Well, after a long discussion with my primary Lionel dealer and the passenger cars he was going thru for me to make sure I got a decent set, the topic of the 2018 Vol 1 order came up. It came up a few weeks ago as well and he would not accept my order until the passenger cars arrived. After he explained to me waht was going on with the cars, I told him that there was stuff in the catalog that I want but I was not willing to commit to anything until it arrived and could we could be sure I was getting what was advertised and the quality was there. He agreed so I got my BTO stuff on order with no commitment to buy and no deposit but the items I want are locked in. This is a tough position to put your dealers into where you have a large number of BTO items that would require a deposit and the dealer does not feel as though a deposit is fair for quality and delivery issues. Not to mention, the after delivery support being in question. If your dealer would take your pre-order with no deposit you should request as such so you are not caught with an expensive item that leaves you unhappy in the end.
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