That’s where collectors come in and that’s why you need to scour those railroad flea markets for these old gems. But the new models like from Cornerstone aren’t to be sneezed at either. And I must also point out that some of those absolutely near flawless (almost) models from Rapido and maybe BLI or MTH are gorgeous must have’s, the price points are just nearing ridiculousness. But they sell out so who am I to say. Maybe it’s because I still remember selling 99c Varney’s and $1.25 Athearn’s. Maybe I need to get my head out of the past too!
We'll surely miss all the nice stuff from Model Power. That's a real pitty.
Dimas.
It is sad Model Power is closing its doors! Is there a possibility that their product lines would be purchased by another model railroad manufacture?
Maybe someone will pickup where they leave off. Just like when IHC got picked up by another outfit. I didn't even know that Mantua had been in production again. I had always been buying the vintage stuff thru E- bay and train shows, etc. Guess I still will.
the hobby is not a hobby anymore prices are getting way to high some off the cars are costing as much as a engine did a few years back and the limited passenger sets with the engines run 1000.00 to 1500.00 the so called hobby is not a hobby any more
the hobby is going away
When I started in the hobby in the mid-70's there were a number of manufacturers making reasonably-priced stuff in HO such as AHM, ATT, Tyco, Bachmann, Life-Like and Model Power. Now only Bachmann exists.
Now how are we supposed to get parts we may need? Hope someone buys the company and keeps production or at least parts available.
From the release on their website, Model P indicated that their lenders would not work with them in any reasonable manner. As a former lender, I'm perplexed (in fact, the company I worked for lent money to Mantua in the mid 1980's). Calling a loan usually is painful not only to the borrower, but lender too, usually causing a substantial loss. I wonder if Model P would be a little more public about what their needs are, and how profitable they are (or would be if funded properly). I don't have a lot of money, but there are lots of people who do. Consider that Lionel was bought by a wealthy fan. Model P and Mantua have important niches and I hope someone is able to save them.
I remember when a box of H O flextrack cost less than 4 sections of the same thing. I don't see any great improvements in the track. I will miss Model Powers many items I used to buy. I agree with William Holmes, someone should hold onto those molds. I will really miss the cheaper prices for replacement parts and small items.
Hope someone procures the molds for their automobiles, they were great looking models for a great price.
Going out of business, eh? Just as I bought a defective structure kit. Now I can't get the defective part replaced.
I started with this Company and now I well not get to past this on to my grandson now how is 5 and this loos like i can't afford all the new things that are out there and this sucks too, when an engine was 34. and steam was same price and now 325 and 500 so I can't get back running trains but love to try to plan a layout now.
I'm sorry to here of them going out of business. It's a shame, yet another company going out of business in this country. I'm very concerned about the hobby. It is becoming almost unaffordable. Only the rich and large clubs will be able to afford model railroad products if it keeps going the way it is
…………
Being an old man in the new N gauge/scale railroading field I will miss Model Power. It is difficult to see small businesses close in a field or industry such as model railroading.
Sorry to see this company go. I started my railroading hobby with this company. I wish the staff good luck and a big "thank you" for being there for 50 years.
I hope some one is able to keep making the mantua classics locomotives and cars. It really is sad to see model power go they have been such a big part of my life since the age of five.
The so-called 'entry level models' are slowly going the way of the dinosaur and that's sad.
I echo Arthur's comments. Companies like Model Power introduced beginners to the hobby. Now only Bachmann comes close, with their analog locomotives, to offering an alternative to the obscene costs forced upon the hobby by other companies.
They were the last refuge for those of us that needed inexpensive models for layouts for young children, where a piece that got damaged was US$7 to replace, rather than US$30. Sad to see them go, but things like this happen all to frequently. Best wishes to their staff and employees.
So sad to see a model train company
going under.