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 Posted - April 25 2011 : 07:59:50 AM
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Hi All, this is my first posting and I wasn't sure where to put it.
I had several tyco trains from my childhood in the 1970's. When I went to summer camp when i was 10, my mom packed the trains in the attic where they were lost for 26 years.
Last October I received a call that she had found them and that if I wanted them I needed to pick them up. I did, and got them working again.
I called model power to see about possible parts for the tyco and mantua locos. While talking to the parts department, I was told a story that I cannot verify, but if true is sad.
When hasbro bought tyco, they only wanted the tyco name (and probably the matchbox line). Hasbro wanted nothing to do with trains. In fact model power didn't think they could of bargained for the tyco dies.
When hasbro took title of the inventory and molds, they trashed everything. The dumpsters where under armed guard. Everything was disposed of including unsold inventory.
Again I cannot verify this story, but if true, someone somewhere might know where the dump is that has this.
I hope I am not posting an urban legend, but I haven't found anything on this on my searches of forums and the internet.
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Posted - April 25 2011 : 7:34:37 PM
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quote:Hi All, this is my first posting and I wasn't sure where to put it.
I had several tyco trains from my childhood in the 1970's.
I called model power to see about possible parts for the tyco and mantua locos. While talking to the parts department, I was told a story that I cannot verify, but if true is sad.
When hasbro bought tyco, they only wanted the tyco name (and When hasbro took title of the inventory and molds, they trashed everything. The dumpsters where under armed guard. )
I hope I am not posting an urban legend,
Originally posted by olstykke - April 25 2011 : 07:59:50 AM
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Sounds like the story of when Chrysler bought AMC, Lee Iaccoa was photo'd on a bulldozer pushing AMC parts inventory into a dump pit. Grrr! That was true, apparently. Not sure about Tyco's demise and inventory disposal, but if so, would give me a good reason NOT to buy anything Hasbro, other than pre-Tyco acquisition inventory. I'm not sure what drives them to do that sort of thing, since it would seem they could make money off selling the molds to another company, rather than trashing it and getting nothing of value for it. Well, their loss, and my lack of respect to them as well, if true. Certainly wouldn't surprise me, the way company's CEO's act sometimes. sad to hear it nontheless.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - April 29 2011 : 8:30:05 PM
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While this legend has roots in reality, it's pretty much bunk as you have it. A few things to clarify, starting with the facts:
-Tyco had exited the train business LONG before they were bought. They last cataloged items in 1992... but in reality very little of it was classic "Tyco". Outsourcing began in 1983 and by the mid-late 80's onward, most of it was rebadged Mehano. Mehano in fact ended up with cloned tooling of several of the freight cars, and continued producing them long after Tyco officially exited the business.
-What Mehano did not have, was bought by IHC. IHC re-ran almost all the "new" (72+ tooling) Tyco cars in the late 90's/ early aughts. IHC also had most of the building line. They also had some of the locos and were rumored to be considering releasing others... but in reality the market for crudely-tooled Tyco locos is pretty much gone forever. As is IHC now.
-Many other Tyco items ended up in the hands of the "New Mantua" in 1978. Too many details to get into here. Mantua also acquired tooling (mostly ex-Lindberg) that was not originally their own. When Mantua closed up in 2001, Model Power bought the line.
The bottom line is: with a handful of exceptions, almost every piece of rolling stock, motive power, and scenic item that Tyco made can be accounted for and was available well into the last decade. What's been "lost" is the operating accessories... but then so have all of Bachmann's and Life-Like's so that too may simply be a symptom of a non-existent child's/beginner's/fun market in the hobby.
There were so many transactions and divestures of Tyco products and tooling over the years, it would be almost impossible to peg the disappearance of any one item to any one deal. I would suspect, if anything, that Mantua may have had most of what went "missing" in the end, and the fault may lie with them. I have heard from several reliable sources that when Mantua closed up, it was free reign / open season at the Woodbury plant, and they pretty much let anyone (employees and "freinds") take what wasn't bolted down. Lots of stuff walked out of there, and who knows where it all went. There are some very unique and rare items lurking in some collections, and I have seen just a scant few.
Finally:
-It was Mattel that bought Tyco Toys, not Hasbro. Mattel's buyout happened in 1996/7 IIRC. Remember that by this time, Tyco had been completely out of trains for 5 years or more (Interestingly, they sold a few commemorative items under the Matchbox brand, and got them from Mantua... perhaps a nod or favor for old-times' sake). Mattel primarily wanted the Matchbox and RC lines, as well as some of the licensed properties. The slot car line was quickly axed (oddly enough, Life-Like got into it about this time...?). The toy lines slowly had the Tyco name phased out.
The last vestige of "Tyco" in the marketplace was the "Tyco R/C" brand, which was phased out in just the last couple years, now sold as "Mattel R/C" and/or "HotWheels R/C".
Edited by - spiderj76 on April 29 2011 8:39:15 PM
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