Originally Posted by brr:
The cars look pretty nice. I really like the Santa Fe boxcar.
Are these WbB boxcars, or a copy of WbB boxcars? The First-Timers bar was a copy of a Bar-Mills kit, so I'm guessing these are copies of Williams boxcars. Obviously, I don't know, but I'm curious what WbB thinks of this? Perhaps the Williams cars were used as pre-production samples, like MTH does with ho models in their catalog, or Lionel did in the 1950's with the GMC switcher.
Guess we'll know when the cars are released.
The Williams box cars are made from the original AMT tooling that was later used by Kusan, Kris Model Trains and Frank’s Roundhouse. Based on their stated dimensions and other characteristics unique to those molds, if the actual Menards cars match the photos and the descriptions on their website, then these cars will be made from that same tooling which has been OWNED by Williams since the 1990’s.
There’s been lots of speculation about these $20 box cars on here but let’s be realistic and not raise our expectations too high. The old adage “you only get what you pay for” suggests that these cars can’t possibly have the same quality as Williams or Lionel cars with such a big difference in price! Even the big well-known discount train dealers markdown those $69.95 MSRP Williams cars to only about $40.
So will these cars really be made by Williams or will Williams merely provide blank bodies to be decorated by a third-party for Menards? IMO Williams would be stabbing their existing dealers in the back if they produced these cars for Menards to sell at such low prices. What do the Williams dealers who read this Forum know about this offering?
We may not know the answers about these cars until someone on here buys one and has it in his hands to compare it with a known Williams car. Based on the delivery schedule announced on the Menards site, that won’t be until very late May at the earliest.
OTOH with York week upon us maybe we could get an answer from an insider and end all of this speculation. The question of who made these cars for Menards could be asked at the Bachmann Booth next week at York. Unfortunately I can’t be at York this time to ask them in person. Can anyone going to York ask that question and report back to us? While you’re at it, ask them about the status of the E-Z streets turnouts?
Bill
So how WbB cars rate? For $20 I realize you aren't getting a $60+ high end detailed car.
Hmmm. Perhaps these are WBB knock-offs after all... Particularly seeing that an equivalent WBB car MSRP's at $69.95...
