LIONEL 2012 PRE-ORDER PRICING

I have to agree.  My son and I are new to this hobby, and are both having fun...however, most of the really cool engines are really over priced if you think about it.  I'm finding that $500 is cheap for a decent engine...and yes there's a lot of detail and small parts involved...but they're made in China...and I would bet for well under $100 per unit.  How many kids and adult alike would have the $800 engines if they were $200?  Seems to me that volume sales would win out over individual profit margin...but I'm sure Lionel has thought of all the angles when it comes to selling their product.

I hope my comments here don't offend too many folks, but anyone planning to buy some of Lionel's newest premium steam locomotives in the 2012 Vol 2 catalog at their currently announced price points are playing right into the hands of Lionel marketeers.  And that's the kind way of saying it.  

People... get a grip for gosh sakes!!!  You know right off the get-go that these locomotives weren't catalog'd with the extra steam effects that are on locomotives still being blown out from the past two years.  So why settle for less?  And secondly, these steam locomotives are precisely the same ones that were introduced about 7-8 years ago (w/o Legacy of course), and ALL of those were available a few years later for HUNDREDS less.

How many times does history need to repeat itself for toy train enthusiasts to realize that if we don't trip over ourselves grabbing these things the same week our favorite dealer first gets them, then there's a great chance we'll be able to go on a terrific shopping spree several months down the road!!!  

David

There is a viable alternative - MTH will be offering all of the NS Heritage locomotives in their Railking line at around $300 with DCS.  There, you have already saved $200.

Happy railroading,

Don

I think closer to $399 for those MTH units.

Yes...but still less than the Lionel Legacy line.  I love O-scale, but the prices of some of this stuff is outrageous!  I think one has to be very specific in the time period they are modeling or stick to a particular railroad.  If not I just don't see how you could feed yourself at night.  I have retirement and two college educations coming down the rails, so I have to be very discerning in my purchases.  I also agree with Rocky...the stampede I see when some of this stuff is released is quite breathtaking.  They charge what the market bears...and right now people are willing to pay well over the cost to manufacture.  Me, I wait.  Let the prices come down and hopefully someone out there didn't buy the whole lot of MTH Chessie GP38 Proto 2 engines.