It is interesting to revisit this thread after two years. Unfortunately not a lot has changed. Lionel seems reluctant to invest in new tooling at this time and MTH is just starting to deliver SHS remakes.
I would agree. As one who constantly preaches "patience," even I'm disappointed in the pace of the S reboot.
As I see it, two things sucked the oxygen out of the American Flyer balloon:
1) The Norfolk Southern Heritage locomotives. Lionel decided to strike while the iron was hot and I'm not sure how hot it was in S in the first place. I'm sure we would have seen 57' reefers in NS fantasy paint if the NS series was hot.
Obviously, the two remaining UP Heritage locomotives suffered because of this. Plus, contemporary isn't a strong suit in S, at least not yet.
2) The Vision Line Big Boy in O. That seems to be Lionel's main thrust right now.
Even the Polar Express and Berkshire sets got pushed back another year. By the time these come out, they too may miss the mark. Buzz only lasts so long.
As far as MTH goes, I like what I see, but I don't see a lot. The freight cars are nice, but still no F's. At least the track is finally showing up. Even the next catalog got pushed back.
I know there's still a lot of old SHS to be rereleased, but it might behoove MTH to announce at least one new freight car not derived from SHS tooling to create a little excitement.
Oh, well. At least I can maybe get caught up a little on my "round tuit" project backlog.
Rusty
