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Post by josef on Jan 24, 2021 14:54:42 GMT
Gee Craig, tell it like it is. JDaddy I had never paid attention to the real vs Lionel. First and only Pacific is first engine I got 70+ years ago. Beautiful engine and Lionel is not close. Agree with you... Sunset time. Personally if I wanted an honest representative of an engine for a particular road, I would rather get a Sunset model and make it known that there is interest in Sunset building that engine. knowing its going to be made right, rather then the huge outlay into a generic engine with just paint and lettering to represent a road. Also consider that a Sunset engine will hold its value better then a Lionel.
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Post by dennym57 on Jan 24, 2021 15:40:59 GMT
I have no interest in the catalog.
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Post by harborbelt70 on Jan 24, 2021 15:46:09 GMT
I have no interest in the catalog. Yeah - on re-reading it, I am not really sure exactly who it is aimed at. I only like one thing, and I am not sure it will be made.
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Post by rockymountaineer on Jan 24, 2021 15:47:03 GMT
A couple of goodies caught my eye in the new catalog... but the big impression for me was how much Lionel is changing direction.
Look... there's no denying that we've all had one heck of a ride for the past few decades, and we're all getting older. Along the way, many of us have enjoyed an almost insatiable appetite for new scale products with increasing details and features. But this new catalog seems to veer away from that trend. Oh sure... the expensive, big-ticket items are still there -- perhaps too much so in terms of absurd prices -- but I couldn't help but notice ALL the various offerings with licensed products (Disney, Star Trek, Thomas, Harry Potter, John Deere, etc... just to name a few).
The catalog almost struck me as a small version of the Sears and Spiegel catalogs at Christmastime during my childhood -- namely, a spattering of EVERYTHING one could possibly think of. High-end "O-Scale" garnered just under 1/3 of the 220+ pages in the entire catalog. The remainder was targeted toward everyone EXCEPT me.
Does this bode well for us traditional train enthusiasts who've ventured into "high-rail" or even 3-rail scale? Who knows? I just hope Lionel's venturing into all these other avenues doesn't give them license to take their eye off the ball with such basic items like reliable quality, accurate paint schemes, and solid price/performance. On the surface, the company has been 0 for 3 over the past couple of catalogs worth of product. And this catalog only seems to be pushing them further into being a mediocre jack-of-all-trades but a master of none. Let's hope they prove me wrong. But until they do, it'll be tough to pre-order ANYTHING -- with one exception: the OGF "Hottest Forum on Rails" locomotive offering. No other dealer-announced "special runs" have captured my attention as of yet.
In any event, the goodies that peeked some interest for me included a Veranda (Alaska RR or Rio Grande), a Jersey Central Blue Comet camelback (if Lionel produces the correct color blue), and of course the already-mentioned Wings of Angels boxcars. Also.... living here in Bucks County, it's almost impossible to ignore the New Hope & Ivyland RR excursion passenger set. We shall see. But that's about it. Will likely pass on the 2-10-10-2 offerings after all. And I have absolutely ZERO interest in the Acela high-speed trains in way too many liveries. What the heck is Lionel thinking there?
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Post by stoshu on Jan 24, 2021 16:08:29 GMT
The catalog almost struck me as a small version of the Sears and Spiegel catalogs at Christmastime during my childhood -- namely, a spattering of EVERYTHING one could possibly think of. High-end "O-Scale" garnered just under 1/3 of the 220+ pages in the entire catalog. The remainder was targeted toward everyone EXCEPT me.
On this issue I think I'd cut the manufactures a little slack. Look how wide a range the age group is. 3 to 80 years old ? We are not talking tickle me Elmo crowd here. Then within the group you have scale, semi scale, passenger, freight, steam , diesel. Then add in fantasy and some retro stuff. Where is my market ? To me it's all over the place. So I guess from a manufacturing point of view you do the shotgun effect , point and hope you hit more than you miss.. Could things bee better ? probably, you wonder how much weight the manufactures actually give to customer suggestions.
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Post by sdivtim on Jan 24, 2021 20:13:49 GMT
But which one Tim??? Out of several, go for the Greyhound (so I can).😁 The CORRECT schemes not the fantasy schemes...
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Post by harborbelt70 on Jan 24, 2021 21:47:10 GMT
But which one Tim??? Out of several, go for the Greyhound (so I can).😁 The CORRECT schemes not the fantasy schemes... I think I have heard that before . . . Somewhere else.
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Post by Traindiesel! on Jan 25, 2021 7:38:18 GMT
If money were no object, these are what interested me:
* New York Central 4-8-2 L2a Mohawk #2775 * New York Central Pacemaker Boxcar & Caboose Expansion Set
* New Haven Pa AA Set #0760 / 0761
* Strasburg SW8 #8618
* Amtrak Acela * Amtrak Acela Expansion Pack
* BNSF Ballast Tamper * CSX Ballast Tamper
* Great Northern Ore Car 6 Pack * Union Pacific Ore Car 6 Pack
The only definite purchase will be the Strasburg SW8. A close second may be the Acela, depending on if I have other fish to fry. I had craved getting another Acela set, but the dumbing down of some of the features with the inflated price leaves me a bit cold.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2021 12:17:26 GMT
Gee Brian you need a York pick me up to restart the hunt.
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Post by Traindiesel! on Jan 25, 2021 17:52:36 GMT
Gee Brian you need a York pick me up to restart the hunt. Yeah, I’ll probably do a virtual York buying spree sometime in April.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2021 21:01:21 GMT
Maybe the variety of product in a shrinking total market is a strength, not a weakness? Why would they focus on the scale segment to the exclusion of all the other niches in the hobby? Perhaps they know something we don't?
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Post by phil55 on Jan 25, 2021 21:19:17 GMT
The new SD70 Ace models show kinematic couplers. I wonder if they will still negotiate O36 curves? No min curve listed in product description.
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Post by rockymountaineer on Jan 25, 2021 21:33:42 GMT
Maybe the variety of product in a shrinking total market is a strength, not a weakness? Why would they focus on the scale segment to the exclusion of all the other niches in the hobby? Perhaps they know something we don't? It becomes a weakness when offering a Sears Catalog version of trains takes away from the quality, proper basic paint colors, and solid price/performance expected by Lionel's loyal enthusiasts for DECADES. I have no problem if Lionel wants to market to the audience that likes Disney's Frozen movie. But they've gotta get their business in order in their primary "model trains" market first -- which they have failed to do for several years now. And that's all I'm gonna say (for now).
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Post by phil55 on Jan 26, 2021 0:52:50 GMT
On further review of the catalog it does say the SD70 will handle 036
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Post by Country Joe on Jan 26, 2021 1:48:22 GMT
Maybe the variety of product in a shrinking total market is a strength, not a weakness? Why would they focus on the scale segment to the exclusion of all the other niches in the hobby? Perhaps they know something we don't? Neil, I think the profit margin on high end scale engines is considerably greater than on less expensive trains. They sell less units but make more money. They probably have to sell quite a few train sets and rolling stock to match the profit on one expensive scale engine. As long as people are willing to pay $1,000 to $2,000 and more for an engine they will continue to make them.
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