Lionel 1961 TV Commercial Video

Somewhere I have the hero steam. not sure if i still have the package.

Hey Rich

Thanks for posting - great stuff 👍🏼

Very cool! Sets back then ran the gamut from cowboys shooting at each other to rockets blowing up boxcars. Fun!

Thanks for that trip down memory lane, Rich. I remember several of those commercials (especially the first one). My first train set was from around that time - I still have the exploding box car (actually pretty useless, sorry to say). Instead of the missile car, I have a 3349 Turbo Missile car. No matter how I tried, I could never hit the box car the way shown in the commercial  

We received the Lionel rocket firing boxcar in the early 60's to add to the Christmas Train. Every time we fired the rocket, it took out one of my mother's glass ornaments. 

Pieces of the broken ornaments and tinsel would land on the track creating a lovely shower of sparks.

Mother was not amused. To this day the thought of the exploding ornaments makes me laugh.

I still have that boxcar and it works great although over the years I've had to buy a few replacement rockets...and more glass ornaments.

Never been that interested in the late postwar era, but it's impossible to ignore the creativity Lionel put in during that time. A great set of commercials for sure.

GREAT find, Rich!  Thanks for recommending.

I don't like to be called "boy", though.  

I loved the science kit commercials.  One of my "big" toys one Christmas was the Gilbert chemistry set.  Did you know that you can distill (toxic, possibly lethal) chlorine gas from Clorox™?  I do now, as did my Grandpa back in the day!

great video....can you imagine today's youth with an alcohol lamp and chemistry set?...oh no no little Dillon,Conner,April,or Crystal...you'll shoot your eye out...   

I remember the experiment to make sulfur glass, the idea was to heat a spoonful of sulfur powder over your heat source and then it would turn clear. Hmmm, the wonderful scent of melting sulfur wafting thru the house....

Mom was not amused. 

The 6445 bullion car shown has glass with waves in it like the 3435 aquarium car. It didn’t come this way in production. 

I always liked the Lionel space and military era offerings. In fact have been thinking of doing a small layout with Super O track and space and military theme.