Well, there are lots of factors and changes at Lionel over the years, but if you think about it we are lucky that Lionel has stuck with Flyer. They have made tons more product than Gilbert ever did and for over 40 years when Gilbert lasted for almost 20 years.
I remember when Lionel started with 3 freight cars and I couldn't wait to get them. Then there were the first sets and I ordered them from Charles Ro. I still have the receipts. At first I had to buy every new product they offered every year. Finally I had to give up that practice as the number of products grew every year.
Sometimes we need to put things in perspective, we would be still running mostly old modified Gilbert had not Lionel brought back Flyer. American Models and S Helper probably came into being because Lionel kept the market active and buying S.
Yep, there is always the next catalog and the products we hope they will make.
