Q about MTH/Lionel Girard Cars

Welcome to the OGR forum I see you just registered.

The combination you are looking at is an excellent choice. IMHO the Girard cars are one of the best values in STG and the 392E is a big good looking engine.

Hello Todd,
I too would like to say, Welcome! I'm also new to the Forum, however, I'm not new to tinplate. I collect 1910-1932 Lionel. Your choice of cars is outstanding. The new reproductions make it possible for more to enjoy the hobby. Share your new found love with as many as possible. After all, tinplate trains are, Highly Contagious

Thanks for all the comments and welcomes. Sounds like the 392/Girard pairing will definitely go on my list. Pity it won't be $55 these days, but God gave us an extra kidney for a reason, right?

However, should I choose *not* go giving up vital organs and just save up some money instead, is there any typical length of time new MTH tinplate items tend to stay on the shelves? Would any particular item be more likely to sell out first? I'm guessing that the separate-sale cars would probably be very hard to find once they're gone, but I don't really know the market.

Hi Todd,
A good question.......however I do not have a solid answer. Not all MTH dealers stock all tinplate items especially the standard gauge ones. Standard gauge is a very small market in this hobby. The majority of them will pre order them for you but very few will have a large selection on the shelves in their stores. My local hobby shop had a standard gauge MTH ready to run Christmas set for about two years, many people looked at it and said it was very nice and marveled at the weight and the all metal construction but passed on buying the set because it was "just too big" and this was a 384E set with three cars..........
Having said that, some items will sell out quickly which is why I pre ordered the recently offered baggage car for the Girard set. I figured that many of the owners of a set Stephen Girard cars would want the baggage car so down the road they would be hard to get. So your thoughts on the separate sale cars are probably very accurate. As for the four car set and the 392E I did a search of the MTH dealer list on their web site and came up with a couple of places that still had the cars in stock from a previous run. The same for the 392E but the locomotive came in a couple of colors so it depends on which one you want. The Stephen Girard cars were most recently offered in the MTH Lionel Corporation 2011 catalog and the delivery date for these is suppose to be Feb 2012 so if you saved a bit you could just get a set when these come in, and I'm sure they would still be available for several months after at the very least.

Enjoy

Frank

ENJOY!

Im looking at an original 392e

 

The repro MTH cars are not hard to find on the secondary market and usually go for around $100 per car in excellent condition. There are both 3-car and 4-car sets. I picked up a set for under $200 because it had been displayed in a dealer's window and the colors were badly sun faded on one side. I wanted a set to repaint, so this was the sweet spot for me. 

I have a set of the MTH Reproduction Girard cars which I purchased from Nicholas Smith Trains several years ago.  I have been very happy with them.  The two tone green color scheme is superb and they track very well too.  They look good being pulled by a variety of engines.  I have pulled mine with the black 392E in brass trim, the 9E in two tone green Girard colors and even an apple green 381E.  The cars with any of these engines look just great under the Christmas tree.