Lionel Railroader Club question

Thank you for the trip down memory lane. I was member #00248 of the LRRC. I remained a member until a couple of years before Lionel transferred everything to the LCCA. One thing I do remember was a belt buckle that was offered The 81-82 calendar year. It’s packed away somewhere....

My college roommate liked the design, We both ordered one. 

Ken

Do you mean this one?

I know some people don't care for anything but the actual engines, rolling stock and accessories.  However I've always loved the club extras like these---including patches, decals, newsletters, etc.

phrankenstign posted:

Do you mean this one?

 

I know some people don't care for anything but the actual engines, rolling stock and accessories.  However I've always loved the club extras like these---including patches, decals, newsletters, etc.

That’s it!!!!!!!

I also remember before the LRRC club car series started in 1982 there was a chance to get a box car for $4.00(?) with the renewal of a membership. I received a yellow railbox car. What a deal! I hoped that this trend would have continued. Alas, The bargain basement pricing disappeared with the custom club cars.....

I miss the LRRC.  I got several things through it over the years. The one thing I bought that I like the best was the Western Union Telegraph company complete set.

By pure coincidence, I just yesterday retrieved those pins and belt buckle to photograph and list for sale on the forum.  Better get them listed while the topic is "trending."

kmacleod posted:

I also remember before the LRRC club car series started in 1982 there was a chance to get a box car for $4.00(?) with the renewal of a membership. I received a yellow railbox car. What a deal! I hoped that this trend would have continued. Alas, The bargain basement pricing disappeared with the custom club cars.....

I hadn't remembered such an offer, so I looked through the earliest issues of "Lionel Railroader Club Keep On Trackin'".  I went up to issue No. 20 without finding it, so I tried again going backwards from No. 20.  As it turned out, the only issue such an offer was made (that I could find) was in No. 7 on page 3 shown below.  Since that offer was only made once, you must have been one of a handful of people who took advantage of it.  I also saw an offer where you get the belt buckle free if you recruit two new members to the club.  What amazed me was that the boxcar was even cheaper than you remember!

Is this the same as what you were sent?

phrankenstign posted:

kmacleod posted:

I also remember before the LRRC club car series started in 1982 there was a chance to get a box car for $4.00(?) with the renewal of a membership. I received a yellow railbox car. What a deal! I hoped that this trend would have continued. Alas, The bargain basement pricing disappeared with the custom club cars.....

I hadn't remembered such an offer, so I looked through the earliest issues of "Lionel Railroader Club Keep On Trackin'".  I went up to issue No. 20 without finding it, so I tried again going backwards from No. 20.  As it turned out, the only issue such an offer was made (that I could find) was in No. 7 on page 3 shown below.  Since that offer was only made once, you must have been one of a handful of people who took advantage of it.  I also saw an offer where you get the belt buckle free if you recruit two new members to the club.  What amazed me was that the boxcar was even cheaper than you remember!

 

Is this the same as what you were sent?

Yes, that is the exact car. I remember crossing my fingers that Lionel would repeat this offer the following year...No such luck....

I was pretty excited to have such a modern boxcar for rolling stock. Everything else I owned was prewar American Flyer or postwar Lionel

that originally belonged to my father and uncle.

Thank you for shining the light on the LRRC, I'm going to look through my newsletters this weekend.

Ken

I got the New Haven Double Door... my neighbor down the street got a Dr. Pepper boxcar.

Jon

Train Nut posted:

I miss the LRRC.   I got several things through it over the years.  The one thing I bought that I like the best was the Western Union Telegraph company complete set.

I really miss when Lionel ran the LRRC.  Their special offers were of moderate price, based on the typical costs of the time.  When LCCA took over, the costs of all commorative & Christmas cars shot up.  I think the 2019 Christmas car, with shipping, was $95 this year.  Thats not right.  JMHO 

I also have the complete Lionel Western Union set.

In addition, I have another (K-Line, O-Scale) piece that looks like an exact match to the set: K616-8011 "Western Off-Center Cupola Wood-Sided Caboose." It has overhead streamlighting illumination and operating smoke unit with on-off switch. Stenciled on the side is "CAMP CAR."

KOOLjock1 posted:

I got the New Haven Double Door... my neighbor down the street got a Dr. Pepper boxcar.

Jon

Wow!  $2.00 boxcars!!!

Does anyone know how many other different boxcars were sold for only a couple of bucks through this promotion?

phrankenstign posted:

KOOLjock1 posted:

I got the New Haven Double Door... my neighbor down the street got a Dr. Pepper boxcar.

Jon

 

Wow!  $2.00 boxcars!!!

Does anyone know how many other different boxcars were sold for only a couple of bucks through this promotion?

That's really neat!!!! I'm sure new membership signups went through the roof after this offer, I imagine that Lionel couldn't afford to offer such a deal again.

As I mentioned earlier, I was only able to find one membership renewal with that offer in issue No. 7.  I don't know what the response was, but it appears to have been made to Membership Numbers 1 through 11,400 only---those who were due to renew their membership.  I don't know if others who'd only recently joined could take advantage of early renewals and the boxcar offer.  It looks like each member was limited to buying only one car for $2.00.

Early membership in the LRRC was a bit more fun back when it was geared more towards younger people with a lot of lower priced exclusive items being offered.  The Membership Buttons and Membership Cards added to the exclusivity that helped bond its members together.  So what happened in 1977?  Was a permanent Membership Card sent to members or not?  Many of the welcome letters urged members to copy their Membership Number from the address label onto their Membership Card.  The thing is, those welcome letters were sent out AFTER 1977.  As far as I know, all of the early cards were paper.  Why would Lionel state in 1977 they would be sending another card with a member's preprinted name and Membership Number, if they weren't going to do it?  I've been unable to locate any permanent Membership Cards from 1977-1984 and 1986-1988.  Does anyone here happen to have permanent and/or temporary Membership Cards from those periods?  I'd like to definitively know what was sent out by the LRRC during those years.  I've been studying this bit of Lionel history, because I'm curious, and nobody else has ever documented it before.  HELP!!!

Awhile back, I started this thread to find out if anyone had pics of the permanent Membership Card for 1977 with the person's name and number printed on it.  I never really got a response, although I think there's a very good chance there are members here who were LRRC members then.  Hopefully someone who did get a permanent card will see this thread and upload a picture of it in this thread.

I've also got another request.  Does anyone have an LRRC 2014 Membership Pin/Button?  I've been able to find a 2014 Membership Card, but not a Membership Pin/Button.  I looked over some old threads here, and I noticed some people unexpectedly got 2013 Membership Cards and Membership Pins/Buttons when they paid the renewal fee for 2014.  However the fact a 2014 Membership Card was issued leads me to think a Membership Pin/Button was also issued (although probably in small numbers).

Here's a picture of the 2014 Membership Card:

phrankenstign posted:

In 1977, Lionel sent this letter out to newly paid up members of the Lionel Railroaders Club (LRRC).

As you can read in the letter below, the membership card located on it is supposed to be cut out.  It is identified as a temporary one.  Does anyone have pictures of both sides of the permanent card that was supposed to replace it?  I've only ever seen this temporary one.

 

I've been trying to compile a complete collection of pictures of all the different LRRC Membership Cards and Pins.  Here is what I have so far: Lionel Railroader Club Membership Cards and Pins.

 Out of curiosity, I looked up Ted Betker, the then-President of Fundimensions.  Mr. Betker passed away fairly recently, in 2018, at 91.  His bio was pretty phenomenal, starting at General Mills in the late 1940's as a flour mill worker, rising to lead Lionel through the Fundimensions era & retiring in 1981. 

TedBetkerObit

phrankenstign posted:

In 1977, Lionel sent this letter out to newly paid up members of the Lionel Railroaders Club (LRRC).

As you can read in the letter below, the membership card located on it is supposed to be cut out.  It is identified as a temporary one.  Does anyone have pictures of both sides of the permanent card that was supposed to replace it?  I've only ever seen this temporary one.

 

I've been trying to compile a complete collection of pictures of all the different LRRC Membership Cards and Pins.

Here is what I have so far: Lionel Railroader Club Membership Cards and Pins

I'd appreciate any help including pictures or reference books/magazines to look through.

Thanks for the link.  

I've been a member forever (continuing with the LCCA) and I'm still looking for evidence that pinbacks were produced for 2014 (and later) and prior to 1983?  I cannot find anywhere that pinbacks were produced prior to and after those years.  Just looking for confirmation.

Thanks.

Hey there rthomps,

I've compiled that list after searching ebay a few times a week for years.  I've bought collections and individual ones without a definitive list of what was produced.

It's the same with the Membership Cards.  I have no idea what was produced.  I'm fairly certain there were Membership Cards every year.  I believe many of the card designs were used for multiple years, but I don't have a way to know for sure other than to ask people who were members what they received each year.

Perhaps you can help me.  Since you have been a long time member of the LRRC, do you know what the membership cards looked like for the following years?

• 1977
• 1978
• 1979
• 1980
• 1981
• 1982
• 1983
• 1984
• 1988
• 1991
• 1992
• 1993
• 1994
• 1995
• 1996
• 1998
• 2002
• 2003
• 2004

When I decided to complete my collection of Membership Cards and Buttons, the first thing I did was to search the web for lists of what was out there.  When I failed to find any, I figured I'd create the lists myself.  I originally posted all of my catalogs and flyers produced by Lionel and K--Line, but soon afterward, I decided to add MTH and a selection of other brands.  The LRRC Membership Cards and Buttons are only a small part of the collection shown there.  If you'd like to see the other stuff, check it out here:

www.phrankenstign.com

Although there is a lot of stuff there, it is far from complete.  I'd appreciate any help I can get to correct errors or to add information or stuff I don't have already.