The market is "FLOODED" with MTH ABS 18" passenger cars in every road in both fluted or smooth sided variations.
Most six or 7 car sets sell at shows in the $250.00-$300.00 range. And the best part... they look great with interior detail and most have sitting passengers.
Simply the best buy in passenger cars on the market today because they ARE the perfect size for most layouts. ...
EXACTLY!!! And well stated.
More so, that's what made the Lionel 18" aluminum cars such an attractive alternative in the marketplace for years. So what does Lionel do? They nix their strongest play in the passenger car market... go to a "me to" strategy with ABS plastic... and worse yet, even cut out a minor but noticeable level of detail -- that being people to to populate the passenger cars. All of this, and the street-price seems rather close to the price-point of the former 18" aluminum cars with all the amenities. 
The more we peel back the onion layers on these 21" passenger cars, the less I am impressed. But I guess time will tell the real story.
Grand slam... or gross mis-calculation. 
David
