2004 Lionel Catalog?

[FEClionel]

Just wondering when the new Lionel catalog is going to show u. I guess more importantly when is Toy Fair? Can't wait to see all the new offering and hopefully some new sets!

[brianel027]

The N.Y. Toy Fair is normally around 2nd or 3rd week of February. Though given the way things have been in recent years, I don't get nearly as excited about catalogs as I did only a few years ago, with the exception now of Williams. The vast bulk of new product is all scale or near-scale with prices to match. Seems to me with Lionel and K-Line, the few traditionally sized offerings are there as a token to everything else. Other than the Waffle Box Car (introduced in '95) not much new product development for traditional sized operators. And I won't mention roadnames... but using my crystal ball I can predict roadnames on these items will mostly be the same as always: Santa Fe, Pennsy and New York Central.
I find this odd as all the companies make strong claims that starter set sales and related sized items are up. So why not even a little variety in this area? And why not a modern road name once in a while? I think the answer is that all the money is going into scale product development and production.
Anyways, I look forward to what Williams will be offering. That Williams appears to be getting more attention and sales says to me THERE IS a MARKET for NON-command engines without the (unreliable) electronic frills. Granted it won't be a ton of stuff... but there's always a wide choice of roadnames (hurray) and even some Conrail, CSX, BNSF and Norfolk Southern (much bigger hurray!).
And I sure mourn the loss of Industrial Rail! I have a lot of what they made! Superb product... well engineered and made, painted bodies, value priced, good wholesale to dealers and (once again) a variety of roadnames from old to new! Had Lionel or K-Line even bothered to make some of those roadnames in traditional product, I might have bought that instead.
I didn't mentioned MTH Railking, who DOES make variety in roads, but Railking items have always been a tad on the large side, and a becomming more and more scale-sized now.
In my thinking, a 12-inch long diesel looks as toy-like on a 027 curve as does a scale 17- inch engine on 031 curves.

brianel, Agent 027