MTH. Perhaps the one company that US toy train enthusiasts either love or loath. The history began in 1973 when Mike Wolf was aged 12, and started assembling reproduction Lionel trains, for Jerry Williams, proprietor of Williams Electric Trains, and now part of the Bachman empire. Within a few years, Wolf was running a mail order business from his parents' home, supplying Williams trains and parts. Jerry Williams withdrew from that market, and sold the tooling to Mike Wolf, who continued the production and sales of reproduction Lionel trains. By the 1980s, Mike Wolf, trading as Mike's Train House, was trading as a Lionel sub contractor, and, by the 90s, was the second largest mail order toy train business in the US.
It all ended in tears, in 1993, when then Lionel owner Richard Kughn terminated the agreement between MTH and Lionel, due to competition between the two companies. MTH sued Lionel, and settlement was agreed out of court, in 1995. MTH expanded their product line and, by 1998, were larger than Lionel in terms of market share. The rivalry between the two companies was intense, and has not been helped by court cases - MTH sued Lionel and, in 2004, were awarded damages of USD 40.8 million, although the original trial was overturned and a new trial ordered. The case has now been settled, to the apparent satisfaction of both parties.
Since the settlement of the litigation mentioned above, Lionel and MTH have launched a joint venture, whereby copies of original Lionel and American Flyer tinplate trains are being produced by MTH, but wearing the Lionel and American Flyer names, the Flyer name now being owned by Lionel, and both names being licenced to MTH.
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Is it my imagination, or are MTH and Lionel issuing more new catalogs than trains each year?
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