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Post by rockymountaineer on Feb 4, 2024 23:49:19 GMT
With Lionel's pre-order deadline approaching for its 2024 Volume 1 Catalog, I weighed the pro's and con's of ordering the new Christmas 18" aluminum passenger cars... or taking a closer look at last year's North Pole Central "Sleigh Bell Ltd" passenger set -- EVEN WITH THE MISPELLED YUELTIDE car. The kicker is I have the Sleigh Bell Ltd F-19 steam locomotive already on order, and the best color-matching passenger set is most likely gonna be the 2023 NPC Sleigh Bell Ltd passenger set. But I want a correctly spelled car name for YULETIDE.
Since Lionel isn't planning to offer buyers of the passenger set any solution to fix the factory error, I decided to explore a solution for my own needs. And the more I examined the options, the more I thought this could very well be a solution other Sleigh Bell Limited fans might be interested in as well. So here's where things currently stand.
I have worked up preliminary artwork (see attached image) that will be applied to a custom aluminum nameplate with self-adhesive backing. This will not an engraved plate, but rather the color graphics file will be directly applied to the aluminum plate.
The nameplate is EXTREMELY thin (0.020")... similar to the plates that Lionel has often used on a variety of its passenger cars. This particular nameplate will be 1.75" wide and 0.625" in height... sized so that it will completely cover the YUELTIDE misspelling that's currently on the car delivered by Lionel.
To be clear... I'm moving forward with this solution for my own needs. That's a given. However, before I finalize the order quantity with the custom plate manufacturer, I'm offering Sleigh Bell Limited fans the opportunity to jump onboard.
So if you [1] already own the Sleigh Bell Ltd passenger set and want a car with the correct YULETIDE spelling... or [2] are considering purchasing the set while knowing there's now a solution in the works to fix the factory misspelling, please let me know. Your cost for 2 nameplates (i.e., one for each side of the coach) will be $15 (for both).
Remember: that includes two nameplates with self-adhesive backing... along with shipping via USPS First Class mail. You'd be on your own to affix the nameplate over the YUELTIDE misspelling by peeling off the protective coating of the new nameplate's self-adhesive backing.
Due to the special nature of this customization, I'm only planning to place an order with the plate manufacturer ONE TIME.
So please let me know if you want a pair of nameplates... either here on this thread... or you're welcome to send me a PM or email if you prefer. And I'll compile a list of interested parties. Additionally, please feel free to "spread the word" to your friends who might have purchased the Sleigh Bell Limited passenger set, but perhaps don't regularly participate here on OGF.
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Post by runamuckchuck on Feb 4, 2024 23:59:15 GMT
Kudos for your initiative. If the adhesive was not permanent such as with removable stickers or labels I might be more interested. While I might be happy with your solution, the next owner may be a purist and or not be a good speller and want the original mistake. But in the spirit of camaraderie and to support your efforts $15.00 is a small price to pay. Perhaps we should all chip in and send a set each to Ryan Kunkel and Dave at Lionel. Maybe they would take the hint. Put me down for a set. I will pay you in cash at Allentown if that is acceptable. For those who feel betrayed by this misspelling dust up perhaps you should consider an alternate less of a correction than a statement of displeasure nameplate. 'FoolTide'  And it just happens to have the same number of letters! |
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Post by wingman on Feb 5, 2024 15:49:44 GMT
Im in, Rocky. please order me two sets.
Mark Gannucci
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Post by steveoncattailcreek on Feb 5, 2024 17:30:33 GMT
For those who feel betrayed by this misspelling dust up perhaps you should consider an alternate less of a correction than a statement of displeasure nameplate. 'FoolTide' Perhaps "A rising tide lifts all Yuels"? [With apologies to JFK]
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Post by Craignor on Feb 5, 2024 17:57:18 GMT
A Yule and his money, are soon parted.
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Post by atsda on Feb 5, 2024 18:56:17 GMT
Rockymountaineer, great initiative.
There may be some attraction for the misspelled version, as it serves as a reminder
Alfred
Post by af3020 on Dec 2, 2023 at 2:44pm
So maybe it's really an acronym - Y U Expect Lionel To Inspect Defective Exports ...just a thought.
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Post by steveoncattailcreek on Feb 5, 2024 19:55:31 GMT
A Yule and his money, are soon parted. Hmm, I had much the same thought after hearing the over-the-top droolings about quite a few current catalog offerings. Just sayin' . . .  (No offense intended to the big spenders out there, but this is from a PW enthusiast so cheap he's never broken $200 for *any* single rolling stock piece yet!  )
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Post by atsda on Feb 5, 2024 21:12:56 GMT
Post by steveoncattailcreek on about an hour ago
... but this is from a PW enthusiast so cheap he's never broken $200 for *any* single rolling stock piece yet!
I am right there with you. (I did spend $150 on a pw 2500 series aluminum dome car - I went a little crazy on that purchase - it had to do with a 4 decade wait.) I will likely break the $200-300 mark if I ever find a good Lionel 2321 EL FM Trainmaster.
Alfred
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Post by rockymountaineer on Feb 5, 2024 22:11:29 GMT
Rockymountaineer, great initiative. There may be some attraction for the misspelled version, as it serves as a reminder Alfred ... Thanks for the kind words. I'm sure there are some folks out there who will NEVER modify a Lionel product -- regardless of the reason. More power to them. But quite honestly, I'm so far past the point of worrying about the perception of "factory original" products being "more valuable" than something that's been modified, weathered or improved. Lionel's quality issues today are such that peeps sometimes replace trucks and couplers, because corners have been cut on even those basic components today -- stuff that folks expect to be perfect, since Lionel has been making them for years.
Folks have been brainwashed from as far back as the postwar days, where Greenberg Books documented factory variations of a given model... some boxcars made with a black door... some with a silver door... and still others with a red door. The examples are endless. And today, you can't give those variations away... because nobody gives a hoot. They were nothing but moment-in-time collectibles.
So as I mentioned above, I'm doing this because "I" want the passenger coach to have the correct spelling. I don't care if it's no longer gonna be a factory original with a misspelling. Who knows??? Perhaps THESE models with the new nameplate will be the "collectible" variations years down the road. LOL!!! 
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Post by brucek703 on Feb 6, 2024 15:32:36 GMT
Yes, please put me down for one set. How should I give you shipping info and pay you?
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Post by rockymountaineer on Feb 6, 2024 22:46:10 GMT
Yes, please put me down for one set. How should I give you shipping info and pay you?
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Post by rockymountaineer on Feb 6, 2024 22:53:00 GMT
BTW, I hear there was mention of this solution over on the other forum. And the thread was promptly deleted. Surprise, surprise...
So much for that place being a venue to "talk everything trains" and share toy train information among fellow enthusiasts. I seriously wonder why so many folks put up with their BS moderation style over there. I departed the scene in early 2018, and it's crap like this that only serves to reinforce my decision. Only wish I would have done it sooner.
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Post by josef on Feb 7, 2024 16:40:52 GMT
BTW, I hear there was mention of this solution over on the other forum. And the thread was promptly deleted. Surprise, surprise...
So much for that place being a venue to "talk everything trains" and share toy train information among fellow enthusiasts. I seriously wonder why so many folks put up with their BS moderation style over there. I departed the scene in early 2018, and it's crap like this that only serves to reinforce my decision. Only wish I would have done it sooner.
What your doing is what Lionel should have been doing. You have stepped up, sought and found a solution at a reasonable cost. I commend you sir. So much for a Forum that dictates how its members may be informed of a solution to a serious problem and then shut off and denied that with a stroke from their almighty dictator is unbelievable. Wonder if the poster has been put on notice??
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Post by dlagrua on Feb 7, 2024 23:43:23 GMT
BTW, I hear there was mention of this solution over on the other forum. And the thread was promptly deleted. Surprise, surprise...
So much for that place being a venue to "talk everything trains" and share toy train information among fellow enthusiasts. I seriously wonder why so many folks put up with their BS moderation style over there. I departed the scene in early 2018, and it's crap like this that only serves to reinforce my decision. Only wish I would have done it sooner.
What your doing is what Lionel should have been doing. You have stepped up, sought and found a solution at a reasonable cost. I commend you sir. So much for a Forum that dictates how its members may be informed of a solution to a serious problem and then shut off and denied that with a stroke from their almighty dictator is unbelievable. Wonder if the poster has been put on notice?? OGR Is run by an individual whos agenda is only to sell advertising and forum memberships. As a result he forbids quality problems on Lionel products to be posted. That forum is the lowest of the low, the absolute bottom of the barrel.
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Post by mrmeep on Feb 11, 2024 2:18:48 GMT
Isn't it SAD that Lionel asks hundreds and even thousands of
dollars for their items and then offer NO SUPPORT for defects
or incorrect manufacturing. Essentially laughing in the faces
of their customers.
And on top of that, people PAY these outrageous prices and then
have to spend EVEN MORE of their OWN money and time to make
repairs or corrections to NEW items.
And people wonder why the hobby is dying ...........
Same for Lionel's "build to order" where they collect customer
funds and hold them for extended periods of time (collecting the
interest on those funds) and then FAIL to produce said items that
were advertised. And then the customer has to fight to get funds
returned.
Lionel has also left their dealers in the lurch more times than not
with similar sketchy practices.
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