Armored Set Delivery Date

Still shows May where I look.

http://www.mthtrains.com/content/11-6025-0

Kind of depends on which listing you want to believe.

11-6025-0 set shows May shipping.

11-6029-0 set shows June shipping

(My catalog shows the product with a 11-6025-0 number)

The descriptions are identical.  One of them might even be right! 

And when it gets here it gets here. I will be glad to heve one when that time comes. Its a hobby and Why worry about a shipping date.Just have fun with your trains.

Actually, I believe many/most dealers will have this set within the next week or so.  It was announced by MTH as having arrived, and is now probably in the dealer distribution part of the chain.

Remember:  Patience is a virtue!

I believe in manufactures telling their customer base the truth. If I'm going to dedicate X amount of dollars and leave it Idle for a specific item. I want, I deman to know when it will be delivered. I can be patient, but changing an items expected delivery date on a regular basis is just wrong! It is a hobby and companies who give bogus due dates are holding my train dollar hostage while it could be out supporting and having fun with another manufactures product. Enough is enough!

My post was based on the 11-6029-0 product number which is the number listed in my catalog.  When I checked the MTH website I was more curious than impatient but when I saw the June date I was a bit miffed since everything posted referenced a May ship out.  Oh well, can't cry over spilled milk.  Anyway, why two different product numbers for the same set.

Originally Posted by OKHIKER:

Anyway, why two different product numbers for the same set.

Different colors of gray and green.

The 11-6029-0 set is quoted: "A second run was later released in Olive Green."  If you look carefully at the photograph, it also shows the set in olive green.  You may want to get your order in for the second set!

I wish Delivery dates were droped. That way there would be no reason to worry about it changing. I sure don't. I do not pre-order either. I have never missed an item I wanted.

I do not need another one, I do not need another one, I do not need another one, I do not need another one, I do not need another one, I do not need another one, I do not need another one, I MAY need another one

Steve

If their version of "olive green" is that "pukey" green that was shown earlier, then I and others would probably pass! 

Don't you NEED to have two sets, so that you can run each in a different direction so that they can 'fire' at one another? 

Jim

Well my friends it would seem that MTH's website was in error regarding a shipping date of June 2012 for the 11-6029 Armored set, which is the one I ordered.  My local hobby shop left a message for me this afternoon that the set had arrived and I could pick it up at my earliest convenience.  AAARRRGGHH!!!! I won't be able to pick it up until Wednesday due to prior commitments.  I'm probably being punished for my perceived impatience.  Honestly, I wasn't being impatient, just curious.  Honest, really.

That is interesting a order shipped and in the LHS before the pre-order deadline. I believe the 11-6029 set never appeared in a catalog until April 2012. Did you recently pre-order?

You may want to have your dealer check that number again in case he just went by the set description.  The 11-6025-0 is, I believe, the only one shipped and it should be heading to dealers about now.

And the winner is:

MTH product locator shows Nicholas Smith as being the first dealer to have 11-6025-0 in stock.

I stand corrected.  The item received by my LHS In New Jersey, Trains and Things, is the 11-6025-0 which I pre-ordered sometime in early 2011 I believe, at least I think that's when it was.  Been so long I can't seem to specifically remember. 

No question about it, that Rich-Art set is truly a nice one.  However, since it's no longer available and hard to find (not to mention costly), those of us who missed out or passed on that one will just have to take pleasure in having the current reproduction.  Part of the fun in having these sets might be in going on a treasure hunt--one of the fun aspects of the hobby--for accessories and other items suitable to the time.

Allan,

I too passed on the opportunity to buy one or both of these fabulous RichArt sets!  Oh well.  Live and learn!  But as you point out, I'm now enjoying the "hunt"!

Bob

I love those sets!  I remember them being advertised but did not have interest in tinplate at the time. I also didn't like the idea of the chain drive mechanism. The grey one looks very similar in decoration to the photos on the MTH site. I wonder if a Rich-Art was a stand-in for the photo shoot?  I will be on the look-out forcomparableaccessories and plan a small WWI diorama on the layout.

I agree: MTH likely used the Rich-Art sets for their catalog illustration. Too bad the copy was somewhat "muddled" and/or ambiguous. 

NOTE: The original Lionel sets had NO "US Army" imprints. 

The U.S. Army imprint is fine with me.  In fact, it's preferred (for reasons obvious to some on this forum)! 

Allan:

I am also a US Army vet (1962-1965), but I still prefer this repro to be as faithful to the original as possible. 

Not solely because I'm an Army vet, Art.  It has more to do with the fact that I'm modeling a U.S. Army theme on my hi-rail layout, and this "museum piece" will fit in nicely.

This one is my Favorite, The Generals Salute.

Steve

Also a couple of very cool sets, Steve!  I had no idea so many variations were made in the past--most of which look better than the original Lionel version.

Here are some more pictures of the innovation Dick Mayer incorporated into his RichArt Army Train sets.  Note the innovative passenger, searchlight and ammo gondola cars in the photos.

MTH if you are reading this posting, you might consider using some of Dick's same innovations in order to honor the U.S. and Allied forces who have gone and are still going to war in Iraq and Afganistan by producing and offering for sale your own tinplate version of K-Line's Operation Iraqi Freedom train. You already have the tooling to make the flat car, the searchlight car, etc.  Put it to good use to make add-on cars for the Army Train sets you are about to release.  You might even consider donating a percentage of your profits from selling these cars to one or more of the various non-profit groups supporting the U.S. Armed Forces such as the USO. 

Bob

Steve,

Except for what appears to read "Patton", I can't make out the names on the sides of the General's cars.  Can you please tell me what those names are?

Bob

Steve you may want to give Bob a You Tube link as posted for us in the past.

Here is a link to my video. It will give you the names of all the cars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xutLCdfdng8

Steve

I have 2 sets of these Rich Art Armored trains. I also have the order form.

These run ok but have a different type of "can" motor with a worm gear so it really keeps the speed down unlike the Lionel type motor found on the original .. the one I have is almost 95 years old and runs circles around the Rich Art set!

Nice looking sets but I don't care for can motors in traditional tinplate. Just my opinion.

I agree, Doc.

Count me among those appreciative customers who are very thankful that LCT-MTH produced a pretty accurate replica of the original WWI era set.

Bob 

Did anyone here get the olive drab (green) LCT version?

For those interested in the Modern Era tinplate Armored Car sets based as a starting point upon the original Lionel No. 214 set, there is a nice summary article in the latest TCA Quarterly (October 2012) on several of these sets. Sets mentioned include those that were commissioned by the Toy Train Historical Foundation and manufactured primarily by Rich-Art, and to a lesser extent by K-Line. There are some unusual versions including a Kosovo set and a WWI Hospital Train set which were not mentioned in the string above. The article by Larry Poland with the assistance of Dave Otth is yet another example of interesting and engaging 'off the beaten path' coverage by the TCA Quarterly.

Bob

The TCA Quarterly is THE scholarly journal of toy train collecting, and has been an educational and entertaining source of information for an "armchair" collector like myself for many years.

An excellent article, to be sure.  I read the article last night and it inspired me to look for one of the Rich-Art sets at York (don't expect to find one in new condition, though, which is what I would want).  Still, it will add to the "thrill of the hunt."