Well, at least one of our wallets is in for a world of hurt: MINE.
Between the Amtrak Cabbages, the CSX business train (I wish one of the F40s was a dummy at least), the 1218, the rocket train idler car pack, and an assortment of unique cars like the chapel car, and various cars that would fill in some gaps (Amtrak heritage diner, Ford Mustang boxcar, RailBox, ADM), I'm in trouble. I suppose I should count my blessings that a legacy (or God forbid a Vision) 1309 or Amtrak Charger or Sprinter wasn't in the catalog. The Base3 is tempting, although there's no "killer" feature that's pushing it to the top of my list.
As for the catalog itself, I think it was a good showing. There was a good mix of scale and semi-scale, and there were some good, positive, creative new liveries. I'm delighted to see that Lionel bought the MTH rocket train tooling. I hope some of the other unique MTH toolings found homes, too (European steam, Aerotrain, etc). I think the Atlantics look good, I was glad to see some Doodlebugs (although I wish they had at least TMCC capability, which they don't), and those 0-4-0 slopebacks are tempting.
As for areas that I think could be improved, I really wish the Lionel would specifically call out which "new" products are acquired MTH toolings just so those of us who are familiar with that tooling can gauge how those items would mesh into our existing collections. I'm also confused by the All New Product banner--it's on items like the 1218, which is brand new, but it's also on things like the Berkshire, which Lionel has produced before. Maybe it's just new liveries or new road numbers? I wish they'd be more clear about that. I also noticed that there's a "New Tooling" label on the 2-10-4, but it's completely missing from the 1218 spread. I wonder if this was a mistake, or if the 2-10-4 is, in fact, new tooling.
And lastly, the Cab3 app situation doesn't seem to be fully baked yet, and I'm worried about the direction in which it may head. Firstly, there's no mention as to whether or not it's a universal app for iOS devices (meaning it works on iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads) or if it's just an iPhone/iPod touch app. The screenshots and abstract don't mention iPads at all, and that's concerning if this is supposed to replace the LCS app, especially given the minimal amount of effort it takes to add iPad optimization. Even more concerning, however, is that it appears that the new Cab3 app won't control legacy/TMCC engines without the Base3. I hope I'm terribly mistaken about that, but if it's true, and if Lionel doesn't update the iCab or LCS apps (iPhone and iPad, respectively), those apps are woefully out of date and I'm worried that they may stop working on future versions of iOS. Again, I hope I'm wrong and that the new Cab3 app will work with the older legacy hardware.
Bottom line, though, I'm in for some new rolling stock, and I'm excited.
Rafi
