I always pre order and have not been disappointed. I get what I want at a discounted price, but I'm also not a rivet counter and if something is a little off I don't get upset, after all, it is three rail "O" gauge.
Oh boy, there goes that excuse again.
No excuse just the facts, three rail "O" will never be up to the standards of HO.
If I were very concerned about exact detail, color and model type I would be modeling in "two rail scale" or HO.
Apparently, you've never seen some of the very realistic layouts/ modelling posted on this forum.
Maybe check out some of those OGR layout videos you have access to with your digital subscription.
I've seen the photos and videos of the excellent modeling on this forum. But these creations are produces by people that put a lot of time and effort into adding, changing and reworking not only scenes on the layout but also changing, adding or re-painting there equipment to meat there high standards and not crying about the lack of same by the manufacture.
Everyone wants museum quality models , but at five and dime prices and that's not going to happen.
$1000-$2000 is five and dime? Theres a Dollar General near me, but they don't sell anything there anywhere near $1000
So if your a person that is very particular then do yourself a favor and don't pre order, wait till the item is released and find a LHS where you can examine the finished product before you buy.
I didn't know Dollar General sold trains 
But I have seen a number of posts referring to Menards offerings ($20 to 25) and crying about poor trucks and lack of detail.
In any case, I don't think you'll find a museum quality price for less then $5,000 to 10,000 and it will be a static display at that.
Good idea.
BTW, many of the mistakes Lionel has made, are things they did right on previous runs, especially colors.
There is absolutely no justification for a 4 wheel freight truck and coupler to have issues when they've been making them for over 100 years.
All I can say is MADE IN CHINA !! The American manufactures have little to say about QC. Once you send your tooling over there it becomes the property of the company producing the models. If you don't like what they turn out ....its too bad, want your tooling back,,,pay for it.
