A Chat with June’s Profile, Justus Bauschinger, president/owner of Lilliput Motor Co. & Deutsche Optik

CS: So you decided to buy the company outright, then?
JB: That happened a long time ago now, yeah. It got to be where we couldn’t work together anymore and I said, “Alright, that’s it. Either I go or you go.” And he said, “Well, if you go there’s no more company.” And I said, “Fine, then you go.”

CS: What does Lilliput Motor Co. and Deutsche Optik do to set them apart from their competitors?
JB: Well, I don’t think we have a competitor on either book. You have people like Franklin Mint or whatever they’re called, Danbury Mint, that does a dye-cast car catalog. Fine. But that’s all they have in there. I don’t. Like I say, I’ll have everything from a dye-cast model to a music box or a wrist watch. And I vary it often enough that it stays fresh. Harrington’s will take in a model car. Well, that I would’ve already had before. So we’re lightning fast. For example, I’m working on or finishing up the copy for a Lilliput catalog right now that a week-and-a-half ago I didn’t even know if I’d have enough product to fill a book with. And that will go to print before I leave for China next week.