Micro Macro Mundo Inc.

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Marklin unveils the TGV French high speed train

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 04:26:00 +0000

Prototype: French State Railways (SNCF) TGV POS (train à grande vitesse) high speed train, in the version for service between Paris and Southern Germany. 2 powered end cars, 1 transition car (R1), 1st/2nd class, 1 transition car (R8), 2nd class. The newest paint scheme. The train looks as it currently does in real life in 2009/2010.

Model: The train is a 4-part set. It has 1 powered end car (TK1) with a motor and 1 powered end car (TK2) without a motor. The train has an mfx digital decoder and extensive sound functions. It has controlled, high-efficiency propulsion in powered end car 1, centrally mounted. 4 axles powered through cardan shafts. Traction tires. The train has factory-installed interior lighting. The triple headlights and dual red marker lights change over with the direction of travel. They and the interior lighting will work in conventional operation and can be controlled digitally. The third headlight for the French headlight code can be turned off separately in digital operation. The headlights and interior lighting are maintenance-free, warm white LEDs and the marker lights are maintenance-free red LEDs. The train has separately applied metal grab irons. It also has inset windshield wipers. The engineer's cabs in the powered end cars have interior details. A powered end car and a transition car are permanently coupled together in pairs and have special close couplings with a guide mechanism. There is an additional guide mechanism in the Jakobs truck. The end cars have a pickup shoe changeover feature so that the pickup shoe at the front of the train is the one picking up power. The interior lighting is powered through a continuous electrical connection through the entire train. Each powered end car has 2 different design single-arm pantographs, one with a wiper for the DB catenary and one with a wiper for the SNCF catenary. The pantographs work mechanically but are not wired to take power. The train is a scale reproduction. The minimum radius for operation is therefore 360 mm / 14-3/16", when there is sufficient clearance on both sides. Length of the 4-part set 101 cm / 39-3/4".

Functions:
Headlight(s) · · · ·
Interior lights · · · ·
Light Function1 · · ·
Electric locomotive op. sounds · · ·
Horn · · ·
Direct control · · ·
Sound of squealing brakes off · ·
Doors Closing · ·
Whistle for switching maneuver · ·
Conductor's Whistle · ·
Station Announcements ·
Stat. Announce. - Fren. ·

Highlights:
Completely new tooling.
Scale 1:87 reproduction.
Factory-installed interior lighting.
Extensive sound functions.
Warm white LEDs for lighting.
The latest paint scheme.

The French railroad SNCF purchased the "Train à Grande Vitesse Paris - Ostfrankreich – Südwestdeutschland" (TGV POS) for high speed service between Paris, Eastern France (Strasbourg), and Southern Germany. The core of the TGV POS was initially the new construction of the high speed route, which is planned to connect Strasbourg better with Paris. A trip of four hours was simply no longer tolerable if the railroad was to compete effectively with people driving cars. The new route with a maximum speed of 350 km/h / 218.75 mph was planned to be 430 kilometers / 269 miles long and also make connections to Nancy, Reims, Luxembourg, and Basle. The TGV Est trains were planned to travel at 350 km/h / 218.75 mph. On May 9, 2000, the DB AG and the SNCF agreed on standardization of cross-border cars and powered units, routes, and signals. Due to the short time plan and several disagreements there was no common high speed train. Instead, a mixed operation of ICE and TGV was planned. Both trains had to pass a great many test runs in the two countries in order to receive permission for operation. The TGV POS is not really a generation of cars and powered units that has been developed totally from scratch. The TGV POS is more a mix of new powered end cars and intermediate cars from the TGV Réseau. The new powered end cars are mechanically very similar to those of the TGV Thalys PBKA (Paris - Brussels - Cologne / Amsterdam). The electrical equipment for three current systems (25 kilovolts / 50 Hertz as well as 1.5 kilovolts DC in France, 15 kilovolts / 16-2/3 Hertz in Germany and Switzerland) is being done for the first time using asynchronous technology with IGBT-controlled three-phase asynchronous motors. Two pantographs are located on the roof. The one with a contact strip 1,650 mm / 64-15/16" wide is used for 25 kilovolts / 50 Hertz in France and in Switzerland; the second one with a contact strip 1,950 mm / 76-3/4" wide and metallic plated carbon contact strips is used in Germany. In France the 1,950 mm / 76-3/4" pantographs on both powered end cars must be up under the 1.5 kilovolt catenary due to the high level of current. The intermediate cars come from the TGV Réseau. However, they were extensively modernized and brought up to the laterst technical standard at the workshops in Bischheim; they therefore differ strikingly from the other generations of TGV trains. A train set consists of two powered end cars and eight intermediate cars. The intermediate cars are connected to each other by means of Jakobs trucks and thereby form an operational unit. Five intermediate cars (one with a bar) are intended for passengers in 2nd class and three intermediate cars are for 1st class. The approximately 200 meter / 656 foot TGV POS has seating for 360 passengers. Nineteen units have been purchased with the road numbers 4401 to 4419, whereby road number 4406 was sold recently to the SBB. In France the trains are allowed to run at a maximum speed of 320 km/h / 200 mph; in Germany the maximum speed allowed on the high speed routes is 250 km/h / 156 mph. TGV road number 4402 is a special train. Its powered end cars along with three modified intermediate cars set a new, unbelievable speed record for rail vehicles as World Record Train V150 at noon on April 3, 2007 on the route LGV Est. In 13 minutes this train accelerated to 574.8 km/h / 359.25 mph. The two powered end cars have kept their striking world record lettering, which immediately draws attention to the attempted speed. They can be seen occasionally in the Swabian part of Germany.

The 37790 basic set must be expanded with the 43420, 43430, and 43440 extension sets to a prototypical 10-car unit. SNCF and TGV are registered trademarks of the SNCF. SNCF is the owner of the TGV®. All rights reserved regarding copying and/or reproduction. Sous réserve d'obtention de la licence.

This model can be found in a DC version in the Trix H0 assortment under item no. 22364.

Traxxas many cars and trucks now include battery and battery charger

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 04:13:00 +0000

Traxxas has announced many cars and trucks that will include battery and battery charger, either for the starter or for the electric motors on those versions electric.
Also, the inclusion of the new 2.4 GHz radio that will end the era of radio interferences.

Micro Macro Mundo Inc. is a FULL Traxxas Dealer and we carry the complete line out of models in Nitro or Electric as well as service center for your repairs. (only repairs brought to our Store in Miami)

New Marklin 26351 Adler set

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 03:50:00 +0000

Marklin has unveiled a new Adler set Marklin 26351 replica of the new restored Adler in the Nuremberg Museum.

New Brands will be carried this year

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 03:27:00 +0000

LGB new Brand. LGB is part of Marklin GmbH and will be in stock starting this year.

POLA was bought by Faller so now, as part of the Faller family, will be in our Store. These products are exclusively for G gauge (Garden scale 1:22.5)

KIBRI now this plastic manufacturer of buildings, cranes and vehicles is part of Viessmann. The Company was purchased this February and now will be distributed by Viessmann, so Micro Macro Mundo as one of the largest Viessmann Dealers, will carry the complete line of Kibri products.

In the world of remote control, who can say have never played with a Scalectric slot car? Very few.

Now Scalectric is SCX and we have them already in stock. We have both systems: Digital and analog.

It is important to say that the Digital system from SCX is superb allowing up to 6 racers at the time to participate, with a large sort of accessories to make your driving experience the most enjoyable ever. You must try these incredible cars.

New 2010 items have been posted in our web site

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 03:18:00 +0000

The new items for 2010 are already posted in our web site.

Please visit the link above to see what's new from Marklin, Trix, Minitrix, Brawa, Vollmer, Faller, Viessmann and Preiser.
Also this year, we will carry LGB, POLA and Kibri as result of purchases from some of our Manufacturers of these new Brands.

Marklin 31860 3 Crocodile set some more available

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 23:05:00 +0000

We have managed to get just a few more units of this set Marklin 31860.

Only 500 units were made so this is very scarce and we are proud to be one of the largest Dealers that have get and sold this item in a pretty large quantity due the rarity of it.

Marklin announces price hike

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:23:00 +0000

We have received an e-mail from Walters signed by Tim Wickerham that reads as follows:

"Price Adjustment on February 1, 2010
Märklin Germany has announced a price adjustment will take effect February 1, 2010 on Märklin, Trix and LGB products. Prices have been held stable since October 1, 2008 despite rising costs of raw materials. At this time we have not been informed of the percentage of the increase. We are giving you advance notice so you will have the opportunity to review your present inventory and place fill-in orders prior to the February 1st date. "

This is a joke. Prices held since 2008? Where? Not at Walthers as they increased substantially the prices in February 2009 and not at Marklin GmbH. Do they think Dealers do not keep price lists from one year to an other or what?

But what is a reality is that prices will go higher AGAIN and with an Euro rising daily, this will bring very high values to products from Marklin, Trix/Minitrix and LGB.

While other Manufacturers are struggling to keep prices down to fight against the drop on sales they had, Marklin is doing all what they can to once for all remove the Brand from the face of the Earth because their extreme high prices.

It is clear that Marklin (and all their Brands) have converted in elite only products. There is no more "kids" that can afford these prices nor parents willing to pay for their kid's toys enormous amounts of money required to buy Marklin products.

The new "set of..... (how many?)" is now a common policy from Marklin that make sets of 10, 20 and up to 40 cars. Who the hell can have 40 cars pulled by one locomotive? What has to be the size of that layout?. Oh yes, some of them say "can be sold separately" so everyone wants the car # 1 and # 3 but nobody wants the car # 2 for example, so Dealers will lose a bunch by being stuck with products they can't sell. Why Marklin does not allow Dealers also to but the cars they want from that particular set?

The average Marklin Customer is well over 55 years old, so what is Marklin doing? waiting a few more years to see all Collectors die and then close the Company for lack of Sales?

Widows do not buy Marklin, they sell the wonderful collections their late husbands had for pennies on eBay or given for sale as states to Lawyers that have no idea what they have on hand and also trow away for nothing (other than their fees) immense collections.

If Marklin does not start producing GOOD QUALITY cheap models as entry level where kids and parents can afford to buy them, the future of the Brand is very dark.

If Marklin also does not see that has to eliminate all sources of extra expenses such as subsidiaries that have nothing to do or Distributors that only make a lot more expensive and complicated to provide products from them, then also this will be a problem down the road to recovery and again, future is not bright at all.

It is clear, from the results, that only those Countries where Marklin has sold direct at a global unique price scheme had success during 2009 while all others, went down substantially including USA.

So let's see what the new Nuremberg Fair brings to us but I'm not too confident that will be good news.

In fact, all those not released items from 2009 have new prices as each year they rise prices for non released items.

We will be moving soon

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 20:48:00 +0000

Thanks to all our Customers that have made us to grow much beyond the capacity of our actual Store located at 7138 SW 117Th. Avenue, we have signed for a new Store 3 times larger just one block south of the actual Store.

Our new address will be 7564 S.W. 117Th. Avenue, Miami FL 33183
This location is inside the TJ-Maxx Plaza shopping center next to Winn-Dixie and across the street from the United States Postal Service at 117Th. Avenue and Sunset Drive.

Same phone 305-279-8033

During March/April 2010 we expect to have ready all the new construction and permits to open the largest Hobby Store in South Florida with the largest World wide stock in our main Brands such as Marklin, Trix, Minitrix, Brawa, Preiser, Faller, Vollmer, Viessmann, Tamiya, Kyosho, Traxxas, HPI, CEN, OFNA and all others we carry.

We also will increase our line out of Brands with several well known Brands in the Model railroad and Models area.

We have already reach the largest stock on plastic Models from Revell and Tamiya and new Brands will be included such as Trumpeter and Italeri ( a Faller Company ). Revell/Monogram is slowly growing right now and some can be found in the links for REVELL of Germany.

Wooden Models from Artesania Latina and Constructo are all included now in our product line and next will be added Artesania Latina Wood Doll Houses.

Kibri will be added this year 2010 as well as the Car System by Faller.

A new exciting Brand arriving mid January is SCX, the best Digital Slot cars system in the market. We will be publishing soon the page for SCX in our web site, keep looking for it.

So keep looking for the official opening day we will post on this same blog.

We thank all our Customers for giving us their business and for the trust they have placed in our Organization. Without you, we would not have been able to grow to this new level and had, including the recession of 2008/09 one of our best years ever.

Happy New Year 2010

New search options on our web site

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:08:00 +0000

A new feature will start working in our advanced search engine in our web site on November 2009.

You can go to www.rocousa.com/AdvancedSearch.asp and search for the last arrivals or changes to our DataBase on any given date or between dates and you have also the choice to select or add other filters to your search.

Many of our Customers have said why we do not have this feature so they can search what have arrived lately or has been sold out. Well, now you have that chance to do your search by dates.

Please note that the date you write in the "To Date" will not be included in the results, so add one extra day to the date you want to display as "To Date".

344 items arrived in one large shipments

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:39:00 +0000

344 items arrived in this last shipment from Marklin, Trix, Faller and Vollmer.
We can say now, that we are well prepared to face the season 2009 and that our Inventory in Faller and Vollmer is almost 98% of the products on the program of each of these Manufacturers including a very large selection of discontinued items that we still have stock. If you have the time, we invite you to browse each of these Manufacturers in our web site www.rocousa.com/faller.asp

and www.rocousa.com/vollmer.asp and take advantage of our very low prices nobody can bit us in USA.

Do not forget to review Preiser at www.rocousa.com/preiser.asp We offer the lowest guaranteed price in the Continent and our stock is more than 97% total production in HO, N and Z gauge.
In 1 gauge and G gauge we are not well stocked due low demand on those gauges, but we are able to bring any item you need in our next regular montly shipment.

Also, now for Marklin, we offer upgrades from conventional or Delta units to Digital at cost of decoders plus locomotive, no labor charges. If you see any locomotive in our database you like and need it Digital, we will install the decoder for you at cost of decoder and no charge for labor.

Marklin 16064 Jolanda Propeller-Driven Steam Ship

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:29:00 +0000

Finally the highly expected Jolanda ship has arrived to our Store.
The first lot of ships has arrived and we will start shipping them the first week of November.

It was unfortunate that they were released at the highest point of the Euro, but we have reduced our margin to the limit to help our Customers pay for this unique and beautiful Ship, one of the best Marklin Collectible of the last years.

The quantities available are very limited and we are almost sold out, so we encourage those that were waiting until release date to make their mind, not to delay the decision and buy right away this unit.

Marklin Fall 2009 new items

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:20:00 +0000

Marklin has announced the new Fall 2009 items.

We do not know if this is a symptom of the problems they have or what, but only 2 items were announced:
Marklin 48409 HO Christmas car for 2009 and Marklin 80619 Z gauge Christmas car.

Is recession affecting the Marklin production line? who knows.

Any way, we have been receiving consistently new items for 2009 and we have already posted them in our web site as "IN STOCK". Unfortunately, the exchange rate is not helping as we had to pay at a rate of 1.495 Dollars per Euro, so we are doing our best to keep the prices as low as we can by cutting to the maximum our margin.

Kyosho Giga Crusher is back to Micro Macro Mundo

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 03:04:00 +0000

Whaooo... Kyosho did it again........
Whaooo... Good news Monster truck drivers!!!
Kyosho Giga Crusher is back by popular demand.
The most popular Monster truck by Kyosho features 3 speeds forward and 3 speeds reverse, neutral gear so you can tune without worrying your truck will move at any throttle speed, ready to run model including a 3 channel radio, with a powerful .28 GSR Kyosho motor and all what you need including plug heater and fuel bottle.
Follow the link above to order or if you like to see the page for the Truck go to http://www.rocousa.com/kyosho/kyosho_31144b.htm

Kyosho Championship in Miami/Homestead

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 02:49:00 +0000

Kyosho Championship is coming to Miami area (Homestead).

Please follow the links to the official page for the race. If you like to participate as driver, subscribe on that page and reserve NOW your space. Only 100 drivers will be able to race.

Good opportunity to show your expertize driving the fabulous GT's and GT2's. Entries are only for 1/8 scale GT and GT2 series. If you have an OFNA DM-ONE RTR 34326 or DM-ONE RTR 34327 you can also participate.

We will be there shoving many Kyosho newest models and sponsoring the race.

Anyone can be spectator and there are many facilities on site and near by, so come to Miami.

Marklin MHI exclusive 3/09 and Trix MHI exclusive 2/09 published

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:18:00 +0000

Marklin MHI (exclusive program) 3/09 has been published in our web site.

Go to our web site and search for the links to new items 2009, then click either on Marklin or Trix new 2009 items and you will find the pictures and links to order these new exclusive one time run products.

Quantities are very limited so order soon. Once the allocation is sold, it is very hard to get more and most of the times, just impossible.

Survey running in our web site

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:56:00 +0000

As many of you have noticed already, we are inviting some web surfers to enter in our web site survey.
This is a survey very easy to answer and will take you less than 2 minutes, just a few clicks.
Please note that all answer are anonymous, so we can not know who wrote or punched what.

We have received some comments requesting all sort of stuff such as the cost of shipping a product.

The survey does not indicate name or e-mail of user, so there is no way for us to answer any question you may have.
If you have any questions, please use e-mail to us at rocousa@rocousa.com and we will be happy to answer your questions or deal with your concerns.

If you need more info in a particular item, e-mail us, do not request that on comments on the survey as we will not be able to know who you are.

And please, say what you really think without any restriction. (any way, we do not know who you are). This will help us a lot to improve or make the changes our Customers and viewers want.

Thank you for participate.

PD: Not all visitors are invited to the survey. This is not in any way a discrimination, it is just the way the people of the survey work. They say in this way is more realistic that having the opinion of each visitor.

Any way, you can refuse the survey without problems or restrictions to enter our site.

Unfair competence

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:01:00 +0000

We are concerned about unfair competence some Marklin, Trix, Brawa Dealers in USA are doing.
It calls our attention, that when cost of Euro goes up and prices at Manufacturers and Distributors also goes up, some of these Dealers show products that CLEARLY they don't have stock (proven) at prices so low that are "too good to be true".

We have placed orders for some of these items at those places and we have received notice that there is no stock available and that price "may" change when available.

We challenge all Dealers selling these products on the Internet, to show, as we do, stock availability.

Of course it may be some errors, we also have a few here or there, but in key items there is NO room for errors.

We are open to anyone willing to come to our Store and we will show cost, what we really pay for these products with the invoice and expenses on hand, so you can see how low margin we have that only our high volume allows us to survive in these days of recession.

The idea behind these acts is to force us to lower more our price and try to make us lose money or go out of business because we can not compete against those [false] prices they publish for non in stock and many times discontinued items.

We had always the lowest price around, but between a reasonable range and very close to well known competitors that also are suffering of this problem.

In some Brands we have a large difference in price (ours lower) because of the volume we buy and the special discounts we get and the lower margin we have, but we can proof at any time, the stock is available at the price shown on our web site.

Our prices are very stable. We do not change price each year because the Manufacturer raises prices in all the line of products. We value each shipment we receive at the real cost of that particular shipment based on the exchange rate when we pay for the merchandise (normally in advance) plus all the expenses such as freights, brokerage, fees, etc., and then we mark up a small margin and we publish that price at that moment.

If we keep stock on a product from this shipment for years, that will be its price until stock is exhausted or may be lower due an offer.

This is why some of our items (such as track for example), during one year, may go up or down more than once if we receive many shipments of it.

We even advise when an item is out of stock, that price will be adjusted when we get it back in stock (may be higher or lower, simple: it will be adjusted) but while in stock, NEVER will change the price HIGHER, maybe can be lower due a special offer, but even this fact, is shown in our web site.

This is your warranty: if cost goes down, sale price WILL go down.
If we do not have stock, price is set to $ 0.00 we do not lie marking a product at $ x.xx to force our competitors with stock lower their prices.
We guarantee that if you place an order for an item not in stock and with price $ 0.00 you will be billed at the lowest price possible once the product arrives to our warehouses and it will be the same price for everyone. We do not have a Customer better than other, ALL OUR CUSTOMERS ARE "OUR BEST CUSTOMER".

4MFOR Military line by Marklin metal made

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:51:00 +0000

Check the new arrivals for this Military line made by 4MFOR, a Marklin Company.

These great products are made of metal. The detail is superb.

Scale is 1:87 (HO) and a very few in 1:32 (1 gauge)

Many of them are already mounted on flat cars by Marklin (also metal) to compose military trains.

These small marvels are a "must have" for all those that like military models. There is no comparison with Roco Minitanks as those are cheap plastic.

Go to www.rocousa.com/4mfor.htm and check it out.

Dollar has lost 50% of its value since 2003

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:15:00 +0000

These below are the exchange rates in September 2003.

Compare with today's exchange rate of US$ 1.49 per Euro.

A 50% lost of value and if we add an average of 8% increase on prices each year by Manufacturers, it is easy to see why a locomotive today costs as much as it costs.

In the last 7 month, the Dollar has lost almost 20% from 1.28 per Euro to 1.50 now.

Credit card fees also have gone up to 3.9%

XE.com's Currency Update Service writes:

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Rates as of 2003.09.17 20:49:31 UTC (GMT). Base currency is USD.

Currency Unit USD per Unit Units per USD (how many US$ you need to buy one unit)
================================ =================== ===================
USD United States Dollars 1.00000
EUR Euro 1.12865
GBP United Kingdom Pounds 1.60904
CAD Canada Dollars 0.732297
JPY Japan Yen 0.00861816
CHF Switzerland Francs 0.725103
AFA Afghanistan Afghanis 0.0233727
ALL Albania Leke 0.00836960
DZD Algeria Dinars 0.0130743
ARS Argentina Pesos 0.344095
AUD Australia Dollars 0.665288
BSD Bahamas Dollars 1.00000
BBD Barbados Dollars 0.505051
BMD Bermuda Dollars 1.00000
BRL Brazil Reals 0.345168
BGN Bulgaria Leva 0.580047
CLP Chile Pesos 0.00149409
CNY China Yuan Renminbi 0.121117
COP Colombia Pesos 0.000355209
XOF CFA Francs BCEAO 0.00172061
CRC Costa Rica Colones 0.00247084
CYP Cyprus Pounds 1.93813
CZK Czech Republic Koruny 0.0345161
DKK Denmark Kroner 0.151953
XCD East Caribbean Dollars 0.376364
EGP Egypt Pounds 0.163800
FJD Fiji Dollars 0.534147
XAU Gold Ounces 376.500
HKD Hong Kong Dollars 0.128209
HUF Hungary Forint 0.00443280
ISK Iceland Kronur 0.0126930
INR India Rupees 0.0214280
IDR Indonesia Rupiahs 0.000118329
XDR IMF Special Drawing Rights 1.39171
ILS Israel New Shekels 0.224014
JMD Jamaica Dollars 0.0169668
JOD Jordan Dinars 1.41084
KWD Kuwait Dinars 3.36243
LBP Lebanon Pounds 0.000664805
MYR Malaysia Ringgits 0.263123
MTL Malta Liri 2.64723
MXN Mexico Pesos 0.0916321
MAD Morocco Dirhams 0.104573
NZD New Zealand Dollars 0.583734
NGN Nigeria Nairas 0.00768935
NOK Norway Kroner 0.137850
PKR Pakistan Rupees 0.0173943
PHP Philippines Pesos 0.0182083
XPT Platinum Ounces 694.500
PLN Poland Zlotych 0.248697
ROL Romania Lei 0.0000298776
RUR Russia Rubles 0.0327667
SAR Saudi Arabia Riyals 0.267368
XAG Silver Ounces 5.25000
SGD Singapore Dollars 0.570311
SKK Slovakia Koruny 0.0273300
ZAR South Africa Rand 0.135364
KRW South Korea Won 0.000856113
SDD Sudan Dinars 0.00385060
SEK Sweden Kronor 0.124937
TWD Taiwan New Dollars 0.0294377
THB Thailand Baht 0.0246539
TTD Trinidad and Tobago Dollars 0.163425
TRL Turkey Liras 0.0000007280
AED United Arab Emirates Dirhams 0.272991
VEB Venezuela Bolivares 0.000627349
VND Vietnam Dong 0.0000643459

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Marklin 28590 Le Capitole Express Train shipping now.

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:44:00 +0000

Marklin 28590 Le Capitole set is being shipped this week of September 21-26 2009.

Those with backorders will be receiving the unit after September 26th. This is a great set and make honor to its original 50 years ago.

Very few units are left for sale still and thereafter, discontinued no longer available.

Faller bankruptcy update

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 15:19:00 +0000

On Friday, 28th August 2009 Gebr. FALLER GmbH has filed a petition in bankruptcy at the Inferior Court of Villingen-Schwenningen. Dr Volker Grub was duly appointed interim judicial receiver in bankruptcy.Grub is willing to reorganize FALLER.

Gütenbach / 2nd September 2009 – The appointed interim receiver in bankruptcy, Dr. Volker Grub, considers FALLER to be able to assume a sustainable development. He said that FALLER is a major brand, comparable with Märklin.

Even though the sales figures have decreased, FALLER remains the undisputed market leader for model railways decoration.

That means house and building models, miniature figures and terrain construction materials.

To reorganize FALLER it is necessary to modernize radically the production processes and manufacturing plants.

To this end, it is essential to perform a concentration of staff and premises.

Dr. Grub pointed out that FALLER has still a difficult course to follow.

All persons involved, shareholders, employees, trade union, customers, banking houses, the staff pension association as well as all other creditors will have to cooperate in that task.

It will be unavoidable to dismiss some staff.

However, the production site of Gütenbach will be maintained.

The family of owners rallied round Mrs. Ursula Herbertz is prepared to commit itself one more time financially.

It is Grub’s intention to submit a financial rescue plan intended to settle the outstanding liabilities amounting to some nine million euros.

Grub proposes to submit this very year the financial rescue plan to the vote of a general assembly of creditors, so as to be able to leave again the bankruptcy procedure early in 2010.

For any further information, please turn to: Dr. Volker Grub

Follow us in Twitter

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 02:48:00 +0000

You can also follow us in Twitter. Search for "ROCOUSA"

We are in Facebook

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 02:14:00 +0000

We are in Facebook.
We have created a page open to everyone and it is open to discuss any topic or ask questions about anything in the Hobby field.

We would like to have it limited to the Brands we carry. Answering specific questions on product we do not have is very though.

Generic questions are welcomed.

We encourage you to up-load pictures of your models or layouts/dioramas (please make a reference of your work and have your name to distinguish the ownership of the work)

NO COMMERCIAL EXTERNAL LINKS will be allowed and will be removed immediately.

No pornography accepted and will be immediately removed and reported.

Please visit the link http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=128765954546&ref=ts to open the page.

Euro rises to the highest point this year

rocousa@rocousa.com (Micro Macro Mundo Inc.) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:51:00 +0000

Not to good news for those dealing with Europe.

The Euro has risen to the highest point this year and it looks that will go even higher.

Today the interbank exchange rate was 1.46 what means that for regular people like us, it costs $ 1.49

In March, the time of pre-ordering Trains from the new items programs the Euro was 1.25 per US Dollar. Today we have a 20% increment on cost only for exchange rates.

Now, some of the Manufacturers want to increase prices starting in October 1st. 2009. If this is allowed, I believe that it will be more than one Marklin or Faller falling to bankruptcy as Collectors can not keep paying these very high prices for a non indispensable item like Train Toys and accessories for them.

Collectors are starting to be tired paying the mistakes of these Corporations that have to rise prices to pay for their mistakes and their bad policies marketing their products.

Let's fight for Universal Prices and Dealer Direct programs with Factories and avoid the middle man by eliminating Distributors that today, in this electronic World, are not needed any longer.

We are battling the increased cost by lowering as much as we can the mark-up, just to the point of be afloat and pay expenses.

We will continue to mark-up our new arrivals as low as possible. You can easily test our prices on Preiser, for example, that were received today, against any Dealer you like based in USA or Canada. You will see the wide margin we have with them being our prices sometimes up to 40% lower than the rest of our competitors.

We hope our Government can do something to turn this Country on what we were, a power without any discussion, but as things smell now, we have our doubts.... who know, maybe I'm wrong.