Lionel 2013 Ready to run catalogue and Thomas sets

we have ordered the remote percy and james however they are not scheduled to ship until june or july 2013.  we have the remote thomas and have a lot of fun with it.

Not sure if the budget will be able to handle it, but I actually want all four sets to go with the Thomas Remote Set I got last year.  I'm thinking of approaching the local library (or some such venue--perhaps even the mall if there's a vacant storefront) to see if a display layout for the holidays might be possible.  I could see this being VERY popular with youngsters.

Lionel dropped the ball again! The lion chief remote system is great. Saw it working at the trade show. Kid after kid could not break the thomas engine. Putting this remote into all the other thomas engines was a real winner. Why then in all the other sets did they choose poor locomotives like the old tired done to death scout loco is beyond me. Also the nice 080's were passed over for the low end ones with the dumb down side rods. The old time pennsy set with passenger cars would have been a hit with the new remote as well as the great northern set. Very disappointing choice of regular sets too showcase the new remotes in IMHO! Looks like MTH still will have the best starter sets for the money.

After looking over the sets offered with the remote, I think Lionel is making a reasonable business move, completing the promised offering of Thomas-line locos with remotes and extended the Lionchief line a little bit into the rest of the line.  I imagine they have some production limitations on the number, etc., they can make and as a result are moving less quickly than many would like.  I agree MTH offers more appealing sets but I have to say the only RTR set I have ever had fail was the one MTh set I bought this year.  Lucky that, as Christmas approached, I had a remote Thomas for the Christmas tree . . .

Can you control any of these without it's specific set controller?

If not the boss here says "don't even think of them!"

The Percy, James, Diesel remote sets are nice but I was hoping Lionel would finally put out a new Thomas Themed engine... 

 

Jim

unfortunately each engine has it's own remote and they are not interchangeable. and if a remote dies I do not know what we will do, cross that bridge when we have too.

Thank you. Boss has just repeated this is a no. These should of had TMCC from the get go, that would have made them fly off the shelves.

Can we get confirmation from Lionel on this remote issue?  Possibly Lionel made these remotes/engines with a very simple slide switch(s) within the engine and remote to select a specific operating channel.  The foresight needed and cost should be minimal to include simple channel switches as are in both low cost wireless thermometers and older garage door openers.  It might be costlier to produce and harder to monitor QC with exclusive remotes as compared to making one standardized remote and one engine receiver board that has a choice of 1 to 4 channels (but hey, what do I know about toy train production, sales, and repeat customer sales?).

 

IMO, Lionel should consider a last minute design/production change if Lionel's initial design was to have an exclusive remote with each engine.  A satisfied customer who first buys a Thomas train will more than likely also purchase a Percy, James, etc.

If any engine that should be new for the Thomas category, I think it should be Edward - provided they do a good job like with Thomas and Percy. He's a relatively fan favorite.

I think that they are going to fly off the shelves just as they are, the price is remarkable and TMCC would have made them far too expensive as a starter set

 

Lionel are IMHO addressing the market spot on, affordable starter sets that a 3 year old can operate

 

My grandchildren love the Thomas set and the conventional starter sets, put a DCS or a TMCC controller in their hand and they look bewildered, the fun has gone ! The only one who copes is 14 years old

 

What Lionel are achieving is inspiring really young children to get into our hobby and build on the next generation of O scale enthusiasts for when we have all gone to the Train set in the sky  

 

Not sure if I'll be in the market for one of these new Lionel sets, but would be great if these are going to be on display and demo-ed at April York.  Would go a long way towards answering the questions that are already piling up.

I am going to be controversial here but with no offense intended

Lionel are addressing two markets high end for the hobbyist and Starter sets primarily for the younger audience

 

We run a small club here so TMCC DCS etc is of great interest as is the quality and detail of the MTH and Lionel engines

 

However starter sets are a different ball game. With respect the questions posed in some of the previous threads are not relevant to the starter set customer,  it just has to work out of the box and give pleasure at a price, TMCC and fancy stuff is not right for that market and would cost too much and there is more to go wrong, just look at the OGR threads on TMCC and DCS engine problems

 

There is another thread talking about the future, MTH moving into HO and the European market and the future of O scale in the US, I don’t know what the right formula is but a sound strategy for Lionel might be to promote the future of 3rail O scale, that is what the starter sets will do, interestingly in the UK HO and OO  have been a disappointment to small children, too delicate and difficult to operate without adult help.

 

Good luck Lionel from a supporter

my understanding after talking with J. Don Reece when he was in san diego, these will be just like the Thomas I currently have. each remote is programed to the engine it comes with and can not be interchanged. I am satisfied with my remote thomas and that is why we are getting remote percy and james.

I saw first hand the thomas set at the big show in st. Louis. Kid after kid grabed the remote and ran the train. The remote is bullet proof and works great. Being able to run on our legacy and dcs layouts with the remote is fantastic! I was just hoping for some starter set engines that were not thomas related. The tired old scout engine and others dont excite me to buy a remote set. The only set I will consider is the polar exspress set. I don't have that one yet any way. The other sets with the cw80 included have the engine and set appeal I was looking fore. I was hoping these types of sets would have had the new remote. I guess they had to start introducing it in some things first. Maybe next year it will be in more sets that are real railroad based. As for the remote replacement if broken only time will tell how that plays out.

cant fly off the shelf till June, from all that I read,  but a Peanuts train,

will be coming to my house, 1st comic strip in Sunday paper:

has been my fave for over 50 yrs.

thanks

 

Really Happy that Lionel has offered these sets with remotes. Always try to let the kids operate the trains at several shows I set up at each year. Not happy about trying to cover up a bunch of buttons and let lots of kids with goooey hands pawing the remotes and potentially damaging the rare TMCC remote or the DCS handheld. Being able to mount the new Thomas remotes to the fencing and let the kids at it should be easier.

 

I just wish that Lionel had geared the engines slower. They would be better for switching and pulling more. The train set with the power wall wart and remote, the kids can run the train fast enough that it comes off the track. Will be using my set with a power pack set to a much lower voltage to keep the train at a safe speed.

 

Enjoy having Thomas with remote now on the DCS layout with the scale stuff. Thomas can run around switching a few cars.

 

I wonder if there would be cheaper way to do this with a toy remote control car some how working a servo on existing trains?? rather then buying more of the same type of trains to get the controls!