Scale or Traditional Toy?

I like it all; tinplate,traditional and scale. As far as scale trains I tend to buy more scale these day's but i still keep the size down to 15" or 18" passenger cars and smaller size scale diesels and steam engines. I have the curve size to run a Big Boy but it would still look too big on my 16x8' layout not to mention the fact I can't possibly justify a $2000 locomotive!  I stopped by Charles Ro on my way back from a morning meeting I had at work and I was looking at the Lionel "Paul Revere" Boston and Maine set and it looked really nice! On the way out I looked at the Batman subway set and even though I'm not a big Marvel cartoon guy the graphics on that set looked really cool!  Would I let the non scale size stop me from buying either one?  Not a chance. If I like something I like it Period! 

I am a big Marvel cartoon guy. THAT would get me to shut up and buy another LC set, but dude.... Batman is DC . It's like saying an MTH set is Lionel

OOOPS! Your right it is DC comics. See that's how much I know.   This set is definitely for you. I may still pull the trigger on this one too. Here is a better look at the set from TrainWorld TV. 

I believe that the people here are representative of the "hard core" of the hobby. Most people think in terms of "train sets" as opposed to layouts. And the layouts generally picture here are far above the average.

My two cents...  Guys who make liberal use of the M word prefer scale, while those of us who prefer "Toy" Trains, are more interested in play value.  I fall in the latter camp.  Early in my adoption of the hobby I was a member of the TTOS, while I think this forum is dominated by the TCA.  That said, we can co-exist as exemplified by the Cal Stewart and Nor Cal meets.   Now what I say next might be controversial, but toy trains are not necessarily cheap imitations, but rather can be quite realistic without being "Scale".  Take Super O track for example...  lots of discussion of curve radius being a determinant between the two yet Super O remains one of the most realistic track systems ever devised for Toy Trains.   

Thanks - I was terrified that video was going to include Marvel I had missed.

Yeah, a buddy of mine bought the Batman set. He actually bought the add on cars from the Brooklyn store. He's kinda bummed it has unique couplers (He's from Brooklyn and would have loved to mix in other cars). I'm a bit nervous. He is under the impression Lionel will do more cars and he can't wait for them. The Batman set has one motor. From the parts breakdown the motor looks small. Couple that with subway trucks and add on cars..... I'm gonna wait for a marvel release. I was thinking about suggesting we open it and look at it, before he buys any other cars, but not until after the warranty. Plus the door mechanism looks complicated, so I don't know if I want to play that badly.

Threads like this say a lot more about the people who post and reply to them than they say  about or contribute to the hobby. 

Bingo!

Came from HO to O with the MTH RK N&W J 611.......but I have moved to scale only purchases. I'll run both....a scale day then a traditional day ......but 'O scale scale or no sale' to misquote Lenard.

Quite honestly I really am not concerned about which direction this hobby is headed because from my vantage point in today's world there is a ton of new product available in both scale and traditional trains.  I have no idea what the percentage breakdown is but my instincts tell me that for a long time to come plenty of both will continue to be manufactured. 

The great thing about the train hobby is that there is literally something for everyone.  Whether it be prewar tinplate, prewar scale, postwar traditional, modern traditional or modern scale there is some segment of the O gauge hobby which can appeal to virtually anyone.

  Personally, I love to cover all of the different facets of toy/model train production.  I have a smattering of everything, including some S gauge, and I run it all.  I get a kick out of running old tinplate and even Fundimension's epic Sound of Steam Engines.  I find plenty of time to run scale equipment as well even though I will admit scale engines make up only a relatively small portion of what I own.  .  What I own would truly be classified as an eclectic train collection but I really enjoy watching, listening and experiencing the technological progression of this wonderful hobby.  Its been a great trip.

Scale vs. toy is the topic. For the O scale purist most of what is on the market these days fit the toy train category. If you measured all parts of each engine, its wheels

flanges, each accessory and rolling stock some would be close but still out of 1/43 scale. That is why the focus here is on semi-scale.  It really matters not having a true scale layout. You have products on the market nice enough to build a great looking model railroad panorama and in the context of the whole who will really notice the difference?

From looking at the Lionel Signature and MTH O gauge (Vol 1 and Vol 2) catalogs it seems to be about an even mix of items in scale and semi-scale/traditional. In addition, MTH has the European offerings which are also scale, so if you count that, a slight edge for scale in those catalogs.

I think Both manufacturers also have other catalogs like Ready-To-Run that contain a lot of sets, separate engines and rolling stock that is semi-scale/traditional only. So I think the Toy side would have the advantage of more items. And more sales as well. As others have said, most people don't have room for a huge layout with O-72 or larger minimum curves, the majority is O-54 or less with many using O-31 & O-36 for their entire layouts, IMO.

The selection of both is still overwhelming compared to 30 years ago, I still think I'm dreaming sometimes with all this to choose from. I also think there is something in just about every price range from $100-$150 on up to $2000+ with a fairly good selection in every range.

I am not a scale purist, or all toy trains, but somewhere in between. I like most of the O-gauge offerings, scale and toy. I have to limit my purchasing to engines of $500 or less and I have quite a few RailKing scale at around the $300 mark. A compromise, but a really good value, again IMO. While they would be nice, I just can't justify the more expensive ones, I have chosen to stay with diesels only. I have also limited myself to O-54 with one loop of O-63, in order to try and keep things to a manageable size that I can keep up with.

As I said earlier, it's a great time to be in O-gauge! I am really glad we have the selections we do today. Just wish I had more money and a bigger basement, but don't we all?