Pre-Orders are up at Nassau Hobby Center!

http://www.nassauhobby.com/ES4...d-3.0-Halloween.html

I normally don't like these types of trains but this one is sharp looking, close to be sharp in ordering one.  Nicely done MTH.

I have been fighting doing a Halloween layout but this engine may finally put me over the edge.  I agree that it's a really sharp engine.  It's the first really good Halloween-themed engine I have seen.  As Halloween continues to gain popularity as a holiday, it was only natural for the train companies to start paying attention to it too.

Now that will be a terrific loco for a Halloween set.

   Bill T.

Wow.  Very nice indeed

Agreed.   

Near-scale, 17" in length... AND with charging lights... PLUS a caboose for a street-price under $350.  You can't go wrong.  Great value for the dollars spent. 

And I love the fact that MTH is producing surprise items like this "on spec" with delivery just a few weeks away in time for Halloween.  Who said everything needs to be BTO?    As the saying goes... "No risk... No reward." 

David

Yes indeed.  It would be nice if they had these available by York so that we can ensure having them for the weekend run shall we say!  Whether or not I do end up getting one I am sure they will have the set there.

Our price is 349.95, which is MAP

someone will complain  when it  arrives on all souls day

MTH is now sold out of 30-20323-1 Halloween ES44 Diesel & Caboose Sets.

We still have a few for pre-order!

Looks like you are out too.  The link doesn't work and search doesn't find it

Yes, they all went today. Thank you everyone for the orders!

Sold out within a day.  I'm sorry, but I think MTH really botched the marketing on this.  I checked my local MTH dealer on Thursday afternoon & learned they were gone.  This dealer, JustTrains, could get only ONE set from MTH!  What would have been wrong with cataloging this & taking orders as per usual?  MTH is supposedly doing a second run for those of you looking forward a year to Halloween 2016.  Just disappointing, thats all.  

Ya gotta admit... the marketing dynamics here are both fascinating (from a pure perspective that MTH produced these "on spec") yet understandably disappointing for those who missed out. 

So herein lies the conundrum of our model train corner of the world.  MTH tested out the waters here with what was reportedly a production run of 70-75 sets, and they priced them at fair market value so folks felt they couldn't go wrong owning one of these jewels at a fair price.  These weren't for everyone (i.e., admittedly, I passed on it), but enough folks jumped on board -- so much so that another run is supposedly planned for 2016.

On the flip side, MTH could have catalog'd this set 6-12 months ago... had dealers take orders... and then matched production to the orders.  Voila... BTO BAU.

It does beg the question though... where is the "call-to-action", demand-generation at its most effective?  When buyers know something is already availability in limited quantities AND at a fair price?  Or when folks feel they MUST pre-order something (or it may not get made) albeit at an inflated price for fear it'll only be priced even higher when the product hits the street?  And then watch dealers duke it out for pre-orders at prices differing by a few bucks... and sometimes even pennies?  (Sound familiar? )

Seems the business of selling toy trains is neither easy nor straightforward.  Never has been... and never will be.  The only thing more predictable is...  the importers will never be able to satisfy everyone. 

David

I agree, David.

I had not heard that there were just 75 of these sets available in the first place.  That makes it all the more perplexing.   I am sure that NO one who wanted in this item could have guessed that MTH short-sheeted the bed so badly that they would have to decide to get one within hours of first seeing it promoed on MTH's Facebook page & it's daily e-mail updates. 

One can look at the O gauge "fun & fantasy" train category & see that, over the last 10-15 years, the biggest sales category behind Christmas would have to be Halloween.  Heck, many of us have areas of our layouts devoted to Halloween, including many Lemax buildings, graveyards, etc.  I have numerous Halloween-themed rolling stock pieces from both MTH & Lionel, & would have loved to have a loco with enough power to pull more than 8-10 of them.

I know Mike & the MTH crew will be getting plenty of questions on this gaffe in a couple of weeks at York.

No Gaffe guys, you are all trying to read way too much into this. Its a rainy day here and the X-files are on OGR. This ebngine was a after thought to bring up numbers on a production run, thats all. It wasn't expected to sell this well but once MTH sold out, everyone seemed to want one. No Problem, more will be made! Kudos to MTH for coming up with this idea.

Well, I didn't want one after hearing it was sold out, I called my dealer to order within 24 hours of its announcement & then learned they were gone.  He was stumped also.... said he could have sold many-many of them.  Its hard to believe it was even worth MTH's expense to create the graphics & add Halloween sounds to the loco just to produce 75 of them.    

Almost went for it...I just didn't like the "Happy Halloween" roadname. I would have preferred "Transylvania RR" or "Fright Lines" or something of that nature. Good on MTH for leaning forward on the whimsical stuff.

Sunrise

 Its hard to believe that it was even worth MTH's expense to create the graphics & add Halloween sounds to the loco just to produce another 75 of them

When they decided to use up the remaining engines and make them into a Halloween theme they knew only 70-75 would make the end of October or slightly after it, so it was always planned to do another run. So the expense for the graphics won't be wasted.

Sunrise I like that idea.  Hopefully they might others in the future along those lines.  That would be cool to see a few of these like this.  

Yes, Kudo's to MTH for making this set, However, I still feel they were testing the water. If you look at their past history, they have only made a few Halloween Cars compared to Lionel. I have every Lionel Halloween car and Engine they have ever released, since I do not have a permanent layout yet and we set up such a Halloween in our living room. I am glad to see someone else in this arena. Especially, with PS3 and affordable!! Will have to get the set

Sunrise, Lionel has used "Transylvania" on some of the many Halloween items it has made over the years, so it would be doubtful MTH would do the same.  Among them, several using a keystone logo called "Transylvania Railroad," a take-off on the similar-sounding Pennsylvania Railroad.  And MTH didn't do all that much "leaning forward" on this product, I don't think.

Charlie, it's the OGR way

I think Rich should created a new section called "SGTC"   (second guessing the companies)

It's become a hobby of it's own here

I still give MTH kudos for doing this paint scheme "on spec" -- even if it helped fulfill a production run minimum.  Good for them, 'cause it's a win-win for everyone.  And they kept the pricing reasonable.  Give credit where credit is due.

David

I am glad I ordered the Christmas 44 set engine and cabeese. I will repaint the beige/mustard/sand out and replace it with another color White/silver? I was going to do my own Halloween engine from a proto one GP9, still may do it.

Exactly!  Great orange color with the black trim.  Awesome effects.  But I wanted a more frightening sounding name than Happy Halloween. I'm sure it'll be more expensive next year but I'm fine waiting.