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Post by unittrain on Jan 24, 2024 14:48:13 GMT -8
I just got a Google notification that MBK is officially closed after 111 years.
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Post by es80ac on Jan 24, 2024 15:20:59 GMT -8
This totally sucks. Why would that crap UK company Hatton pull a previously fine company into the abyss while itself was on the way down to the bottom is beyond my comprehension. Screw Hatton, you won’t be missed, but MBK certainly will be
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Post by unittrain on Jan 24, 2024 15:30:44 GMT -8
It's very odd how this went down. But yeah it sucks things have been rough lately Arrowhead, MBK, Caboose Hobbies going back BLW, hopefully we don't loose more.
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Post by es80ac on Jan 24, 2024 15:32:43 GMT -8
Add trainlife to the list
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Post by riogrande on Jan 24, 2024 17:10:33 GMT -8
When I traveled out to Utah with my wife in 2021 we made a couple stops including Trainlife. It was a small shop and Exactrail shared the space. And then poof. They had the wood load kits started by Blaine Hadfield - don't know what happened to those laser cut wood kits. I bought some but would like to have bought more.
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Post by bnsf971 on Jan 25, 2024 4:08:35 GMT -8
Word on the street is MBK was on its way out before the Hatton's purchase. I don't know if the purchase hastened Hatton's demise, or when MBK would have closed without intervention. I "suppose" it's possible someone could purchase the web address and name from Hatton's and reopen MBK, but if they did that, it would almost certainly be a shadow of its former self, at best.
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Post by talltim on Jan 25, 2024 7:54:08 GMT -8
This totally sucks. Why would that crap UK company Hatton pull a previously fine company into the abyss while itself was on the way down to the bottom is beyond my comprehension. Screw Hatton, you won’t be missed, but MBK certainly will be I got the impression MBK was going to close anyway, until they were bought by Hattons. So the purchase only gave it another couple of months. |
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Post by riogrande on Jan 25, 2024 9:51:20 GMT -8
I guess I was fat, dumb and happy ordering from MBK and things coming in stock etc. at least until things hit the fan in the fall of last year. But I don't keep my finger on the pulse of vendors. Anyway, maybe some day an insider will give us the gory details.
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ed
Full Member
Posts: 129
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Post by ed on Jan 25, 2024 10:23:38 GMT -8
Very strange. I wonder what the story really is...
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Post by milgentrains on Jan 25, 2024 11:06:06 GMT -8
I was ordering mainy from MBK and eBay. I don't want to be dependent on eBay. Lombard Hobbies will be my go to site for now.
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Post by riogrande on Jan 25, 2024 11:38:28 GMT -8
I was ordering mainy from MBK and eBay. I don't want to be dependent on eBay. Lombard Hobbies will be my go to site for now. I haven't checked lately but Lombards has had a flat $13.99 shipping so figure that into your orders. I got free shipping for all my MBK orders $99+ so I almost never paid shipping there. At Lombards I only order from them once in a while and try to bundle items to make the higher flat shipping worth it. Other wise I have vendors who charge me less for shipping, such as Spring Creek, who have always given me excellent service since I started ordering from them over 10 years ago. I got to visit them in person while on a trip to Utah and it was on the way out - was great to meet the staff in person and they have a mega huge inventory. |
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Post by milgentrains on Jan 25, 2024 14:35:50 GMT -8
I was ordering mainy from MBK and eBay. I don't want to be dependent on eBay. Lombard Hobbies will be my go to site for now. I haven't checked lately but Lombards has had a flat $13.99 shipping so figure that into your orders. I got free shipping for all my MBK orders $99+ so I almost never paid shipping there. At Lombards I only order from them once in a while and try to bundle items to make the higher flat shipping worth it. Other wise I have vendors who charge me less for shipping, such as Spring Creek, who have always given me excellent service since I started ordering from them over 10 years ago. I got to visit them in person while on a trip to Utah and it was on the way out - was great to meet the staff in person and they have a mega huge inventory. I'll take a look at Spring Creek more closely. I've ordered from them once and I was very happy. |
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Post by hudsonyard on Jan 25, 2024 15:07:55 GMT -8
I haven't checked lately but Lombards has had a flat $13.99 shipping so figure that into your orders. I got free shipping for all my MBK orders $99+ so I almost never paid shipping there. At Lombards I only order from them once in a while and try to bundle items to make the higher flat shipping worth it. Other wise I have vendors who charge me less for shipping, such as Spring Creek, who have always given me excellent service since I started ordering from them over 10 years ago. I got to visit them in person while on a trip to Utah and it was on the way out - was great to meet the staff in person and they have a mega huge inventory. I'll take a look at Spring Creek more closely. I've ordered from them once and I was very happy.
I wish Spring Creek would update their stock on the site more, because the retail store has never gotten a poor review from anyone I know that's been there.
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Post by riogrande on Jan 25, 2024 15:55:29 GMT -8
I'll take a look at Spring Creek more closely. I've ordered from them once and I was very happy. I wish Spring Creek would update their stock on the site more, because the retail store has never gotten a poor review from anyone I know that's been there.
I talked to them about the when I was there in person. They have a HUGE amount of stock and told me they just acquired another building to hold it besides the existing store which has a 2nd level for storage. It's a labor thing to list it all on the site. |
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Post by ncrc5315 on Jan 25, 2024 16:27:32 GMT -8
With Spring Creek, the best thing to do, is either call or email, for inventory. They are very quick on the turn around for emails.
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Post by NS4122 on Jan 26, 2024 10:01:40 GMT -8
I've done a lot of business with Spring Creek at the Springfield show, but I'm hesitant to order from them. The first and only order I placed with them was a Tangent hopper that arrived in pieces because it was not well packed.
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Post by rockfan on Feb 3, 2024 16:26:44 GMT -8
Spring creek is great. Had a little problem with my I-M Rock auto racks but it was worked out and I got what I ordered.
Other than that never had a problem with them.
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Post by riogrande on Feb 7, 2024 8:56:50 GMT -8
I guy on MRH forums posted a link to his info on the closure if MBK. The info I took away that I didn't know were the following. - when the owner of MBK, Ted Klein, died in 2020, his long time girlfriend took over, and when she died her daughters became the owners. They didn't want it so they wanted to sell it and be out of the business. - per this guy, Intermountain was interested in buying MBK but was outbid by Hattons. conrail1285.com/so-what-happened-to-mb-klein/ |
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Post by Christian on Feb 7, 2024 11:26:03 GMT -8
I guy on MRH forums posted a link to his info on the closure if MBK. The info I took away that I didn't know were the following. - when the owner of MBK, Ted Klein, died in 2020, his long time girlfriend took over, and when she died her daughters became the owners. They didn't want it so they wanted to sell it and be out of the business. - per this guy, Intermountain was interested in buying MBK but was outbid by Hattons. conrail1285.com/so-what-happened-to-mb-klein/I read the essay. His thoughts are cogent although he stresses that he has no inside information. One of his closing thoughts rings true for MB Klein as well as Hattons: . . . it’s tough to escape the trap of being a “family business. |
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Post by Colin 't Hart on Feb 7, 2024 22:39:51 GMT -8
Hattons is far from the first business to suffer from Brexit. But now this is getting political so I'll stop here.
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Post by lars on Feb 9, 2024 4:30:27 GMT -8
His assessment is similar to what I heard from a dealer in their region. The one thing that the dealer emphasized is that MBK was taking on a lot of debt and suggested that some vendors weren’t getting paid. It also sounded that the company accounts were mix of business and personal which made understanding available cash very hard to understand.
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Post by riogrande on Feb 9, 2024 4:53:17 GMT -8
Hattons is far from the first business to suffer from Brexit. But now this is getting political so I'll stop here. One of the apparent issues was that Brussels was basically dictating policies etc to England. I've read recently that even Germany is considering leaving the EU. As for MBK, oddly, I just received an email just like the ones I used to get from modeltrainstuff to review products I purchased from them. So their computer is kicking out those requests for reviews, or the website is. Zombie website? Dead but still moving? LOL |
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Post by cera2254 on Feb 9, 2024 6:33:22 GMT -8
I won’t claim to be super well versed on the subject but my guess is nations like Germany and GB have grown tired of propping up the other nations in the EU financially and still having others impose their will on them. To keep it on topic, I’m sure it did make transactions across borders more difficult.
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ed
Full Member
Posts: 129
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Post by ed on Feb 9, 2024 17:04:15 GMT -8
Hattons is far from the first business to suffer from Brexit. But now this is getting political so I'll stop here. One of the apparent issues was that Brussels was basically dictating policies etc to England. I've read recently that even Germany is considering leaving the EU. As for MBK, oddly, I just received an email just like the ones I used to get from modeltrainstuff to review products I purchased from them. So their computer is kicking out those requests for reviews, or the website is. Zombie website? Dead but still moving? LOL I'm receiving the same MBK customer satisfaction surveys. Was concerned that opening them might release some form of malware. |
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Post by bnsf971 on Feb 10, 2024 4:35:46 GMT -8
One of the apparent issues was that Brussels was basically dictating policies etc to England. I've read recently that even Germany is considering leaving the EU. As for MBK, oddly, I just received an email just like the ones I used to get from modeltrainstuff to review products I purchased from them. So their computer is kicking out those requests for reviews, or the website is. Zombie website? Dead but still moving? LOL I'm receiving the same MBK customer satisfaction surveys. Was concerned that opening them might release some form of malware. If you're concerned about malware, don't open any attachments in the email, and go into the settings for your email program and disable remote images and links. |
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Post by fiend540 on Feb 10, 2024 19:57:09 GMT -8
Their website now says they "will return, stay tuned for further details"
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Post by crblue on Feb 10, 2024 20:58:53 GMT -8
Their website now says they "will return, stay tuned for further details" I wonder if Intermountain bought them  |
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Post by riogrande on Feb 11, 2024 8:32:22 GMT -8
So it does. I guess we'll have to see what happens.
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Post by Colin 't Hart on Feb 11, 2024 8:54:10 GMT -8
Curiouser and curiouser.
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Post by grahamline on Feb 11, 2024 9:41:02 GMT -8
Their website now says they "will return, stay tuned for further details" Am pretty sure Studebaker posted the same statement on their site. |
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