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Reply to "MTH's impact on S"

Well, first of all, there's got to be some interest somewhere, otherwise OGR wouldn't have dedicated a forum for S.

 

I won't deny S isn't frustrating at times.  S was really hurt by AM, SHS and SSA getting booted out by Sanda Kan two years(+?) ago.

 

I got into S Scale in 1985, after American Models was in already production.  (And it was going to be all scale, all the time.  None of this here Flyer or HiRail stuff... Yeah, right...) 

 

In fact, if it wasn't for AM, I probably would have stayed in HO.  There have been ups and downs along the way and there were times I seriously considered going back to HO or up to 3-rail O for various reasons.  I still pick up the occasional "other" scale stuff when it strikes my fancy, but I'm not really set up to model or run in HO or O.  It goes with the territory.

 

I guess I landed in S at the right time, things that came out were things I was interested in.  Today it's tougher, with S (both Scale and Hirail/Flyer) is being basically rebuilt from the ground up. (Or rising from the ashes, if you want to get poetic.)

 

Lionel's had several false starts expanding the Flyer line over the decades and seems to finally have made a decision to apply some serious resources to it.  And they're trying to attract the scale market to boot.  I really hope the new "scale Flyer" pans out into a sustainable product line.  And even though my interest in "classic Flyer" has waned, there still should be a place for it in the market.  Heck, one of my favorite trains is the Silver Flash reproduction of many moons ago, plus I'm a sucker for Flyer EP5's in ANY roadname.

 

MTH is starting S anew, even though they have acquired the former SHS tooling, research and good name.  We really have to wait for the first "official" product announcements from MTH to see how it's going to go.  There's a lot of potential here, MTH could go several different ways with the Showcase line.  I hope they don't blow it.  There's already been some anxiety with the scale crowd concerning swinging pilots and fantasy paint.

 

We all want more track, locomotives, cars, even structures and accessories from both MTH and Lionel.  But both companies have to dovetail S into already crammed production schedules.  Lionel's already out of the gate, MTH has to play catch up.

 

Those coming from the "2 catalogs a year scale" are bound to experience some disappointment that things don't seem to be coming fast enough.  S was never an "instant gratification scale" and I doubt it ever will be. 

 

But I'd sure like to be proven wrong!

 

Rusty

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

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