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Post by Craignor on Dec 7, 2023 12:22:21 GMT
Lionel’s troubles with getting paint colors right, and many other issues is nothing new, it goes back at least ten years.
There is no lifeguard on duty at Lionel and they don’t care about you or getting it right, so swim at your own risk.
And remember: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. -Albert Einstein
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Post by runamuckchuck on Dec 7, 2023 13:38:55 GMT
An additional aside on the dealer repercussions of Yuletide Gate comes from Trainworld who now has a disclaimer on the web site listing they have for this 4 car set that the Yuletide car is misspelled. A wise decision on their part IMO. Coincidentally (or not) on their promotional broadcast email this morning Trainworld featured among others items the component items of Sleigh Bell Limited train except for the 4 car set, which is what prompted me to check their website and see the aforementioned disclaimer.
It will be interesting to see if other dealers take a similar defensive posture towards this set, and other recent issues. It is an absolute shame for as RM notes this is a very handsome set and should have been a slam dunk winner in all time Christmas offerings instead of a humbug.
Just as in the other famous Gate of years ago, it is not the actual misspelling of Yuletide that is so egregious, it is thus far the failure of Lionel to get out in front of the mistake and offer a solution; or a least indicate that they are in the process of doing so.
Hope springs eternal until it doesn't.
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Post by josef on Dec 7, 2023 14:00:42 GMT
One thing that needs to be addressed is that here at OGF, you will get a real explanation of the good and bad of a newly released model with no repercussion. its one other reason we the members donate to keep OGF viable for each of us as Model Railroaders.
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gftiv
Junior Member
Posts: 85
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Post by gftiv on Dec 7, 2023 14:15:29 GMT
I look at this problem as an opportunity for some entreprenure. They can make new Yuletide decals/labels that Lionel won't, sell at a reasonable price and make some/most of the people happy.
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Post by runamuckchuck on Dec 7, 2023 14:50:10 GMT
I look at this problem as an opportunity for some entreprenure. They can make new Yuletide decals/labels that Lionel won't, sell at a reasonable price and make some/most of the people happy. You and RM seem to be on a similar wavelength at least as far as a work around. It reminds me of the famous Beatles' Butcher Album Cover that Capitol covered up with a more traditional looking album photo of the Fab Four.
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Post by Craignor on Dec 7, 2023 15:07:06 GMT
Who is RM?
Ronald McDonald?
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Post by runamuckchuck on Dec 7, 2023 15:16:10 GMT
Who is RM? Ronald McDonald? rockymountaineer
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Post by Craignor on Dec 7, 2023 15:19:08 GMT
Gotcha, thanks.
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Post by Bill on Dec 9, 2023 6:37:58 GMT
Most collectors seem to like stories like mistakes in their collection. A lot of times, it increases secondary market value. Of course, sometimes it doesn't. But it always adds a story to tell. I agree, buyer beware, but it's good to know up front what you're getting.  |
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Post by Craignor on Dec 9, 2023 23:54:48 GMT
Saw this new Lionel Station Sounds car at the club today, $450 for this…  And I noticed a coupler on this car, and one on another car were opening up on their own, creating a runaway. I didn’t have the heart to tell the owner of the set about the mispelling, maybe he won’t notice. |
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Post by firewood on Dec 10, 2023 4:47:48 GMT
I don’t have a dog in any new-purchase fight and likely never will have, but do a Google search with that other forum’s name plus ‘Dreyfus’. The whole original post has been deleted, but you can see glimpses of them in the search headings. Wow, there’s a bunch of angry customers out there.
Dave
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Post by Bill on Dec 14, 2023 14:07:49 GMT
Saw this new Lionel Station Sounds car at the club today, $450 for this… And I noticed a coupler on this car, and one on another car were opening up on their own, creating a runaway. I didn’t have the heart to tell the owner of the set about the mispelling, maybe he won’t notice. It's not misspelled . . . It's an acronym. "You usually expect Lionel to include doubtful expressions."
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Post by rockymountaineer on Dec 28, 2023 4:02:51 GMT
So here we are... nearly one month after I started this thread... and I stumbled upon a YouTube review of this set by one of the popular YouTubers. Interesting perspective in that he maintains a very upbeat attitude about this set despite the gross misspelling error... almost as if "near perfect" in a product is OK these days.
Frankly, I think it sends the wrong message to Lionel execs that the bean-counters can continue scraping every last penny of profit out of the company... pumping out ever-larger catalogs with a seemingly endless number of products. And even when errors are made, it's OK... because... well, that's just the way it is. Stuff happens... and we must take whatever is delivered as a matter of course. These social media "influencers" are definitely an interesting breed for sure. They don't influence my buying habits in the slightest, but there's no denying their audience: nearly 47,000 subscribers and nearly that many views of this video in less than a week. Online train forum stats pale in comparison.
Lionel must be grinning from ear-to-ear. And they have absolutely no incentive whatsoever to correct the error in this flagship 2023 passenger set, when one of the big YouTubers thinks this set is worthy of a "train set of the year" award. All I can do is shake my head, while sadly acknowledging the quest for excellence is now dead... because producing upbeat, positive videos has taken precedence over tasking today's model train importers to do better. Sigh.....
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Post by firewood on Dec 28, 2023 4:54:23 GMT
So here we are... nearly one month after I started this thread... and I stumbled upon a YouTube review of this set by one of the popular YouTubers. Interesting perspective in that he maintains a very upbeat attitude about this set despite the gross misspelling error... almost as if "near perfect" in a product is OK these days.
I wonder when or if a critical mass of complaints will ever be reached. I was talking with a couple of my local club guys and followed up with a couple of Facebook pages: problems are showing up across manufacturers. Rapido produced a much-anticipated HO scale CPR D10 4-6-0 with a large pre-order volume, and as the deliveries roll out problems with the drive have been reported. We have Lionel, RMT and Rapido with simultaneous faults - are things tightening up in China? Increased production push may have thrown QC out the window entirely. Just my $0.02 or less… Dave
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Post by Adam on Dec 28, 2023 8:29:36 GMT
Until the problems hit them where it hurts they won’t improve. I bet if enough of the usual pre-order customers decide to not preorder for one or two cycles they will get the message.
But I don’t see that happening.
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