Here are the pics of the new Lionel Weather Balloon Defense two-car pack that just came in via pre-order.
The Weather Balloon car has a motor running off track power that blows air up through a nozzle and keeps the balloon continuously "floating" about a 1/4" above the red basket, even while the train is moving (slowly). In reality, the balloon bounces more than floats, but the grandkids liked it. The red "antler" button on top is the on-off switch. Unfortunately, it is too high to fit under my telephone wires, bridges and tunnels and I can only run it a few feet at a time in operational mode, so I'm not sure if I should keep it or sell it.
The Missile Launch car has a rotating launch arm that the missile sits atop and slips over a spring-loaded metal lever and you pull back on the lever to the desired tension and it locks in place. You then rotate and aim the missile at its intended target and push a button. The arm lifts up into firing position and the missile fires.
I also purchased the Exploding Ammo Dump, which is a small, spring loaded, four-sided building that flies apart when an object strikes it in just the right place on the roof. I set it up on the floor (the brown base is just a piece of rigid foam I had laying around and painted brown that makes it easier to assemble the ammo dump rather than being directly on carpet) and we fired the missile car at it to make it "explode". Works well.
