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Since my catalog from the LCCA was delivered I suspect a fair number of you have received them as well so it's time to ask,



Lionel 2021 Big Book Catalog Click Here



American Flyer Click Here



Whadaya Getting?

Dissenting opinions are always welcomed but please keep them relevant, civil, and on topic.

I am seriously looking at adding to my Star Trek fleet with the additional Captain Cars, Speeder, and add on cars.

I've been asking so now it's time to put my money where my mouth is, A UP Veranda Turbine is on my list.  Not sure if I will get the prototypical one or the updated "Building America" Flag one.  I kind of like the look of that one.

Finally I'm on the fence with the new Polar Scale Sleepers.  The current train is 8 cars long with the 9th (hobo car) coming soon.  The depicted graphics has "The Polar Express" above the windows on the snow roof cars which is definitely not correct to match existing cars so I'd like to hear how these will be produced.

That's my short list from my initial look.  The only thing I may have to pre-order is the Veranda.  I'm really trying not to do that these days but this might have to be an exception.

Last edited by MartyE
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Here's my takeaway. As I paged through the catalog I was surprised at how little was Legacy and O scale. 60 pages of interest than 175 pages of product I'm really not interested in.

When I look at a camelback priced at $650 and think, oh that's affordable, what's that say about pricing.

Some great stuff for me to buy second hand in a few years, especially the red Pacemaker.

Haven't been able to thumb through the whole catalog yet but there are a couple of things that I will be preordering so far:

LIRR Camelback

Strasburg SW8

The Presidential Boxcars

- I would consider the Pacemaker boxcar set but until I know what types of couplers and trucks are used on the non-VL boxcars, I am out on those. I just got in the new Lionel Milk Cars and we all know how those are.

As of now, I am leaning towards a couple things. Of course it's not set in stone. Anyway here are the ponderings from this catalog.

1) The Pacemaker boxcar set. Not to concerned about the trucks and couplers because I will convert everything over to Kadee's.

2) The Santa Fe Flyer passenger set and add-on 2-pack is a possibility.

3) From the American Flyer side either the NYC or Santa Fe Pacific's.

I would like to get a L2a Mohawk from this catalog but the previous 5 L2a's Lionel has done can be found on the second hand market. So the L2a's in this catalog are a pass for me.

Last edited by TRAINMANTIM

Personally, I think it is a great catalog! For preordering, I would have to go big with either the "Black Bonet" 3000 or the prototypical 3001 offerings. When I first saw the original 3000 I missed out on getting one, and with them being hard to find, I am defiantly not passing up this opportunity. There is much more I would like to preorder but $2500 for this locomotive fills the budget.

Last edited by Trainmaster04

Personally, I think it is a great catalog! For preordering I would have to go big with either the "Black Bonet" 3000 or the prototypical 3001 offerings. When I first saw the original 3000 I missed out on getting one, and with them being hard to find, I am defiantly not passing up this opportunity. There is much more I would like to preorder but $2500 for locomotive fills the budget.

I personally think it's one of the better catalogs in a few years.  Lots of stuff and lots of sets.  Quite a few items we haven't seen in a while. 

Last edited by MartyE

I'm not getting anything. Nothing caught my eye for the time period I model (1947-1951 ATSF and SP). SP 4-6-2 was a maybe but I decided against it because SP didn't have a USRA Pacific and I'm not sure what motor configuration (motor in smokebox or motor in firebox) it will have. I thought about the SP Vison Line boxcar but I'd rather just have a plain sound car, which is cheaper. ATSF 2-10-10-2 is way before when I model and so is the ATSF "Valley Flyer" set.

So nothing for me this time around. I have ordered rolling stock from the previous catalogs. This will be the first catalog in 3 years I haven't ordered from.

@Jeff T posted:

Some great stuff for me to buy second hand in a few years, especially the red Pacemaker.

Maybe it will change, but I have found (and I'm not the only one) that a lot of stuff has gotten very hard to find on the secondary market. With many of these BTO pieces, there are not a whole lot of them made in the first place. As others have noted over the recent past, these days, if you want something, don't wait too long after it comes out to get it, or you may be waiting a long time to find one.

Last edited by breezinup
@breezinup posted:

Maybe it will change, but I have found (and I'm not the only one) that a lot of stuff has gotten very hard to find on the secondary market. With many of these BTO pieces, there are not a whole lot of them made in the first place. As others have noted over the recent past, these days, if you want something, don't wait too long after it comes out to get it, or you may be waiting a long time to find one.

So true!! I just hate sticking my wallet out for items with issues... Secondary market is scarce and priced high.

The three N&W MOW cars are tempting. However, the new pricing structure puts me on the sidelines. I have three nice ones from Weaver. They will have to be "good enough".

I am numb at the number of Acelas. Perhaps the WORST offering in Lionel history so, lets make them in a bunch of fantasy liveries. 

Last edited by Gilly@N&W

The Soo GP30 caught my eye. There have been very few Soo scale engines made by Lionel. The engine is only a possiblity, though. After looking for many years for some Atlas O Soo GP35s, a bit over a year ago I finally  found a set, so the Lionel GP30 is arriving too late, essentially.

The Great Northern Pacific is there, but already having the Mikado, it's not a necessity, although the Vanderbilt-style tender is interesting. But there's no way I'd make a commitment until after seeing the actual production model. While the catalog picture looks correct, given Lionel recent multiple disasters with the GN green color, who knows what the actual model will end up looking like? Could end up being another pea soup green mess.

Disappointed to see Lionel is only offering one new item in the LC+2 line (the K-4). Really thought they'd charge ahead more with these. Was really hoping for a N&W J and/or SP GS-4 Daylight, or a LionMaster-type Hudson. They'd sell the daylights out of all of those (sorry for the pun) if they'd make them.

Not planning to buy anything right away, but hoping to pick things up over the course of the spring instead. One of the NYC L2a Mohawks will be high on my list. First compare it to one of the previously-run L2a's, then either buy one of the second-hand engines or a new one. I'm not opposed to buying used but it carries its own risks (of which I have fallen victim to a few times). Pacemaker boxcar set looks nice too. An SW8 and LC+2.0 RS3 are also on the wishlist.  The NASA set looks fun and the Pacific engines look great, but those aren't at the top of my list.

@breezinup posted:

Disappointed to see Lionel is only offering one new item in the LC+2 line (the K-4). Really thought they'd charge ahead more with these. Was really hoping for a N&W J and/or SP GS-4 Daylight, or a LionMaster-type Hudson. They'd sell the daylights out of all of those (sorry for the pun) if they'd make them.

Agreed.  Would have loved to see the LionMaster Allegheny in last year's catalog make it to production too. But no shortage of LionChief sets and engines - makes me wonder how well the 2.0 engines are selling as opposed to regular LionChief. Edit: I forget that LC+ 2.0 is a fairly new offering, it may still be trying to establish its ideal market. I wouldn't know, I'm not a business man

Last edited by 0-Gauge CJ
@Gilly@N&W posted:

The three N&W MOW cars are tempting. However, the new pricing structure puts me on the sidelines. I have three nice ones from Weaver. They will have to be "good enough".

I am numb at the number of Acelas. Perhaps the WORST offering in Lionel history so, lets make them in a bunch of fantasy liveries.

You probably need to take a few minutes and review the issues with the "first" Acela.  You won't see those problem points again.

The GP30 diesel and the GP35 are a different locomotive design.

If you truly model the SOO LINE you have to get the series of the GP30, GP35, GP40 diesel-electric locomotives.

The SOO LINE got 22 of the GP30s in 1963

The SOO LINE got 4 GP35s in 1964.

The SOO LINE got 6 GP35s in 1965.

The SOO LINE got 4 GP40s in 1967.

The much larger number of GP30s present on the SOO means that you have to get the pair from LIONEL for a proper ratio of motive power.



Andrew

The GP30 diesel and the GP35 are a different locomotive design.

If you truly model the SOO LINE you have to get the series of the GP30, GP35, GP40 diesel-electric locomotives.

The SOO LINE got 22 of the GP30s in 1963

The SOO LINE got 4 GP35s in 1964.

The SOO LINE got 6 GP35s in 1965.

The SOO LINE got 4 GP40s in 1967.

The much larger number of GP30s present on the SOO means that you have to get the pair from LIONEL for a proper ratio of motive power.



Andrew

It's hard to argue with that logic

@breezinup posted:
Disappointed to see Lionel is only offering one new item in the LC+2 line (the K-4). Really thought they'd charge ahead more with these. Was really hoping for a N&W J and/or SP GS-4 Daylight, or a LionMaster-type Hudson. They'd sell the daylights out of all of those (sorry for the pun) if they'd make them.

The Baby K4 tooling needed less modification than a J/GS-4.  Just a retro-fit of a fan-driven smoke unit, and electronics swap-out.  The J tooling has never had a can-motor set-up.

Jon

  • Sorry to say, with Lionels track record of wrong colors, pricing that is absurd, packaging that is horrible, Bto items, items showing up with detail just laying in the box.
  • My days of ordering anything new is over.
  • Secondary market is looking very good.
  • And if I miss anything on the secondary market, who cares!! They are trains not a necessity.

Dave

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