What club(s) do you belong to? Lionel? MTH? K-Line?

[darianj]

Hi All,

I'm a newbie thinking about joining one of the clubs. Any opinions on which one is better? Basic membership or something more that will give exclusive offers?

Your opinion is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[dbaker48]

Geographic area is probably very important, I belong to TTOS. Your local hobby/train shop could probably tell you the best ones in your area.

[Jumijo]

I belong to the Williams Platinum Club. That membership, at $25 a year, gets me one very well made freight car of my choice, and keeps me on Williams' mailing list for sales flyers. They mail out roughly 6-8 of these giant flyers each year, and every one is worth getting, especially the O-27 27% off sale. Not all of these sales are offered to the general public.

I live in New England, so I'm hoping to get the State of Maine car when I re-up [;)]. They were out of stock last year, so I bought a B&M caboose. The Maine Central Boxcar or the NYC green gondola would be my other choices.

Jim

[spankybird]

MTH collectors – yes. You not only get a club car, mailed catalogs and newsletter, you also can have a web page.
http://204.156.4.220/memberpages2/frame.asp?sid=1075

OTTS (Ohio Toy Train Summit) – yes

K-line – used to but not know with their problems. Nor would I recommend anyone joining it now.

[Roger Bielen]

Currently, I only belong to the TCA. In the past I belonged to both the Lionel and K-line clubs but let my membership expire when Lionel discontinued it's, I think, Gold level and K-line didn't offer anything of interest to me for a couple of years. In my opinion the K-line was the better of the two.

[laz 57]

TCA,
And that GREAT CLUB of OTTS.
laz57

[Craignor]

I have belonged to the MTH club for years.

50$ gets you:

- semi scale or scale car, your choice each year. This year its a PRR express car to go with your passenger cars.

-each new catalog is sent to your home, and before the catalog comes out club members get a online peek at the catalog.

-there is a quarterly newletter, which is pretty good.

-you get a free MTH website to post pictures on.

-you also get a discount on certain items on the MTH website.

-and a nice MTH pin for your lapel or hat.

I think thats worth $50.

[Warburton]

Lionel Collectors Club of America (LCCA) is the gold standard for Lionel fans, as far as I'm concerned. Excellent magazine, conventions and access to their online trading website. The website alone is worth the dues! TCA (Train Collectors Assn.) is fine but a bit stodgy. Their big plus is the York semiannual meets and local/regional train shows. I belong to both. The Lionel Collectors Club is OK. For $20 you get a generally useless magazine (which is a puffery piece for the company's products) but you also get all new catalogs shortly after they come out. I stay a member to get the catalogs.

[Anonymous]

I belong to Williams ( Platinum Club) and MTH. I enjoy getting the Williams flyers to see how much I can save by being a member.

[Dr. John]

Williams Platinum Club. I did belong to the K-Line Collectors Club but, alas, that is probably history. [:(]

Williams Platinum Club is only $25 dollars. For that you get your choice of a freight car (the $25 is cheaper than the MSRP) and discount flyers throughout the year.

KCC had different memberships and offerings, ususally ranging from some type of accessory for $60 to locomotive offerings from $100 to perhaps $300, plus on-line discounts and catalogs.

[darianj]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I was leaning toward MTH; and that's is my final decision. I'll probaby check out Williams too...Seems like a pretty good deal.

Hey Spanky, enjoyed looking the pics of your layout on your site.