I have noticed that Tinplate in the MTH catalogs has changed, as some of you have probably noticed. There has been tinplate in the last big catalog and the 2008 R-T-R catalog, but no Tinplate Traditions Catalogs. Have these gone by the waste side? There are still items from the past two catalogs, that I have been waiting for, and they are mainly SG and O Christmas cars. Do you feel that MTH is having production issues or possibly lost interest in Tinplate? I have always heard that tinplate is near and dear to Mr. Wolf's heart. What are your thoughts?

Most likely, MTH will not abandon its "Tinplate Traditions" line, as it has been reasonably successful for them.

You guys need to speak to MTH at shows and the like. They've said numerous times they are going to release more tinplate catalogs as soon as they've caught up on production. They aren't discontinuing the line any time soon. The new catalog may be out sooner than the October York. My bet is sometime in the October time frame. Almost all of MTH's tinplate gear that was due in the summer was pushed to September 2008.

The last tinplate catalog that was part of a larger catalog sucked anyway. There were zero new products and the page layout looked like it was done by a college intern.

As much as I love MTH the tinplate offering was sloppy. I hope the next catalog gets back to their original roots and produces some strong new products (in the last 3 catalogs they've introduced the 390E, 384E, 8E and some very nice Ives engines as well as some very strong rolling stock). The layout and graphic design of both MTH and Lionel catalogs could use some overhauling regardless.

October would be my bet for the new catalog.

Marc

Marc,

I do not wish to be disrespectful, but us folks on the west coast are not graced with Mike Wolf's presence or anyone else from MTH, like you folks in the midwest and east coast. Heck, we are lucky if we see anyone from MTH, including our Cal-Stewart shows, which is the closest thing we have to the huge York. Hence the reason for my post. Thanks for the info....

JoeG

No lack of respect taken. I would recommend you give MTH a call. It's still one of the few companies with a single owner managing the entire company and the staff ultimately answering to him.

Call them and ask their sales team your questions. I've spoken to Mike several times and my take away is that EVERY customer is important to him.

You may not always get the answer you want however I've found them to be honest and above board.

I would also submit to you that if you belong to TCA or TTOS both MTH, Lionel, Bachmann and almost every train company send reps to their shows and has a dialog with them and members in the organization as well. If you are limited with travel (who isn't with the price of gas these days?) than drop an email to your TCA or TTOS local people and ask them to get some clarification from MTH on your questions.

Marc

Contact MTH.

I think the problem is the sporadic issuing of Tinplate catalogues and no up-to-date information on the website. Don't know why MTH can't post something like: "Hey, Tinplate Fans -- we love you and haven't forgotten you! Our new offerings and catalogue will be shown first week of October" Now how much trouble would that be?

I don't know the "official" reason behind the timing of the latest tinplate catalog, but the word on the streets, posted here and elsewhere is to play catch-up on tinplate shipping. From the website there still seems to be a substantial amount of items showing either Sept and Oct of '08 shipping estimate. Once those items are shipped, if that is their intent, surely a new catalog will be just around the corner.

Think about it, there is no real competition (besides an set or two from Lionel) right now in the contemporary tinplate market... Hopefully that translates into MTH having time to come up with some great new items, make them right, and to ship them on time.

Mike Wolf's favorite is standard gauge, I think Tinplate would be one of the very last things MTH would drop.

Mike does come to the west coast from time to time. He has visited my LHS in the Seattle area at least twice in recent years and has talked with dozens of people each time.

Gary is right, Mike loves tinplate. It got him started in the train business and will likely always be a part of MTH's offerings.

I suppose you could blame me for missing an opportunity to ask for more tinplate. Last time Mike was here he was showing off a pre-production NP Z-6. I joined the chorus asking for more NP and GN scale steam.

I love my tinplate Hiawatha and would like to see more reproductions of sets from the late pre-war era like the recent Hudson set with the Vanderbilt tender tinplate cars. What would you like to see next?

Mike Wolf's favorite is the Blue Comet 400E with nickel trim. He made it part of the MTH logo.

Now, if we can only persuade him to make a reproduction of the Dorfan crane.

Kanasket,

That is great that Mike was in seattle. Please send me a note when you hear he is going to be in San Jose, Ca. or even in the bay area.......


JoeG

Mike's love is and has always been tinplate: note the MTH logo.

Trainlover160

Keep your eye on The MTH Show Schedule or just drop him a note and invite him to visit your LHS. Who knows he just may show up - stranger things have happened!
(MTH came to our World's Greatest Hobby Show here in Portland, and Mike has also visited my LHS, Whistle Stop Trains.)

See, stranger things have happened.

Trainlover160

We are lucky to have several good three rail retailers in the Seattle area. Eastside Trains in Kirkland is the largest and has hosted meet Mike events when MW is in town. The strong retailers in our area have also helped North West prototypes, like the recent NP North Coast Limited set get made. It is easier for MTH to say yes to making a model if they know there is are area retailer that will move most of a product with regional interest.

Do you have a store in the bay area to host Mike or champion SP or WP models?

There's a big one in Santa Clara (can't remember the name,) and of course Western Depot a couple of hours away in Yuba City. May be many or few others, but I dunno.