MTH RTR Catalog On Line

Nice to see MTH ScaleTrax prominently included in pages 76-83 of this latest catalog.  Now if we could only see shipment of #4 and #6 turnouts, so folks could actually build some of the layouts that are featured in pages 78-83.  Come on, MTH.  Please make it happen soon!!!

David

Not really a rtr catalog. Love the NASA smoking tank car.

What's the deal with the Christmas Cars, or, lack thereof?

Some people do not want to be stuck with the same sets.

I think it's smarter than previous RTR catalogs.  There are still some true RTR sets but what's bad about them offering other items?  Nothing.  I don't mind the ala carte on some of those passenger and freight sets either.  Some folks may have some pieces already and want to add new pieces without an entire set.  And it's an RTR catalog, not a Christmas catalog.  It's fine what they did and smart not to make the Halloween set uncatalogued. 

falconservice posted:

Some people do not want to be stuck with the same sets.

That is all well and good however the point of this catalog and a RTR set is to get people into the hobby for one reasonable price.

By only offering 3 "true" starter sets, I think MTH is really shooting themselves in the foot....If you want to make a starter set out of the diesels, you are looking at approximately twice the price of a "true" diesel MTH starter set. Having the separate sale stuff is fine but if someone has to spend $500+ just to get a train set, I would expect sales to decline. Maybe a little less separate sale...more all in one kind of stuff. I simply don't think having everything in a catalog geared toward beginners with little to no train equipment or experience separate sale is the wisest move. I would have at least offered a discounted track and transformer package or something.

I give out hundreds of Lionel, Bachmann and MTH RTR sets each year to interested kids and families. Most, when comparing the options, lean towards the MTH set as you get a ton more bang for your buck. In addition, most also balk at the price! "$400+ for a toy train set?" is a frequent comment I get despite how many more features they have. With that price going up substantially for a diesel set, why not pick another manufacturer?

Why should the people at MTH have the same Christmas schedule as Lionel?

Perhaps the Ready-To-Run Sets need to have a minimum of 3 freight cars and a caboose for the locomotive to pull for it to be a decent all inclusive set.

There has never been an Elgin, Joliet & Eastern ready-to-run train set in O gauge.

EJ&E SD9 diesel-electric locomotive

EJ&E gondola with orange cover

EJ&E flat car with opening crate load

EJ&E box car

EJ&E offset cupola caboose

Andrew

The Ready-To-Run (RTR) moniker has become a misnomer for this class of catalog.  These have evolved from small pamphlets to full-fledged catalog books now.  Lionel did the same thing with their 2016 RTR catalog last month.  In fact, their RTR catalog now includes most of their "traditional-sized" O-Gauge rolling stock offerings as well as the entire Christmas line (which in prior years had its own catalog released in June/July).  Stuff evolves... and this is yet another example of that change.

David

Nice catalog, liked the ES44 sets. Did you notice on the back cover of the new RTR catalog they have a picture of the cover? I couldn't tell exactly what it was, an Atlantic maybe, definitely a PRR engine with passenger cars. 

Bill

I see good and not so good. The Halloween and Christmas Diesel sets are very nice, I most likely will buy them along  with the Halloween cars and maybe a Christmas car.  I seen the Philly fire truck and got excited till I seen the price, 44.95 for a little fire truck, not gonna happen.  The rest is mostly the same old same old. Come on MTH the country is in a mood for change, let see some new items to get us excited again!  Hopefully the next catalog will give us something to get jazzed about.

Without RTR sets MTH has nothing to offer the new train buyer. Even new shoppers are expecting a box with everything needed inside.

Welp! I guess that's the end of the line for the very nice MTH Christmas "Nativity" themed box cars as shown in their own box at the bottom of page 33. Sorry to see them go. That thing at the top is just plain ugly. I wonder where their graphic artists went?

The catalog was a joke, I would of like new sets and different locos that haven't been in sets yet like GP-20s, or Dash-9.

I have a green flashing Christmas engine.....adding the red flashing engine might be cool!

Peter

Good evening, I liked the Christmas Tree stand along with country houses.

The Christmas Tree stand will go great in my Christmas Tree Farm.

I am slowly replacing my current ceramic homes with MTH homes so I was glad to see some different homes done in different color combinations.

Rats!, I noticed that the f-3's in the RTR catalog are "Railking scale' now. I guess they designated the diminutive Rugged Rails f3 into the dustbin of history. Too bad, I wanted to see a new one w/ PS3 installed, I like those little runts.

only one rtr standard set,,,,,,yuck o

Looks almost like MTH is virtually getting out of the starter set business.  Nothing under $400+, which probably rules out most families without a background in the hobby or substantial means.  I wonder if this is the sales reality of the lower quality and much lower price of Lionel's low end LionChief sets at half the price or less?  MTH apparently cannot sell command control PS3 sets at competitive prices with LionChief for whatever reasons.

As someone who once worked for an MTH dealer. I can understand the separate sale items. I can tell you for sure that we broke up sets more than we sold them complete which was kind of a pain but that's what the people wanted. The most popular RailKing engines for us were the NS, UP, and BNSF SD70ACes from the sets. Nobody really cared for the CSX ones even though they ran in the area everyday.

After awhile I got to thinking that with all the variety and features MTH has to offer it does make more sense to build your own set from scratch rather than a package deal. While the MTH RTR sets are and will continue to be a fantastic deal most people begin with a Lionel RTR set. Why? Lionel has been in the public eye for 116 years now and has huge publicity and reputation. MTH has always had a hard time trying to break into the limelight. That being said almost if not all beginners who walked into our store with a broken Lionel starter set they bought online walked out of the store with either a new MTH RTR set or a RailKing locomotive, Remote Commander and would keep coming back for more on a regular basis.

I will say that they should of offered the Nickel Plate Heritage Unit in this catalog. Nickel Plate Road 765 is THE steam locomotive that everyone in the Midwest knows about after all.

Does anybody else want a RailKing O scale F3 A-B set in the 1960's SOO LINE Red, off-white, and black scheme?

Andrew

Big Jim posted:

Welp! I guess that's the end of the line for the very nice MTH Christmas "Nativity" themed box cars as shown in their own box at the bottom of page 33. Sorry to see them go. That thing at the top is just plain ugly

Honestly they're all ugly, both Christmases and the New Years!

Jerry

Domes should NOT be placed into sets of railroads which did not have them.  Or have a sleeper in the base set, then sell all domes as an add on.

The ES44 sets are really nice! I really do not think they are wanting to get out of the starter set bus. Not all of the Lionelchief sets are inexpensive, and not really sure about the bang for the buck. So, I will lean towards the MTH sets for now thanks.

JoeG

The new Christmas and New Years box cars look like a graphic style from album covers of the 1960's.

Andrew

Anyone notice the post war style Gulf single dome tank. That is the first time its by done by MTH. (black tank orange logo)

rat

I was happy to see the Chessie Madison passenger cars.  I'm going to get me a set as I've been wanting to get one for a while.

I liked the modern diesels.  I dont mind that they are separate pieces.  However; I got into the hobby with an all-inclusive  starter set.   I would not have paid the money for separate pieces at that time.

My major problem with both manufacturers are the buidlings and accessories. They are the same every year.  My layout is half empty as a result.  I don't want to fill it up with the same stuff.

As a dealer, this move gives us the chance to help the customer put together a set.... we have had plenty of situations where we sold an MTH set and swapped out the track for Lionel track because the customer already had some...... I would think we could still be cost competitive on this type of set - we will see..... 

See thinks that I like. Not sure who would have the best early buy pricing.

JoeG