Who has had it with no new tooling?

Going broke? LOL!!!!

The only one going broke is me buying new Lionel products.

Just look around. there is new stuff everywhere. Twenty years ago most of the O gauge products out there were post war reruns.

I like to some new stuff, but the manufactures have to sell enough to amortize their costs.

Any body remember the MTH McKeen Motorcar? they had to cancel it because they didn't get enough orders.

 I still want one.

Thanks Jeff.

Any business is a risk.

Make what hasn't been done already and what the remaining die-hard modelers request or get out.

Reality Check -  The hay-day is over for collectors, nostalgia, high prices, and interest.

I for one am making do with what I have. Between building a new layout and a just finished new kitchen, I don't have much extra money to buy a $1000 engine. Mr. Muffin is getting me a "GE Little Joe" demo engine but that will most likely be my last large purchase for a long time. Don

Balshis,

Just 5 hours ago both the DOW and the S&P 500 closed at all-time record highs.  If your stocks are not doing well in this market maybe you should consider a new broker or CA$HING OUT.

Hey, Guys

I was talking with MTH today and there is going to be some new tooling in the next catalog. I hope I do not get in trouble but I just have to tell you guys the MTH 44 Toner will be in the next catalog. I am not sure if its in the Premier Line or the Railking line. This engine will be packed with full features of DCS.

Thanks

Pat

PATRICK'S TRAINS

That's not exactly news. I just hope it is a Premier model with a -2 scale wheel version.

Reality Check -  The hay-day is over for collectors, nostalgia, high prices, and interest.

The heyday is over for speculators.  The times are good if you are an operator, especially if you model a railroad that was not well represented until the post 200 era.  But so has much produced and in so may variations that there are plenty of hay days ahead for the coming generation or two of collectors. It will likely take a decade or two for those who have an interest in O gauge trains to sort out what has been made since the 1990s and then let the market decide what is desirable and what items among the desirable ones are rare.

There are opportunities out there for manufacturers but there will be fewer home run products since so many models of the most popular subjects have already been made in large quantity.  Technology will allow the most innovative manufacturers to be able to make a respectable profit on smaller production runs, keep prices at levels their customers can afford and add interest to the hobby with new products.

For me the market changes have meant that I bought my first Legacy locomotive when Lionel made the Milwaukee Road S-3 Northern.  I bought the road number I did, likely the least common, because the 267 ran on the un-electrified gap in Washington and Idaho.

I also have one new brass locomotive and one on order.  While Lionel and MTH have cut back on their new diecast locomotive introductions that has opened up opportunities for brass builders where tooling costs are lower.  Sunset/3rd Rail has improved their products to the point where the running qualities and sound and smoke features are competitive with the diecast builders.  My GN O-8 Mikado is hefty and beautiful.  I expect the Timken locomotive to be a good runner, absolutely gorgeous and as accurate as the available data allows it to be.

I am also hoping that the O scale market improves to the point that MTH re-announces their last new US prototype steam offering, the UP 4-8-2.  If they re-offer it I will re-order it! If several hundred of you guys do too we can all have one.

A number of units are manufactured that have the tooling cost amortized into the price. Now that the tooling is paid for we should be able to see much lower prices across the board.

I think a lot of the challenges currently facing the hobby can be summed-up by some of the petulant attitudes expressed throughout this thread, and it truly saddens me.

TRW

As cited above,,WAHHHH!  I wanta McKeen car, and I want it now!!  I actually put

in a reservation for one, so I, and those way too few others should get first grabs.

Gotta agree with Ted there.  The heyday for collectors has long been over... like 15-20 years ago over.    

The seeds for the largely operator-oriented culture we have today took hold back when incremental details were being added to locomotives and rolling stock in the 1990's.  That was also the time the pioneers of hi-rail burst onto the scene... guys like Phil Klopp and Herb Lindsay Come to mind.  They paved the way for many enthusiasts, and their layouts were an inspiration to us all via magazine coverage and videos.  I think my first video of Phil's layout was on TAPE!!!    Remember VHS?  

As for nostalgia... I don't think we EVER outgrow that.  No sirree.    That's partly what has sparked my recent interest in Standard Gauge tinplate.

And as for high prices...  I don't think too many folks need to look further than the latest catalogs and dealer price sheets to realize premium prices for new product are still very much alive and well.  The secondary market?  Now that's where high prices are far and few between.

David

I wish the hobby business was 1/100 as easy as some of you make out it is........

As easy as the Magazine biz right Rich, Ed and Alan???

Lionel from about 1950 into the late 70's didn't have much new tooling. You could count on one hand the number of really new engine. Don't think I heard many complaints. I was just glad Lionel was still in business. Don

That was also the time the pioneers of hi-rail burst onto the scene... guys like Phil Klopp and Herb Lindsay Come to mind.  They paved the way for many enthusiasts, and their layouts were an inspiration to us all via magazine coverage and videos.  I think my first video of Phil's layout was on TAPE!!!    Remember VHS?  

David

I remember the first time I ever saw images of Phil Klopp's layout.  It was on a VHS tape from my local library and my brother and I watched it together.  It definitely was influential!  It was wonderful to get to meet Phil in person a few years ago at York.

Lionel from about 1950 into the late 70's didn't have much new tooling. You could count on one hand the number of really new engine. Don't think I heard many complaints.

Don

Few complained, many moved to HO.  I moved back to O for the sound, operating qualities and the variety of the equipment we saw introduced in the 1990s and early 2000s.  Going to a Milwaukee modelers meet and seeing Noel Holley looking approvingly at my 3 rail O scale EF-5 set was pretty cool.  There is nothing as well detailed, smooth running and reasonably priced in HO. 

If we ever see the Westinghouse passenger motors or steeple cabs made in O we may both be in trouble!

Who has had it with no new tooling?.......

Jerry

For each locomotive type there are most likely 5 to 10 variations of freight cars.

New Freight Cars need to have priority over obscure locomotives.

Andrew

I'm far, far behind on being able to afford the stuff I want that's out already, so cries for "new tooling" fail to resonate much. All the many, many items that have already been produced offer more than anyone could possibly ever run, or afford.

Not saying new items aren't welcome, but, on the other hand, calling for more, more, more, and having people asking what will be in the next catalog before the most recent one has even been digested, sounds a bit like gluttony to me.

The top three all new tooling items I wanted in O gauge were all made the past few years.Lionel made the Milwaukee Road 261 steam engine and Weaver made the scale Milwaukee Road bay window caboose and rib sided boxcar.

Dan

There is a great variety of old tooling that works great for me.  I will be getting MTH's FEF-3 although I admit I would also like to see an FEF-2.  I will also be getting the Lionel Y6b.  Why I have previous versions of each model, the offering of different road numbers keeps the collection interesting.  Each model is well detailed and I can think of little for improvement of either.  I would like to see Lionel make a Y6b for S Gauge given that they already have a Y3.  You can sometimes get two S Gauge locomotives for the price of one O Gauge locomotive and fit a nice layout into a smaller space while not compromising detail or the traditionality of electric trains

This is how I deal with rising prices and the repetitive nature of this hobby.

I'll never buy anything twice, especially for electronic upgrades..  

I'll never buy anything cataloged countless times before and available cheaper in the secondary market.

Pretty simple..

Joe

I never pre-order trains and very rarely buy any that are brand new.

But...

If Lionel were to create some new tooling and produce these hoppers, I will pre-order a dozen of them.