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Post by david1 on Jan 31, 2023 20:08:07 GMT
I have known this for years from both mfgs, this why I have not bought new items for the past 7 years. If you do you better test them before you layout the cash.
It is unbelievable to me that the mfgs. don't want to back the products they produce.
Dave
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Post by madockawando on Jan 31, 2023 22:25:58 GMT
At the Amherst Big E show, the booths at MTH, Atlas and Lionel were very busy. The observations that "Everyone is walking away from Lionel" are way overblown.
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Post by dennym57 on Feb 3, 2023 20:28:37 GMT
I can only speak for myself. I am not interested in anything new from Lionel even though I am purchasing a LC+ 2.0. Nothing high end, but possibly early TMCC and definitely post-war.
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Post by dlagrua on Feb 4, 2023 15:57:32 GMT
If we go back to the title of this thread it didn't say ALL people but just "people are walking away from Lionel". I interpret that as some people. What we have today is a very small amount of O gauge model train hobbyists that believe that very expensive model trains have value. Where runs of engines were once 5,000 units or more today's engines are made in quantities of 1000 units or less. The price is no longer an American made $200 but it could be ten times that for foreign made goods. I believe that its fair to say that the main consumer base has thinned to a much smaller select senior group that still has disposable income. That demographic won't be around forever. In that regard I must agree that SOME people are in fact walking away from Lionel and that folks like myself won't keep buying trains forever.
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Post by phil55 on Feb 4, 2023 16:03:48 GMT
You are correct sir. The original thread did NOT say "everyone walking away from Lionel". However reading the posts here it is quite clear that Lionel has left the common guy in the dust.
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Post by Country Joe on Feb 4, 2023 16:25:05 GMT
You are exactly right Dennis. No one in this thread said that EVERYONE was walking away from Lionel. There is no doubt that SOME are walking away from Lionel. I’m one of them. I haven’t bought anything new from Lionel for a few years now and I have no intention to buy new Lionel in the foreseeable future.
I also think you are right about the O gauge market shrinking. I don’t think O gauge will go the way of the dinosaur anytime soon but it’s no longer possible for Lionel, MTH and others to make large quantities of engines and sell all of them.
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Post by chipset35 on Feb 6, 2023 15:36:12 GMT
I can only speak for myself. I am not interested an anything new from Lionel even though I am purchasing a LC+ 2.0. Nothing high end, but possibly early TMCC and definitely post-war. I agree.
IMHO post war was here over 75 years ago, it will still be here 75 years from now unless banned (LOL). All that new stuff in light of the rare metals and microchip shortage will probably go bad and remain bad with no electronic replacement parts. I treat all electronic devices these days like automobiles. Just give me a V8 car with a distributor cap and a carb. Same with trains, a good old fashion Lionel motor and a transformer.
I covet those old growlers and all Lionel PWCC like GOLD.
Done with all hobby products and concentrating on spending any money I have to maintain quality of life.
Everything is too expensive. Everything is going up in price drastically and worse than years past including products other than model trains, especially heating gas, automotive fuel, interest rates, utilities, food, EVERYTHING.
No reason for me to buy anything hobby related, as most of what I own was purchased back when prices were still sane. IMHO, there is no hobby item I need or want that could ever justify paying on average $800+.
I will do with what I have when it comes to not only hobbies, but our automobiles and home.
Will be ditching satellite TV soon, already ditched cable TV years ago and just use "streaming" and on demand from the internet to justify my $100 a month internet bill from Cox Cable and eliminate the additional $65 a month useless Network TV.
Why should I wait to watch the news/shows/movies and listen to talking heads when I can read and watch it on any website etc., whenever I want and not when they force people to. And no commercials.
I ended up saving some money a few years back and had solar panels installed, not because I am a greenie, but because the electric bills were insane, so now between the panels and a high efficiency hybrid water heater I have almost no electric bill. As soon as the HVAC goes bad, and it will because Centex Homes here installed crap and installed everything in a crappy way, I will have it replaced so there is no Natural Gas being used.
In fact, we do not use gas heat anymore due to almost $400 a month Gas bills, instead we bought 4 really nice space heaters that use our free electricity instead.
Rant over.
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