Menard's mystery box

Some useful information can be found here:  https://ogrforum.com/a...agination.sort=SCORE

I was very happy with the one I bought and was also thinking of ordering another one. Good Luck and let us know what you receive.

CTA4391 excellent job putting the links together.

franktrain

I have bought Menards mystery boxes on three separate occasions.  All were great deals, some greater than others.  The only caution I have to offer is that if you already have a number of Menards  structures you might find yourself with a duplicate.  I found myself with second Camaraderie Bar & Grill, but plan to create a sketchy outlying area on my layout and convert this second building into a gentlemen's club.

I wasn't thrilled with my mystery box. It contained a hobby shop with a loose facade, a low end Lionel Pennsylvania tender, the army pickup truck flatcar, the Alaska RR flat with lumber load and two flat cars without loads. The dollar value exceeded $100 but I already have an MTH hobby shop and have no use for a tender with no matching locomotive. I like Menard's stuff but I think it's wiser to spend my cash on exactly what I want. 

The first one was great.  A Comraderie and some nice Menards rolling stock.  The second one was another building, which I had, that needed minor work.  A member of our Club took from me. It also included used Lionel MPC rolling stock that was junk.  I will not buy another one since I have 10  Menards buildings on the layout.   I never expected the  Lionel stuff.   It is beyond  me as to where they got it.  I assumed, wrongly, that any rolling stock would be Menards models.

Diok S posted:

 I never expected the  Lionel stuff.   It is beyond  me as to where they got it.  I assumed, wrongly, that any rolling stock would be Menards models.

That's why it's called the Mystery Box!

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Diok S posted:

 I never expected the  Lionel stuff.   It is beyond  me as to where they got it.  I assumed, wrongly, that any rolling stock would be Menards models.

That's why it's called the Mystery Box!

My guess is that the Lionel rolling stock came from an opened LionChief starter set that was returned to a store in part rather than whole. Menards has recently offered LionChief Ready to Run sets for the holidays, currently they have two online at clearance pricing.

Might be that Menard's supplier also make Lionel cars for Lionel or reproductions for others?

The Lionel items were old  MPC freight cars, not current stuff.  It was as though they picked up an old Lionel junk collection and put it in the mystery boxes.