@ADCX Rob posted:The 1970-1971 MPC line was mechanically superior to the 1962-up starter sets, and any set cataloged after 1966(as an example, compare a 8010 to a 634).
From 1973-1991, there were DC-only sets cataloged that were very cheaply made, but they served their purpose, and were cataloged alongside continually improving equipment.
Good points. One of MPC’s greatest challenges was trying to remain competitive in the mass market. The AC transformers and motors were an insurmountable roadblock until Lionel finally hit on the DC can motor idea.
It’s easy to take for granted just how difficult it is to manufacture a train set. A single piece of 027 track has 12 components—3 rails, 3 pins, 3 ties and 3 insulators. Half of those parts are plated and three are painted. Most sets in the 1970s had 10 to 14 track sections each. Even the most basic MPC-era truck with an operating coupler contains 12 parts. Now factor in the locomotive and transformer, which of course is where the complexity is. Even the most basic set easily has a couple hundred component parts. They ain’t nerf balls.
In the 1940s and early ‘50s Lionel could over-engineer everything because the market would bear it. When the economy evolved towards mass marketing and discount stores, Lionel trains became “a” toy rather than “the” toy, and parents were less willing to spend 80% of the Christmas budget on a train set. To their credit Lionel picked up on this and redesigned set components beginning in 1955. What is often overlooked is that this “cheapening” lowered the price points of many sets. In terms of raw numbers Lionel annually sold a lot of sets until the early 1960s; the problem was they were making a lot less on each one. MPC reversed the trend for a while in the ‘70s but couldn’t keep the momentum going.
