Got this in my junk mail cache which to some might seem appropriate. A baseball themed series of sets? Wow, a kind of Franklin Mint mindset? Am I the only one who thinks this makeover of the Polar Express is just weird? Obscure combinations? Why do they go after this sort of fringe collectible market? Reuse of leftover stock? I can see expanding the market but this one seems pretty bizarro..lol.
Replies sorted oldest to newest
There is a sucker born every minute. Sports fans will buy the dumbest crap and Lionel knows it. So why not feed off of it?
How about a juice tanker or refer car?
I got a good chuckle out of seeing these offerings but I imagined that Lionel loyalists with their long wishlists going in the opposite direction are asking what kind of medications their product development folks are on. 
They seemed to have their wires crossed in a pretty amusing and goofy "seriousness" that struck me as a kind of a entertaining dementia.
I can think of better ideas!
How about the NKP 765 special-a junior Berkshire with 3 baby Madison cars. Or a W&LE special-junior Berk, freight cars and a bay window caboose. Even a Mayberry special--junior Berk lettered for Winston-Salem Southbound, Acme(Wally's filling station)gas stanker, Weaver's Dept. Store boxcar, Aunt Bee's pickles pickle car, Fletch's feed & grain hopper, Miracle Salve boxcar, Otis Campbell distilling tanker,and a bay window caboose lettered for WSS.
Come on, Lionel! You can do better!
for the European market, shipped with steroid laced smoke fluid, they will eventually bulk up to 1:45 scale.
Here's my favorite bizzaro combo for baseball fans who know the history of the ever losing Cubs..a commemorative collectible..take your ever disappointed fans on a steam excursion decorated like a circus train. Whooweee..Cheapen the brand? Nah...maybe they will make a scale version. 
Here's my favorite bizzaro combo for baseball fans who know the history of the ever losing Cubs..a commemorative collectible..take your ever disappointed fans on a steam excursion decorated like a circus train. Whooweee..Cheapen the brand? Nah...maybe they will make a scale version.
When will the Cubs set arrive? Wait 'till next year!
Rusty
Rusty
Maybe they thought it was a good match that the Cubs set runs in circles.
Honestly though this is a clear example of people at Lionel that are "Marketing experts" thinking they can sell multiple "toy junk" to the masses and they will buy it up (i.e. Nascar Sets), when they should be focusing on new product that will apeal to train people. Who buys this stuff?
Oh well I see another blow out on these... I wonder if they will make a red wing set in the future?
When MTH was pitching their major league themed stuff, how did that do in the marketplace?
Here's another idea: the Orioles Express-B & O junior Mikado, Esskay reefer, Natty Boh reefer, Schmidt's Blue Ribbon bread covered hopper, Orioles boxcar, Royal Farms gasoline tanker, and a B&O bay window caboose.
Hey I know 3 guys who bought the Phillies set and they stink. But always remember there is something for everybody. Besides I bet you their kids love them.
J Daddy you are right, I do wish they would invest their time and money into new tooling and designs for us train guys.
I think it's so bad, it's good like the model train equivalent of Cheese Wiz that's priced like several good steak dinners. Maybe it's the equal of Marie Antoinette saying let em eat cake..lol..Maybe they can come out with a motorized golf ball. 
Clubs come with an add on set.
If I found one on blowout I would probably buy a Yankees set, leave it sealed in the box, and put it on a shelf as a novelty item. I suspect many fans of the teams produced will do the same.
Just be happy Lionel isn't in the cookies and cocoa business anymore...
Here's another idea: the Orioles Express-B & O junior Mikado, Esskay reefer, Natty Boh reefer, Schmidt's Blue Ribbon bread covered hopper, Orioles boxcar, Royal Farms gasoline tanker, and a B&O bay window caboose.
Not an altogether bad idea. What about marketing "regional"train sets? For the Baltimore area a Canton RR locomotive and caboose, Natty Boh tanker, Old Bay boxcar, Pollack Johnnys reefer, Orioles boxcar, Ravens boxcar maybe even a John Waters mint car.
Sets like these while not prototypical certainly would have more appeal than a circus train looking baseball set.
Jerry
As much as I would never be interested in a set like this, I don't think it's a bad idea (didn't MTH do this too?). Let's say the average Yankees fan sees this set, and thinks that it would be something nice to have under the tree at Christmas time (to go along with the baseball ornaments). Now, Lionel has another family with a train, to by more track, accessories, and maybe even another set, depending how the family members like it.
It could end up bringing more young people to the hobby.
There is a sucker born every minute. Sports fans will buy the dumbest crap and Lionel knows it. So why not feed off of it?
Sounds about the way that MTH used to think about us Pittsburghers and anything Pittsburgh related, huh? . They found one in me that's for sure!
- walt
There is a sucker born every minute. Sports fans will buy the dumbest crap and Lionel knows it. So why not feed off of it?
Sounds about the way that MTH used to think about us Pittsburghers and anything Pittsburgh related, huh? . They found one in me that's for sure!
Apologies about commenting on something outside the scope of your original post electroliner.
- walt
They never learn, do they? They've been selling screwy stuff for 113 years . . .
We can look at this a different way, though. The operative words here are "been selling." They're in business to sell trains, and they have been making "screwy stuff" (depending on the eye of the beholder) because people buy it. There are some misses (the famous Postwar "Girl's Train" for one), but more often than not it's been economically viable to do these things. They certainly don't go into things with the attitude of "Let's do this because we're pretty sure it will lose money."
A few years ago there was discussion about the best selling Lionel items of that particular year, and Nassau Hobbies posted about what the best-sellers had been. I remember being quite amazed. They were not at all what I thought they would be. It was obvious that Lionel knew their market a lot better than I did!
J Daddy you are right, I do wish they would invest their time and money into new tooling and designs for us train guys.
Just to take a different slant, there's been plenty of discussion about "us train guys" being a dying breed. Lionel may have determined that devoting all their resources to supporting that demographic won't assure them of a future.
Rather than berate Lionel for trying additional marketing ploys, perhaps we should applaud them for making efforts to appeal to new market segments and expand their base. Just another point of view.
Hey, people buy sports-team themed stuff, including trains.
Me? I'd be most interested in a Biogenisis Drug Scandal Commemorative Train Set - you know, with a syringe car, and a bio-supplements pills car, a drug lab car, a Pete Rose retirement car, a commissioner of baseball arbitration courtroom car, and a sleeper and lounge cars with comfy accommodations for, oh, perhaps a couple dozen players on an excursion trip lasting - what - maybe "50 games" to a full season?
Frank53, I just love your comment. So few words, yet says so much.
As much as I would never be interested in a set like this, I don't think it's a bad idea (didn't MTH do this too?). Let's say the average Yankees fan sees this set, and thinks that it would be something nice to have under the tree at Christmas time (to go along with the baseball ornaments). Now, Lionel has another family with a train, to by more track, accessories, and maybe even another set, depending how the family members like it.
It could end up bringing more young people to the hobby.
You hit the nail on the head Michael. It's been said time and time again that not every set that Lionel or MTH makes is geared towards existing hobbyist. We all have a list of ideas that WE THINK that should be made or would keep us happy. Only the manufactures have the true numbers of what sells, what doesn't, and what gets new blood involved. My guess is the train sets that are bringing people in are not equipped with Legacy or the latest features. These sets are about exposing folks to toy trains. There are room for these types of sets, and high end sets in the market. It's all about balance.
Back in the early MPC days, Lionel did a series of MLB and NBA boxcars, so this is really nothing new.
Whether the MLB sets work out for Lionel or not, only time will tell. Somebody at the Circle L Ranch is either a genius or his head will be rolling... (Hey! How's about an A-Rod Mint Car...)
I may cringe when I see stuff like this, but I ain't a-buyin' none of it, so I don't really worry about it and flip the catalog page.
Rusty
A box car ok... maybe I am game, if I am a Tigers fan I'll pick one up, but a whole train set? and an 027 set at that? Come on....
Sure you may see one signed an autographed in 2020 but its just wall art at that point.
Hung at the temple / shrine in the man cave....
Lets not forget that Lionel is a primarily a toy company. While some of the other manufacturers cater primarily to modelers and others looking for more realism, Lionel serves both markets. Think back to when you were a kid. If you were a big baseball fan and also into trains what would be your reaction then to a train that celebrated both of your passions. Toys are about fun. Just ask the guys that are into tinplate. There is a lot of artistic license there.
I don't take any of this seriously otherwise maybe I would need to be medicated. It just struck me as a goofy concept among many, a niche within a niche. Baseball trains struck me as simply as a kind of oddball creation among oddball creations, nothing more, nothing less. I really don't think this set will result in a flood of newcomers, or off put loyalists to cross out Lionel. That's way too much rationalizing over a goofy concept for me personally. I got a chuckle about it. A healthy sense of irony and humor helps ease the jitters over these wacky sets.
I don't take any of this seriously otherwise maybe I would need to be medicated. It just struck me as a goofy concept among many, a niche within a niche. Baseball trains struck me as simply as a kind of oddball creation among oddball creations, nothing more, nothing less. I really don't think this set will result in a flood of newcomers, or off put loyalists to cross out Lionel. That's way too much rationalizing over a goofy concept for me personally. I got a chuckle about it.
I agree it is funny, however frustrating too when you consider Lionel could have put the same effort into something else and made more money at it.
Like how about producing some undec. PS-1 box cars for us to add our favorite road name too. there is no investment required!
JDaddy
I think this is my favorite example of over the top marketing, and I can't explain why, but every time I see it, I get a chuckle. I can understand and appreciate your point of view but for every scale model there's a totally whacked out undersea exploration set. A kind of entertaining schizophrenic vision that's so over the top, it's maybe more unique in a way that's just plain goofiness. Sometimes when I look at this I think "cartoons"..I guess better a chuckle once in a while.
On a more serious note, maybe I am naive but why not get together with like minded folks and get a special run made?
Assuming the baseball sets make money (and I am not saying they will) perhaps next couple years you will be seeing NFL sets? Decorated for your favorite team, with a baggage/equipment car, a coach, a sleeper, a snack car/medic car (for proper treatment of those concussions), followed by an owner's observation car. They say that football has overtaken baseball, so if the MLB sets make money, would NFL sets also make money? It all seems a bit crazy to me, but I would probably buy a Minnesota Vikings set just because I am a bit crazy myself.
On the other hand, I don't need any more PRR or NYC sets or locomotives. If the baseball sets are offered at blow-outs, I might buy one and redecorate it.
I am waiting for The Sponge Bob Set..
No worse than cars painted for Hershey candy, Disney, John Deere, Popscicles, Vodka, Coors Silver Bullet trains, etc. It's all crap in my eyes, but some folks enjoy these offerings, so more power to them.
Now, if you want to rant about something, I'd go after those Lionel branded battery operated junk plastic sets that you see in Barnes and Noble and other retailers.
MTH already did one.
I am waiting for The Sponge Bob Set..
I'm one of the biggest Yankee fans on this board and I wouldn't buy it. I already have the Mth subway set and the A.L./ N.L. boxcars from the'70's. As far as the Nascar stuff goes, why would anyone who's into auto racing want a train set, when they could buy an auto race set? And aren't racing sets what killed sales of trainsets in the '60's? Why would Lionel want to encourage that again?
MartyE
Now I have to check that out!..my imagination is running a muck.
Bruce
I am waiting for The Sponge Bob Set..
That's been done:
Talking about selling screwy stuff for 113 years - there are probably a lot more consumers out there thinking a $1000+ legacy steamer is far screwier (more screwy) than a baseball train, than the other way around.
It would be fun to see the sales numbers and profit generated for Lionel's offerings.
Talking about selling screwy stuff for 113 years - there are probably a lot more consumers out there thinking a $1000+ legacy steamer is far screwier (more screwy) than a baseball train, than the other way around.
It would be fun to see the sales numbers and profit generated for Lionel's offerings.
I think only the wives that see us spend money on these things...
JayJay
Check out the scale backdrop...this set really pops out, as a bizarre sort of mix and match between realism and fantasy with a strong taste of irony. I like it. Reminds me of my own layout, or Thor's tinscale concept. Not for all tastes.
Access to this requires an OGR Forum Supporting Membership
