From our friends on the 3-rail Side as reported from the LCCA convention:
"American Flyer Ready to Run Starter Set
**American Flyer sales have been through the roof!!! This is the fastest growing segment in the model railroading industry. Look for huge increases and excellent sales opportunities in 2013."
Read into it what you will.
Rusty
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Okay... as related to the text after the double asterisks...I think it's called hyperbole. 
It's a real low roof, anyways...
Rusty
Regardless, depending on the source it sounds promising.
From our friends on the 3-rail Side as reported from the LCCA convention:
"American Flyer Ready to Run Starter Set
**American Flyer sales have been through the roof!!! This is the fastest growing segment in the model railroading industry. Look for huge increases and excellent sales opportunities in 2013."
Read into it what you will.
Rusty
Mixed signals. Southern Crescent canceled. Northern prices on the secondary market climbing.
Might be "fastest growing" at a time when everything else is flat. Perhaps a fastrack starter set will be a great success. And a little competition from the Other Guy surely won't hurt.
I do wonder why a "Flyer Classics" line -- like Williams "Golden Memories", etc. was not attempted. Sure, Lionel outsold Gilbert 3:1, but even 1/3 of Lionel's postwar production was a LOT.
I do wonder why a "Flyer Classics" line -- like Williams "Golden Memories", etc. was not attempted. Sure, Lionel outsold Gilbert 3:1, but even 1/3 of Lionel's postwar production was a LOT.
Give them time, I'm reasonably sure that Lionel will reintroduce some "Classic Flyer" sets eventually. There were some reproduction passenger sets done in the 1980's and 1990's: UP Pony Express, Mopac Set, Northern Pacific North Coast Limited, Silver Flash, to name a few.
Rusty
I do wonder why a "Flyer Classics" line -- like Williams "Golden Memories", etc. was not attempted. Sure, Lionel outsold Gilbert 3:1, but even 1/3 of Lionel's postwar production was a LOT.
Give them time, I'm reasonably sure that Lionel will reintroduce some "Classic Flyer" sets eventually. There were some reproduction passenger sets done in the 1980's and 1990's: UP Pony Express, Mopac Set, Northern Pacific North Coast Limited, Silver Flash, to name a few.
Rusty
I love those sets, but they're all examples of high-priced production aimed at the "collector market." Williams and the Lionel "Conventional Classics" were aimed at the enthusiast/operator and certainly Williams at least did well in this market. So, one idea would be for many road names on, say, the Gilbert Hudson paired with the old Heavyweights. No fancy electronics, just some tweaking as Lionel did with the Northern releases (and at a very attractive street price).
I do wonder why a "Flyer Classics" line -- like Williams "Golden Memories", etc. was not attempted. Sure, Lionel outsold Gilbert 3:1, but even 1/3 of Lionel's postwar production was a LOT.
Give them time, I'm reasonably sure that Lionel will reintroduce some "Classic Flyer" sets eventually. There were some reproduction passenger sets done in the 1980's and 1990's: UP Pony Express, Mopac Set, Northern Pacific North Coast Limited, Silver Flash, to name a few.
Rusty
I love those sets, but they're all examples of high-priced production aimed at the "collector market." Williams and the Lionel "Conventional Classics" were aimed at the enthusiast/operator and certainly Williams at least did well in this market. So, one idea would be for many road names on, say, the Gilbert Hudson paired with the old Heavyweights. No fancy electronics, just some tweaking as Lionel did with the Northern releases (and at a very attractive street price).
EVERYTHING in the 1980's-1990's Lionel/Flyer line was aimed at the collector's market. The cancelled 1988 Hudsons had an MSRP of $450! If I remember correctly, all that the Hudsons were to have was an electronic reverse unit and smoke.
Take a look at the new Williams by Bachmann prices, they're getting up there too. The 2046 small Hudson reproduction now lists for $430 and a 4 car Madison set for $300.
I really wouldn't expect a Flyer equivalent to weigh in for much less nowadays, seeing that the complete tooling for the Hudson or old heavyweights either doesn't exist anymore or requires a lot of refurbishment.
Granted, you could say street price would be lower, but because of price variations of various dealers, one has to use the MSRP as a basis for comparison.
Rusty
EVERYTHING in the 1980's-1990's Lionel/Flyer line was aimed at the collector's market. The cancelled 1988 Hudsons had an MSRP of $450! If I remember correctly, all that the Hudsons were to have was an electronic reverse unit and smoke.
Take a look at the new Williams by Bachmann prices, they're getting up there too. The 2046 small Hudson reproduction now lists for $430 and a 4 car Madison set for $300.
Thanks for that price on the 1988 Hudson. I did some rough estimates: $450 in 1988 would be $875 today (and the Northern MSRP was only $450 in 2006). Also, 2046 plus Madison set converts to a 1988 price of $225 + $150, making it seem much more reasonable. There are an awful lot of 2046s & 646s out there, but operators keep buying more.
From our friends on the 3-rail Side as reported from the LCCA convention:
"American Flyer Ready to Run Starter Set
**American Flyer sales have been through the roof!!! This is the fastest growing segment in the model railroading industry. Look for huge increases and excellent sales opportunities in 2013."
Read into it what you will.
Rusty
I dropped TCA to get away from collecting über alles..
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