Don't forget that the magazines and DVDs get spread across something like 5 or 6 languages, so that adds some more overhead.

Just got my renewal letter and I'm leaning towards doing the same

I enjoy the videos and the car. Compared to the cost of a new Lok it is chump change.
Maybe not to everybody, but what I have thrown away on this hobby makes it seem cheap.
The videos always work compared to digital things (CS3 for example not to mention other personal
screwups which have cost me decoders etc.). The mags are pretty and once in a while there is a good
article and helpful info.

I also get the digital newsletter for free on line now. I don't know if you have to be a member of the
insider club to get it but I think not. I do feel Marklin is trying to offer something of value. Of course, it
must and should promote their product. Any magazine you buy is 50% or more advertizing anyway.
They just promote themselves.
Eric

For me it´s soon about 20 years ago i did canceled my membership of the Insider Club.
I don´t miss it and it feels good.

I was a member of the (now defunct) Märklin Club for Belgium & Luxembourg in the second half of the 1990s. Originally, I joined because that was the way to get some special models made for Belgium and Luxembourg only. At the end of that decade, I lost interest in MRR and did not renew my membership card.

Right now, the Insider Club is not worth it for me because I'm not interested in the Insider Club models and I think that the membership fee is too high. What Märklin should do instead is to scrap the free car and simply publish the DVDs online for free to reduce the fee to under 50 dollars. It's just a fact that the Insider Club loses members every yea, so it's time to make some changesr. I won't pay 80 euros for a freight car I don't want plus some literature and DVDs, and I bet I'm not the only one who thinks like that.

By the way, I don't see myself as a Märklin outsider because I've been a Märklin customer since my childhood. Märklin should stop using that term because it's an insult to many Märklin fans and customers who are not club members. I think it was Mr Pluta who said that one main problem Märkin has is that it's become a fan club ... What he probably meant was that a company should not rely on its fan base but focus on customer satisfaction. I'm still a Märklin fan but I don't think I will be a club member in the next few years.

Best regards,

Mark

Hi All...

The "real" purpose of joining the Märklin Insider Club is to be a part of it. You can not expect to join this club and have it change your life right then and there. You have to "engage", you have to get "involved", and more importantly, you must "immerse" yourself to find the part of the Club that you love and to which you feel connected. That part can be the social aspect, the volunteering aspect or the leadership aspect. There is no use and there is no point in comparing costs. A locomotive or a wagon can be cheaper than the club membership in some cases or it can be more expensive in some cases. The Märklin Insider Club model can be one that you may like or one that you may dislike. All this is really quite immaterial. The real deal of the Märklin Insider Club membership is to make connections and friends worldwide. Of course, for each one of us, the Märklin Insider Club will be different depending on our individual experiences, but our dedication which will fuel our passion for model railroading will remain the same.

I can't wait to receive my welcome package once again.

Cheers,
Ranjit

Don't need to join the club to make friends in Model rail as I have all the friends I need on our forum here.
By selling Insider models etc the idea is to make some feel important but mainly to increase profits by selling expensive models and getting folk to pay extra to join a club to get them.
Its good business for Marklin if they can get the members.

Have you received the insider package? If not you may wait for up to six weeks time after sign up for Insider member.

You will have package after six weeks.

I joined back in the 90s while living in Germany as a means of staying informed of new items and happenings within the hobby in general. After moving back to the US, paying the additional costs to get the annual wagons and magazine subscriptions separately was a pain, frankly. When Maerklin upped the cost of annual membership, but included the wagons and magazine, not to mention the DVDs, things began to look much better. I renew every year and look forward to each issue of both the Maerklin and Insider Magazines, as well as the DVDs. As for the annual wagons, some have impressed me, others not so much... but I just can't bring myself to breaking the collection I started over twenty years ago -- same with the Museumswagen that I have going back to '88. Given what I spend annually on trains, both by Maerklin and others, the annual membership fee is a small drop in the proverbial bucket.

Dear Friends...

I am a "Märklin Insider" member now! Yay!

The postman delivered the package this afternoon. At first, I was not sure what it was. The cardboard box did not have the usual red Märklin logo stamped all over it neither did the address label have the Märklin logo. But, as soon as I opened the box, I knew it was from Märklin Insider. In addition to the Welcome letter, and the Märklin Insider Club membership card, there were a couple of "oldish" items! I received the Jahreswagen of 2011 (Article No.: 48161) and the Märklin Insider Club News (05/2017). Is this quite normal?

In the meantime, I got an another email from Märklin Insider team to say that another package is on its way with some more printed materials.

Really excited to become a Märklin Insider Club member once again!

Cheers,
Ranjit

Yes this is normal. I got similar old articles. Perhaps they want to get rid of them or they have an oversized stock. But you are a lucky man getting your card so quick. I waited six weeks, although I mailed Märklin twice I needed it urgently, because I wanted to order the 103 Insider model before its due date. Actually this loco was the reason I joined the club. Aahh and now I ordered the next one already: the shunting croc - need a lot of patient to wait for it.

But today I hoped to get the new Insider Club package for the next 2 months with the new Märklin Magazin. Would have been nice for reading over Eastern. But unfortunately the mailbox was empty. So is life.