Macy's Holiday Car & Store Display

Handsome car, thanks for posting. What was the price?

Looks like it was $69.99.

For a box car, I'll pass, thanks.  Great looking car, too rich for my blood for a boxcar.

Love that new Macy's boxcar.  Gotta give it a serious look-see at a local Macy's (or perhaps during a trip to NYC). 

But at $70 retail for a boxcar, $100 is getting to be chump-change nowadays with toy trains.    I spent $125 at the Allentown show for a Lionel Hopper car 2-pack and a Polar Express wall hanging.  I could have EASILY spent $1,000 at the show on other relatively small items that add up quickly, but I held back because of pre-orders due to ship in a few months.  Pricing has really gotten out of control in this hobby.

Then again... there's always the thread about O-Line Reproductions for a different take on pricing!  

David

Years ago I tried to purchase Lionel starter set locally.  I went to every Big Box store there was.  Trains simply didn't exist because the interest wasn't there.  Macy's carrying anything train related is a great potential boost for our hobby!  I am excited to see them have things!

Dang!

You know I gotta get that boxcar...

It carries my last name after all. Maybe the calves can do without grain for a week...

Ted

Oh, no argument there!  I love seeing department stores carrying trains to boost the hobby (Boscov's in this area always stocks them and has an HO set by Bachmann for the store itself).  

But when you can go to BJ's Wholesale and with a coupon get a complete Pennsy Flyer LionChief set for about double the price of this one boxcar (with a coupon), then you lose quite a few members of the buying public who want more than a plastic shelled boxcar for $70.00.

The general public tends to look at it more like that they can get a train set (OK, something like a battery powered train) with locomotive, cars, track for less or just a bit more than this one car, then you lose them.  People simply are not going to invest that much money into that.

And folks complained that Wegman's rolling stock around Christmastime was $50/car for the last couple of years.  Now we're at $70.  Sure... part of it is Macy's licensing costs no doubt.  But it's also the idea that perhaps somebody looking for a gift will be thinking, "Gee... that'll make a nice gift for so-and-so.  $70?  Well... OK... bang... done.  Another gift off the shopping list."    Of course, then there's folks like us here who will hunt these specialty items down for the fun of it all.  We represent the other half of the marketing sweet spot for items like these.

It'll be interesting to see if these Macy's cars this year generate the same "buzz factor" that happened nearly 10 years ago when Macy's produced a car around Thanksgiving time... the theme being the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  The first year, folks went wild trying to find them.  (Yes, I was one of them.  I'll admit it.  ).  I think the price was $40, but that was 2006.  Even the following year, the car was pretty cool.  By the third or fourth year though, the novelty had worn thin.  Truth be told, the graphics that year lacked the creativity of cars from prior years.  Wasn't even in the same league.  And that ended the series right then and there.

David 

Cant pull item up on their website.

I wonder if it will be added, or if it's an in-store only item for the holidays.

Have to check the Macy's near me to see if they will be carrying it.

That's how it was with the boxcars back around 2006-2008 too.  You had to physically visit a store -- and not all of the stores carried them... just the larger stores.

I recall folks here on the forum were calling around to various Macy's stores in the country, and the store employees didn't even know what callers were talking about.    Seems the "toy train display" was located in different departments in various stores.  So when folks called a Macy's store, they didn't know which department to ask for!!!    I was lucky, 'cause a couple of Macy's stores locally carried them.  One of the stores had a few boxcars just sitting on a glass counter in the men's department.  Nothing elaborate at all.  OTOH, the NYC "Herald Square" store had a HUGE Christmas display, and those boxcars sold out quickly.

Deja vu??? 

David

Dave I remember that all too well and have all the cars, but I was hoping in 2015 we could find them online oh well off too the mall!

I will look at them however if it does not say Christmas, NO SALE!

John P,

    I am with you sir 100% especially today with all the political correctness crap, very few of my 40 plus Christmas Box Cars, do not say Merry Christmas on them with the date. I do have one special Box Car given to me by a Jewish friend, that has their ident on it, it runs with the rest of the Christmas Box Cars, every Christmas morning. Only 2 of the 40 Plus Box Cars have Happy Holidays on them, and they were given to me, not purchased by me or my family. 

We Celebrate Christmas here in this Christian house hold.  Jesus is the reason for the season.  My most favorite Box Cars are the old K-Line Box Cars, with the Nativity scenes on them, telling the Christmas story.

PCRR/Dave

Did you guys have some sort of better picture than what Geoff posted?

To me this looks like a Macy's Boxcar that has nothing to do with Christmas or other Holidays.  (and Geoff's post indicated it was not Christmas or Thanksgiving themed).  Te left of the boxcar seems to be the store name with the words "Fancy and Dry Goods", I can't make out the words on the right side where the gold emblem with the red star in the middle is printed.

You seem to be asking for the word Christmas on a Macy's boxcar that is just a plain old Macy's boxcar.  I'm all for Christmas cars saying Christmas on them, but this seems to not be a Christmas car.

I have the old (2006-2009, 4 years) Thanksgiving parade cars.  Way too much of a PITA to collect those.  The last year I ended up getting shipped from a store in Chicago based on a helpful Forum member here indicating their store knew what was going on and was willing to sell over the phone.

If I happen to see these at the store near my house or work place, I might buy one, but there is no way I will continuously check over multiple days/weeks or drive all over the place to try to get this car.

-Dave

Looks to me you fellas aren't buying it. Then again as Dave said, it wasn't a Christmas car to begin with.  LOL. 

Marty E,

   It looks pretty much like a modern Macy's Christmas display to this old Christian Train Runner.

Course I loved Miracle on 34th Street, both versions.  Nobody tops Edmund Gwenn as Santa, nobody.

As a non Christmas box car it looks darn nice, it would not ride as part of the Christmas Box Car Train however.

PCRR/Dave

The Macy's red and green boxcar carry's with it the history and tradition of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and the store's prominence in the Christmas movie "Miracle on 34st St.", therefore this car will make a fine addition to my Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years train consist.

As a bonus I can run it year round, and be reminded of Christmastime...it is a dual purpose car.

Plus, it's made in 'Merica.

Geoff, thanks for posting the photos.  It is great that Macy's is again selling Lionel products.  As for that boxcar, compared to the cheerful, well decorated parade-themed cars Lionel did for Macy's several years back, this one is a dog, in my opinion- especially at $70.  I won't have to expend any energy going to various area Macy's to track that one down like I did in years past!  

Craig, your eyes are far better at properly detecting color than mine! (this getting older thing sucks! )

I look at the pic of the car and through the cellophane window I honestly thought the sides were maybe some shade of brown.  I can make out the red ends though.

Since Geoff has obviously seen them in person maybe he can confirm.

-Dave

Dave,

I see red ends, a red star, and a red ladder, but I am looking at the same picture as you, above.

Hopefully someone will buy one and post a picture of it out of the box, so we can all get a good look.

Eggnog is a big reason for the season around here. I have all the cars that say eggnog on them. Naturally, you have to have something with the 'nog, so I also have a collection of the Lionel liquor cars running with the eggnog cars. Makes a very colorful and festive train for the holidays!

Of course, the season is also all about Santa Claus and presents!   So almost all of my cars other than the eggnog and liquor cars have Santa and presents on them. It's great, kids love it, and it reminds people to do what they can to stimulate the economy during the holidays. 

Ho Ho! Happy Holidays.

quote:

Sure... part of it is Macy's licensing costs no doubt. 

If the car is being sold exclusively by Macy's, why would there be licensing fees?

I brought up the level and the contrast a bit.  Definitely just a box car.  Grand Central Fancy Dry Goods or something to that effect on the right logo.  The red star is just the Macy's Star.

Thanks for posting this Geoff. And, thanks for mentioning that this is to be found at Macy's "Home Store". I'm sure that a lot of you who have a Macy's in town have a "Fashion Store" and a "Home Store". Anyhoo, I was able to call the Dadeland "Home Store". The lady who answered the phone looked up the SKU code (that Geoff provided) and very easily processed my order. No running around involved and I didn't have to deal with the "scalpers" of years ago!!!

It appears to be a very handsome car. Not a "Christmas" car per se, but, one that will go well with the other Macy's boxcars. I'll post a picture when it arrives if someone hasn't already done so by then. 

Ok fella's, I got the poop on these cars. I went to Macy's here is White Plains because my friend works there. I gave her the SKU from above and this is the info from Macys. There are very limited in stores. The only NY store that has them is Herald Square with 107, now 106. White Plains, Yonkers, Valley Stream are not getting any. There about 20-35 at 2 stores in Florida. A small number in Phili and a small number at a Chicago Macys, which she believes is the old Marshall Field store and same for Phili, the old John Wanamaker. She pulled up every car where available. And we counted about 400 with 107 here in NYC. She ordered mine and it will come from Herald Square. I also got $15 off with a Macys coupon. So there is all the info right from Macys!!!!

Looks like a nice enough car but not bowled over by any means.

I think I'll take that $75-$85 (or whatever it'll cost me) and spend it on the Lionel National Train Day Car coming up next month.

At these prices for box cars -- even special runs -- need to pick and choose wisely. Love to have them all but...

Is this car what Lionel would classify as "Traditional O Gauge" or would it be

in their "Standard O" category ?

Tough to tell with 100% certainty from the photos so far, but my strong hunch is it's a 6464-style traditional O-Gauge boxcar.  You might be tempted to think scale Standard O by the price, but that's a false illusion. 

As a point of comparision, the P/E Thomas Kinkade boxcar is a traditional 6464-style boxcar with an $85 MSRP, and Charlie Ro sells them for $62.  So Macy's retail-pricing is near the mid-point of that range, and if you can use a Macy's coupon you're in for a better deal.

The former series of Macy's Thanksgiving Parade boxcars were traditional O-Gauge.  That's my bet for this one too.

Thanks for sharing, Cincy.  This is really great info, and a good example of how quickly information can be shared in this type of forum!!!    Definitely a much more limited distribution (as far as stores carrying the boxcar) than the earlier Thanksgiving Day Parade cars from 2006-2009.  I recall similar store info back with those earlier cars, but it took a bit more digging for the information to surface.  This year, we have it in just over 24 hours.  Not bad at all. 

I was driving by the Macy's Montgomeryville Mall store (in the Philly suburbs last night), so I check around and found no trains on display.  Maybe I'll have them call the downtown Philly store... or I'll call the store myself.  Now I'm off to find a Macy's coupon!!! 

David

Gee - a sale at Macy's this weekend:  http://www.macys.com/?Linkshar...ARE-_-5-_-63-_-MP563

Pick up a Sunday paper - odds are you'll find a Macy's ad and coupons - Macy's always seems to have some sort of coupons or discounts going on - no need to pay list price there for many items they sell.

Marty E,

   I would still like to see some pictures of the complete Macy's Box Car out of the Box.

I might just order one, as a regular Box Car, not as a Christmas Box Car, I do like the Green color.

PCRR/Dave

What thread is that, David? I did a forum search for it but didn't see it. Hopefully you or someone else can post a link for it? Thanks!

FYI , just spoke with the sales associate handling trains at the downtown center city Philly Macy's store and he told me they have complete train sets on sale but Lionel's Macy's boxcar is no longer available there!! 

Do you know which department these are in?  

Interesting...  I stopped by the Macy's Montgomeryville Mall store again tonight (Southeastern portion of PA), and walked up to one of the customer service registers in the Men's department and asked for assistance.  The lady was SUPER helpful.  I gave her the SKU number...by the way, you need the ENTIRE number from the box-flap... the leading ZERO and trailing ONE are IMPORTANT!!!!  (I didn't even see those the first time I looked at the numbers under the bar-code. )

She swung the computer display around so I could see it, and it pretty much paralleled the info Cincytrains posted.  I didn't jot down any numbers, but Herald Square has the "mother lode" at 105.  I recall the downtown Philly store only had 10 or 11.  Same with the store in Illinois.  Pretty sure I saw a similar low number for California.  Florida had 21 or so.  This was around 7:30PM tonight (Thursday).

Bottom line... these cars are NOT in a lot of stores.  And somebody just posted Philly is now showing sold out.  So it wouldn't surprise me if a few folks bought a bunch.  10-11 cars can go pretty quickly.  And of course, some folks may be buying multiples "on spec" to flip them either here or on eBay. 

I got the impression mine will be fulfilled out of the Herald Square location.  ETA is 12/1.

The good news this go 'round is the Macy's sales reps are EXTREMELY helpful, if you provide them the correct SKU.  My rep was nice enough to discount the price because of the inconvenience that they didn't have them in-stock at Montgomeryville tonight.  Can you believe that?    Just when I thought old-fashioned customer service was a dying art.

David

https://ogrforum.com/t...atstrains-com?page=1

Hope that helps!!!  A real breath fresh air compared to the usual stuff today. 

David

Online buyers might want to look into joining Ebates - today the Macy's purchase rebate through them is 6%.  In the last several years I've accumulated close to $400 by joining up and getting rebates on purchases from Land's End, Lowe's, Home Depot and other online sellers - be nice to get some $$$ back on toy train purchases, don't you think???