I think I will move to China instead of Monument Valley.

Ranjit I admire your enthusiasm and its your thread so if you can raise the cash to buy M we will support you. Remember to send all the German workers to China where they can enjoy their new life and bring in some of the poor folk from the USA who will do anything to stick wheels on coaches.

On a more serious note items being made in China are not all bad but when it comes to toy trains it does seem variable. I think Brawa stuff is Chinese and as far as I know all here who own their locos are happy with the quality. It is a matter of ensuring that the firm in China are doing a good job. Brawa is more expensive than Marklin and perhaps they pay more for the manufacture of their models.
And yes I have no problem recommending Brawa or HAG as I find them to be excellent. I still buy more Marklin stuff but I enjoy model rail as a hobby and while it is 80% Marklin the other 20% is just as important as is Faller and Vollmer and Noch etc.
One thing I will never be is serious about toy trains they are for fun and relaxation and at the end of the day if they dont come from Marklin then I will happily buy elsewhere but hopefully it wont come to that.
David

PS should I add copyright to my posts to ensure they are not printed again in the forum lol OK Juhan just kidding.

Hi David,

You know very well that I can't raise the capital all by myself. If I could I won't be proposing this idea to all of you in the forum. I want all of us to be a part of this great effort.

I know a little bit about Chinese manufacturing. Unless Marklin manufactures its items exactly the same way they do in Germany and maintain the strict QC in China, I am sure the products will not be the same and it will impact the brand that has been built over a 150 years. By the looks of it, I don't think this is being done. Remember the Chinese toy recall recently? Do we want this to happen to Marklin?

I am glad that Marklin is giving you lots of fun and relaxation at the end of the day. I am sure that this has been the case with all of us. I hope that this will continue.

Cheers,
Ranjit

Thank you for your support, Torbjörn. You are a good man!

Chinese manufacturing has never been the greatest. It may be cheapest, but it is not the greatest. Some of Marklin trains are over 50 years old and as soon as I put them on a track they run flawlessly. Tell me one Chinese made product that can do that and I will shut up.

Let's see how Lutz repsonds.

Cheers,
Ranjit

Thank you David, Lutz, Torbjörn, Guus, Larry, Pietro, Ray, Gary, Cem, Mike C., Roland, Pat, David (bigdaddynz), Gautham, Geoff, Tony, Troy, Spitzenklasse, Goofy and Kimball for participating in this thread! Its been fun chatting with you guys.

With just a response rate of 1.1 %, I am still wondering what the remaining 98.9 % thought of this idea?

No doubt, I am sad to conclude that buyin Marklin is beyond our reach. With Juhan still in his 'pyjamas'; Goofy having only '1 Euro' to spend; Per saying that we are not 'an important category' for Marklin although we are all collectors in a way; and Lutz believing that Marklin is doing the 'right thing' and it is difficult to run a business like Marklin, I don't know what else to say except that we are missing a 'great' opportunity.

There seems to be some hope that Marklin is taking corrective action and we will see improvements in the future. Well, only time will tell. In the meantime, I will do what David does which is 'be careful what I buy and wait until a product is on the market and found to be reliable'. I have never had to do this in the past with Marklin.

Thank you all once again.

Cheers,
Ranjit

Hi David,

Where has Stephen gone to?

Cheers,
Ranjit

Thank you for your kind remarks, David and Guus. I hope that the grandeur of Marklin will be back to where it was.

Cheers,
Ranjit