Primex As A Second Brand

Primex - this was the name used for an special HO-gauge model railway programme offered by Märklin between 1969 and 1992.

In the 1960ies, supermarkets and department stores wanted to offer their customers Märklin HO model trains. However, Märklin and their dealers had agreements about several guidelines which had to be regarded by selling Märklin stuff, which meant a certain extent of stock-keeping and a professional presentation. The staff had to be specialized on selling model trains, i.e. they had to be able to do smaller repairs and of course a professional advice for customers.

Supermarkets and department stores however, which are self-serve shops, couldn't do such an extensive customer support, so that a special assortment was presented for this kind of sale, which was called "Primex". For this, an own subsidiary was created named "Primex Modellspielwaren GmbH".

The concept of second brands is common practice of department store and supermarket chains. They often stock their private brands, whose products they let produce by notable manufacturers. In many cases, the only difference between such “private brand products” and the “original” product are a different package and a cheaper price.  The policy of second brands often varies from firm to firm. While some chains use one second brand for all kind of products – for food, household articles or even clothes – others use different brand names for different kinds of product. For the manufacturers, these second brands are often an important part of their business. 

The Beginnings

 Primex started with a small assortment of simplified models. Therefore the DHG 500 (#3079) and the small tank loco 3029 (#3020) had been chosen, which had to undergo several simplifications - the bodies were manufactured of imbued plastic, wheels were omitted. Even the electrical relay was replaced by a cheap manual lever. In fact, this could already been called an oversimplification!

When the BR 23 (#3097) came out in 1973, it not only had an simplified painting and lettering, and "slimed" valve gear rods - even the gears had been simplified! While the original Märklin model (#3005) and the later produced Primex models (#3191 and #33005) are driven by gear wheels on all three driving axles, the model #3097 was only directly driven on the last driving axle!

The next simplified model were the BR 141 (#3033) in 1975 and in 1978 the BR 38 (#3010) and the V 200 (#3009). An interesting fact is that the E 44 (#3008) had nearly no optical simplifications - only the parts need for operation via catenary wire had been omitted.

These simplifications, however, show that not model railroaders were the target group of this second branch, but children.

Wooden Toys By Primex: Only A Short Intermezzo

In the early 1980ies, Primex extended their programme with wooden toys. These articles, however, were only short-lived – there was a range of several different road and construction vehicles.

The “Golden Era” Of Primex

From the early 1980ies on, new paths were trod for the further development of Primex model trains. Now, the firm released full models without any simplifications, which were discontinued Märklin articles, which started a second career as Primex items. It seemed as if Primex now should be established as a low-priced alternative for Märklin’s regular H0 gauge customers. Already the model of the ÖBB class 1141 (#3007), released in 1979, had set this new trend: it was identical with the Märklin item #3154. Model #3033 was upgraded - the toy now became a real model with complete painting in blue, with a black frame, a silver-grey roof and of course a complete lettering. A "big hit" was the new edition of the old Märklin item #3048, which had been disappeared from Märklin’s catalogues in the 1970ies - a model of the DB BR 01, with a new running number as Primex model #3193. In 1985, when German railways celebrated their 150th anniversary the BR 23 was presented - not only without any simplifications - but for the first time with fine lettering as 23 105, the last steam loco ever built for the DB, the eventual museum loco.

However, 1985 saw the first new tooling for Primex, a DB E 32 as well. The model based, like other new toolings for Primex, was based on well-prooved Märklin components, in this case on the chassis of the old Swedish Da class (Märklin #3030), which had the same axle configuration as the German E32.

Moreover, Primex now released more design versions, like the #3012 railcar "Chiemgau-Bahn" basing on the #3016 Märklin model, or the Märklin #3075 diesel loco in an experimtal design as Primex model #3019.

Only a few simplified models remained in programe, so, for example, the passenger cars had no interior furnishings until the last days of Primex. Other new toolings were the Berlin S-Bahn BR 275 (#3017) in 1987, in 1989 a two-axled railcar with trailer (#3018) and in 1990 the Zugspitzbahn as model #3185 (it has to be mentioned, however, that the prototype is running on narrow gauge). The bodies of all these models were manufactured in classical tin-plate technology, like Märklin’s 24 cm express train coaches!

Not to forgot the little mail car 4021, which was complenting model #4020, on which it was also based - a blue-white version of Märklin #4040 - the most often produced Märklin car at all! Also the baggage coach #4186 shouldn't be forgotten, it based on models #4192 and #4193, on the last new Primex items.

So, the Primex rolling stock of the 1980ies and early 1990ies still consisted of some simple toy trains for children, like the 3018 railcar, but also of several interesting full versions of interested for “real” model train enthusiasts. Thanks to Primex, model railroaders could purchase again new versions of Märklin items, which had been discontinued for many years, like the DB BR 01 and 81.

 
Primex Accessoires

Introduced as a second brand for department stores and supermarkets, Primex had the problem that these chains didn’t sock items of any notable accessoire manufacturers like Faller, which meant Primex had to offer their own range of accessoires.

These items werde not produced by Märklin, the were purchased from outside sources and sold in Primex packages. This assortment included a wide range of Heljan model buildings, or a small choice of Preiser miniature figures. There was a range of landscaping material, gras, trees, roads, garden fences, even wiring material was available in special sets.

Primex distributed also raod vehicles, which mostly came from Wiking, who had been Märklin’s house supplier for many years.

 Track extension sets, which consist of a number of certain track elements to extend the simple track oval of the starter sets, have been offered by Märklin for decades. Primex, however, went further on and released track extension sets which not only consisted of tracks, but also of cars, raod vehicles and structures. So, set 2771 consisted, near tracks, also of two trucks, three flat cars, and a container terminal. Set 2772 came with two second class coaches, a double-deck car-carrier, and a loading ramp. Such sets were also a tribute to Primex’s toy train character.

In fact, with Primex one could fit a layout with items of only a single brand – something die-hard Märklinists have been dreaming of for years, or even decades (of course, they are dreaming to do this not with Primex, but with “original” Märklin items).

But Primex took another step: in several catalogues, they gave tips and descriptions how to plan and design a layout, how to build a layout although the space for it is limited! They showed designs for layouts which are turned up into a cupboard, or which are hidden below the table top of the coffee table in the living room. They also explained how to wire a layout. Some catalogue even provided actual suggestions for layouts, complete with exact track diagrams.   

The End Of Primex

What happened? Although Primex was very popular among newcomers as well as among professional model railroaders, Märklin discontinued this programme in 1992. There have been several discussions about the "Why?" of this decision, a decision so many can't understand. Maybe supermarkets and departments stores don't seem to be the ideal place to sell model trains. But we shouldn’t forget that exactly this way of distribution had once been the reason to create Primex at all! And any one can deny that this kind of distribution of Primex has worked over a time of about 23 years!

But the question can not be answered, because Märklin never made a statement about the reasons for the discontinuation of Primex; so there can only be speculation.

Probably, the reason could have been a new product philosophy of Märklin under the management of Wolfgang Topp. Over decades, Märklin has been offering robust, long-living high quality products for fair prices. Starting somewhere in the 1960ies, the collectors’ market importance for the firm grew, but most attention was paid to operational model railroaders and playing children. For some time, Märklin even used slogans like “Märklin for young and old, for the whole family” to advertise their products: model trains not as a hobby only for boys and men, but as a family hobby.

Under Topp’s management, Märklin took a new course. The firm now chose adults, especially pensioners as their main customers – especially financially strong collectors became a main target group. The family hobby was now advertised as a exclusive, valuable product.

In order to mark their products as something very special, compared to those of their competitors, Märklin started to use die cast metal for locomotive, after they had been using plastic for decades. How successful Mr. Topps die-cast philosophy was – for which they ran even advertisements in model train magazines – is shown by many Märklinists who, still today, put great emphasis on die-cast locomotive shells!

As very high prices were being paid for older Märklin stuff during the second half of the 1980ies and the 1990ies, Märklin tried to take advantage of it by marking the “stability of value” of Märklin products in their advertisements. Detailing of Märklin trains improved, their prices, however, were rising in the same way.

Probably, in a product philosophy focusing on grown up, financially strong collectors, marking the Märklin products as something very exclusive, such a low-cost starter programme, distributed via department store and supermarket chains, probably had no place any longer.

The successor of Primex was called "Märklin-Hobby", however this is no equivalent replacement. The prices of these Hobby items are much too high, and it isn't fostered in the way a starter programme would deserve!

So, the 1991/92 catalogue became the last one of Primex.

But Primex history wasn’t finished yet, after the discontinuation. The "Primex Spielwaren GmbH" continued to exist – however, a registered trademark expires after having been disused for several years.

So, four years after discontinuation, model train fans could find a new Primex locomotive in the shop displays – model #30031 was a BR 24 steam locomotive with separate tender in a grey DRG photo livery. Four years later, in 2000, Märklin announced another Primex locomotive – this a BR 23 as an era IV model with a computer number as a BR 023.

Four years later, it would have been time for the next Primex model. But Märklin didn’t release any. Instead, there was a M track offer in an online shop they called “Screen Shop”. This shop was aimed to sell soiled goods and remainders. When a customer orderd an item in this shop, he had to choose a dealer, who handled delivery and payment.

That M-track offer was called “M-Gleis-Nachspeise” – translated to English, it means “M-Ttrack Dessert”. This offer consisted of different remainders of the discontinued M-track system, which also included Primex M-tracks. After 2004, there have been no further activities on this field.