Lionel Christmas Box Cars

The cars will be different--apparently--from the original ones made in the U.S.

My LRRC Christmas Boxcar (39357 A/F graphics) arrived today.

I'm glad I got mine from the first run.

I emphatically second Keith's comment.

 

It's not 100% clear to me that the two cars WILL be different -- aside from the fact that one was made in the US and the other will be presumably made overseas. 

 

HOWEVER, what WOULD conceivably make the cars "visually different" -- and would be a cool variation (o gosh, now I'm sounding like a collector!!!) -- is if the cars due out in June come equipped with the red trucks as the car was originally catalog'd.

 

I guess we won't know for certain until the new version of the car hits the street.  But hey, if you like these cars (which I do), then you can't go wrong for $46.95!

 

David

I agree, Dave.  It would be good if the second batch has the red trucks as pictured in the catalog.

 

Lionel's information on this car seems more than a little incongruent. On the one hand, they say "Realizing that customers have been collecting the Christmas cars for many years, Lionel made the decision to produce additional quantities to allow its customers to continue their collection of Christmas boxcars."

 

But on the other hand, they go on to say "For those of you who already received the 'Made In USA' Christmas boxcar, you should order this car since it is essentially a different car and should be added to your collection of Christmas boxcars."

 

So if the new car is "essentially a different car" from the original, how does the replacement car help those who, as Lionel puts it, have been collecting the Christmas cars for many years? Regardless of whether they get one of the new cars, they're still going to be missing one of the Christmas cars, which is different from the replacement version they will receive.

 

If you're serious enough to have been collecting Christmas cars for many years, you're really now going to need both cars. So for those people, this new and different car isn't going to do much to solve the problem. They're still going to be missing a car, and the fact that the "replacement" car is different will only serve to emphasize that.

 

One effect of this is that it seems unlikely that the value of the original Made In USA car will diminish much as a result of this replacement car.

The LRRC 2012 Christmas boxcars are showing "in stock" at the Lionel Store.

 

I missed the initial ordering deadline, but did order one late last week after being e-mail notified they were back in stock.

 

The product number is 6-39357 and is made in China.  The graphics look good and the silver painted trucks are a nice touch.

 

Joe

 

~Long Live Lionel~

looks like we're stuck with a second car if we want to keep the collection whole. It's always somthing!

Johnstrains,

   Man there's nothing like the real thing Baby, and I do have a bunch of them,

about a 18 or 20 original Christmas Box Cars from all the different makers, that get Pulled by lots of different engines every Christmas.

PCRR/Dave

 

 

The China made 2012 Holiday boxcars will use the SKU number 7-29976 rather than 6-29976.

Interesting info on the 7- number for the Chinese cars. As for the LRRC cars mentioned a few posts earlier by Joe, were any produced in the United States? 

Thanks for the heads up.  While I always thought this was an attractive car, I held off when originally offered since the shipping date was an unknown (and then of course it went to unavailable with the whole issue with the USA supplier). 

 

I have about a week left on my membership, thinking I might pick one up.

 

-Dave

Just received yesterday the China made version of the 2012 Holiday boxcar from Charles Ro.  The number on the box is 7-29976 rather than 6-29976 for the USA made version.

Looking at it quickly dont see any difference as compared to the USA made version.

That's too bad... Would have been nice if the 2nd batch was produced with the red trucks as depicted in the catalog(s).  Oh well...

 

David

The 2012 LRRC Christmas boxcar is also being "re-offered" on the Lionel website.  It is a nice looking piece.

It has a different Pre-number and a different box. Very few of these were made and I expect this version will be harder to find

Have you compared the brake wheels? 

 

While I do not yet have my China version of this car, back when I picked up the American version, it had no brake wheel, so I needed to call Lionel for a replacement.

 

During the coarse of that exercise, I took a look at several recent American made cars, comparing the brake wheels to several recent Chinese made cars.

 

The below pic is the ends of the Peanuts Christmas Boxcar and the 2012 Thomas Kinkade car (both American made).  Note the size of the center where all the spokes connect to.

 

The next pic is the 2011 Christmas Boxcar, the 2011 Thomas Kinkade car, (both Chinese made since they were before the Made in USA campaign) and the 2012 Angela Trotta Thomas 2012 Christmas Morning car (one of the few 2012 Christmas cars not made in USA).  Note the larger central hub of the brake wheel for these.

 

 

I realize this is a pretty small sample set (I probably checked at least a few other cars from these time frames), I thought it was a consistent pattern.

 

I realize variation hunting (collect them all! ) is more of a post-war thing, but even being into modern items, that aspect of post was seems to be ingrained in my thinking. (it might be hereditary )

 

-Dave

Yes I too noticed that the Made in USA boxcars had plastic brakewheels ala Fundimensions.

Charlie, are you referring to the "Version II" LRRC Christmas 2013 boxcar or another item?

Not LRRC, just the generic 2012 Christmas boxcar that was in shorter supply due to the company that made them folding during the process.

 

(Though I suppose it's possible a similar situation may have happened with the LRRC cars, I've not seen anyone discussing that.  I ordered one of those in March when they became available on the LRRC website again, and mine definitely was made in China.  I don't know for sure, but I don't think any made in America versions of the LRRC car were ever shipped to consumers, unless someone has one labeled as Made in USA to confirm some were shipped before the company went under)

 

-Dave