turtle7 posted:I collect only the true 6464 types with metal door guides top and bottom-adding only some of the MPC 9200s with plastic door guides. So, I do continue to "collect" these cars-it continues to be interesting and fun ( for this old guy) !!
I have collected some 9200 series cars as well, among them three 9200 Illinois Central boxcars and three 9204 Northern Pacific green boxcars. These are mentioned specifically because all three examples of each of these two cars is different from the others - different end panels, different door guides, different doors, even some different shades of paint used on the cars. The 9200s all have differences in their paint, as do all of the 9204s, with their different shades of green. One of them is so different it looks like it must have been a different car. But they all have the same number on them - it was just the variations in Lionel's production at the time.
This was actually a fascinating time in Lionel's history, with MPC feeling their way through new and revised production, making some parts new and using some left over from the Postwar parts bins, etc. Here's part of an article about them:
General Mills took over the production of the Lionel trains in 1970 and began the task of reviving the toy train hobby. Lionel's line had shrunk to a shadow of its former self by the late '60s, and Model Products Corporation, the division of General Mills in charge of Lionel, began searching for ways to appeal not only to the toy market but to the rapidly growing collectors market as well.
When it took over, MPC inherited Lionel's famous 6464 boxcar series. These cars, introduced in 1953, were a mainstay of the Postwar Era. In fact, several early 6464s were reissued in 1969. It was only natural that Lionel would want to build on a popular idea, so in 1970 MPC/Lionel developed the replacement for the 6464s, the 9200 series.
Fifteen different 9200s were produced from 1970 to 1972. In 1972, the 9200s were replaced by the 9700 series boxcars [for more information on the 9700s, click here]. The 9200s were the first items made by Lionel specifically targeted towards collectors.
These cars are a fascinating case study in Lionel's production techniques, as numerous running changes were made in the cars during their production. The MPC/Lionel team was learning as they went along in the early '70s, and design changes were made in the cars' bodies, trucks, door guides, and packaging. No other group of cars in the MPC era can approach the 9200s in the number of subtle but interesting variations.
