No.
No. I think issues reported here are over-represented (and often handled incorrectly) but nevertheless they are too frequent and serious to be dismissed. I have also experienced serious quality lapses myself with stuff bought for the kids. Had a real debacle a couple of Christmases ago that won’t be repeated. I wish those who order best of luck and hope Lionel turns it around. I think there are good people there who are trying.
No. Got no Yard nor shelf space
.
I pre-ordered in 2018 and my UP 1943 SD70ACe came with a pathetic "touched up" paint job. Nice thing is the Charles Ro stood behind the sale and provided a replacement but of course I paid for shipping back. They also took back the ADM 30K tankers (EOT, and Railsounds) that had quality issues but the reason I did not go for replacement is these new trucks. I have a layout full of Standard O freight with actual sprung trucks and hidden uncoupling tabs. I will not buy any new rolling stock with "sprung looking" trucks and thumbtack uncouplers. So I am going to lay off the 2019 catalogue.
I do not preorder. My LHS usually buys extras and I always go in right away when something is shipped from Lionel that I want. That way I can see it, test run it and verify no issues before I even lay down my Credit Card.
If for some reason they sell out before I get there, it is ok. There is always something else coming next year.
Plus, I may change my mind while waiting for whatever it is and this way my LHS doesn't preorder something for me I may not want anymore.
Oh and if there are issues after I get it home. I RETURN IT FOR AN EXCHANGE OR REFUND!
I still to this day do not know why anyone would send something into Lionel Service if they JUST purchased it and it is defective out of the box. Most places have at least a minimum 2 week return/exchange policy with the big guys being 30 days.
If they don't have anymore, then just get a refund or credit and live without it.
I have never "pre-ordered" anything. And I don't intend to start.
No. I don't trust Lionel.
NO !
When the new catalogs are released, its always enjoyable for me to look at them and create a want list. The 2018 Big Book has a few engines that have a link to the Pacific Northwest: the Spokane, Portland & Seattle FA's and the Milwaukee Road Bi-Polar. While both engines will get serious consideration, budget concerns will need me to select only one, most likely the Bi-Polar.
Regarding the quality issues, I have no concerns, I have a great dealer to work with, Eastside Trains, in Kirkland and the items that I have purchased over the last several years have not needed servicing (both "issues"that I did encounter were things I could deal with and I posted on the Forum how I handled them). I think that sharing of ideas, workarounds and fixes are strengths of the OGR Forum. I have learned so much on how to fix and service my equipment from the OGR Forum. In many ways, this is a cottage industry, and sharing of knowledge is one way we can improve our enjoyment.
I have no issues with pre-order but like many I wait for product to hit my favorite train store since the product is in stock and ready to go. I do have one car on pre-order and have been waiting quite a while for it.
If the train store never gets the product I want in then hopefully it shows up somewhere else.
Joe
There is a leveling factor that needs to be outed:
At night, while watching my TV programs, with lights out in the living room, I startup the new Lionel Penn E6 with sounds off via Aux1 and 4 and like how quietly it makes its way around the oval; the H10 was the same; marvel at how so many parts came together; life is good.
As Roseanne Roseannadanna said - there's always something. So, glad to be in the hobby now along with successes and issues.
First and foremost, I am so thankful for the folks at OGR, Sponsoring The OGR Forum allowing us to discuss our feelings concerning this important subject. Yes, it’s very frustrating getting an expensive Diesel or Steam Locomotive that has issues and sometimes we tend to complain here on the OGR Forum, or other social media. I think it’s time to also tell folks on the OGR Forum and social media how Thankful We are to be offered these wonderful Electronically made Feature Rich fun to Run Toys. Lionel, MTH, Sunset 3Rd Rail, Atlas O, and others Menards, Ross Trackage, Gargraves Trackage, and small companies with parts and devices to enhance our engines performances, the TM Buffer and so many devices that make our Toy Train Control so much more Fun....The books, OGR Magazine, CTT Magazine, and the Company catalogs, makes this hobby so much more enjoyable. This is the Best Of Times, we are Blessed even though sometimes we think the glass is half empty, when it’s really half Full.
Farmerjohn has a great idea, come back to America, you can tell by his pen name he is a Farmer. Well, he depends on the weather, the economy, works hard all year to produce crops that we eat, what if it’s a Drought, who is responsible? His layout is simply awesome and we love seeing his trains run endlessly in time....I understand his frustration. Although we cannot predict tomorrow, we, we can live for today and enjoy what we have. I TO would pay more if Our Manufacturers would bring back American Quality, our voices surely have been heard, Loud and Clear.
I can see many folks here really like the new Lionel Catalog, and it’s crammed full of really desirable merchandise. I plan to order many new cars and an engine or to, and I hope many of you all will to. It’s the best Hobby in the World. I have a great dealer, ABC Hobbycraft in Evansville Indiana that takes great care of my train needs. Lionel TMCC , back in 1996 brought me back into this hobby, now it’s Legacy and Blue Tooth capable operation keeping my interest. Let’s have Fun together. I look forward to hearing some good things about your trains. Happy Railroading.
I agree!
Alex M posted:Absolutely yes !
First let me say i never comment on any of these threads for one reason. This is suppose to be a place to come and enjoy our hobby. There's enough terrible things going on in this world, so this is my happy place.
IMO the more sophisticated new trains get, the more issues that will arise. As an example we had leased a 2016 Mercedes Benz SUV, it was loaded with many features. In the three years the truck must have went back to the dealer a dozen times. I was in the car business for 25 years i handled Acura, Honda, Toyota, Saab, Hyundai, Mazda, and all GM products. It's the same as the trains , the more sophisticated the cars became the more times they were back to the dealer.
This goes for pretty much any products that are manufactured today, to go wrong. There is nothing complicated about this another example... cell phones, i can't being to tell you how many times mine and my families I phones have had issues. So yes i will continue to purchase Lionel trains and enjoy them!!
Alex
My opinion, too. In their rush to offer new features to attract buyers, they sometimes get way ahead of themselves with reliability.
The more whiz-bang features they build in, the more there is to go wrong. There is no doubt about it.
Still, I went ahead and pre-ordered an Alco Demonstrator AA set in Legacy, something I am loathe to do since I run Conventional and don’t use all the features nor want to pay for them. But it looked so pretty...
I do like LC+ a lot and usually buy from that line, but this year’s offerings didn’t interest me.
I will order the Add-on cars for my Union Pacific Excursion and Challenger sets.
With a price increase on the 21" passenger cars, I will wait until they arrive to get the Santa Fe cars. Hopefully the interiors will be correctly laid out.
My Challenger Pullman, "American Flyer", had an interior from a previous passenger car, not made for the car, and seven wall edges showed through the windows. I had to custom cut the two interior floor pieces, and move them down the car 1/2 inch toward the vestibule end. Other wall edges had to be cut back to improve the cars appearance. There were no chairs in the middle staterooms, so I had to add them from parts from Lionel.
It doesn't take much more effort to do things correctly.
Sincerely, John Rowlen
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I just opened four brand new Legacy Bluetooth engines from 2018 vol 1. I still have five left to open.
The two SD70A&Ce's were perfect after I had to program the first one twice. Probably my fault there. The GP9 had a tiny problem with one of the hatch covers. One magnet had come loose, and the washer was missing. I had a washer that small. My biggest problem was I dropped the magnet, and it stuck to the side of the motor. Using a flashlight, I finally saw it, then rescued it with a pair of tweezers. A drop of super glue on both parts, and good as new. Finally the SW7, everything seemed fine, but when I opened up the throttle, it started making this clicking noise, very much like a playing card makes on bicycle spokes. My bad, I forgot to remove the cardboard packing from between the trucks and the frame. After that it purred like a kitten.
Either I have unusually good luck, or Lionel is doing something right. It's one thing to have mechanical problems with a new item. Those are easily corrected in most cases.
I've noticed that there's a whole different class of complaints, where people thought the product would be different because of the way it appeared in the catalog. Things like the color being off, or the details being wrong. This is the problem of high expectations. This is not to say that you're not entitled to get what you want, especially at the current prices.
In my world, I'm happy if a product looks like a close facsimile of what it says it is, and it runs well. I've never been one to obsess over details, and I'm never disappointed.
I guess the bottom line here is, you need to know where your expectations lie, when it comes to placing pre orders.
Many years ago, Ted Koppel interviewed Warren Buffet and Buffet said something to the effect that he always goes into business deals with low expectations. That way he's never disappointed. It's an interesting way to look at the world. That advice has stuck with me to this day.
Big_Boy_4005 posted:Many years ago, Ted Koppel interviewed Warren Buffet and Buffet said something to the effect that he always goes into business deals with low expectations. That way he's never disappointed. It's an interesting way to look at the world. That advice has stuck with me to this day.
Would you send a copy of that interview transcript to my boss? (j/k)
What, me worry?
Alfred E Neuman posted:Big_Boy_4005 posted:
Many years ago, Ted Koppel interviewed Warren Buffet and Buffet said something to the effect that he always goes into business deals with low expectations. That way he's never disappointed. It's an interesting way to look at the world. That advice has stuck with me to this day.
Would you send a copy of that interview transcript to my boss? (j/k)
What, me worry?
I want to say the interview was at a Dairy Queen, shortly after Buffet bought the chain. Probably twenty years ago if it was a day.
I Googled it. Not a bad guess. It was from Nightline in 1999. For $14.95 it's on DVD.
Here's a small piece of it, though not what I was referring to:
From Nightline, Mar. 2, 1999:
TED KOPPEL: For example, we're sitting here in a Dairy Queen.
WARREN BUFFETT: Right.
KOPPEL: For a reason.
BUFFETT: Yeah.
KOPPEL: A, you claim to like Dairy Queen lunches.
BUFFETT: Yeah, I do. I have for a long time.
KOPPEL: And B, you own this place.
BUFFETT: We own the company that franchises this place, right.
KOPPEL: Exactly. Right. Why'd you buy it?
BUFFETT: Well, we bought it ...
KOPPEL: I mean, what was it that went through your head?
BUFFETT: Well, A, it was a business that I could understand. Now, there's all kinds of businesses I can't understand and I try not to buy into those because if I, why should I expect to make money on something I can't understand? So I'm not in any high-tech businesses, for example. But I understand, you know, an ultimate hamburger or, you know, a peanut buster or a deli bar and I can handle that. And I like the people that run it. I like the economics of the business. It's a good business. You've got thousands of people that are paying you a royalty for your name of Dairy Queen and the business grows a little every year. It generates cash. The cash gets sent to Omaha and then we go out and buy other businesses with that.
Incidentally, billionaire Buffet's favorite dish? A burger and a cherry coke.
