They were looking for more than just the elements of a starter set and, if I remember correctly, I couldn't find what they needed for under $300. For them, that was a deal breaker.
Joe:
I'm not trying to pick a fight but you're scratching at a nerve that's somewhat sensitive with me. Please don't take any of what follows personally; it's addressed to everyone. Also, this will likely be my last post on the topic as I think it would be more fun to jaw about this over a cup of coffee or a beer at York some day anyway.
Please take a look at the price of a fastrack switch!
To use your example, a Fastrack switch costs about $70. Using the excellent Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index calculator (i.e., it adjusts for inflation), that item would translate to about $8 in 1955 dollars. Since O22 switches sold for about $20 dollars per pair in the 50s, the price of switches is comparable, if not lower.
If the kids in question have an xBox or Wii, the parents have already broken the $300 single-toy threshold. If the parents are trying to build a railroad empire for less than $300, they've got champagne tastes on a beer budget. If they're thinking that trains should cost what they did when they were kids (and many do), then they need to play with that CPI calculator for a little while.
When I was a kid, the happiest day of my life was when my single large oval of track and my single scout starter set came down from the attic to be set up around the tree. That happiest day was tied with every day that I got to play with it until it was put away, usually around Feb 1. Christmas after Christmas, over the first 9 years of my life, I was given extra track, some extra cars, and even a new 230 Alco diesel. The day I made two concentric loops (still with no switches) and ran two trains at once in opposite directions, I thought my head would explode.
Trying to give a kid a train empire from the git-go is a non-starter for many and I don't blame your friends for balking at the price. However, somewhere along the line, all of us have lost the basic concept that someone buys the child a serviceable starter set at a very young age and at a reasonably price, and that starter set gets added to over the years -- track, switches, cars, accessories, etc. -- until the child/children have an empire.
In the above, "all of us" includes parents AND Lionel. The manufacturers should view the sale of that modest starter set as an annuity that comes back to them in the form of additional purchases over the next 10 years until the kid either sticks with trains for good or moves on to something else. It's a perfect scenario for participation by aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends. It saddens me greatly that ALL of Lionel's marketing is not set up to encourage this to happen.
Sorry this went on so long, but it just crushes me every time I hear that an adult didn't buy a kid a train set because they thought it was too expensive.
SJS
