Post by rockymountaineer on Jan 21, 2022 3:14:25 GMT
For those of you who need some added temptation(s) as to what might call your name this year, I thought it might be worthwhile to have a thread here on OGF that centralizes some of the dealer custom-runs based on products in the latest Lionel 2022 Volume 1 Catalog. I'm not volunteering to post all of them here -- just a couple to start things off. Think of these as the "best of the best" I've run across so far... and these two are goodies that were just announced tonight (Thursday, Jan 20th) by Mr. Muffin's Trains. (Steve announced a few more custom-run, but these two are tops in my book.)
FIRST UP is a fantasy Pennsylvania Railroad Class-A Vision Line Steam Locomotive. Final artwork isn't available yet, but the locomotive will be produced with dark Brunswick Green paint and blackened side-rods. When Steve Nelson asked me about this possible announcement a few days before Lionel's catalog release, I sent him a YouTube video of the PROPER Brunswick Green that Lionel used a few years ago when they made the Vision Line Pennsylvania GG-1 with SKU #6-82752. Fast forward to the 3:12 time-mark in the following video for some great close-up panning of the GG-1 showing off the dark Brunswick Green color nicely. Lionel needs to know this is the only green paint they should be using on this model. Anything else... and it's a dealbreaker... and I mentioned as much to Steve about this.
Honestly, I was on the fence about Lionel's announced N&W Class A's, but ultimately decided none of the catalog'd versions really called my name... given my current strategy to be HIGHLY selective about what I purchase going forward. But the fantasy Pennsy Class A might just be the ticket for me, since it's unique... it's Vision Line... and I might even have Harry Hieke work his magic with some light, subtle weathering of it -- something that Mr. Muffin's Trains is offering at no extra charge, if you pre-order this custom-run within the next two weeks. You just need to include "WEATHER ME" in the comments when placing your pre-order.
SECOND up is another show-stopper... a GREEN Boston & Albany Berkshire... based on the K-Line model that was produced in the early 2000's. CTT did a nice write-up on the locomotive a few years ago, as part of a "look back" kind of article. And here's a link from the Classic Toy Trains archive that has a few eye-catching photos of this magnificent model.
cs.trains.com/ctt/b/staff/archive/2018/05/16/locolookback-2-the-k-line-b-amp-a-2-8-4-october-2004-ctt.aspx
Now don't say I didn't warn you, when I said these are the "best of the best" so far. I'm sure there will be several more custom-run announcements in the next week or so. But these two really set the bar in the humble opinion of yours truly. The challenge I set for myself -- and I intend to hold myself to it -- is no net new outlay of funds will be used to purchase these items. Only funds from the sale of existing items on the roster can be used to purchase these goodies. And if we're lucky, these won't hit dealer shelves until December 2022 at the earliest!!!