LGB STAINZ - The Train Sets , Years 2001 -2006 (Conclusion)

 After all the German toy dealers had their pick at customized LGB Stainz train sets (see previous blog) LGBoA got a bit grumpy and wanted their piece of the pie. Which is a bit astounding since the "New Item 2001" brochure for LGBoA already listed a slew of LGB engines new to their customers and some were real smashes like the F 7 See Through or the Aster Garret NGG 13. With their financial back to the wall already LGB Headquarters in Nuremberg tried to get away on the cheap by offering them the set of the

LGB 72302

LGB 72302 - Courtesy of Only Trains

and the  LGB 72402

LGB 72402 - Courtesy of Only Trains

Dearest blog-follower, of course you are asking, why.... these are not new..?! And right you are. Built since 1997 (or even before that, not minding the color scheme) LGB put a new transformer into the set and declared the product a new item. And both (set)engines came with sound.

Even though 2001 marked the 120th Anniversary for LGB - since the grandparent company Lehmann Tin Toys was established in Berlin in 1881 - LGB only marketed that event with a European Anniversary catalog. Nothing for the USA/LGBoA... go figure. 

The "2002 LGBoA New Item Info" is a 68(!) page catalog in addition to the "LGBoA Program Overview 2002" with 28 pages and the standard main catalog for 2001/2002. Still, no mention of the 120th anniversary. So - to find the "new" 2002 Stainz Train set the LGB fan had to travel to page 17(!!) of the "2002 LGBoA New Item Info" to find the

LGB 29151

LGB 29151 shown on pg 17 of "2002 LGBoA New Item Info"

The set was sold for US$ 699.99 (or US$ 1,300.00 in today's value) as a Limited Edition of 1,300. 

The current market offers include just the engine and tender (no cars) for Euro/$ 445.00 (BigTrainWorld)  and  Euro/$ 245.00 (Grootspoor). (At the time of this blog Euro and US$ are on par).

In 2005 LGB manufactured another custom-painted Stainz set, this time for the Swiss garden center GARPA located in Zurich. The set had an edition of 350 and could only be purchased  through GARPA.

LGB 70315

LGB 70315 - Courtesy of ricardo.ch

This is one of the rarest LGB STAINZ Sets we have found while writing this blog.  GARPA still exists

The LGB 72920

LGB 72920 - Courtesy of central-hobbies.com

also came out in 2005. It was an uncatalogued set that was offered by LGBoA in the  2005 4-page "LGBoA LIMITED EDITION". The Richter family and their LGB company already had to face the music in 2005. Cash strapped, interest payments coming due, payroll payments on hold, creditors and suppliers put on hold - all of that either lead to or was mixed with a plain horrible marketing strategy and a motley crew of sales efforts. 16 publications in up to 4 languages tell the story of things to come.

The last LGB STAINZ train set to be offered was the

LGB 70403

LGB 70403 - Courtesy of jb-webshop.de

This type of Stainz set has multiple variants and one similar to the above shown is still on offer today by the new LGB/Maerklin company. The above shown set is also still available at the time of writing for about US$ 370.00 via the internet by a German shop.

In July of 2006 LGB was celebrating their 125th Anniversary with pomp and circumstance. In September of 2006 they declared bankruptcy and by the end of 2006 the Old Original LGB was history.

LGB STAINZ - The Train Sets, 2000-2001

 After having produced more than 900,000 Stainz sets and Stainz engines LGB was still going strong with their most successful locomotive. By the turn of the century (2000) times were starting to get really tough at LGB and the banks were giving them a pretty hard time. Cash was short, top- managing was weary and incompetent, their best (employees) had already left or were about to leave and bills were mounting. In addition, industries in Germany were flooded by a deluge of new work-related legislature regarding decreased allowed work-time, shift-regulation, time-off-regulation for pregnant women and new mothers, sick-leave, compulsory vacation obligations (not kidding!!) and more.

Still, LGB tried to hang on and published their next Stainz set. It was presented in the 2000 catalog/ new item brochure (there was no new Stainz set in 1999)

LGB 70950/72950

LGB 70950/72950 - Courtesy of worthpoint.com

This set was honoring the 950th Anniversary of the city of Nuremberg. It had a limited edition of 1,200 sets. The passenger cars displayed the printing:" 950 Jahre" and " 50 Jahre/ E.P. LEHMANN/SPIELZEUG/ AUS NUERNBERG" ("950 Years" and " 50 Years/E.P.LEHMANN/TOYS/FROM NUREMBERG") The "50 Years" referred to the re-opening of the tin toy company by EP Lehmann in 1950 in Nuremberg after moving there from Berlin after WW II; Berlin was becoming politically unsafe due to the Russian occupation of  the Eastern part of Germany and half of Berlin). 

The set had 2 item numbers, the 70950 referring to the German/European set package and the 72950 referring to the US version. LGB also offered the set with a digital decoder with the item # 70950.8

These days the set is often advertised as Christmas set since the coloring of the loco, cars and the colorful festoons are mistaken for Christmas decoration. Whereas in fact it relates to the Bavarian custom to embellish huge objects, buildings and whole street parts with fir garlands to honor anniversaries or important political events.

For 2001 there were these LGB Stainz sets, LGB 72302 and 72402

LGB 72302

LGB 72302 - Courtesy amazon.com

LGB 72302 green version

LGB 72302 - Courtesy LGBoA new item flyer 2001

Yours Truly has no idea why those two have identical item#s. We also found varied assorted sets with the same number on the internet where the green loco is offered with 2 red cars or other mix. There is a chance that LGB Nuremberg was in such a quest for income that it not only sold the green loco set to LGBoA but also assembled other sets from stock and gave them (maybe as limited or exclusive editions) to various US LGB dealers. It is also possible that the red set is a new item from the new LGB/Maerklin and they re-used an old LGB number. Hard-to-say...

LGB 72402

LGB 72402 - Courtesy LGBoA new item flyer 2001

No information available about edition volume for the above item numbers.

The German market was graced with these sets: - non of which were offered in any catalog but were exclusively made for dealer associations, most of them in aggressive competition to each other... Klaus Baumann, the late VP Sales of LGB was so furious about this LGB policy that he predicted the ruin of the longstanding cooperation between LGB and toy dealers - which was to come true 2 years later.

LGB 70920

LGB 70920 - Courtesy of Only Trains

This set was not in any catalog nor flyer/brochure. It was probably made for a dealer or the German Postal Service (Deutsche Post) which at that time was changing their outlet policy from federal stores and buildings to private grocery stores with a section reserved for the German Postal Service.  

LGB 70938

LGB 70938 - Courtesy of debruijn-bussum.nl

This toy set was exclusively made for VEDES  Association of  Toy Dealers and was limited to 2,000 sets. It was a big set with 3 cars (instead of the standard 2 cars) and was very attractive. It can still be found on eBay and at some European dealers. Price today runs about US$ 400.00 (plus shipping)

LGB 70940

LGB 70940 - Courtesy of BigTrainWorld.com

This set was named the "Fire department" train, also featuring 3 cars in an all red coloring. The edition was limited to 2,400 sets and was exclusively made for Idee + Spiel toy dealer association. It is still available today, mostly on the European market and runs around US$ 400.00 (plus shipping from Europe)

Idee + Spiel got another exclusive set that year, outmaneuvering VEDES ( the bigger association, representing a lot (!) more dealers with better financial power):

LGB 70942

LGB 70942 - Courtesy of THW-modell-liste.de

It was called the THW-train referring to the Technisches Hilfs Werk or the equivalent of FEMA in Germany. The blue color is characteristic for the THW as all their equipment features this specific blue. Edition volume was not made public but would have been somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000.

+++++++++++++++++++ to be continued...

LGB STAINZ, The Train Sets - Years 1997/98

In previous decades LGB had published a main catalog every two years. Under the leadership of Rolf Richter that was about to change. So 1997 saw a new main catalog being published/offered amidst the just released new MTS system. This new 'digital' system needed  some thorough promotion after all. And so the front page of the promotional brochure  "INFO 1997" sold the main catalog first followed by two tried and true Stainz sets:

LGB INFO '97 

LGB 72302/70302

LGB 72302 - Courtesy of Only Trains.com

The Stainz loco 2020 featured sound in this set and the transformer was upped to 1Amp. At the time of writing this set was still available on ebay (US$ 215.00) and amazon.com ($406), condition on both unknown.

LGB 72403/70402

LGB 72402 - Courtesy of Only Trains.com

This set also featured sound and an 1Amp transformer. At the time of writing a brand new set was offered on ebay.com for US$ 500.00 with some parts still in original LGB plastic bags.

1998 saw another two Stainz train sets. The 

LGB 70321

LGB 70321 - Courtesy of picclick.de

This set is so rare that YT chose this rather blurted image than no image at all. The set was ONLY sold in Austria, called the "Zillertalbahn" and contained  an LGB 20201 engine and two passenger cars LGB 31070. Only 250 of these were offered. LGB itself never advertised the set.

The second set for 1968 was the 30 Years of LGB Anniversary set

LGB 71968

LGB 71968 set in box - Courtesy of eBay-Kleinanzeigen.de

LGB 71968 - Courtesy of bigtrainworld.com

The set was heavily advertised in Germany but not in the USA. The German flyer 'New Items 1998' displayed it front and center with the announcement "Limited Edition" but did not advertise the actual limit. It is safe to assume it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000. Price in German DM was 199.00 which roughly translated to US$ 100.00 in 1998. The swiveling flat wagon LGB # 40500 had an anniversary load of 3 30cm/ 11.8 in-tracks LGB# 10000. At the time of writing YT saw two offers on the internet, one for EU 189.00(picclick.fr) or US$ 200.00 and one for EU 235.00(BigTrainWorld) or US$ 260.00.

LGB also published a brochure in honor of the 30-Year-Anniversary telling the story of LGB. Here is a link for our dearest reader/follower

https://www.lgb-trains.com/lib/catalogs/issue90-99/pubs/LGB1998_01198_30YearsFlyer_DE-EN.pdf

In today's world this would work perfectly well as an example of horrible marketing...maybe back then it did as well...

++++++++++++++++++++++++to be continued...

LGB STAINZ - The Train Sets, Year 1996

The year 1996 was a year of train sets in general for LGB. The LGB main catalog even advertised a Stainz train set:

LGB catalog front cover 1996 -
Courtesy of  lgb-trains.com/lib

However, most of the offered train-sets did NOT sport Stainz engines but  LGB 2017 derivations  with cars from the standard LGB stock. In 1996 LGB, meanwhile under leadership of Rolf Richter, focused intensely on sales increase. That led to another round of specialty series in small edition volumes. The undisputed leader here was the 

LGB 29210

LGB 29210 - Courtesy LGB Kompendium pg 1254

With only 50 (!) sets of this specialty it was made for the 10 year anniversary for the "LGB Club - Friends of the Lower Rhine River" and was solely sold to the members of that LGB club. YT could not find one single lead/link on the internet for this item. And yet, back then the club was powerful enough that LGB gave this Stainz Train set its very own item number.

The next specialty set was (again) made for the toy-retailer association "Idee + Spiel" (Idea + Play) with an edition of 1,000:

LGB 70417

The set consisted of a LGB 2020D, a  LGB 4011 covered flat car in brown (usually offered in orange) and a LGB 45352 Coca-Coal box car with no sound (usually w/sound)

LGB 2020D - Courtesy of picclick.com

LGB 4011 in brown - Courtesy of eBay.com/uk

LGB 45352 - Courtesy of gbdb.info

This set also included a set of rails, transformer and figurines. Why the association chose a set like this or was given it remains a puzzle. The association served toy retailers whose main target group were parents of smaller children ( 6-10) and it was common belief among parents back then that Coca Cola was not a beverage that should be served to young children on a regular base. It was quite expensive, too with a price of about DM 395.00 or about US$ 250.00, which translates to about US$ 500.00 today.

The main competition to that association was the "VEDES" group who received their own Stainz set with the

LGB 70418

LGB 70418 (VEDES) - Courtesy of ebay.com/kleinanzeigen

A set similar to this was offered on ebay in January 2022 for US$ 160.00 and did not get any offers! Obviously nobody knew about the rarity of this set. The edition volume for this set was 2,500 and was sold solely in stores that were a member of this Vedes Group.

The next set was made for an Austrian company and one of those sets did survive until today and is even currently available:

LGB 70515

This rarity was called the "Jaegerndorfer Sammel-Set" (Huntersvillage Collector Set), the edition volume is unknown. It is currently ( Feb 22, 2022) for sale by http://www.gartenbahndesign.at/?page_id=1410 for EU 250.00 or US$ 289.00 (shipping costs unknown). It can be safely assumed that the edition was not bigger than 2,000 sets.

Another Stainz set in limited edition, this time of 1,000 was the 

LGB 70516/ LGB 71418

LGB 70516 - Courtesy of grootspoor.com

The Unimog car and the construction trailer were not made by LGB. This set was made for an Austrian importer, edition was 1,000. LGB listed this set under two different item numbers, reasons are unknown.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++ to be continued...

LGB STAINZ -- The Train Sets, year 1995

1995 marked the year that LGB went 'digital'. The MTS system was introduced; the Multi Train System. Reason enough to offer as many 'new' items as LGB-possible. And that they did. Not only to their actual end-user customer base but also to any and everyone who could possibly sell LGB trains and train sets.

And since the main channel to sell LGB train (sets) in Germany was the toy-retailer LGB continued the series of  Stainz sets "exclusively" for toy and similar retailers. Or any retailer willing to offer a train set by LGB. From bone-china stores to grocery wholesalers, from shoe stores to breweries LGB train sets were added to the product line. Usually in 'limited' editions. In 1995 this line was continued by the

LGB 70415

LGB 70415 - Courtesy of catawiki.com

The edition volume was 7,800. It was only sold in Germany. The set was grouped out of existing rolling stock from standard LGB ware with the red gravel car displaying the number "415" on its side as a reference to the "specialty" set. Pricing was up to the individual retailer. These sets are currently showing on the German market for about Euro 120.00 to 175.00 or US$ 135.00 to $200.00.

LGB 70416

LGB 70416 - Courtesy of eBaykleinanzeigen.de

This set was offered to another group of German retailers, yet with another limit. This limited edition was 2,000 and the green truck was NOT an LGB item and made by another company, Bruder. The set price was about US$ 125.00. 

A Siding

In the year before LGB had offered a circus set # 22988/70988 with an edition of 10,000 (see last blog). And why stop with such a well working money maker? OK - they couldn't offer the same thing twice - or could they?? Huh! This is the solution

LGB 70910/72910

LGB 72910 - Courtesy of liveauctioneers.com

LGB changed the engine from a Stainz to a 2017 (Western style "Stainz"), left out the tender from the original setup and added two circus cars. There you have it. Close enough. And they sold it in two power versions, 220V (European) and 110V for the US market.

And this was just the beginning. LGB got into gear for real in 1996 when - in addition to their regular cataloged stock - they offered a whole slew of train sets featuring the STAINZ engine prominently...

++++++++++++++++++++++ to be continued..............................

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

 

Merry Christmas to all our readers and fans! Thank you all for your support and your love for LGB trains. Our blog will continue in January 2022.

LGB STAINZ - The Train Sets, Years 1992-1994

After a smaller edition of the Christmas train set was selling well in 1990 LGB went down that road again in 1992:

LGB 22540

LGB 22540 - Courtesy of worthpoint.com

The difference to LGB 20540: the number "4" on the engine (was "2"). The big difference was the edition volume. This time 10,000 were made. And sold 'worldwide'.

That same year the LGB New Item flyer also presented the Circus Train set No

LGB 22988

LGB 70988 (1993)

LGB 22988 - Courtesy of picclick.com

LGB 70988 - Courtesy of picclick.com

10,000 were made and sold 'worldwide'. The set included 3 figurines and a little box on the truck bed. These Circus train sets are still offered on the internet at the time of writing.

1994 saw these Stainz train sets being offered:

LGB 70545

LGB 70545 - Courtesy of workwithyoung.com

After two red Christmas train sets in 2 years, not differing much, LGB saw the great trick in offering a blue version. Edition is not known but an educated guess points to another 10,000 edition volume. And the price was raised to a plump US$ 500.00. These blue Stainz train sets today are offered for US$ 650.00 to $ 750.00 or more.

And since LGB was already in the copying mood they continued the  series for the German Toy-Dealer-Marketing-Associations. 

LGB 70994

LGB 70994 Vedes - Courtesy of picclick.com

VEDES  hat to take 10,000 of these sets while the competing association of "Toy-Ring" (German: Spielzeug-Ring) also received 10,000 as a marketing 'special', same time, same train set, the only difference  was a logo printed on the yellow boxcar: Grafitti-Express

LGB 70996

LGB 70996 Spielzeug-Ring - Courtesy of picclick.com

Both had to be sold in the very same toy dealer stores since both associations supplied the same toy dealers. You can imagine how happy those toy dealers were...Yep, LGB made great friends back then in the retail business....

And to make matters funnier they made a 3rd edition with a blank yellow boxcar as a special for the MC stores only- also a group of toy retailers. This time the edition was 500

LGB 70995

LGB 70995  - Courtesy of grootspoor.com

And all three sets were standard LGB 'fare' which were produced for the annual catalog-offer anyway. That at least kept the costs low which LGB had to learn as a new virtue.

+++++++++++++++ to be continued...