A Trickle of MTH S News

It's hard to tell if this is going to be a quick move into the market. The statement in the post does not really lend well to predicting if we will be running MTH locos by the end of next year or not. Ben

Doesn't sound like Santa will deliver this year.  Perhaps the Easter Bunny?

Well, I figure any news is good news at the moment. 

 

Knowing some of what's involved in bringing my employer's new products to the market, (and there's a lot of pitfalls even when you own your own domestic factory...) it's understandable that it's going to take time for MTH to get up to speed with the Showcase Line.

 

Making trains isn't a turn-key operation.  Tooling has to be inventoried, inspected, repaired/refurbished if necessary, tested. Decisions of what's going to be run have to be made, supplies and materials ordered, then the run has to be scheduled, prototypes built and evaluated, any changes made to both the product and process, the list goes on.  And that's just for what already exists. 

 

While all this is going on, the rest of the business also has to be attended to.

 

Rusty

 

And,just a thought , they might not want to tip there competition to ther real plans.

Brad

Likely a catalog Dec 2012/Jan 2013 with delivery delays pushing arrival to 2014.

Sept/Oct issue of S Gaugian has a 3 pg. interview with Andy Edleman, VP marketing. Separate S catalog in the fall with 2013 items. Track, rolling stock then loco's, most likely F3's one of which will be SF. Starter sets 3rd qtr of 2013. Prices most likely higher than SHS products.

 

Rich

Good news for Lionel if they can get their product out the door, it gives them a little more time to continue to hold the market.  To me the real battle here will be their RTR sets.  We all (folks already in S) will pick and choose what we want from both sides for our little railroad worlds no matter when items are announced or produced, but that new blood that is out there being targeted by L and MTH (if S IS really the quickest growing segment of model railroading) is more likely to run with one manufacture depending on who's RTR set is most appealing to them.  

 

Ben

AND who can get the most shelf space in the stores.  Plus have extra track, rolling stock, accessories and buildings available at the point of sale.  Without the add-ons, a set becomes a lonely curiosity.

 

Rusty

I wasn't really clear.  I just thought it was an example of Lionel having a market segment to grow and then just abandoning it.  If they only offer a high-priced starter set with the Northern or Challenger, and then don't offer any more add-ons -- well, you get the idea.  The Docksider set has been around for a few years but only promoted when first released.  A lot of discounting on it, too.  And now it lacks Fastrack, so it's not an item for the new S push.

 

My point about MTH was that they saw the need for "affordable" Tinplate starter sets and offered them for $600, as well as heaps of accessories whereas Lionel only offered two big -- if quite impressive -- "Collector" sets at just over & under $2,000.

 

I didn't realize that the Bachmann/WBB set was that much.

I can not confirm this, but for WIW, I was told today at the DuPage Co Train Show (IL) that the new Lionel S RTR set will feature a new locomotive to pull it.  I was not able to find out what it was.  I was also told that there will be approximately three versions of the set (road names, freight variations... etc..) and that Lionel will keep it in production so it is always on the shelf like their O Gauge RTR counterparts.  

 

I did not think to ask, will it be TMCC equipped? 

 

This came from a source that has been involved with some of the S manufactures in the past, so I would consider it reliable.

 

Ben

Bachmann tends to get HEAVILY discounted across the board.  I think there's few that would actually pay the MSRP.  But, As I said, the retail prices are just for comparison purposes.

 

Lionel floundered around quite a bit in the late 90's and early 00's, when personally I had little respect for the company as a whole.  I had little faith in the current management when they took over in 2004, but they do appear to be doing things right this time around.  Not perfect, but then neither am I.

 

So now Lionel's turning some much needed attention to the Flyer line.  Competitive starter sets are needed, just as top of the line stuff, along with some "transition" stuff in the middle.  I'm pretty sure it will come. 

 

No matter how they're improved upon, the old Gilbert mechanics are not conducive to modern manufacturing.  The new locomotive that Ben mentioned in his post should address that situation.  We'll have to wait and see how it turns out.  It'll be interesting.

 

MTH will also have to address the same issues.  Good as SHS locomotives are, they really are too expensive to produce for mass market starter sets.  The F-units can be simplified to a degree, but MTH will probably also have to do something more basic in design. 

 

I don't know if Lionel has a "TMCC Lite" in the works for sets, but I'm pretty sure MTH will be including DCS in the S sets, just like they do with HO and O set.  That may prove to be the competitive edge in that portion of the market.

 

Stay tuned, folks...

 

Rusty

FWIW - I've run DCS-equipped O and Standard Gauge with a conventional transformer and the performance is terrific. 

Per MTH marketing chief at York, 4 different freightcars (SHS)in 8 roadnames (total?) to be available end of 1st qtr- 2nd qtr 2013. F3's in several roadnames 3rd - 4th qtr availability. No SW's or steam in forseeable future due to necessity to develop all new electronics to fit smaller carbody.

 

Rich

Andy Edelman told me that the SD-70ace will have fixed pilots and scale wheels at the iHobby show.

almost forgot, from MTH at York....separate S catalog scheduled for Nov.

 

Rich

Good news.  That will satisfy the scale contingent to a degree.

 

Rusty