No one is getting rich making toy trains, especially so in O scale. At best O scale trains in 3 and 2 rail are a niche product for a small group of aging out buyers. To think otherwise is utter nonsense. Why does Lionel license their name to anyone willing to pay for it? Why has MTH stopped producing new tooling for nearly the last decade?
Don't get me wrong. It would be great to have our models built domestically, but it was very well summarized by several why that will never happen. I will add another reason as I do to every one of these threads. The US worker no longer has the skills to do repetitive tedious labor. Cell phones, on-demand everything, social networking, toy train forums, and a host of other things have made us in the US incapable of paying attention at that level with any efficiency. It's the same reason we don't pick our own fruits and vegetables from the fields.
That brings up a further point in this hobby. In the past if we didn't have the model we wanted, we scratch built it or kit-bashed another model to make what we wanted. Once again in the on-demand culture few are willing to take the interest or time for that.
Back to reviewing first review drawings for one of the evil "I'm getting rich at this" by practicing capitalism toy train manufacturers. Oops. I will simply close my comments with try education over speculation. It really goes a long way. Rant over.
