franklin mint

[tedsweet]

when did they stop diecast cars?

[slusher]

I really don't know when they stopped but Danbury also did also but you can find their diecasts from both on ebay...

[keyser]

Chinese officials confiscated tools and stock of company that built them. Both companies SOL.

[sjordan2]

NY Times story here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/18/automobiles/collectibles/a-scaleback-in-die-cast-cars.html?_r=0

[Bob Ellis]

The economic collapse of 2008 may not have been the only reason, but it coincided with the demise of Franklin and Danbury diecast cars. Unlike like kits, that most build, diecast is a collectible. All collectibles have taken a beating recently.

About the only diecast that I see getting good money is the Franklin Airstream trailer.

[Bob Ellis]

West Coast Precision Diecast made extremely fine detailed 1959-1964 Chevys. The best that I have ever seen. The dumped a lot in the last 2 years as $45-89 Daily Drivers. Some were actually perfect. But, the most obvious observation is that the market for $150 1/24 diecast is dead. And it sounds like you can't build them cheap enough in China to make a buck either.

[lordairgtar]

Chinese officials confiscated tools and stock of company that built them. Both companies SOL.

I've read articles about this and never read that. Can you provide link?

[sjordan2]

I've read articles about this and never read that. Can you provide link?

See my link to the NY Times story, #4 above.

[Deano]

Chinese officials confiscated tools and stock of company that built them. Both companies SOL.

And yet we think it's a great idea to have them do all the manufacturing; to send them all the tooling and intellectual properties associated with.

[sjordan2]

"It's certainly a BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH shoot. Both mints lost their manufacturers because the Chinese companies couldn't pay their employees. I wonder if they contacted Franklin or Danbury in search of a bailout. My guess is that they did."

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

What the heck is this BLAH_BLAH stuff? I used a word which refers to shooting dice on a casino gaming table, describing a particular and well-known kind of game – a word that is spoken every day on the major broadcast networks, and certainly much nicer than anything on cable. This is totally absurd, and a load of BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH.

Edited December 26, 2014 by sjordan2

[spotarama]

you didn't say crup shoot did you? just as well cos you're not allowed to say crepe shoot or crip shoot for that matter

Edited December 27, 2014 by spotarama

[Agent G]

Carp shoot maybe?

G

[keyser]

And yet we think it's a great idea to have them do all the manufacturing; to send them all the tooling and intellectual properties associated with.

Huge companies have been doing business in China for 30 yrs +. Rarely happens.

Same stuff happens here, everywhere. Bad guys screw up, anybody doing business with them is hosed. Gummint uses big hammer, not fine scalpel. They don't care whose stuff it is, it's on premises and is suspect and part of case, period. IRS operates EXACTLY the same way, as does every tax service on planet. See Bernie Madoff et al. cr@p works, but rude.

Filter actually not bad, hear more on news and network than in some PG13 or R films.

Edited December 28, 2014 by keyser

[1930fordpickup]

Huge companies have been doing business in China for 30 yrs +. Rarely happens.

Same stuff happens here, everywhere. Bad guys screw up, anybody doing business with them is hosed. Gummint uses big hammer, not fine scalpel. They don't care whose stuff it is, it's on premises and is suspect and part of case, period. IRS operates EXACTLY the same way, as does every tax service on planet. See Bernie Madoff et al. cr@p works, but rude.

Filter actually not bad, hear more on news and network than in some PG13 or R films.

The big difference is they are a communist country . If you do not pay over there you do not get 5 to 10 years or the courts to help save your butt. They walk in and tell you to leave the country and leave everything you own . They can and do that. Yes not everyday but it does happen. A coworker of my dads had a son working in China, that happen to their construction company. Just look at most older big cities in the USA that have old run down buildings , the owners are always behind on taxes.

[AzTom]

See my link to the NY Times story, #4 above.

That story is from a retailer. I have read similar stories from a different diecast company that is now gone but they were in trouble long before the said confiscation of tooling. They also lost property here in the US.

It would be interesting to hear the other side of the "Our tooling was confiscated" story. Danbury and Franklin were also in trouble before the "lost tooling" reports ... just saying.

[Junkman]

In the case of Franklin, how can "Chinese officials" confiscate tools that are in Korea?

[george 53]

And the mystery gets DEEPER!.......

[sjordan2]

That story is from a retailer. I have read similar stories from a different diecast company that is now gone but they were in trouble long before the said confiscation of tooling. They also lost property here in the US.

It would be interesting to hear the other side of the "Our tooling was confiscated" story. Danbury and Franklin were also in trouble before the "lost tooling" reports ... just saying.

How is the New York Times a retailer? And the story says that Danbury was shut down because the manufacturing plant couldn't pay its workers. I'll go with the investigative reporters at the Times.

[Art Anderson]

In the case of Franklin, how can "Chinese officials" confiscate tools that are in Korea?

I have perhaps 25 Franklin Mint cars (most bought when new, a few on the secondary market) and none of mine were produced in Korea. They were always produced in China AFIK.

Art

[sjordan2]

There's a sticker on the bottom of my 1987 FM MB 300 SL gullwing that says Made in Hong Kong, and the later 300 SL roadster tag says Crafted in China. The rest of my diecasts are boxed up, but I bet they say the same.

[Danno]

How is the New York Times a retailer? And the story says that Danbury was shut down because the manufacturing plant couldn't pay its workers. I'll go with the investigative reporters at the Times.

Tom's referring to the fact that the NY Times quoted a retailer, not one of the principals of the story, Franklin or Danbury. It would seem smarter to go to the principal/subject of the story for some first-hand information rather than extensively quoting only one of hundreds of retailers, IMHO.

[sjordan2]

Tom's referring to the fact that the NY Times quoted a retailer, not one of the principals of the story, Franklin or Danbury. It would seem smarter to go to the principal/subject of the story for some first-hand information rather than extensively quoting only one of hundreds of retailers, IMHO.

I'll still go with the Times and its reputation for journalistic integrity and their very large staff of fact-checkers, unless there's someone here with credible inside information. Rumor and off-the-cuff opinion are useless. They had maybe 2 well-publicized slips in the last 20 years, but there's a reason why they've been known for many generations as "The Newspaper of Record."

Edited December 29, 2014 by sjordan2

[AzTom]

How is the New York Times a retailer? And the story says that Danbury was shut down because the manufacturing plant couldn't pay its workers. I'll go with the investigative reporters at the Times.

I said nothing against the NYT or the reporter. The reporter was interviewing a model retailer, not Danbury or Franklin Mint. Bottom line, it is all just hearsay.