Makes absolutely no difference to me. The delay till March 1st is not going to change the world.
Originally Posted by sinclair:
So, does this mean I have more time to save my pennies for the VL BB?
No. It just means you will have to wait longer before you know how many pennies you need to save.
Yawn. 
Allan, I'm with you on having just one nice catalog a year. It would make purchasing decisions so much easier.
I also agree!
Yeah, one catalogue per year with a quarterly "brochure" item just to keep the pot
stirred from a marketing point of view. The Lionel brochure locos (AC-9, L2a, etc) of
some years past generated a lot of dollars from me to them.
But, to state the painfully obvious, this discussion itself proves the value of multiple
catalogues. We're talking about it, and for all the Goods and Bads and Wish-they-woulds,
we'll buy stuff. And some of the stuff will be really nice.
I don't buy like I used to - too few new Big Black Steam Locomotives - but I still look
at it and drop a bit of cash.
Originally Posted by TexSpecial:
Originally Posted by bigdodgetrain:
as the economy picks up the Chinese are forced to choose what to make and they choose to make more profitable items.
trains are not that profitable cell phones.
Ipads, lap tops, xbox, and others are what is taking electronics from trains.
think about it from a business stand point.
and let's not turn this thread into "bring back to America production thread, that is not happening".
it seems like some newbies are impatience with the wait but if you read back we have all went through the wait.
I don't really care about the Chinese economy, I care about our own. You must have a job, congratulations. Loose it and and you may have a different outlook.
I have a train store in the 1990's. Lionel came out with one catalog a year and I can't remember any item they produced being that late in delivery let alone 2 year wait for some items today from Chinaville.
I'm not saying Lionel production will come back but jobs are jobs and no matter what the biased news says the economy sucks, job opportunity sucks and there is no job security today.
Steve, Lady and Tex
you missed the whole point of what I was trying to state.
it has nothing to do about the Chinese economy.
the statement is about where just about everything is made today whether we like it or not and the fact that trains are pushed aside.
train items were not delayed before because Ipad, xbox and other things were not around then.
there is only so much factory capacity.
and it was just my opinion. by the way I am retired
I think they should deliver what was cataloged LAST YEAR before they come out with a new one..........Probably wont be much in it for me anyway, since they dropped the PWC and CC lines..........Oh well........STILL WAITING FOR THE OIL CAN TRAIN!
"as the economy picks up the Chinese are forced to choose what to make and they choose to make more profitable items." Picking up...China is on the verge of deep pooh.
They have sent "vast" amounts of people back to the farms...inflation in food..from US
money printing...notice your supermarket prices and the size of the packages...Notice the price of the new trains..Yep, theres no inflation....
By the way if the economy was getting better interest rates would rise...the US
Government would be out of the housing market...The truth is we are in deep pooh.
So, is China and Europe.
Ready-to-Run has to be ready for the Toy Fair.
Andrew
Well the ready to run are cheap and poor quality. I purchased the Thomas the train for grandkids to use and poor,poor quality.
It will be all nascar stuff.
Not surprised that the catalog's been pushed back to March. Ever since they had their new ' Vision ' in 2009, the catalogs have been incredibly delayed when, in the past, or at least the previous couple years (2007/08), they came out on February 1st and August 1st. What changed?
I'll be surprised if this one's out before April.
Originally Posted by bigdodgetrain:
Originally Posted by TexSpecial:
Originally Posted by bigdodgetrain:
as the economy picks up the Chinese are forced to choose what to make and they choose to make more profitable items.
trains are not that profitable cell phones.
Ipads, lap tops, xbox, and others are what is taking electronics from trains.
think about it from a business stand point.
and let's not turn this thread into "bring back to America production thread, that is not happening".
it seems like some newbies are impatience with the wait but if you read back we have all went through the wait.
I don't really care about the Chinese economy, I care about our own. You must have a job, congratulations. Loose it and and you may have a different outlook.
I have a train store in the 1990's. Lionel came out with one catalog a year and I can't remember any item they produced being that late in delivery let alone 2 year wait for some items today from Chinaville.
I'm not saying Lionel production will come back but jobs are jobs and no matter what the biased news says the economy sucks, job opportunity sucks and there is no job security today.
Steve, Lady and Tex
you missed the whole point of what I was trying to state.
it has nothing to do about the Chinese economy.
the statement is about where just about everything is made today whether we like it or not and the fact that trains are pushed aside.
train items were not delayed before because Ipad, xbox and other things were not around then.
there is only so much factory capacity.
and it was just my opinion. by the way I am retired
Congratulations, you made it to retirement. I understand what you stated, I don't know the whole story behind problems in Chinaville production but your opinion could be one of them. I needed to blow off some steam. We had two manufacturing plants close down here in one day, hundreds more employee's out of work. I don't believe the younger generation gives a pooh what is happening......until they lose their job.
Steve, Lady and Tex
I don't see where the new blood at Lionel is any better then the old regime. Same old same old. I can't see how the delay of the 2014 catalog can be blamed on the Chinese.
from a source who claims they have contacts in the toy train industry, mentioned to me that the production company that makes the toy trains, was bought by one of Lionel's competitors and guess who will get first priority on the manufacturing line!!!
In addition China now has a growing middle class with some money to spend and the Chinese who have always liked miniature hobbies is discovering the wonders of electric trains and guess what scale they like ""O-Gauge"".
this presents an interesting dilemma for the toy train industry because imagine the potential market just in China !!!! yikes!!!!
So it's just more pieces in the puzzle as to what may be causing delays.
I look at it as giving me more time to save my hobby bucks!!!
It's easy to blame the Chinese for production delays but it's also wrong. China managed ship several million Xbox One game consoles all over the globe without delay. Ditto for the Playstation. Ditto for the iPad Air. Problem is train companies are only ordering a few thousand units which is absolutely minuscule.
Regarding profits, I can tell you for an absolute fact that at $500 a pop Microsoft barely makes anything off the Xbox One console. Amazon also doesn't make anything off their Kindle line. The only company with decent profit margins off hardware is Apple.
I agree 100% One catalog a year with little surprises during the year. And concentrate on getting those items delivered in a timely mannerOriginally Posted by Allan Miller:
I can't even keep track of undelivered items I have on order from previous catalogs, let alone worry about a new one coming out. I just wish all of these companies did ONE primary catalog per year, with perhaps a couple of seasonal supplements or specials.
Here is an idea......One Catalog a year.........fewer items, and make them here in the USA!
Originally Posted by SeattleSUP:
It's easy to blame the Chinese for production delays but it's also wrong. China managed ship several million Xbox One game consoles all over the globe without delay. Ditto for the Playstation. Ditto for the iPad Air. Problem is train companies are only ordering a few thousand units which is absolutely minuscule.
Regarding profits, I can tell you for an absolute fact that at $500 a pop Microsoft barely makes anything off the Xbox One console. Amazon also doesn't make anything off their Kindle line. The only company with decent profit margins off hardware is Apple.
you made my point, if they make xbox they make NOTHING else!!!
Originally Posted by Balto:
I don't see where the new blood at Lionel is any better then the old regime. Same old same old. I can't see how the delay of the 2014 catalog can be blamed on the Chinese.
this thread got high-jacked into delayed production of the items in said catalog.
Originally Posted by bigdodgetrain:
Originally Posted by Balto:
I don't see where the new blood at Lionel is any better then the old regime. Same old same old. I can't see how the delay of the 2014 catalog can be blamed on the Chinese.
this thread got high-jacked into delayed production of the items in said catalog.
Isn't it great that we can complain about the late delivery of items that we know nothing about yet? 
>>>I agree 100% One catalog a year with little surprises during the year. And concentrate on getting those items delivered in a timely mannerOriginally Posted by Allan Miller:<<
I say bring back the old days... One catalog plus a spring and year end flyers with allocated numbers that sometimes didn't quite meet dealer needs.
Just like the old speculative days when fans never complained about silly delays but instead held their breath and were most appreciative when they weren't shut out at the gate.
I think Lionels new policy is an attempt to have those good old days back.
Joe
Originally Posted by Charlienassau:
I understand the catalog has been delayed to early March now. Now that may or not mean the RTR one also, which Lionel may have at Toy Fair or at least some flyers.
Charlie, I was just wondering if you heard what this delay is from?
Bill
NSBill, my son saw Howard and the boys yesterday in NY and while there is a small delay it is just to fine tune some stuff. Lionel showed the Snoopy Set and Frosty The Snowman as well as some pictures of the other new RTR sets. I am still in Vegas till tomorrow.
A brief report on Lionel's booth at the Toy Fair yesterday is here:
https://ogrforum.com/t...nel-at-toy-fair?nc=1
Wish there was more exciting news to report. Guess we will just have to wait a little longer.
Interesting info about a Frosty the Snowman set. That was originally a Rankin Bass production like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I have no idea who controls the licensing rights and if it is the same person/company. Maybe Lionel might have a chance to license Rudolph in the future?
Originally Posted by Charlienassau:
NSBill, my son saw Howard and the boys yesterday in NY and while there is a small delay it is just to fine tune some stuff. Lionel showed the Snoopy Set and Frosty The Snowman as well as some pictures of the other new RTR sets. I am still in Vegas till tomorrow.
Thanks for the info Charlie.
Bill
One has no choice but to be patient so I will be. Besides, whenever a new catalog comes out, it really means that we can begin focusing on the fact that yet another is due in another six months, so we can begin waiting and talking about that a new catalog.
And I prefer the two catalogs a year. Twice as much, or at least twice as often, to look forward to . . .
Aside from the practicality of it all, going back to ONE catalog per year may simply be dictated by the inability to get product produced/shipped out of China on a timely basis anymore.
Think about it... we've discussed ad nauseum the fact that repeated product delays are much more the norm nowadays rather than the exception -- almost embarrassingly so. And if you look at the last couple of Volume 2 catalogs -- especially 2013's Fall Catalog, it's pretty obvious the importers don't have too much new to offer that would even support having 2 catalogs per year.
So given all of that, one catalog per year with perhaps a couple of special flyers (if there's truly something NEW to advertise) should suffice. It's 2014 -- not 2005 or even 2010. Oh the difference a couple of years can make!
David
Getting late in February. Any news.
Just a few details on the G gauge items in this Toy Fair press release:
http://www.virtualpressoffice.com/eventExhibitor.do?page=ep&showId=3045&companyId=10661
http://lionelllc.wordpress.com/ has the next 4 Presidential Series boxcars shown.
Here's an interesting excerpt from Lionel's 2014 Toy Fair press release...
In 2014, Lionel opened its LEGACY protocol to allow individuals, clubs and other companies to control all the features of a Lionel locomotive, using LCS WiFi, from a smart phone or tablet. This is the first step towards a universal remote that controls model trains from all manufacturers.
I'm sure that made more than few passes through Lionel's legal department before the final word-smithing made its way into the press release!!!
On a more serious note though... when you look at the stuff that was presented at Toy Fair, it proves how the Toy Fair "target market" is VERY different than the segment of the hobby that hangs out on this forum. Interesting to say the least.
David
Originally Posted by Rocky Mountaineer:
Here's an interesting excerpt from Lionel's 2014 Toy Fair press release...
In 2014, Lionel opened its LEGACY protocol to allow individuals, clubs and other companies to control all the features of a Lionel locomotive, using LCS WiFi, from a smart phone or tablet. This is the first step towards a universal remote that controls model trains from all manufacturers.
I'm sure that made more than few passes through Lionel's legal department before the final word-smithing made its way into the press release!!!
On a more serious note though... when you look at the stuff that was presented at Toy Fair, it proves how the Toy Fair "target market" is VERY different than the segment of the hobby that hangs out on this forum. Interesting to say the least.
David
Old news.
Originally Posted by bigdodgetrain:
...
Old news.
...
Well gee, I guess some of us miss these threads if we don't live on the forum all day long. 
Thanks for pointing that out so nicely.
David
?????
Any new updates on the catalog?
The following thread says by mid March due to final adjustments/touches.
https://ogrforum.com/t...71#27475135431021871
It gets here when it gets here.
Personally, it doesn't bug me about the due date at this point.
I've gotten so used for it to come in April all the other past 10 years.
