At least S got a mention in both presentations. But if it hadn't been from questions from the audience, there wouldn't have been any mention at all.
Based on the last couple of catalogs, I'll credit Lionel for at least appearing to finally settle on a direction, it may not be the direction I personally would like to see, but there is definitely a commitment to the Flyer lineup. With the corrected bolster on the roller bearing trucks, maybe Lionel would be kind enough to throw us scale guys a crumb with a new freight car (and not recycled/cloned O27) along the lines of the cylindrical hopper and aborted 57' mechanical reefer...
As to MTH, if and when a new Showcase Line catalog finally appears, (sorry MTH, but you have squandered your reputation regarding the Showcase Line) I expect there to be four new roadnames for the F3's and perhaps six for the SW9's. MTH really needs to get on the stick and re-release the remaining SHS freight cars (5 versions of the twin hopper, 2 more versions of the flat car, 2 more versions of the box car, 3-bay PS2 hopper, EV caboose.) It's been 6 years already since the first releases. I once expected MTH to provide some serious competition to Lionel/Flyer, but that hasn't been the case.
Rusty
