Train Set Purchase

[jmkk]

Brianel,  I too can still remember, every single item my grandfather got for me. Dad bought some and I I definatly remember thouse but my grandfather bought the most. I think he beat my dad to the punch.

[brianel027]

And a little PS Ken, as my own dad sort of lost interest in maintaining my train hobby, it was my grandfather who continued to give me train items for CHRISTmas. I can still remember to this day, every single item my grandfather got for me. Just a little food for thought.

[brianel027]

Ken, good for you and your grandson will love it I am sure. It'll be a memory of something special grandpa did for him... can't put a price on that!

We forget that this is something Lionel did years ago when they were selling sets at most of the major department stores, where the stores had sets that were exclusive to them and no one else. Some of those department store train sets are the most difficult to find today, and make set collecting interesting because of all the subtle variations.

According to a recent article in the news, the Canadian Press, with quotes from Lionel CEO Jerry Calabrese:

"Lionel is expecting a 50 per cent increase in sales of starter sets, including licensed ones such as a Harry Potter "Hogwarts Express," over 2007 based on holiday pre-orders from major retailers. Lionel sold 200,000 model train sets in 2007 compared with 80,000 in 2004, and the bulk of those were the ready-to-run sets, according to the company.

Lionel says it has run a marketing campaign to appeal to consumers beyond the hard-core hobbyists, creating new lines of train sets and putting them in places like Target, FAO Schwarz and Toys "R" Us, says Calabrese.

When people see them, they think about being a kid and connecting with their fathers, he said.

Ken, I recently picked up one of the 4-4-2 steam locos from last years version of the PRR Flyer set and think the loco is improved over earlier years. It has metal handrails down the sides, engineer figures in the cab, and the non-working jeweled marker lights stick out a little better to give the effect of being illuminated. The metal casting is a little different from the popular 8632 version of the loco, and I think improved and a little more detailed. Gone is the long painted stripe down the side of the loco, but the gold lettering is nicely applied and if you have other 4-4-2 steamers, this one will appear a little different than those.

Ken, one trick I did for a 8-year boy I bought a train set for, was to take a flat car and put a strip of black self sticking 3/8 inch insulation foam down the length of the car. He loves it because he can put nearly any of his die-cast trucks or cars onto the flat car and they stay in place. The advantage of the foam strip, is that any car of any length can go on to the flat car and stay in place.

We adults sometimes forget kids are more initially interested in fun than prototypical specifics. Besides, once they're interested, the quest for a little more realism will come with time and age... but got to get them started first! And Ken, now you have something special you can do with your grandson should he like it... you can take him to a train shop or a train show and let him pick out something (hopefully he has an eye for a bargain like you do!!)

Good job again Ken.

[Eriediamond]

 Just  bought a Lionel Penn Flyer train set for 8 year old grandson from Hobby Lobby. I guess it's a noncataloged set as I can't find it on the Lionel web. It's the regular Penn Flyer set, but with extra track and an extra box car with vintage Lionel art work on it. I think the grandson and I are going to be at odds with each other come Xmas morning on who gets to play with it. Of course, grandpa is going to have to show him how to run it--may take several hours!!!!! I feel like I'm 8 again. Had a great price too with a 30% discount. Ken