BATMAN, SUPERMAN, and the rest

[cbq9911a]

I'd like to see a Pope Car; a railborne version of the Popemobile. (The Popemobile is the customized truck that Pope John Paul II uses when passing through crowds.)

[pbjwilson]

Well, I don't know about super heroes, but I can imagine a "Super Models" series of box cars or maybe Victorias Secret!

[Dr.Fu-Manchu]

Dr.Fu-Manchu, The Train Guy with my two cents: I saw a G gauge set at a local train
show that was done up with DC superheros graphics for sale. I did not find out the
maker, sorry. I was busy looking for Lionel items.

[Anonymous]

Holy marketing tie-ins, Batman! You guys sure came up with some great ideas! Yes, I agree that the trend has been toward more prototype models, but you still have to have so fantasy pieces. I think I may turn my PHANTOM into a BAT-TRAIN. I have already turned the searchlight car into the BATSIGNAL car! HeroClix, huh? I'll have to look into them on eBat---ummm, I mean eBay.

[ferronut]

brianel027, i been around! and yes we agree! post-mergers prototypes scarcity! and so far my best train buys are williams locos, k-line rolling stock! and as a matter of fact i took a glance at one of my consist ,3williams,gp38-2`s,2powered,1dummy,and extra helper from mth railking a bnsf dash-9(pumpkin),with ps 1 ,in tow of 2 sets of k-line intermodal spine cars,it looks majestic!and the list goes on and on,,,BNSF RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[vsmith]

LGB has a Superhero trainset with Marval characters on the sides of thier bullet passenger set.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Ogaugeoverlord

The chap in the office across from me, Jim Riccioli, has some superhero gaming figures in his office - Spiderman and the Fantastic Four all look great and are "close enough."

I'll ask him to post the brand information in this thread.

Bob Keller
Classic Toy Trains

The figures are HeroClix game pieces made by WizKids.

When they were introduced in 2002, I didn't immediately realize how close to O scale these characters would be. Then I saw a Spider-Man piece at an area hobby shop. Stand him beside the typical 1:48 Arttista figure and he fits right in -- well, except for the red-and-blue spandex he's donning. I bought a starter set and found that I could remove the plastic figure from the game-piece base relatively easily. Appropriately, I stuck Spider-Man atop the Madison Hardware building in my office.

HeroClix, which were an immediate smash hit in the collecting field, introduced its second Marvel series, "Clobberin' Time," later in 2002. I knew I had to track down each main character of the Fantastic Four. After buying a few booster sets, I figured it be cheaper to buy the characters I wanted from broken-up sets on eBay then to continuing to play the mystery assortment game. (Each sealed box or booster set continues a mixed assortments, like a pack of baseball cards.) Generally, on eBay, I only had to bid $2 per figure, plus a tiny amount (50 cents to $1.50) for shipping.

HeroClix also features DC characters, for those who prefer living in the Time Warner universe.

See:
http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/marvel/figuregallery.asp
and
http://www.wizkidsgames.com/heroclix/dc/figuregallery.asp

Jim Riccioli
Classic Toy Trains

[Bob Keller]

The chap in the office across from me, Jim Riccioli, has some superhero gaming figures in his office - Spiderman and the Fantastic Four all look great and are "close enough."

I'll ask him to post the brand information in this thread.

Bob Keller
Classic Toy Trains

[brianel027]

Of course guys, there's always the potential for making some of this stuff yourself. The variety of store bought diecast cars is better than ever. Putting your own vehicle on a flat car is much cheaper than having Lionel do it for you ($59.99 for the NS or BNSF flats with Caterpillar loads: I've bought those CAT tractors for under $10). I realize the idea here is to "plant a bug" but all this stuff does involve licensing which means higher prices.I've always thought that Lionel Disney stuff was a tad on the high side in price, that is until it becomes a blowout.
I've made a bunch of my own stuff over the years, some with Bugs Bunny related characters, some with Sesame Street characters (young kids really like that stuff). Currently I working on some SpongeBob stuff since I found all these SB characters in the right size. So I was talking with a big boss of one of the companies and I mentioned my prototypes of Sesame Street stuff and was told the licensing was prohibitive in cost. That would certainly be a factor in any superhero items too.

Now Ferronut, no jab intended, but where have you been? The whole hobby has been heading down "Scale Avenue" and "Prototype Street" for the past few years. Scale sized items with prices to match. 18 inch long engines that look as silly and TOYISH making an 031 curve as does a 12 inch long engine on an 027 curve. Not to mention the electronics that everyone seems to want and that ironically don't seem to be reliable enough to warrant the aggrivation... swearing at the blanky-blank train engine because it doesn't work (again) is not MY idea of railroading fun [xx(].
What HAS been MISSING is the occasional starter item in traditional size with in a modern roadname other than the plethora of same ol' same ol' postwar fallen flags. Maybe my head is on backwards [8], but I would think that the $24.95 Lionel stater cars intended for young beginner and budget railroaders would be prime contenders for roads like BNSF, SOO, Canadian Pacific Railway, CN, CP Rail, CSX, NS, etc. The only time we do get a modern road is with Conrail in CR blue. Puzzles me, because with all the emphasis on prototype, CR didn't have blue gondolas and only ONE blue box car done as an experiment. Conrail had more YELLOW and ORANGE gondolas. Even Train-19 has only offered one CSX flat and one CR box car, again in blue (how about the correct brown or even CR in Penn Central green of which CR owned hundreds upon hundreds). Even in the early days of CR, they used EL brown, Pennsy brown - whatever was left in inventory.
Even Lionel starter sets are always the same old roadnames. There has yet to be even one BNSF starter set. The last CSX starter set was 1990. The last CR starter set was 1993. Yes there have been a couple of service station sets in CR and even NS, but those are at premium prices.
Or how about some post-merger sets: a CSX loco with cars from Chessie, C&O, B&O, WM, SCL or a BNSF loco with cars from BN, ATSF, GN, etc.
If that's what you mean Ferronut, then I'm completely with you. The only way to get a current roadname these days that isn't a scale-sized engine without a ton of electronics is to buy Williams.
Hmmmmm.... this looks like a job for Superman [:D]!
The fact that folks are buying Williams says to me there's some logic to the point I'm making.
brianel, Agent 027
(tell Lois Lane I'll be back in a couple hours)

[Bob Keller]

I like Lluke's suggestion. I can envision a bridge accessory where an approaching train triggers the bridge to "disengage" and then as the train gets closer, Superman pops up and rejoins the rails.

Now that would probably be a big seller!

Bob Keller
Classic Toy Trains

[Anonymous]

Well, the Simpson's would be an ideal train set with Homer as the engineer and Marge as the Fireman(er-person). Bart could be the brakman and Lisa could be the conducter(she likes to boss people around). It would be a nuclear powered train courtesy of Mr. Smithers. Chief Wiggen could be the RR police to keep things in order. Ralphie could be the dispatcher. Marge's twin sisters could be the hostesses. What a hoot!(or should I say toot!).

[Anonymous]

Why not model a Super-railroad the Metropolis, Gotham City, and Smallville, the most targeted railroad in the history of sabotage.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Ogaugeoverlord

None of those conventional comic heros for me, please!

I'd vote for a Hellboy monster containment car, a THUNDER Agents Dynamo launcher coach, or a Danger Girl exploding auto-carrier.

In a pinch, I could like with an Uncle Scrooge vault car or even a Sgt. Fury troop train with a special Red Skull or maybe Dr. Doom chase lcoomotive!

Bob Keller
Classic Toy Trains

That's cool Bob, but to get the licensing to pay for itself, Lionel would have to go with the mainline Super Heroes that common-place people know and love.

[ferronut]

how about more prototype oriented rolling stock/locomotives,acsessories,that dont have anything to do with violence,or BAL looking caracters!,BNSF RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

There actually were Super Hereo boxcars made before, but not in O gauge. Back in the 70's Tyco made a series of HO boxcars licenced by DC Comics. They were Batman, Superman, Wonderwoman and Shazam. I actually have the Batman one. Here's a link about them: http://tycotrain.tripod.com/freightcars/id34.html .

[Anonymous]

How about something fanciful, but also potentially real: I have seen flat car models with models of just about everything from boats, to planes, to zambonies loaded on them (I would actually like to buy the latter, eventually), not to mention all the Corgi vehicles. What about flat cars with models of *real* monster trucks loaded on them -- Grave Digger, etc.?

[Big_Boy_4005]

Great answer Bob! It isn't any worse than Wiley Coyote and Roadrunner hand car, etc.

And to think, 10 years ago I would have actually bought stuff like that.

I MUST BE GETTING OLD !

[Bob Keller]

None of those conventional comic heros for me, please!

I'd vote for a Hellboy monster containment car, a THUNDER Agents Dynamo launcher coach, or a Danger Girl exploding auto-carrier.

In a pinch, I could like with an Uncle Scrooge vault car or even a Sgt. Fury troop train with a special Red Skull or maybe Dr. Doom chase lcoomotive!

Bob Keller
Classic Toy Trains

[Anonymous]

Lets put a bug in Lionel's ear for DC SUPER HEROES cars. Okay, Marvel super heroes as well such as Spider-Man and Captain America. The licensing will pay for itself in no time! Meanwhile, back in the Batcave, I am making my own Batman boxcar for my four year-old. He won't wait. Go figure.