Norm posted:As I was looking at my Atlas Reefer Collectors Guide I noticed that these cars were introduced in the spring of 2000.
I could not help but remember when these cars were introduced back then: the "gotta have it" and the excitement of these great cars.
It was a great time for us and also for Atlas. I'm still glad to have the cars that I do and I'm sure that many of us still fill the same way.
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Norm, great topic!!! And I too remember the many years of "reefer madness" back in the early- to mid-2000's. For many of us, those 40' reefers represented the modern-day equivalent of Lionel's postwar 6464 boxcars. And they probably would have maintained that "status" if Atlas-O didn't produce so gosh darn many of them. 
Looking back on the postwar 6464's, it's generally considered that there were 30 or so of them... which by any stretch of the imagination is a relatively MANAGEABLE number to "collect". Unfortunately, one would literally need a massive wall-space to display ALL of the Atlas-O reefers that were produced... including both the 40' and 36' variety.
In the end, the sheer number of them -- and a recognition of the fact that snagging ALL of them (including some of the more obscure "special runs" to complete one's roster) would be pretty much unattainable -- all ultimately contributed to "the cure" of my initially bad case of "reefer madness". 
I still appreciate them and what Atlas-O brought to the market some 16 years ago now. However, I'm happy with my modest roster of 40' reefers (perhaps a couple dozen of them), and I've since sold off all my 36-footers. Sometimes too much a good thing isn't always the best recipe for success.
I think Atlas-O would have been much better off producing 50-75 of them, and then call it quits. Although that's more than Lionel's 30 or so 6464 boxcars, that number would still have been more manageable for "collectors" to attain in this day where basement empires are quite common. I've personally lost track of the current tally that was actually produced, but it's much more than I would ever be tempted to collect. And that became a strong reason why I was able to kick the "reefer madness" habit that many of us were afflicted with during the early 2000's decade.
David
