The other day I was looking at the Lionel website and when I clicked on the Lionel Club link, instead of seeing the familar LRRC page with info about the club and the products for sale, it now says Lionel Collector's Club of America with a letter to LRRC members from Howard Hitchcock, president of Lionel and a little bit of info about the LCCA with a link to join the club.
The letter has information about the benefits of the LCCA and information about the transition from to the LCCA for LRRC members. It kind of struck me as a "handing over the reins to the LCCA" letter.
It looks pretty straightforward, but what caught my interest is what it doesn't mention. The letter makes no mention of the benefits we enjoyed as members of the LRRC. For those of you who have been following the LCCA/LRRC merger, the initial statement about the merger posted on the Lionel website dated 7/25/14 included the following statement:
"This “joining of forces” means that current LRRC members will not only maintain the benefits they have now, but also gain additional benefits that will make their club experience even better."
Although it is no longer posted on the Lionel website, on the old LRRC page there were 4 benefits listed for members of the LRRC:
1) free Lionel catalogs
2) Inside Track magazine
3) opportunity to purchase club exclusive items
4) 10% discount in Lionel store
Although the benefits weren't mentioned in the letter, it can be discerned that a couple of the benefits are going to continue as a result of the merger. The catalogs are going to be a benefit because LCCA members also receive Lionel catalogs as a benefit. The small ad for the LCCA below the letter lists "10% discount on www.lionelstore.com purchases." So, it appears Lionel is going to offer what used to be only a benefit to LRRC members to all LCCA members. As I'm sure someone might mention, the prices in the Lionel store tend to be list price, so people can generally find better deals if they shop around. But, it is a benefit.
That leaves the Inside Track magazine and the LRRC club exclusive products.
I expected the Inside Track magazine to disappear as a separate entity, but I was wondering what might happen to the content that we received in the magazine? It was only a few pages, but it presented info from Lionel's viewpoint and also had some interesting history articles on some of the upcoming Lionel products. The Lion Roars magazine by the LCCA is a very good publication, but it has a club member/hobbyist perspective with articles written by club members and just a little bit of Lionel manufacturer info. Is some of the manufacturer information that was in the Inside Track magazine going to find it's way into the Lion Roars magazine? This hasn't been addressed by either Lionel or the LCCA, but I'm guessing the answer is no. It's not a huge loss, but there was some interesting information in the articles.
The opportunity to purchase LRRC club exclusive items is probably the main reason most people belonged to the LRRC. Maybe Mr. Hitchcock is saving the topic for another day, or maybe the LCCA is going to make an announcement at a later date, but I found it disappointing that he didn't address the matter in the letter on the website.
I did notice a slight difference in wording in different sections of the webpage. In the letter from Mr. Hitchcock, one of the LCCA benefits listed is: "Access to club exclusive product." In the ad below the letter (in the section where the 10% Lionelstore.com discount is listed), it says: "Access to Lionel club exclusive product". That may mean nothing or it may differentiate between the product offered by the LCCA and the product previously by Lionel through the LRRC.
Is Lionel going to continue producing the type of product that was offered through the LRRC, only now it is going to be available for purchase through the LCCA? My main reason for belonging to the LRRC was to purchase the annual Christmas boxcars. Judging from posts on the OGR forum, many club members liked the various postwar style rolling stock offered by the club. The LCCA produces well received product for it's members, but the products tend to have a different emphasis. For those of you who remember when Emeril Lagasse had a few cooking shows on TV, he was always looking to "Bam!" and "Kick it up a notch!" on his recipes to make the food more special. The LCCA often seems to have a similar philosophy to incorporate unique or innovative elements on their products. Some of the products are also geared to the region where the LCCA convention is being held, so depending on the region, it may or may not interest club members. The LRRC products tend to be more general interest and easier on the pocket book. It would be interesting to hear from Lionel/LCCA about the future of LRRC type products as it could influence whether or not current LRRC members continue as LCCA members.
