About every 2 years, Lionel significantly drops the price of the Lionel Santa Fe Super Chief LionChief Set with Bluetooth Capability, Electric O Gauge Model Train Set with Remote.
The sale usually lasts a few hours.
The drop is about 40% down to $290. Four years ago the drop was down to $209. This is a great holiday gift.
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Down to $282 now. Not certain if it is Lionel or Overstock Hobbies whoever/whatever that is doing the blowout. I suppose this is the upgraded Bluetooth 5.0 version?
It is indeed a great set and at the price a no brainer!
If it is set 6-84719, it is Lionchief, not LC+ 2.0; so no transformer or TMCC control.
@Mark V. Spadaro posted:If it is set 6-84719, it is Lionchief, not LC+ 2.0; so no transformer or TMCC control.
It is the 6-84719 RTR set. Still not chopped liver. It is a really nice set and has sufficient features for a starter set especially if you use the Bluetooth app which gives you some additional flexibility for sound volume and tone on the whistle/bell.
Very spiffy running around the Christmas tree with a minimum of effort. Plug and Play.
The cars are especially nice IMO and can easily be popped open to place people in the seats.
But the real question I have is can two engines from this set be run together as powered AA units using the two handheld remotes and or Bluetooth app?
Anybody try to do it; succeed?
That single A unit looks a little lonesome/wimpy pulling those passenger cars especially if you buy some of the add on vista domes.
MSRP - $499.99; as Bruce noted, previously sold for $209. Almost 60% off retail. Pretty amazing markup!
this blows the Menards set out of the water ….
@ChrisFromCle posted:this blows the Menards set out of the water ….
Totally agree.
Maybe that's why it is being sold so relatively cheap. Lionel counter attack.
@Mark V. Spadaro posted:MSRP - $499.99; as Bruce noted, previously sold for $209. Almost 60% off retail. Pretty amazing markup!
That was when the MSRP was $399. The markup must reflect inflation and the upgrade to Bluetooth 5.0.
(Slight sarcasm on that last line.)
The only benefit I can figure out for BT 5.0 on a model train is greater range over previous versions.
Any other benefits?
@Former Member posted:Totally agree.
Maybe that's why it is being sold so relatively cheap. Lionel counter attack.
I hope so - then it’s overall good for the hobby - competition is good. As a gift to a kid for Xmas - I don’t know how you could do better.
@Former Member posted:But the real question I have is can two engines from this set be run together as powered AA units using the two handheld remotes and or Bluetooth app?
Anybody try to do it; succeed?
That single A unit looks a little lonesome/wimpy pulling those passenger cars especially if you buy some of the add on vista domes.
Right now the one my grandson has pulls a B unit and five passenger cars with no problem.
Plus it sounds better than most other engines. Very clear.
John
@Bruce Brown posted:About every 2 years, Lionel significantly drops the price of the Lionel Santa Fe Super Chief LionChief Set with Bluetooth Capability, Electric O Gauge Model Train Set with Remote.
The sale usually lasts a few hours.
The drop is about 40% down to $290. Four years ago the drop was down to $209. This is a great holiday gift.
Thanks Bruce, it is bad enough that I am emptying out my own wallet w/o your help!
The price just went up to $334. It's just like watching the stock market day trading!
Hmm... Very fluid pricing. 
@Former Member posted:But the real question I have is can two engines from this set be run together as powered AA units using the two handheld remotes and or Bluetooth app?
Anybody try to do it; succeed?
That single A unit looks a little lonesome/wimpy pulling those passenger cars especially if you buy some of the add on vista domes.
@Craftech posted:Right now the one my grandson has pulls a B unit and five passenger cars with no problem.
Plus it sounds better than most other engines. Very clear.
John
With dual vertical can motors, these engines have plenty of pulling power. And these cars are pretty light, besides.
(These FTs are actually scale-sized engines, incidentally. The newer "traditional" Lionel F-3s also have dual dc can motors and pull much heavier aluminum six-car passenger car sets with no problem.)
Interesting, I was told the exact opposite FT scale proportions wise by an otherwise knowledgable train dealer. I just like to extend the war bonnet color scheme a bit more since the cars are what they are shiny but boring to my tastes.
But thanks none the less as I will broaden my search A or B unit wise.
@Bruce Brown posted:The price just went up to $334. It's just like watching the stock market day trading!
If it were only in the up direction all the time; stock market not train prices!
I grabbed a set at the $282 price. How could you not?
Are they possibly refurbished factory returns or production reworks ?
I am persuaded that this is very likely, as speculated, a reaction to the $250 Menards set that contains only a caboose. A loss leader, if you will, perhaps.
@Former Member posted:But the real question I have is can two engines from this set be run together as powered AA units using the two handheld remotes and or Bluetooth app?
Anybody try to do it; succeed?
That single A unit looks a little lonesome/wimpy pulling those passenger cars especially if you buy some of the add on vista domes.
I bought this 6-84719 set in May of 2021 for $345.24. It was my first locomotive and passenger cars. I then bought the add-on baggage and vista dome cars and the single engine has no trouble pulling the 5 cars. It is as Bruce and others said a great holiday gift and a great set. Good for kids young or old. Craftech mentioned the engine sound and it is good. The crew talk is excellent. It takes the form of "now boarding," "tickets please," and "gather your bags and head to the front of the car" announcements. It's only several but the voices are great and I never tire of them.
John
Already have this set and all of the add-on cars. However, it is apparent that “resistance is futile” since I just ordered another set. About $320 $302 net after sales tax and Prime credit card points taken into consideration. Didn’t need this set at all, but I still am annoyed that I didn’t grab a Polar Express freight set (or two) several years ago when they were only $149, and that set came with a CW80.
******ETA******
Saw that price had decreased about $19.00, so was able to cancel previous order and reorder at new lower price. Not going to check price again, repeat after me, don’t check price. Lol.
Over $200 off of list price at the moment.
Do this engine have volume control for the sounds?
@Mark V. Spadaro posted:Do this engine have volume control for the sounds?
Volume can be controlled using the LionChief app.
@Mark V. Spadaro posted:Do this engine have volume control for the sounds?
Mark,
It has an on - off switch on the bottom for the sound and the volume is regulated by holding down the middle announcement button on the remote and rotating the speed dial left or right.
Eric Siegel did a great You Tube review of this set a few years ago.
John
The price just dropped again to $289
Whack a mole retail marketing!
I got it this time. Will be my charity donation for the year.
I picked up one of these for $282, $312 with tax. I was looking for a FT to go with my 6-18154 FT set from circa 2000 and this set was less expensive than the locomotives on their own.
The description has the FT being controlled by voice command which is an addition within the last couple of years. Thus, the set should be of fairly resent production though probably not the most recent LionChief 2.0.
Definitely not a LionChief 2.0 engine. Voice command is a function of theLionChief app.
This special price might be, as mentioned earlier, a response to the Menards set, but it may just be that Lionel received a large shipment of these sets recently and there weren’t as many orders for them as anticipated. So, the sets are being heavily discounted to relieve excess inventory. Pure speculation on my part, but possible.
Lionel 2018 C1 catalog, Lionchief
@yardtrain posted:Are they possibly refurbished factory returns or production reworks ?
If they are it was not disclosed. If so mine will be going back.
$322 right now at 2021 hours.
@PRRMP54 posted:$322 right now at 2021 hours.
Amazing! I wonder if someone at Amazon or Lionel is studying the number of units sold per hour at various price points as a marketing analysis.
Some vendors use something called "dynamic pricing" which automatically adjusts prices based on a variety of parameters. I don't know if that would account for the dramatic swings mentioned in this thread.
If you can believe this, the price just dropped again to $284 !!
Maybe if everyone will stop buying this set, the price will drop even further. 
My Amazon purchased set is handled by Overstock Hobby way out west and is scheduled to arrive Thursday. Based upon the quoted MSRP in the listing this set should be the current 5.0 Bluetooth version; not the previous version which was Bluetooth 2.0(?).
I know the Lionel promo material says upgraded to 5.0 for the current set.
For those of you who own the current 5.0 version is that stated anywhere on the retail carton or owner's manual?
How would you tell otherwise?
I would believe that as long as the set box is numbered 2323110, that would clearly indicate that the set is the new "upgraded" Bluetooth 5.0 set. If the set box is numbered 6-84719, then it is probably the previous version that does not support "Voice Streaming & Recording (VSR)" feature using the LionChief App, this feature requires the Bluetooth 5.0 electronics to function. Lionel Voice Control is a feature of the LionChief App and should work with either version of the set. Of course, this logic depends upon whether or not Lionel actually changed the set box number, just in case Lionel didn't change the set box number, set box number is still 6-84719, my suggestion would be to try the "Voice Streaming & Recording (VSR)" using the latest version of the LionChief App to find out which version of Bluetooth the set contains.
******ETA******
Amazon is supposed to deliver my set today. I will update this post with the set number on the box after it arrives.
@Former Member posted:The devil is in the details. The set that I purchased for $282 is the 6-84719 set with an MSRP of $399.00 not $499.00 as was shown in the Amazon offering.
Since I based my decision on the price and not the set box number which was much further down the page looks like a great deal is now just a really good deal.
Lionel's page shows $499.99 MSRP for the set. Where did you see $399.00 MSRP?
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