Talk about Train and Town Hobbies

Visit our Affiliated Pages:
Building temporary and permanent railroads with big model trains
Return to Family Garden Trains Home page
Visit Family Christmas Online
Big Christmas Trains: Directory of Large Scale and O Scale trains with holiday themes Free building projects for your vintage railroad or Christmas village. Visit Howard Lamey's own web page, LittleGlitterHouses.com

It is currently Wed Dec 11, 2024 4:29 pm

Note: This site has just been moved to a new server with slightly different software. We've tried to make certain that nothing important has been lost, but if you notice any broken links or other issues, please let us know as soon as possible by using the contact page.


All times are UTC - 5 hours




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 10 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Lionel is Exploding
PostPosted: Fri Sep 19, 2014 1:41 pm 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2013 3:05 pm
Posts: 300
This time of year, I try to update the catalog pages on sites like the BigTrainStore.com and BigChristmasTrains.com. Some model train providers got slammed hard by the recession and may take a few more years to catch up. But it seems like Lionel is surpassing its own records for number of new train products a year.

In the ordinary road name settings, there are current and upcoming sets with at least NINE different locomotives and several different road names.

http://www.bigtrainstore.com/o_gauge/o_gauge.htm

In the Holiday settings there are many new trains as well, both within and outside the Polar Express branding:

http://bigchristmastrains.com/o_gauge_x ... e_xmas.htm

If the press releases are to believe, several more trains, especially Christmas trains, will be hitting our shores in the next several weeks.

Congrats on a HUGE comeback, guys. I hope your sales figures justify all the extra effort. - Paul


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Lionel is Exploding
PostPosted: Sun Oct 19, 2014 6:36 pm 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2013 3:05 pm
Posts: 300
I think the favorite so far this year is STILL the Polar Express. The new version has remote control, which is good for folks like me who don't want to get down on their knees to run the transformer. :-)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BK5 ... 2JNH2GGDSW


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Lionel is Exploding
PostPosted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 8:12 am 
Offline

Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2014 7:05 am
Posts: 616
I've been hearing that Lionel is abandoning the manufacture and sale of tubular track. This is unfortunate as I'm not a fan of the plastic road-bed Fastrak or MTH's Realtrak, especially if your running postwar with magnetraction. Better start loading up while there's still some tubular in the shops.

Paul


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Lionel is Exploding
PostPosted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 6:44 pm 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2013 3:05 pm
Posts: 300
Good point about the tubular track. Do you suppose someone else will pick it up?


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Lionel is Exploding
PostPosted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 3:26 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2014 7:05 am
Posts: 616
One would hope so. K-line made O-27, O and S track for years, but they got absorbed into Lionel a few years back.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Lionel is Exploding
PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 5:26 am 
Offline

Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2014 6:03 am
Posts: 286
And more recent news?


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Lionel is Exploding
PostPosted: Sat Feb 06, 2021 1:26 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2014 7:05 am
Posts: 616
Last fall it was announced that MTH (Mike's Train House) is folding the tent in April or May, 2021. I have very mixed emotions over this, as I've bought a number of their tinplate repro sets and pieces over the years. My experience has been that they do a brilliant job with conceptual design and quality of construction, but their electronics are suspect. Easily half the MTH locomotives I've acquired were dead on delivery, requiring warranty repairs. Once sorted they run very nicely, but considering the cost, however, one rightfully expects better.

From an industry perspective, MTH gave Lionel a good competitive run (one that wasn't particularly congenial). IMHO, much of the increase in product in the marketplace was a direct result of the pressures applied by MTH. It also went a long way, thankfully, toward preempting Lionel's emerging strategy of catering primarily to the wealthy collector by offering catalogs featuring $1500-$2000 locomotives. MTH brought things back to earth somewhat.

It will be interesting to see what/if the MTH suite of products finds a home with a new or existing manufacturer. Williams was acquired by Bachmann, while K-Line and part of Weaver went to Lionel. I believe I saw recently that MTH's lines of HO and S-gauge has been purchased by Scale Trains. I'd like to see their O-gauge stuff go to someone, but with new/better electronics. As far as the timplate reproductions, I'm confident we've seen the last of those...the market demographics are just too small to make that work anymore.

So hopefully Mike Wolfe has a good retirement in Florida or wherever he settles. Forty years making toy trains is a good run.

Paul II


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Lionel is Exploding
PostPosted: Fri Mar 04, 2022 9:10 am 
Offline

Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2014 7:05 am
Posts: 616
Taking a look at the first Lionel catalog for 2022, prices are moving north dramatically. Likely a mix of higher costs for Chinese production, together with the decline of competition in the marketplace. I fear we're headed back to the Kughn era of Lionel, where locomotives priced well into four figures and rolling stock was expensive as well. Fortunately, the secondary market is awash with product from the last 20-30 years.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Lionel is Exploding
PostPosted: Sat Mar 12, 2022 6:46 am 
Offline

Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2014 6:03 am
Posts: 286
Funny you should mention the price increases as a friend whose son was dipping his toe into the train world was kind of aghast-----his Mom bought quite a bit old "old new stock" on EBAY at more realistic levels---and thankfully hasn't had any issues---everything has---so far---been exactly as represented. EBAY and Craiglist too---can be a little..........well............difficult...........


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Lionel is Exploding
PostPosted: Mon Mar 14, 2022 6:31 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2014 7:05 am
Posts: 616
If one has a bit of ability, postwar stuff (and prewar stuff, to great extent) is pretty safe to acquire. It’s relatively simple in construction, repair parts are plentiful, and there’s a wealth of info out there with instructions/demos covering basic operation, maintenance, and repairs.

I’m a bit leery of buying used stuff heavy on electronics. The ability to repair it is somewhat limited, especially as it ages.


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 10 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron


Click to see sturdy Lionel(r) trains that are perfect for your Christmas tree.


Visit our affiliated sites:
- Trains and Hobbies -
Return to Big Indoor Trains Home page
Return to Family Garden Trains Home page
Big Indoor Trains Primer Articles: All about setting up and displaying indoor display trains and towns. Garden Railroading Primer Articles: All about getting a Garden Railroad up and running well
On30 and O Gauge trains to go with indoor display villages and railroads
Big Christmas Trains: Directory of Large Scale and O Scale trains with holiday themes
Visit Lionel Trains. Free building projects for your vintage railroad or Christmas village. Click to see Thomas Kinkaded-inspired Holiday Trains and Villages. Big Christmas Train Primer: Choosing and using model trains with holiday themes Visit Howard Lamey's glitterhouse gallery, with free project plans, graphics, and instructions. Click to see HO scale trains with your favorite team's colors.
- Family Activities and Crafts -
Click to see reviews of our favorite family-friendly Christmas movies. Free, Family-Friendly Christmas Stories Decorate your tree the old-fashioned way with these kid-friendly projects. Free plans and instructions for starting a hobby building vintage-style cardboard Christmas houses. Click to find free, family-friendly Christmas poems and - in some cases - their stories. Traditional Home-Made Ornaments
- Christmas Memories and Collectibles -
Visit the FamilyChristmasOnline site. Visit Howard Lamey's glitterhouse gallery, with free project plans, graphics, and instructions. Visit Papa Ted Althof's extensive history and collection of putz houses, the largest and most complete such resource on the Internet.. Click to return to the Old Christmas Tree Lights Table of Contents Page Craft and collectibles blog with local news of Croton NY.
Click to visit Fred's Noel-Kat store.
- Music -
Carols of many countries, including music, lyrics, and the story behind the songs Wax recordings from the early 1900s, mostly collected by George Nelson.  Download them all for a 'period' album.
Best-loved railroad songs and the stories behind them.
Heartland-inspired music, history, and acoustic instrument tips. Own a guitar, banjo, or mandolin?  Want to play an instrument?  Tips to save you money and time, and keep your instrument playable. Own a guitar, banjo, or mandolin?  Want to play an instrument?  Tips to save you money and time, and keep your instrument playable.
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group