Help a new hobbyist make up his mind

Brent:

If the Polar Express train is for him primarily, I would strongly recommend the Legacy scale version that will be in the Lionel 2014 catalog. This is a serious Polar Express fan's engine and he will not be disappointed. The starter set is just that, nice but not in the same league as the Legacy version.

Comparing the two versions is like comparing oranges to apples. Not the same.

It depends on a couple of things...

1).  How much money does he have to spend and

2).  What he is going to end up enjoying more.

The scale Polar Express engine, tender and cars are hard to find and expensive when you do.  The engine/tender combo retails for about $1300 but I haven't seen them for sometime.  Cars run about $150 each (on sale) and they haven't made some of the neat ones like the disappearing hobo.  If he doesn't have Legacy already that's another $300.  On the other hand, I really love my scale pieces even though I don't have the complete set yet.

It is way more practical to get a PE set and a bunch of add-on cars.  You can have a lot of fun with those too.

I did not realize a new engine was coming out.  It would be worth a look but the scale stuff is still hard to buy if you have a limited budget.  I had been saving for the Legacy PM1225 of 3-4 years before I got it as a gift.  My savings still wasn't even close.

Eric, you bring up a good point about the scale PE passenger cars, they are rather hard to come by. If the third addition of the scale PE 1225 goes well, my guess is the scale cars to go with them may be re-introduced. I would advise all concerned who may be on the fence about buying the scale 1225 engine to do so following the bird in the hand theory.For three years now, we have all been exposed to those who were begging for Lionel to do a third re-issue of this engine.

Brent, your friend should be told about this history before making a decision. Thanks Eric for your good insight.