# ANy more updates from Polar Lights?



## heiki (Aug 8, 1999)

Anymore news, heart-beat, word-of-the-day, etc from Polar Lights?

I know sometimes no news can be good news but how are Dave and Tom doing?


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Nope.


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## heiki (Aug 8, 1999)

John P said:


> Nope.


John, please play nice. We still have photos of you!


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## capt Locknar (Dec 29, 2002)

I don't know if I am stepping on any toes or not and if I am feel free to delete but I did call RC2 last week in Dyersville and talked to one of the managers there and brought up the subject of the Star Trek Line and He said as far as he knew the line is going to continue. So thats some good news slightly I guess.


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## Prince of Styrene II (Feb 28, 2000)

heiki said:


> John, please play nice. We still have photos of you!


Yea, especially the one of you in that Orion Slave Girl outfit!


<shudder>


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## Night-Owl (Mar 17, 2000)

Last I heard *Captain America* was still on for the fall.


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## superduty455 (Jun 21, 2000)

And any car modeler's, the 2004 GTO is still scheduled, confirmation from RC2.
Chris


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Lori's gone, Dave's gone. How can there be any good news?


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## Dave Hussey (Nov 20, 1998)

Are you serious? Dave Metzner is gone?

As the British say, "that is NOT cricket, old chum".

Huzz


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## F91 (Mar 3, 2002)

This is news to me!!! Who's running this asylum?


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## DinoMike (Jan 1, 1970)

Same here... last time someone posted "Dave's gone", Dave himself popped in to deny it.


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## Rogue1 (Jan 3, 2000)

So why keep posting this? 

Here's the last post from Dave the last time this started:


> Ok, Lets see now........This is just about enough.
> I can still lock this thread ......I really ought to delete it altogether.....
> 
> Bat Toys you have done nothing positive with this. All you've done is stir up a hornet's nest and made alot of people upset.
> ...


 Why not take his advice and go build something.


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## lecook (Feb 24, 2000)

Anyone else read the "RCS purchases Play Mantis/Polar Lights" news piece in the current issue of Fine Scale Modeler?

Here it is quoted,



> RC2, which changed its name from Racing Champions Ertl in early 2003, purchased Polar Lights' parent company, Playing Mantis, in June.
> 
> Indiana-based Playing Mantis is best known for its Johnny Lightning line of die-cast vehicles and Polar Lights plastic kits. *Net 2003 sales for the privately held company totaled $28.5 million according to an RC2 press release.* The purchase price was $17 million plus $2.5 million in common-stock shares and possibly as much as $4 million in cash based on meeting net sales targets for 2004 and 2005.
> 
> ...


 Here's my comment: Out of a company of 50 employees they plan to lay off *35* within ninety days? Umm, might not *some* part of the company's success have come from _those_ employees? Or were they just so much excelsior, that is to be discarded now that RC2 has "opened" the company and pulled out want they wanted?

Who are going to be the 15 employees that will remain? And how much were they involved and responsible for the development of the successful kits that PL has produced over the last two years?

What was Tom Lowe's reason for doing this *before* the 1/350 Movie era Enterprise was released? Wasn't the 1/1000 TOS Enterprise their single most profitable kit released so far? What percentage of the net 2003 profits were due to the 1/1000 TOS Enterprise? Wouldn't he have been able to get a MUCH better price for the company about 3 to 6 months *after* the 1/350 Movie Era Enterprise had been burning up the marketplace?


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## LGFugate (Sep 11, 2000)

Lecook, thanks for posting that piece from FineScale Modeler, but let's face the facts:


1. Playing Mantis was a privately held company, owned by Tom Lowe. What
part of "privately held" leads you or anyone else to believe they owe 
anyone an explanation for anything they do with the company?

2. While we all dearly love Dave Metzner, and the other employees of Playing
Mantis, neither they nor the company have any obligation to tell us
what's going on. In fact, they may have been told not to "fan the flames"
on this issue by their new employers. The harder we push, the more in 
jeopardy they are.

Let it go, please! Let's give RC2 a chance to show us what they are going to do.

Larry


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Well, so far they've shown they're gonna lay off 70% of the company.

btw, Dave said he's continuing to work "with" the compnay, not "for" it. careful wording there.

This year's RC2 catalog is 35 pages of die cast and 2 pages of old Ertl car models, with one or two planes thrown in. Ertl's own catalog used to be as big the whole RC2 cat. Can't wait to see next year's, with the additional 5 pages of toddler's toys, and maybe 1/2 page of whatever's left from the PL car stable. And if we're lucky, a Trek kit or two.

Bitter from past burns? yeah.


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## Rogue1 (Jan 3, 2000)

John P said:


> Well, so far they've shown they're gonna lay off 70% of the company.
> 
> btw, Dave said he's continuing to work "with" the compnay, not "for" it. careful wording there.
> 
> ...


 When it comes down to it, it's a business. Like it or not, it is, and it's a done deal. No ammount of whining is going to help, so get over it. You are not part of the 70% getting laid off, and so you have not been "burned". If you were selling your house you would look to get as much as you could for it. You wouldn't take $10,000 off of your price to be "nice". Why? You want as much out of the sale as you can get. This is the way you (and most people) do business. 

What products they decide to produce is THEIR business. Who they decide to keep on staff is THEIR business. If you feel like they are doing this *to you *personally, then I think you need to rethink the situation. 

I love the products that PL puts out, and I like the direction they started to go. I'm *not* going to sit here and blast anyone for making a business decision, or speculate what is going to become of it. 

If Dave got laid off and HE says to stop bringing this up, why do you feel the need to keep doing so? Get a grip man!

Try having patience and wait to see what comes to be. All you're doing now is stirring a pot that has been stirred enough. I like this board, and I like seeing the work people who post here do. I *don't* want to see it ruined by people speculating or throwing accusations when they don't know if their rants are valid. Everything that has been said so far by RC2 in respect to their future plans has not been negetive. Why try to make it negetive?

You have more than enough kits that need building, so grow up and go build them. I don't think you'll run out no matter what happens.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Excuse me all to hell for caring what happens within the industry of my primary hobby, as it slowly erodes away from things I like into things I don't.


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## Rogue1 (Jan 3, 2000)

you're excused, now go build something


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

I'm building, I'm building.


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## LGFugate (Sep 11, 2000)

As the Great Stan Lee once wrote, " 'nuff said". Onward to glory!


Larry

:thumbsup:


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

John P said:


> Excuse me all to hell for caring what happens within the industry of my primary hobby, as it slowly erodes away from things I like into things I don't.


Get with the program, John! _* Start sucking up to RC2 like all the other fellows!*_ :jest: 

(_I really am kidding about that, RC2 folks who may be reading this! I really like your company just please, please, please keep making good Trek and sci-fi and other fun models as PL has done! I'm on my knees begging you! I'll talk real nice about you to everyone I know!_ :freak: )


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

I doubt they'll here ya. Somehow I get the feeling there's nobody on the other end of this thing any more. (tap. tap. Is this thing on?)


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Hear that sucking noise? That's me! I hope it's not in vain.


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## Matthew Green (Nov 12, 2000)

It's funny how everyone is laid off now and the company is in bad straights...Hmmm...This happened right after they decided that Spidey and Hulk were going to be the last figure kits of 2003 and have made nothing but ships and cars for 2004 which I have gotten NONE of them...Interesting...


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## ChrisDoll (Sep 2, 1999)

ZZzzzzZzZzzzzZzZ - whiners bore me.


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## AFILMDUDE (Nov 27, 2000)

Matthew Green said:


> It's funny how everyone is laid off now and the company is in bad straights...Hmmm...This happened right after they decided that Spidey and Hulk were going to be the last figure kits of 2003 and have made nothing but ships and cars for 2004 which I have gotten NONE of them...Interesting...


I hear you man! Remember the ol' "Shut up and stop complaining. If they make ships and cars it'll help pay for more figure kits in the future" argument? Seems there's never an appropriate time to make an honest observation.


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## f1steph (Jan 9, 2003)

Wow I'm surprised that there's 26 reply's on this thread. Me too I'm sad on this entire crap. We will see in 1 year. THEN we will bitch big time if they killed the advance (yes,yes PL was on the pole position!!!!) that PL had on the others. THEY were making kits that WE wanted. I just built the Love Bug. Very nice kit, not easy for a 8 year old (I know it say 10 year and up) but a nice detailed kit for a Snap. I missed the "candide'' releationship we had with Dave. It was the first time for me to know from the top of the pyramide how things were going. Try to know the same stuff from Ertl, Monogram or the others. The best way to destroy a good company is by buying them. Not the first time it happens (Microsoft anybody!!!), and surely not the last time it will happen. Lets give the runner a chance, that's the only freaking thing we ''the customers'' can do.

Steph


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## cobywan (Oct 27, 2001)

Let's not put any blame on the lack of interest in the hobby by American youth. That would just be totally off base and incorrect.


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## BB Moderator (Feb 27, 2002)

Thats enough, Thread closed


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