100% agree, Pat. I bought a ton of Lionel scale rolling stock when I converted my layout to scale - over 150 cars since 2012. I quit buying them when they went to the thumbtacks (after getting stuck with 8-10 preorders that I should’ve refused). I bought the Friendship cars after they announced the thumbtacks were gone. The “newer new” trucks on them are both cheap and non-functional. Even if I were willing to grind down a brand new car (I’m not), they still won’t track when coupled to one another without derailing. I’m done buying “again” until I physically see whatever the next iteration is.
This all seems so self-inflicted given the quality of the original design. I never believed for a minute this was about Kadee conversion. It was a cost saving move gone bad.
