I was very late remembering to order this car and now I'm told they're not available due to a manufacturing issue. If there was a previous thread about this I missed it. Anyone know where I might find the car.
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Originally Posted by Lionelbill:
I was very late remembering to order this car and now I'm told they're not available due to a manufacturing issue. If there was a previous thread about this I missed it. Anyone know where I might find the car.
Riders Hobby Shop in Flint had some. I'd give them a call because my contact there said they were likely to go fast.
As I stated in a previous post, I have purchased every one of these annual Lionel Christmas cars since getting back in to trains in 1989. I have also purchased the 1986, 1987 and 1988 cars at train shows. As a backup this year, I purchased the MTH 2012 Christmas boxcar last week. The Charles Ro site now says the 2012 Lionel Christmas car will be available 3/10/2013....a tad bit late for Christmas this year. Maybe the latest run of these cars will get released.
I can't see why Lionel would get their tooling back and then make the cars with another plant after Christmas.
I was in Nicholas Smith on Friday and they told me they got notified they should get some and be arriving on Monday so you might want to give them a call and see if they came in. They are usually pretty accurate since they get shipments direct from Lionel and not a distributer.
Originally Posted by Gandalf97:
I can't see why Lionel would get their tooling back and then make the cars with another plant after Christmas.
That's hard for me to imagine, as well. I suppose it could happen, but I don't see how Lionel could do this without taking a big financial loss. And there are other cars besides the Christmas car that got shorted, too.
Seems like it would be prohibitively expensive to start all over remaking these cars with another manufacturer. I'd think getting the painting process and application equipment set up all over again would be a real job. Besides, Lionel is on a timeline - it has to move on with other upcoming production. If they go back and redo something, it will just delay other production.
It's interesting to speculate, though, if there's another run of the Christmas cars from another manufacturer, whether the second run will be slightly different than the first. It's hard to imagine that there wouldn't be distinguishable differences. So would the originals still be more valuable? If the differences are noticeable, they probably would be.
Glad I got the 2012 car ordered early and it is in UK customs. Sad to hear that the company making them has got into difficulty.
I have collected all the Christmas cars since we started with Lionel at Christmas 2005.
Had to have this one as it's made in the USA!
Regards
Nick
Glad I am covered on this car. The e-bay prices are nuts.
Mine just arrived from Charles Ro.
Charles Ro must have some as mine are on the way (from my original backorder). Crocodile on the way too!!!!
Originally Posted by Mike W.:
Charles Ro must have some as mine are on the way (from my original backorder).
They don't have any. They got a small number in, which all went out to fill backorders. They claim Lionel is supposed to be making some more by March, and they're taking orders. Probably not something to hold your breath for, though.
Hmm I got told last night my LHS has one waiting for me. I better eBay that one fast
