FROM:
****Frank A. Rosenbaum Apr 13 1999, 3:00 amLet me tell you a story. Along time ago, in a city called Beacon, there lived a store called Hobbies for Men. This was a big store, that ordered lots and lots of train stuff. At some point in the life of this store, some one ordered a lot of Magnuson kits. When the invoice came, it was either ignored, or thrown out, or there wasn't enough money to pay it. Magnuson needed the money to survive (don't we all?) and Walthers loaned them the money that was needed. Some time later, Hobbies for Men was shut down for many reasons that the sheriff posted on the door. Magnuson got in line to collect on the invoice, but didn't get enough to repay Walthers. Magnuson defaulted on the loan, so Walthers ended up with the rights to Magnuson Models.
FROM:
****BondoBill1 Apr 14 1999, 3:00 amAll wrong Frank..sorry. About a year after Bob Lunde named a building after me, HFM found out they were short on cash and could not continue. MM took a little road trip, visiting both Magnuson, and PFM. In both cases, MM bought up the entire stock of both companies and then in his full page ads, listed PFM engines and Mangnuson kits to the public at prices much, much lower directly to the public, than stores could buy it for, and some kits were offered to the public , BELOW distributor prices. Within a month of the ads appearing all orders from stores and distributors stopped...Magnuson was boycotted by the entire retail level, as was PFM. Almost a year later, Magnuson came up with the styrene kit idea.using a new molding technique and moving away from resin kits. That innovation was what the hobby needed. Sadly, MM did not have the casf flow to produce these new kits, so they approached Walthers for a loan against opening orders. I used to do that, I would need say $20,000 and I would offer Phil, hrough Bill Wischer a deal, another 10 to 15% off of DN if they sent me money. Walthers did give MM upfront money, but for some reasons not made public, and infact, without rumors, they could not meet the initial order. To bail MM out, WKW not only bought the MM line, but offered both Bob and his Wife JOBS.....very positive move...****
ALL WRONG, BILL, SORRY! (And yes, Frank, you too.)
First of all, allow me to introduce myself: my name is Kirsten - as in Kirsten's Corner Cafe - Bob & Lynn's daughter. I was wandering around the hobby area of Google's news groups and stumbled upon this. I nearly choked. Now, I realize this thread is nearly 10 years old, but NEITHER post contains enough TRUTH or FACT to fill an N Scale boxcar! I simply could not and will not let it slide. (Where *did* you guys get your information?!)
Yes, this is just a news group, but - as evidenced by folks thanking Bill for "setting the record straight" - people will take what they read as gospel, whether or not it contains an iota of truth. Alas, news groups offer the perfect venue for folks to hold forth on topics they really know very little about. ;-p
In fact, I was amused/shocked/miffed enough to call my folks. They will be posting at some point over the next several days with actual information; not hearsay, rumors and fairy tales. (They're a pretty swamped right now with Lunde Studios, but they, too, feel strongly enough about the wild tales spun here to speak up.)
Yes, that's right. You'll be getting the TRUE HISTORY from the horses' mouths. :D
Sl=E1inte ~ Kirsten (Lunde) McAdam (as in Lunde Studios' McAdam Building)
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