I have noticed that IHC, which had lots of their products made by Mehano, and I went on there site, and noticed that they have more stuff than IHC, and was thinking, why not buy it strait from the source. So opinions on the company?
Mehano filed for bankruptcy before IHC went out of business, and the latest news about Mehano is that they are back in business but only to the European market and they are no longer making models of North American style locomotives.
Look at their site. Still got the American models going…
Here’s a link to their train part, in particular, American models…mehano.com
Okay, I looked at it. You can’t order anything through the web site, so it does you no good – and what is it going to cost to have something shipped from Slovenia to Canada? There are no U.S. or Canadian companies selling Mehano products that I know of, so you’d have go order through a European company and pay money conversion charges.
As I said before, they’re selling only to the European market and have no plans to re-establish a North American presence in the foreseeable future.
That site is based in TX, and they bought out the remaining stock. It is slowly being sold off. I’m pretty sure IHC is defunct.
No, in his first post I’m pretty sure he’s talking about the Mehano web site in Slovenia and thinking he can order directly from them without realizing the complexity of international orders, money conversion, postage, customs, etc.
http://www.mehano.si/EN/models.php?models=1
But in reality this is probably just another question about something which he’ll never purchase.
Mehano: built like Russian Woman. Ain’t sexy but can till a field and get the job done.
Translation: Generic and simple in looks but a good solid engine. Not as good looking or detailed as Bachmann but better and simpler mechanism… K.I.S.S.
I notice that there’s a strike through (strike out, like this) on their online shop.
AIUI, the decision to shut down IHC was made, I want to say, late last autumn.
Look for them on eBay or at train shows. I don’t think the big dealers like Trainworld, Walthers or M.B. Klein have any more inventory. I found one at a train show last year, new in the box for a great price.
I always thought Mehano loco’s were junk but I bought a couple to fill up my roundhouse and was really surprised how well they ran. They are on the low end for detail but adding it is simple enough. I bought a couple Union Pacific Hudson’s knowing they didn’t have any but I’ve had a lot of fun with them. I made up a road name and really weathered them up. They look great sitting in the roundhouse.
Probably about the same as to the US, which is around 14 bucks last time I tried it.
John
Actually, it was probably more likely fall of 2009. I bought a couple of IHC Command XXV locos at deep discounts in January & March of last year (2010) from MB Klein.
They’re not real detailed but they are tough. I have a Mehano 2-10-2 that will go, go and go. It’s not much on the side of detail but I don’t much care about anyway as it usually ends up getting broken anyway. I do care that it runs and that it does, quietly. I also like that it take 18" radius without a problem. Simple rugged locos like that are what I had in my youth mostly. The few diesels I had were from Cox, Tyco and IHC until the early 80’s when I discovered Athearn and went almost all diesel.