The 2018 Macy’s Parade boxcar for sale on Macy’s website (cancelled)

They probably sell for around $50.  A year from now or less they will be on Ebay for $15.

Thanks a lot, Craig! (As said by Gilda Radner) 

eddie g posted:

They probably sell for around $50.  A year from now or less they will be on Ebay for $15.

The Grinch!

Macy's website shows the price as $ 84.99.

Getting a little rich for me. I have the others, but I'll pass.

I'm surprised to see that. I thought they made their last car in 2016. I didn't see one last year and word was that they no longer we're going to be doing the annual boxcar.

Craig, I used to run to Macy's from the first year they sold them, I would pay around $50.  After a year you couldn't get $25. for them.

$84.99!!   😳😳

Thanks for the head's up.  It is great to see this after not having one last year.  I really like the 2016 one.  For the people complaining about the price, just keep watching it this week.  I believe the 2016 one went on sale on Thanksgiving or Black Friday.  At this time of the year, especially this week, price discounts are rapid and frequent so keep an eye on the site to see the price drop.

Thanks for the heads up! 

This might be the first USA one (I'd have to check the box for the 2016 one)?  That (along with generic price increases over the years) explains the 84.99.  That is (I believe) the base MSRP for almost any USA assembled boxcar right now.  Of course most of us don't pay that with a LHS discount for regular cataloged cars, but I'm OK with it here.  I'm not buying it to make money on it.

Craig, was the 6 weeks part revealed at checkout(it shows 6-9 business days for this item shipped to store when I select my local store from the link)?  I didn't go through with ordering yet, but likely will (at least if it lets me ship it to a store like you suggest)

-Dave

Dave,

Maybe I read it wrong, or it was revised. Now it says 5-8 days to be shipped to my local store.

I find it kind of interesting that although Lionel appears on the box behind the item in the ever-familiar orange-and-blue colors, there's not a single mention of Lionel in the text. Seems to me some mention of the toy train icon would most certainly benefit Macy's sales.

Allan Miller posted:

...there's not a single mention of Lionel in the text. 

Take a close look at the paint job, in particular the ladders. Note how only the outer edge of the rungs have the same paint as the side where it is located. The top of the rungs (or anything else that is not in a direct line of sight broadside) do not get the paint. This follows the current Lionel painting practices.

Purchased the previous model 2 years ago, during my Thanksgiving trip, at the Macy’s on State Street in Chicago, liked that cars graphics too...pretty sure they were on sale then? Taking the Amtrak tomorrow morning into Chicago...going to a musical in the afternoon and then dinner. Thursday morning I have a VIP ticket and will be sitting right in front of Macy’s for the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Just checked and it appears as though Macy’s will be open from 5:00 pm through midnight after the parade...so hopefully they have these discounted a little when I get there! If they are...then I’ll more than likely have one with me for my return trip home on Friday! Just sayin...

PDDMI posted:

Purchased the previous model 2 years ago, during my Thanksgiving trip, at the Macy’s on State Street in Chicago, liked that cars graphics too...pretty sure they were on sale then? Taking the Amtrak tomorrow morning into Chicago...going to a musical in the afternoon and then dinner. Thursday morning I have a VIP ticket and will be sitting right in front of Macy’s for the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Just checked and it appears as though Macy’s will be open from 5:00 pm through midnight after the parade...so hopefully they have these discounted a little when I get there! If they are...then I’ll more than likely have one with me on my return trip home Friday! Just sayin...

Sounds like a great time, enjoy!

The several Lionel Macy's Parade cars I have from 7-8-9 years ago featured MUCH better graphics than what we see here.   I  am a fan, but not with those lukewarm graphics at that price. 

Allan Miller posted:

I find it kind of interesting that although Lionel appears on the box behind the item in the ever-familiar orange-and-blue colors, there's not a single mention of Lionel in the text.  Seems to me some mention of the toy train icon would most certainly benefit Macy's sales.

Here is the first sentence of the website product description I saw on the link, Allan:   "This one-of-a-kind Lionel boxcar is exclusively designed just for Macy's...."     

Big Jim posted:

Take a close look at the paint job, in particular the ladders.  Note how only the outer edge of the rungs have the same paint as the side where it is located.  The top of the rungs (or anything else that is not in a direct line of sight broadside) do not get the paint.  This follows the current Lionel painting practices.

That is due to the "ink jet" type of printing/painting Lionel has recently used on its made in USA boxcars.   It is weird.

I can buy a really nice Atlas box car with fantastic paint and graphics for $50. I can’t vilianize anybody for making tho, making money is an American tradition

That’s interesting. I thought Macy’s stopped stocking Lionel last year after they changed their buyer?

We visited Macy’s in NYC for Christmas 2016. Mason snagged the parade boxcar.

Also when I clicked the Macy’s website it automatically showed the price in GBP£.

Website now states Macy’s now ships to the U.K. 

Mind you it’s £70 for a boxcar

Nick

I got a confusing email from Macy’s a few minutes ago, seems like the car was cancelled.

Can’t find it on their website now either.

Sorry folks.

Personally I thought it was a very plain non appealing car anyways this year. The one I wanted was 2016. I actually ordered one and it went through my credit card and I got a confirmation number only to be emailed 2 Days later saying that it was out of stock and they refunded my money!

Train Nut posted:

Personally I thought it was a very plain non appealing car anyways this year. The one I wanted was 2016. I actually ordered one and it went through my credit card and I got a confirmation number only to be emailed 2 Days later saying that it was out of stock and they refunded my money!

Talk to Eddie G.....He can probably get you one for $25!

Sorry Eddie........Couldn't resist!

Simon

Someone is selling 3 of them on eBay for $105 each or best offer. They have pictures of the actual car so it appears that they were produced and possibly sold out. Maybe they’ll reappear on the website at some point if it’s an error at Macy’s.

Chris

Craignor posted:

I got a confusing email from Macy’s a few minutes ago, seems like the car was cancelled.

Can’t find it on their website now either.

Sorry folks.

Why all of the drama Craignor?
Show me where the Macy's site says anything about "Canceled"? All that I see is that the car is "currently unavailable".

Macy’s probably just made the smart decision to have Lionel produce what they thought they would sell before Thanksgiving. Based on the last run of parade cars. No Blowouts/lost money. The lionscale line setup seems to allow for short runs.  My  2 cents!

BTW the typing Lionel into the Macy’s search engine showed “0” results. 

And I got a UPS tracking number will be here Saturday so.......?

When I looked at my local newspaper online this morning, I got an ad for the 2018 Macy's Parade Boxcar.

Of course, when I tried to purchase it, I got the "unavailable" link.

Hopefully, it's just a glitch in their e-commerce system.

Lad Nagurney

wmcwood posted:

Macy’s probably just made the smart decision to have Lionel produce what they thought they would sell before Thanksgiving. Based on the last run of parade cars. No Blowouts/lost money. The lionscale line setup seems to allow for short runs.  My  2 cents!

BTW the typing Lionel into the Macy’s search engine showed “0” results. 

This isn’t the same production as the LionScale line.

For the non-LionScale Made in USA line, Lionel contracts with an unspecified American manufacturer to produce these plain-side boxcars (from old Lionel tooling) that are decorated in a special printing process that differs from Lionel’s other models. The graphics are generally more photo-like in design.

The LionScale models, by comparison, are partly produced at a Pennsylvania injection molding manufacturer from old Weaver tooling, then the shells are shipped to Lionel’s facility in North Carolina, where they are painted and assembled using trucks supplied from China. The lettering printed on the sides are more traditional in terms of design and process.

Anyone know the name of either of these American factories, and the location of the one that produces the cars with the fancy graphics?

Jim R. posted:

wmcwood posted:

Macy’s probably just made the smart decision to have Lionel produce what they thought they would sell before Thanksgiving. Based on the last run of parade cars. No Blowouts/lost money. The lionscale line setup seems to allow for short runs.  My  2 cents!

BTW the typing Lionel into the Macy’s search engine showed “0” results. 

This isn’t the same production as the LionScale line.

For the non-LionScale Made in USA line, Lionel contracts with an unspecified American manufacturer to produce these plain-side boxcars (from old Lionel tooling) that are decorated in a special printing process that differs from Lionel’s other models. The graphics are generally more photo-like in design.

The LionScale models, by comparison, are partly produced at a Pennsylvania injection molding manufacturer from old Weaver tooling, then the shells are shipped to Lionel’s facility in North Carolina, where they are painted and assembled using trucks supplied from China. The lettering printed on the sides are more traditional in terms of design and process.

Anyone know the name of either of these American factories, and the location of the one that produces the cars with the fancy graphics?

Not sure if this company is still involved, there are photos of Lionel items on their webpage.

https://www.blueridgeind.com/

I got an email yesterday that my parade car had arrived at my local Macy's store. Picked it up today.

My order arrived at my house yesterday.   

I got mine from Ebay, good thing too because I never heard another word about my Macy's order.

I like the car, might be the best looking one I have seen yet.

Late to this thread, but I just clicked the link.  The cars are still available so I placed an order, paid and got a confirmation email.  Maybe there was a restock or a second run? 

I checked here and on eBay in November but couldn't find any info, then bam, while looking at Prewar Macy's sets on eBay this morning I saw the new boxcar listed and sold for for over $100.  The ugly brown one from 2016 went for $160.  I have all of them, just couldn't pass this one up. 

Strange marketing on these boxcars through the years, it has always been a struggle. It seems the only way to get information is from the forum.  Thanks again OGR! 

They've been $84 for a month now at Macy's site.  Thought the price would have been lowered by now.

As a footnote, they were still $84 on the Macy's site up til Thanksgiving.  Now it is no longer on the site.