What Was Lionel Thinking?

Electroliner, I think you're on to something there.  I can see it now - the Sponge Bob train set featuring:

• Post-war GP9 in coral pink (be sure to use 1950s dies for that mal-formed glob effect and gets rid of all those dumb girl's trains)
• Tartar Sauce 3-dome tank car
• POFC (Pineapple on Flat Car)
• Squidward and Sandy Cheeks flat car
• Krabby Patty operating gondola (Mr. Krabs and Plankton chase each other for the secret Krabby Patty formula)
• Aquarium car
• Flying Dutchman ship on flat car
• Patrick talking caboose ("I used to be one of the beautiful people.", "Time to go jelly fishing", etc.)

Ding, ding, ding.  I think we have a winner!!!

George

I am waiting for this set in scale proportions! It makes more sense than the sponge bob set...

We could have a contest for the most over the top, jump the shark train set. The winner gets an honorary Chuggington badge.

How about an NBA set with a animated Shaq flatcar, throwing hoops, a scoreboard car, a fan car with jumping up and down fans, a chasing ref car..being pursued by the coach?

But in SpongeBob's world they have trains in Bikini Bottom!

Makes me yearn for a crabby patty..Wait a minute..is Mr Crabs a cannibal? Egads.

Too late, MTH already did Sponge Bob.

Sponge Bob

Sponge Bob 2

Rusty

Probably sports fans AND model train fans fall into that generalization at one time or another.  It all depends on the viewer's perspective.  The 15 years ago me would be asking myself now "why the heck are you spending that amount of money on a toy train?"  Come to think of it, at times now, I need a little more of the former me.

I agree with those that say Lionel is trying to fish for some new customers and despite what you might think of trying to tie in sports licensing and trains, at least Lionel made a good decision in using the baby berk engine.  It has a proven record for reliability with the Polar Express sets and has significant detail and heft that greatly surpasses some of those diesel starter sets Lionel put out about 5 years ago at Target and Wal-Mart.  I hope the product line makes money, even if we see a small number of specific roadnames on blowout next spring.

Oh, Tartar Sauce!

Geez Rusty, I was more inventive! 

George

Put me down for one. I love Chuggington. 

Personally products like this from Lionel or any other train manufacturer are something that has no appeal to me, even if they come out with a Braves set (been a Braves fan since they were in Boston). Lionel obviously believes there is a market for these sets, so who am I to pass judgement as to whether it is good or bad business decision for them.

Let the acceptance or lack thereof of products like this be the deciding factor.

How about a Boat Car for Boating School?

Squidward fancies himself an artist. A Bandstand could feature him playing his clarinet. He could also paint a billboard to make ends meet.

I can see an Aquarium Car with purple jellyfish swimming inside.

Ernest Borgnine was the voice of Mermaid Man; Tim Conway, Barnacle Boy. Let's have a MerCave that shoots out a car with both figures inside.

If there were going to do a set then they should emulate something with more popularity with the adults:

The oportunities could be endless on this one... a car for each character, operating gilligan clutz car, flat car with bamboo pedal car... a gold bullion car for mr. and mrs. Howel....  don't  hold back now!

Gee, theses MLB baseball sets were cataloged back in the Spring.  Why the outcry now?  It may not be as stupid an idea as some of you think!  Given that our hobby embraces everyone from scale, rivit-counting purists, to those of us who run Halloween & Christmas-themed trains, I find nothing wrong here.  What if you are an O-gauger, like me, who happens to be a FAN of one of these teams?  I'll get the one for "my" team.  I'm happy Lionel decided to include it among those offered.  Obviously Lionel had free range & chose the teams it thought will have the most sales clout in areas where O is most popular (thus no Dodgers or Braves sets).   Come on, "can't we all just get along?"   :&lt

Trouble is, it would only run for 3 hours...

Rusty

When you see some inside information that a manufacturer may only make 500 to 1000 of a particular item and can most likely turn a profit, making these baseball related (or any other related item) sets probably fits into their profit picture.  They can probably sell enough of these to make a profit.

This isn't my type of purchase but I think the people on this board are too narrow sighted outside of their own viewpoint.  How many active posters are on here?  Probably 100 to 200.  That type of size won't sustain any company.  If there 10,000 (my guess) active O guage train people, this board does not represent this group.  It only represents a certain group of hard core people that post here.

A three rail Oscar Meyer Wiener styled locomotive, complete with bun, glowing mustard, relish and ketchup cars would suit me. Rotating pizza car? Must be close to dinner..Au Jus tank car for Italian beefs? A flaming, smoking BBQ car? Got to go get some food..

Maybe not technically one called barbecue yet, but there have been quite a few smoking tank cars done by MTH.

As explained by Todd Wagner a few months ago on another thread, what we all think is great may be a financial loser and vice versa.

Many here keep lamenting the loss of Lionmaster offerings recently.  Todd gave very specific reasons for why that series was a loser for Lionel.  I'd bet if he chimed in here he would probably explain that these things (baseball, cartoons, etc) in the past have made more money than the latest odd ball engine ever could.

-Dave

Dave

My tongue was firmly in cheek. Got the oven warming for a pizza..I don't take this seriously, per my overall comments. I don't know of Todd, but again, this may be important to some kind of serious discussion. If so, I bow out gracefully. 

Bruce

Todd was previously employed by Lionel for quite a few years(I think Marketing Manager or something close to that was his title). 

I think in one of the posts in the thread I'm thinking of, there may have even been a link to a TCA quarterly story on when he was hired at Lionel.

-Dave

Major League Baseball and trains do mix.

There is an operating replica of an old steam locomotive at the Houston Astros' Minute Maid Park. It runs on a 800 ft track when Astros' players hit home runs or the Astros' win.

I've never been there, but from what I have read, the stadium incorporates the old Union Station and the stadium is railroad themed.

Lionel could make this train with a General locomotive, but would need to change the load in the tender to Minute Maid oranges.

Here is a link to a photo of the stadium on Wikipedia. You can see the train on the wall near left field.

I do wish Lionel luck with this, but if their previous NASCAR trains were to be used as an indicator, well...

trestainfan:

Ah, Minute Maid Park, one of the nicest of the Major League ballparks. Great place to watch a ballgame. The center outfield with the rise in deep center is a little unusual, but I really like this ballpark. The train is a real plus, but with the Astros, unfortunately it does not get used a lot.

There is a fabulous hotel just across the street from the ballpark. It is called the Inn at the Ballpark and it is first rate in every respect. If you need a hotel in Houston, go there, you will not be disappointed.

And I agree, a Minute Maid Ballpark train would be nice.

Trains can go around in circles for hours........so wheres the problem?

..didn't see or here that one coming...ever.......stupid goat curse.

..."no bump'in"...bump'in is racin...and no danika figure.

One of the things that I love about O gauge is that I can run everything from my Coors Light train to scale equipment.  The first set I bought when I got into O gauge was an MTH Ohio Stare set.  I loved the sounds and smoke, and it got me hooked on O gauge. MTH hooked me, and I now own multiple scale engines in addition to several other fantasy scheme engines.  I don't know if I would be as deep into O gauge if I hadn't bought that first fantasy set. 

next year it will be Baseball Fallen Flags...

Washington Senators

St Louis Browns

Philadelphia Atheletics

Brooklyn Dodgers

Boston Braves

Why worry abount another fantasy paint scheme(s). After all Polar Express is fantasy, Right?

Passenger Train Collector:

Thanks for the info on Minute Maid Field. It sounds like it would make a fun weekend trip to see a ballgame at a neat field with a nice hotel in the same area.

The Nascar sets surprised me.  I still see stacks of the cars from the add on sets being blown out at train shows.  The drivers change teams so often that by the time it comes out the brands/numbers/colors wont match.  This batch of locomotives will be much harder to paint black.  I saw at least on vendor doing that.  The Dale Jr. National Guard set will probably sell, I will be surprised on the others.  But I have been surprised many times before. 

I think the Sponge Bob set was a great.  Hook the kids while they are young.  I would have thought there would have been some tie in with the Garfield move.  In it Jon had a very nice Lionel layout that kind of figured in to the plot.  I figured Lionel paid to get the layout in.  

Only if you cannot hear the bell ring. 

Only if you cannot hear the bell ring. 

What...I cant hear you over this train. Its making my ears ring.

Hey, Im seeing a pattern here, trains about sports, that "travel" counter clockwise.  

Does Lionel have to pay the sports team to use their name/logo or does the sports team pay Lionel for the "sudo" advertisement?

If Lionel has to pay, then I feel thats a waste of money better applied elsewhere.

Conversersely, does Lionel and MTH do this because these products sell BIG and thus subsidize Lionel and MTH for more realistic and historical applications?

I would hate to thing, both Lionel and MTH continue to produce these products because some marketing mucky muck "thinks" they will sell big...someday, but rather because thay are indeed selling and making them money, which is a good thing.

I am personaly not into sports type trains, but I am sure many might be. And thats fine.

No.

The real Polar Express

More like maybe.

The Polar express existed in book form long before the movie and relettering the 1225.  Plus in the book, the locomotive is a Pacific, so in a way, the "prototype" is not faithful to the original.  A fantasy of a fantasy.

Rusty

What about the Wizard of Oz set?  There was nothing even loosely connected to trains in that movie.

I think Lionel should do a SMURFS set.

I  cringe every time I see these crappy licensed sets. 

How about a Petticoat Junction set?   Sam Drucker's General Store boxcar, Shady Rest Hotel combine and coach?

Is not part of Houston's Minute Maid park, part of the old train station that was incorporated into the new stadium?

Tyco offered one in HO way back in 1966-67.

Rusty