What I don't like about some of the new train sets!

But then, this is all based on the assumption that you buy a brand new set. I for one would not give a pre-teen child a high tech expensive  toy. Yes, $150  or so is rather expensive in my book for a kid's toy. I would either search out nice individual postwar or MPC era pieces and build a set or look for a decent MPC era set to give a kid. Marx or early K-line stuff would also work.

 

If I was someone who didn't know trains looking for a set for my kid, one of the sub $100 HO sets would probably get my eye for a starter set. Which is what my folks bought me for my first train when I was 12 years old. 

Yep, Texas Pete hit the nail on the head regarding my PE purchase; I didn't know a fraction then of what I know now - plain clueless.  Maybe that is the state of most newbies.  Now, since I got bitten, I learned a lot more about where I want to go with a layout; most of that from this forum.  I worked backwards from the videos of the Big Boy and C&O Berkshire into the world of control requirements.

RickM46

 

I think I would still go with O gauge for a kids first set just because it will hold up better to small hands that may be rough with it. Getting the train back on the track for the inevitable derailment would be less frustrating with a larger gauge as well.  You can still find inexpensive engines,rolling stock and track that won't break the bank. 

I personally am not going to debate on stater sets. I've bought plenty of them over the years and find the quality gets better and better. Yes, Lionel uses more plastic in their set construction than does MTH, but Lionel sets cost less... a big consideration for the brand new novice customer.

 

I have yet to own a LionChief set, but from the videos I have seen, the sounds are very impressive. The whistle on the LionChief Scout 2-4-2 steam set is impressive for a starter set.

 

From listening to interviews and product presentations with the Lionel management team, they never intended either LionChief or LionChief+ to be LegacyMinus.

 

I saw this video today. Not a Hollywood production, but remember this is a kid. He really likes his Lionel set, though hopefully Owen will figure out it's not a good idea to keep the extra locomotive sitting directly on the carpet.

 

This, I believe is who Lionel had in mind for this new technology in starter sets.

 

Ralph Kramden made $62.50 a week as a NYC bus driver on the Honeymooners. That was close to the cost of a Lionel train set in the 50's.

 

S0ooo, what does a NYC bus driver make today? Say $25 bucks an hour (I have no idea), that's $1,000 bucks a week.

 

Using that example, $150 for a set today is way cheaper than it was in the fifties.

Fortunately for Ralph and other '50's folks, Marx put out some really nice trains for a fraction of what a Lionel set cost.

 

To paraphrase Archie and Edith Bunker, "Mr, we could use a man like Louis Marx again!"

My brother and I had Marx and only Marx.  I remember Lionel was just too expensive for us, or most of our friends.  It was sort of the Cadillac of toy trains and we were more like Pontiac-Chevy people.

The biggest problem I see with the Lionchief sets are the remote that only runs that locomotive.  The remote breaks on the child playing with the train or the dog crews up the remote the train is dead until you get another identical remote.  With the wait for the slow boat from China and Lionel's shipping schedule you could be waiting months for that remote.  By that time the child has moved on to something else so Dad gets to play with that train set or box it up. What happens 5 years down the road when the remote dies and Lionel doesn't make them anymore & there's no more in inventory.  You take your chances trying to buy the right remote here on the forum,  E-Bay or Craiglist. You better buy a couple extra right now!

Good points as is the issue with not wanting several remotes when you already have a Legacy or DCS system.

This is why I believe Lionel should explore the benefit to the LionChief line if they made a multi-train  remote which could be paired to any LionChief engine. It'd make it easier to replace a broken remote, increase accessory sales, encourage extra locomotive sales,  and a single additional remote may not be as objectionable to some of those already operating a full feature control system.

They can be run on a TMCC or Legacy layout.

       
       


I think he means with the ability to control them from a CAB-1 or -2.  While that would be ideal,  evidently the cost to make them so would shift these starter sets out of their intended price range.   And that target price range in addition to the sets themselves not intended with the established hobbyist group that the majority of us comprise of in mind.