LIONEL NEW SHIPPING LIST

Holloween reefer?

and Peanuts Trick-or-Treat animated chase gondola.

Those are good catches... but I can't help but notice that Lionel "updated" the list yesterday (7/29/2013), and it continues to be nearly impossible to tell if anything HAS shipped recently.  

 

There's a boatload of stuff (no pun intended) that continues to be overdue... including many of the premium sets (Mohawk water level, N&W Pocahontas, CN piggyback, SP oil can); TankTrain add-ons; Auto-racks; just to name a few.  Lots of stuff is still listed with April, May, June and July 2013 dates -- none of which has shipped as far as I can tell.  

 

Perhaps a dealer or two can chime in here to confirm if Lionel has sent them an end-of-July update as to WHAT IF ANYTHING might have shipped this month for arrival at stores in early August.  Just crazy if all this stuff is gonna arrive all at once in October, but it wouldn't be the first time!  

 

David

Trainworld has the Pocahontas and Sp oil can set listed as November

Honestly, if I were Lionel, I would be embarrassed by this. I mean how does this look for a company, to not deliver a great majority of their items on time?

 

I know that I made my first preorder in 10 years this year, and one part was supposed to ship in June, the other in July (why the add-on car was supposed to ship before the set confused me too). Well, here we are at the end of July, and I have yet to see it. I know this will make me think twice before I preorder again. I just wonder how many other people think twice about ordering again, especially any new people in the hobby...

 

Mini-rant over 

I don't.  Why not ask all the other train importers/manufacturers?

 

Honestly, if I were Lionel, I would be embarrassed by this. I mean how does this look for a company, to not deliver a great majority of their items on time?

It's been the nature of the beast for many years that the shipping schedules belong in the Fiction section...

 

Rusty

Not sure what the big deal is, with all respect.  We're talking about toys, and what does it cost to pre-order, 10% of the purchase price or so?  Not really big money.  Trains are, relative to other manufactured items, small lot special items and this type of thing is pretty common when anything is special ordered.  Cancel the order and get your money back or take a deep breath and be patient.  Next time, just wait for the item to be appear in the stores then there will be no need to preorder.

Much of this is arguably beyond their control, given the ridiculous state of overseas manufacturing right now.  All the importers are in the same boat, although some (i.e., Atlas-O) appear to be more affected than others.  Nobody seems to have a clue... that's for sure.  

 

No need to panic here.  Anything I pre-ordered (which isn't all that much) didn't cost me a dime.    It's just hard to not notice the mis-information that gets communicated month after month.  THAT's the part that is unforgivable.  But life goes on, and the stuff will arrive when it gets here.

 

David

Shipping slips are not new, but Lionel has mixed it up to make it look worse lately.

 

In the past when an item slipped, Lionel was pretty regularly posting a new date.  That would just mean it was easier to lose track of when it was originally supposed to come in.  I know when I was more diligently following my orders, I entered in the comments field of Excel when an item was due in.  I would add a new line to the comment with the updated date whenever an item slipped.  I had several items with at least 4 (maybe a few with more) dates in the comments field before I received the item.

 

The part about leaving dates in the system that are several months old is sort of new.  That didn't stay that way for too long in the past.  (you never used to see April posted when it was nearly August unless it meant April of the next year)  Hopefully the savings to Lionel in changing it from the old way was substantial, because this new method is certainly not popular with the folks who actually look at the list regularly.

 

Lionel is not unique with this, but the re-working of the list to have shipped items just drop off has plenty of people griping about it (I'm not a fan either, but I stopped regularly looking at the list probably a couple years ago - it comes when it comes)

 

As to add-ons coming before the set, also not uncommon.  I got some MTH inter-urban dummies at least a month or 2 before the set itself around 6-7 years ago. 

 

Back to the OP topic, good catches!  Those will probably be in that second 2012 catalog that "isn't coming", "oh, wait, scratch that, it is coming, but will be build to order".

 

-Dave

The stuff will arrive, or not.  I like it in a bizarre way because it is sort of like waiting for Christmas when I was a kid - you just aren't certain Santa will bring the thing you want, or not, or maybe wait 'til next year (or not).

I not waiting for one but I noticed the Legacy command sets have been pushed back another 2 months to October.    I am glad I found 1 last spring. I know this will fustrate some as they are stuck running their new Legacy engines coventional or by Cab 1 if they already have it.

Also still no photo on lionel.com for the elusive 25963 Christmas Story 30th Anniversary boxcar which appeared on dealer order forms but is not in the holiday Catalog.

I only ordered one item from the RTR catalog this year.  First anticipated in April, then moved to June, and as of yesterday's shipping update, DECEMBER.  One piece of rolling stock--from a tooling that's been around for decades.

 

I've been very heavily involved with several other hobbies (Star Wars, Legos, Transformers, GI Joe) and have an in-depth understanding of the time frames associated with design/manufacturing/shipping in those lines.  If it gets shown, it gets made, and the only real delays are retailer distribution once products reach the US.  Obviously Lionel isn't a Hasbro or a Mattel, but something is askew in a business model where half your advertised products get cancelled and the others are 6-12 months (or more) late. 

 

Just an observation, as by profession I'm a consultant to the manufacturing and distribution industry.  If I were working with Lionel, I would suggest reducing the catalog offerings by at least 1/4 and focusing intensely on getting our advertised product out the door on schedule.  The "fishing" model (let's see what people order and then try to make a lot of that as fast as we can) leads to significant manufacturing, inventory, and quality issues--to say nothing about a disappointed fan/collector base who are constantly not getting their products.

 

Those of us in the 40 & up crowd are trained to be comfortable with "eh, if it comes, it comes" and we shrug and accept it as the norm.  The next generation of buyers don't share that mentality.

I propose that Lionel's website guru's re-title the shipping schedule page to "SHIPPING SCHEDULE AND OTHER SUNDRY FAIRY TALES". 

I propose that you resist the urge to post on every Lionel shipping related thread.

Maybe we all should write a letter to Jerry Calabrese in his fancy New York office and tell him to get out of Starbucks having coffee with his Nascar buddies and get back to work!

Lionel had this same thing happen back in the mid nineties when they got two years behind on production, at that time they came out and said it was never going to happen again, from then on what was shown in the catalog would be available within 6 months. So much for the new regime keeping promises and doing better on delivering product.

I suggest everyone stop bad mouthing Lionel about delivery of their products.  China is China and most likely responsible for any delays.  I'm sure Lionel and especially Jerry want the items delivered on time.  Why don't you guys bad mouth China, I would be more than willing to accept that.

 

Remember anticipation is like adrenalin, enjoy the ride while it lasts.

 

I just checked and the Neil Young Texas Special set is still slated for August delivery.  That's good news.

 

TEX

Steve

They just didn't say which August!

 

The consumer has every right to complain when products are continually late.  

 

I'm sure Lionel is well aware of their supply chain problems, but it's up to the to the folks that make the contract and pay the overseas contactors to put the pressure on their contracted manufacturing, not the end user.

 

In the short term, perhaps they should not be so optimisitc with their published delivery scheduling.

 

Rusty

And maybe they (LIONEL) should just make the product here in the "good old USA" and know what IS going on,  and have better control of what GOES on with the manufacturing of their products.

 

We are at the mercy of a foreign nation for manufactured goods and when they shut the door, cut off the switch, or some other scene, we, as a nation, will have NOTHING!  And we are not just talking toys, here!    Dennis M.

 

Charlie, I realize you don't like some of us expressing our views here... but I propose that you remember this is a forum... and tolerating diverse opinions that may differ from yours is what forum discussions are all about.

Delays occur in domestic manufacturing, also.  Just ask Boeing...

Rusty

You mean like my second post in this thread?

 

Really guys... I don't think anyone here is bashing Lionel, per se.  Sure... we've called Lionel out on the quirks of their online shipping schedule.  Some of it is done with tongue-in-cheek humor hinting that Lionel should treat this more like the customer-facing document that it is.

 

If some of you drinking the orange and blue koolaid want to defend the state of Lionel's online shipping schedule for what it has evolved into over the past year, then please be my guest.  We're all ears here.

 

However, aside from Lionel's online shipping schedule... much of what we're saying here is a reflection of manufacturing issues in China that all of the importers are facing. 

 

David 

 

Suggestion to Allan Miller: next time the OGR staff interviews a Lionel executive, ask about this shipping schedule and why it is out of whack so much. Might be interesting to hear their perspective on it.

As for bashing China for making toy trains, I'd sure rather see them using some of their productive capacity for toys instead of bombs and ICBMs.

Like it or not, China is currently where the rubber meets the road, so to speak, with respect to where our toy trains actually get made.  Years ago, I joked that there was probably ONE factory over there that made trains for ALL of the importers!  And every week, they'd put out a different "Welcome" sign to visiting executives -- depending upon which company executives were visiting the factory that week.    Perhaps that was closer to reality than we'd like to believe.

 

Bottom line... the manufacturing landscape in China must be quite precarious these days with lots of unforeseen landmines lurking half a world away.  So while we can give the importers a break on the things they can't control, it's certainly fair game to request that the importers focus on issues they CAN control.  And HOW they communicate to their consumers/buyers is one of those areas that each of the importers is well in control of.

 

David

>>>ask about this shipping schedule and why it is out of whack so much. Might be interesting to hear their perspective on it.<<

 

Out of whack because the word is, there's been layoffs in that dept.

Probably not helped by the move to NC.

Joe

Well Dave, the money China is getting for making about everything we buy here in America is paying for new bombs, rockets, planes, ships, submarines and every other thing China needs for their military.  It seems like you don't think they are using their productive capacity for making weapons first?  Think again.

 

TEX

Steve

I don't mind diverse opinions at all.  Your posts are just predictable, repetitive and boring.

One thing is certain:  All the huffing, puffing and pontificating (myself included) has yet to correct the problem with shipping delays.

 

Rusty

And some folks just give "disagreement" lip service, feeling the need to critique and attack while they claim to tolerate different opinions in the same breath.  Speaks VOLUMES about them, doesn't it?  

As much as Lionel's diehard customers follow their "estimated" shipping schedule I would really like to see them put a little more effort into maintaining & updating it. I understand how unpredictable the China manufacturing is, especially with our small fish big pond world of model trains, but I find it hard to believe they don't have better info on what & when items will be shipping to them compared to what they show on that schedule. Can't see why there can't be a weekly update.

Also, I wish they would return the note "shipped" to items that have been shipped in lieu of just taking it off the list, at least for a few months before removing.

Bill, that's EXACTLY what many of us are talking about!    Very well said.

Guys, for those of us who have been buying Lionel products for a while we are used to the delays and items being pushed out. However there is something different this year.  It's now going into the 8th month of the Calendar year and they have shipped almost no product.  We got the H-7 and Y3s but not much else.  This is the first year I have not purchased anything in 7 months.  MTH has shipped product almost every month, so lets not completely blame everything on China.  Factories make money by producing things.  I can't speculate what it is, but something is definitely different this year.  Worse is the fact that there are not even new shipping dates for the delayed items.  They should just take down their shipping schedule as its really of no use.  How can a company survive if they don't have product to sell?  I've got money waiting to buy stuff, just doesn't seem like they want to make anything, haha.  Maybe NASCAR stuff is more important now.  

I was not going to say anything this time but could not resist.

 

every video that o-gauge mag or notch 6  has posted after interviewing lionel management about lionel since york april 2013 has said that lionel has gotten handle on shipping because there is a lionel employee living in china.

 

this has proven to be false, all we want is for lionel to come clean with us!!!

 

if a container has been lost or something has changed just tell us. 

 

we can deal with the truth better then what we have been told to date.

I just looked at the shipping schedule again tonight.  It is odd that the Milwaukee Road Passenger Car (2Pk) from 2010 catalog is schedule to ship in August and the 4 car pack is scheduled to ship in September.  These have been delayed multiple times and I can only assume that these will be pushed back again.  I thought I heard Mike R say that part of his new job was to help provide communication to dealers if products are going to be shipped late.  I wonder if he will also be working on getting the shipping schedule corrected. 

Well if anyone noticed they updated the list again yesterday. And a bunch of the NS Heritage Series engines are no longer on the list, so we may see them soon.

 

But they also may take awhile, the new SD40-2, GP-9 & SD35 never made it onto any shipping list that I saw and I finally received some of mine back in mid June. 

 

To me when they arrive on my door step, then I have it. We can complain one way or another all we want, but that will not get them here any sooner.

 

I believe the changes that we are seeing today started a couple of years when Lionel announced the new Mallets & Northerns back in Nov. 2011 along with Lincoln's Funeral train to their LRRC members. Then we saw most of these units on a lot of blow out lists that started late last year. Just like I received my extra 2 pks of the auto carriers before the end of last year and I did not get my Motor City set until 3 weeks later.

 

Just one more observation I noticed that I found. The Polar Express Remote Set that is in the RTR catalog is due to be shipped in Sept. 13. But looking in the Christmas catalog the Polar Express Remote & Transformer Sets have no set numbers listed but on the New Shipping List they have Brand new numbers as 6-81101 & 6-81106 and they are due to be shipped Jan. 14. 

 

Would think the numbers 81101 and 81106 would be large scale items based on the 81xxx item numbers.  There is also a 81117 Polar Express flatcar with bell listed on the shipping schedule.

 

Not that it bothers me personally that much since I'm not going down the PE O gauge track, but everyone is looking for Christmas themed sets to show up in January, right?  That's when all the new Christmas DVDs come to market as well right?  Oh.... wait a minute..... 

 

-Dave