Its seems like these days "Lionel is like a box of chocolates. You never really know what your gonna get".
After the initial legacy offerings from 2008- 2010 ( pre dreaded smoke unit diagnostics) which were great, some legacy locos are home runs while others are "ho- hums".
IMO even the new berkshires, aside from the whistle steam feature, are not as good as the previous run. I.E chuffs are all identical and they all have the NKP whistle except for the PM/PE.
Lionel sets the standard in the sound dept. Why can every loco have the "wow" factor?
It sure "appears" like some locos get more attention to sound/detail/ features. While others are rushed off the production line. Best examples are the poor raspy hooter whistle found on every( rushed) mallet regardless of protoype and the cast in coal load with "recycled" k4 sounds on the Pennsy S2.
If I was in the market for the new Legacy y6 and it comes with that same raspy hooter I'd return it.
IMO Lionel spent a ton of time on the VL bigboy. Other locos like the berks got " meh, thats good enough".
Even the VL hudson could have been much more with some correct valve guides, rivets on the steamchest and builders plates to name a few.
It really makes one second guess a preorder, not knowing if it will be a hit or a dud.
While I'm not a big fan of MTH sounds, at least it seems for the most part folks know what to expect, and prices are held constant.
