Letter arrived in our shop today, After 75 years Mantua is calling it quits, The letter states service will be available untill October 31st. Letter further states that Dies are available. Wow! We did very well with Mantua products in our hobby shop, They will be missed.
Mark
It does not surprise me at all. Mantua was priced too high for the value and totally disregarded any attempt at scale model steam locomotives. Inappropriate paint schemes, brass fittings stuck on where they did not belong and a concentration on ready to run rather than the kits their locomotives were originally intended to be made their offering non-competitive with the serious modeler.
I,too, am disappointed. I did have one of their 21oz Heavy Mikados and still have their 17 oz Light Pacific, both good performers made in USA and with a life time warranty. I noticed a lag in new products, no provision for DCC and the same old stuff. Others respondents would say the locos lacked detail but prototype steamers weren’t made to look beautiful. Weathering would cover up those fine details anyway. Their web page has been down for months and I guess they were crushed by competition when you consider Athearn’s
new Pacific & Mikado.Model expo advertised their steam locos for under $100.00 so like Lionel I guess you go across the waters.
Gregg,
Do you have anything good to say about anything or anybody but yourself. Seems all you do is complain. My first HO set was a Tyco, then made by Mantua, and I still have my Pacific steamer. It was a nice locomotive for a then proud 12-year-old owner. Sure, it is not the stuff I buy now, but I have converted several of their cars to Kadee couples and better wheelsets and they work just fine with weathering.
TD
The first scale model locomotive I built was a Mantua Mogul, which was a combination of sheet brass and zamac castings, in 1953. It was a fine model for its day. I was criticizing what Mantua is currently offering. A company cannot stay in business on its past reputation. After all, Packards were once great cars.
It is a shame to be losing a Model Railroad
supplier. I have a couple of Mantuas steam
engines and they run great. Even though they
could do somethings a little different I think
the product overall is decent. I don’t think
modelers should complain about a manufacter, at
least they are trying to offer a product. If you
can make a better model then you should be in the
business of selling Kits or Ready to Run.
It will be a company that is missed because of
the amount of product that they produced.
Good Luck to the Employees of Mantua.
Gregg,
You are correct. They should have rolled out new equipment over the years and didn’t.
Its been reported that Modelexpo has purchased all remaining Mantua rolling stock. It will be interesting to see how Modelexpo prices Mantua locomotives, now without a Lifetime Warranty. I
bot the Mantua Heavy Mikado W/W from Modelexpo for $110.00 with shipping July 01.