G Gauge Polar Express

I can't offer an opinion as I haven't seen it first hand but Lionel.com has it on sale right now for $99 plus free shipping

Thanks, I had seen that price on their website hence the question on the set. Do I spend $99 wisely or foolishly?

I saw it at Ollies for almost half of that price......looked at it....wasn't worth $59 to me. But someone here must have one.

I haven't seen this set, but I just got off the phone with an old friend of mine who's looking to buy a G scale set for a Christmas present.  Last year he did buy a battery-operated Lionel set and when he opened it he saw all the plastic in it and took it back.

I pointed him towards the Bachmann White Pass & Yukon with the "Anniversary Edition" 4-6-0 which is the engine with the metal gears and siderods and will hold up better, of course it's $250.  But as we all know, you get what you pay for.

Paul...

I guess it depends on what you're looking for and how tight your money is.  As Dave said, you can find it for about $59 on sale.  If all you want is to have it for around a tree, $59 might not be too bad.  You can get additional track sections for it but you will be pretty much limited to one type of curve and one type of straight.  As far as I know, that's about it for expansion.  I hope this helps.

I just read Bob's post.  My response to that is if you have $250 and aren't married to G-gauge, get a Lionel Polar Express set and a few extra pieces of FasTrack.  Extra cars are available and there are a lot more ways to enjoy the set.  I have had one for years and still enjoy it immensely.

In a word - JUNK. Would advise all not to buy. Not actually made by Lionel but rather designed and manufactured by an offshore toy manufacturer and rebadged with Lionel's name. In PA region during Nov./Dec. 2011, Ollie's Outlet was blowing them out for $49.00 and even at that price it took them more than a month to clear them out from all their stores. Looks cheap, Cheaply made, breaks easily,  especially with kid use. Totally plastic, battery operated and uses up battery life rapidly. Also doesn't do well with rechargeables. Also doesn't come with Fastrack since it's large scale. Supplied with cheaply made plastic track which breaks easily aftyer jmust a few connects and disconnects. BEWARE. In this case you don't even get what you've paid for. IMO, Lionel should be ashamed of putting their name on it. I wonder how many families new to the Lionel brand after buying this piece of c**p will stay clear of anything Lionel in the future? What ever were they thinking? Worth risking their rep just for a few quick bucks. Seems very short-sighted to me but then again I'm not in Lionel's front office making those decisions.

Thanks everyone for your imput. I think you all know what my decision will be.

If I were you, I'd pay a bit more and get the O gauge Polar Express. That is a really good value set.

Kids of all ages love running into the caribou at highball speed.

I bought this set for my 2 year old granddaughter last year to go around thier Christmas tree. Fot the little bit of usage it gets, it has held up OK. Be advised...it will eat up batteries so plan on buying rechargables. I myself feel much better with her playing with a battery operated train than with her being around live AC! That and if it breaks no big deal. I can buy 2 or 3 of them before she is ready for her "O" Gauge set.

Her "O" Gauge set is in storage at her house untill she is a little older!

I bought the PRR version and the whistle sounded like one issuing from a peanut wagon, the chuffs were more like hearing your significant other snore.The motor was noisy, very noisy.. That being said, the controls were perfect for the young set and the outfit itself was pretty bullet proof for younger users. I purchased the  rechargeable battery retrofit and it was well worth the nominal extra cost. Extra track can be had on the Bay cheaply as well as add on cars. The track was serviceable but would have to be set up by an adult to avoid breakage. I gave mine away to my HVAC serviceman's son who loves trains, when he spied mine.