You always complain about prices david
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What ever the're doing it works. ( I'm not sayin its right) I suppose the sheer volume of traffic here on the forum on new products good or bad is an indicator too.
Not really complaining, Rick... 'cause I really don't care. It's more of an observation than a complaint. If Lionel prices something I like too high, it's not that hard to just walk away. I might have sprung for a Great Northern E7 AA, but not at $800 with only one powered unit. Charlie Nassau had a super sale earlier this year, and I picked up an MTH Santa Fe E6 ABA for $550 or so. And that had both A-units powered PLUS a dummy B-unit. There's just no VALUE at $1,000 MSRP / $800 street for Lionel's AA combo with one unit powered. 
You are correct though... I guess plenty of folks will dig deep for some of these items, or Lionel wouldn't be playing these games. Two posters in this thread already indicated they were in for a Heisler. At a $1300 MSRP, dealers will likely sell those at $1050 or so on pre-order. SideTrack Hobbies just had a few MTH 4-truck Shays on blow-out for $450. So these new Heislers are practically TWICE that. Absolutely insane! But yes, these new jewels will have whistle-steam (according to the catalog)! So that'll make the medicine go down a bit easier. 
David
