Originally Posted by scale rail:
I have almost every scale Milwaukee engine but didn't buy the Lionel 261 because I just can't justify the expense.
That's one scale Milwaukee engine you should have gotten. 
Originally Posted by Lee Willis:
.....some business wonk is considering the first of WBB's O-gauge "Spectrum" series:
scale Hudson, conventional $750
add cruise and chuffing, etc. $150
some "separately applied details" $100
$1,000
a locomotive arguably competitive with Legacy offerings.....
Not hardly, IMHO. Plus, better add another $250 for Command and Sounds, too, and labor if you want them installed.
I got my Lionel Milw. S-3 for $860. Weigh that vs. a conventional WBB scale Hudson for $750. Which is the better value?
Even comparing a Legacy $1200 steamer with a WBB Hudson, if you load up the WBB Hudson with everything possible, it's still not going to have near what the Legacy steamer has, and the difference in cost will be about zilch.
Seems you can still scratch out value in the WBB if you buy at discount prices, and if you don't want to have good sound and command and cruise and smoke effects and etc.etc., but it may be getting harder to justify WBB if the MSRP trend is any indication.
There's always used. If it weren't for the used (well used) train market I couldn't afford this hobby. Buying used Marx and Lionel may not be for everyone, but it beats not having any O-gauge electric trains to play with.
Gone up???Some do,some don't.
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and of course the S3 is the least expensive scale northern Lionel has ever made.
One comment in defense of some manufacturers. For example, Lionel Corp tinplate, this stuff IMHO is good value, with a bit of care, like the originals, they will survive 100 years, same with the Darstaed brand and a few others. These trains are so well made, they will outlive us all. That cannot be said for most toys, that are lucky to last 5-10 years. Also, the ability to be able to still buy spares for many of the originals is unique in not just the toy world, but in all areas of manufacture.
Originally Posted by Dave Allen:
One comment in defense of some manufacturers. For example, Lionel Corp tinplate,....they will survive 100 years....These trains are so well made, they will outlive us all. That cannot be said for most toys, that are lucky to last 5-10 years.
That's important, because I will still be around in 100 years.
Rapidly changing modern technology with more and more features has put longevity in the far-back seat as a value. Longevity now means obsolete, for the most part. Just the way it is. If something lasts 5-10 years, that's long enough. Something better will have rendered it obsolete, and, for the most part, noone will want it.
