Grampstrains posted:breezinup posted:Looking at the Dark Side, is one side effect of this - putting the Lionel name on H.O. products - going to draw more young people (and parents) away from O gauge? Also, this acquision is perhaps another sign that there's a limit to the number of customers out there who can afford high-priced modern O gauge equipment. This limited market leaves little room for significant growth; to do that requires expansion into different areas. Wages continue to be stagnant, the middle class is increasingly squeezed, therefore less expensive trains are a requirement for a train manufacturer to grow.
H.O. may actually bring more people into O gauge on down the road. A lot of the folks on this forum started out with H.O. and have moved up. It would be good to have the Lionel name on a good H.O. product to keep the name alive for new generations and it should also give Lionel hobby shops a boost with more products to offer.
Very good points. Certainly the step-up idea from H.O. to O was true in my case - H.O. as a kid, now O.
