... I seriously doubt Lionel as a company takes irrational business gambles like that with their limited cash.
Whatever their financial situation is now -- and NONE of us here knows it unless you're privy to insider information, I'm only commenting on recent trends. Blow-outs have been a common part of our landscape for decades -- some years more so than others, admittedly. But between blow-outs and individual dealer "sales" this year, I still can't buy everything that represents a "good deal" when I see it. There's simply TOO MUCH stuff in the market right now for consumers to absorb. And even if Lionel quickly switches to a BTO model, there's an enormous glut of existing product in the market -- not to mention the stuff that's overdue for delivery from the 2012/2013 catalogs which wasn't BTO either.
No more blow-outs??? Nah.... certainly not anytime soon. That's for sure. 
David
