Lionel shipping every week now!

No RailChief Polar yet, eh?  Alien first, bah! No Legacy #990's?

Thanks for updates. I was beginning to wonder if the stuff would ever arrive.

Ah...  delivery of scale rolling stock!!!    A glimmer of hope that we've seen the end of the 2013 drought that brought us locomotive after locomotive with no new scale rolling stock to pull.   We'll even settle for cabooses right now!!!

Thanks for the update, Charlie.

David

At the LUG breakfast Mike Reagan stated that we won't see the 990s until at least January.

No RailChief Polar yet, eh?  Alien first, bah! No Legacy #990's?

Thanks for updates. I was beginning to wonder if the stuff would ever arrive.

Polar Express Remote sets are in stock at NHC and we are shipping out everyday.

Howard told me at York that they will fly in Legacy and we would see them before Christmas. What held them up was a component. He wants to make them a priority. We just increased our order to cover extra sales also.

just got my credit card charged (another supplier) and it looks like 6-37081 pumpkin jack-o-lantern car has shipped yet it says nothing on Lionel's web site.

Well, that just proves how frustrating it must be to be an "importer" of toy trains today.  As long as this kind of nonsense is happening, how can we continue to call Lionel, MTH and anyone else "manufacturers"?    They're not anymore.  And what's worse, they appear to be completely at the mercy of Asian factory production schedules that are getting worse as more "importers" compete for the same production time on the factory floors.

Weren't these 990 Legacy sets originally scheduled for delivery much earlier in 2013?  WOW!!!  Lionel's premier remote control system, and they haven't been able to get it manufactured for how many months now???  That's on MAJOR disconnect when Lionel is attempting to appeal to a new, younger market -- not to mention the seasoned toy train enthusiasts that have been waiting to give command control a try as well. 

Glad to see Charlie posting that HH told him they'd give priority to getting the Legacy 990 sets in by Christmas -- assuming they're manufactured in time.  Expense well spent... excellent decision.  Bravo!!!

David

Well, I suppose each person can call them what they want. I'm not sure these semantics matter all that much in today's world. I do know that when I'm holding a Lionel engine, I wouldn't be doing so if Lionel didn't exist.  Presumably they spec the engines and at least part of the plans, and provide the technology for many of the components, and monitor the production, etc. Oh, and make possible the financing to have the work done.

Lots and lots of examples of this going on all over the world. Boeing doesn't make anywhere near all the components of its airliners, for example. They have many hundreds of subcontractors that assemble the parts, and many large sections are constructed elsewhere by subcontractors as well. The guy who was the builder of our house never held a hammer or touched a screwdriver. He had his subcontractors do that. But he was the builder. So, too, the orchestra conductor doesn't play an instrument, but he conducts and directs those who do to achieve the finished product. He is, in essence, the manufacturer. Apple doesn't build its Smartphones at Appleville, USA - they are made overseas by contractors. Nike doesn't make its tennis shoes in Nikeville USA, either. So what? They're still considered manufacturers of their respective products.

Marty, please tell me you're not buying into any explanation that these long delays are a result of extensive QA.     I think it's much more basic than that.

David

Well, perhaps they could, at least in some cases. We've heard lots of stories about how workers in the factories often don't even know what it is they're making. They may not even know what a train is, for example. They build what they're shown in the drawings, without necessarily having any understanding of what it is. They just do what they're directed to do. It's rather like programing a computer!  

My dealer notified me that the Lionel Postwar Catalog Art (1953) Reefer I ordered has arrived at the shop.

I would think that Lione lwould be trying to get its Halloween items out, but I believe some are missing as yet. I know the Peanuts Pumpkin Car isn't in as yet.

is this the one you are talking about?

peanuts

I was just charged for this car.