Lionel Made in America Cars

>>The following has just been received from one or our wholesalers:

12/10/12

Sounds like the supplier has a bunch of them in the warehouse and wants to move them out

I got a kick out of reading that, too.  "Instant collectibles" indeed!

I can't imagine a reputable/knowledgeable dealer out there who would fall for that ploy.

Agreed it's a sales gimmick, but I can see one side of it as a collector.

WAAAYYYY down the line, there could be an interest in the time Lionel tried this experiment to make a few items in the USA again.  It starts with the Presidential cars (the secoond time around) and includes a few holiday cars for that year before the company that made them went out of business.

What would be the total number of different cars that would "complete" a collection of these?  Off the top of my head, I know the Presidents, the Charlie Brown cars (less the boxcar in the set), and several other cars (maybe 5 not previously mentioned?) from this year's Christmas catalog.

I'm guessing it's less than 15 cars to have a "complete" set of these cars.  (not that I'm trying for this, at least not now)

-Dave

Collectable, schmectable...

There's nothing saying that Lionel won't look for another US builder after the court releases their tooling.

Rusty

"Always in motion is the future...."

Could be that this gets tried again, but with the initial attempt that failed to work out and this one that was successful for maybe a year(with the manufacturing company ultimately filing for baknruptcy), I doubt there are tons of capable companies lining up to do this for an affordable cost. (basing this timeframe on when they probably formed the partnership up until now, actual release of items has probably all been over 4-5 months)

-Dave

I don't recall the "Made in Mexico" stuff being worth any more or less than the Made in USA stuff from the MPC era.

Under the wrappings, these things are still 6464 boxcars, the value is in the decoration.  Colletors collect the object, not where it was made.

I wouldn't bet my retirement on them.

Rusty

I never said they would be more valuable, just a collectable subset.  There is a difference. 

>>>I don't recall the "Made in Mexico" stuff being worth any more or less than the Made in USA stuff from the MPC era.<<<

I suppose since up to now Lionel only delivered about half the order, those actually interested in the cars, not the speculation around it would do well to buy them now...Shows how difficult it is to restart American production and be competitive after its been offshored. With healhcare laws looming large, it's probably impossible.  

Joe

I guess the project was not profitable enough to continue operations. Maybe Lionel may want to take a stab at it and see if they can do the manufacturing without the red ink.

I suspect Nolan Plastics had problems before signing the contract with Lionel.  The reasons for filing for bankruptcy don't happen overnight.

Rusty

Saw some of the Presidential cars on eBay for $89.00, don't take too long does it?

And so it begins:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LIONEL...sd%3D370708627193%26

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lionel...;hash=item416f276302

Jerry

I suspect Nolan Plastics had problems before signing the contract with Lionel.  The reasons for filing for bankruptcy don't happen overnight.

Rusty

I would have thought that Lionel's lawyers would have done a complete financial on the company before signing a contract.

As depressed, repetitive and tumultuous the O guage market has become, I'm actually surprised Lionel themselves survived this long.

Joe

Yea, like that always works!!

Due diligence isn't infallible.  Even in this so-called "information age" financial and operational data can be concealed, especially if the company is privately held.

I'm not accusing Nolan Plastics of cooking the books, just that they might have been having some problems before accepting the contract.

Rusty

LOL!

That second listing in Jerry's post is our local shop. We pulled what we thought was a ridiculous number out of the air as a joke for that listing when the news broke. Looks like we didn't make it ridiculous enough! Amazing - just like in the late 80s with some MPC items!

For those that might be tempted to treat toy trains like a commodities market again, check what happened to those peak 1980 prices over a very short time. 

Jim

Jim, I'll give you $20. bucks for it. Atleast I made an offer.