New Transformer Price

[overall]

Has anybody heard what the price on the new Transformer from Lionel might be? This is the one with the 4 gauges across the top.

George

[nblum]

 Typically these go for a dollar per watt, give or take, which makes the MSRP likely to be

north of $700.  But perhaps they will pleasantly surprise us.  Anything below $650 would be a steal if it functions and has capabilities as billed, IMO.

[rtraincollector]

heres a quote from in the coffee shop regaurding the same thing.

 

Roger Bielen

I'm aware of Lionel cancelling the CAB-1 but when we went to order ZW's for inventory we were told by the wholesaler that Lionel has discontinued the ZW.  Sure enough, went into the 2010 catalogue and no ZW, only the ZW-L.  What genius cancells an active product before the replacement is available?  Also it was bad enough paying $500+ for the ZW but now you'll be payint close to $900 for the ZW-L.  Looks like the MTH-4000 will become the transformer of choice.

So much for my rant.

[Seayakbill]

$900 would put that trandformer out of reach for a large percentage of the Lionel customer base. I would be surprised if it is over $500 from the dealer which would be still over $150 above the Z-4000. 

[Anonymous]

DJSpanky

Wow, I'm just catching up on this: Lionel is phasing out the ZW for this new transformer which is going to be astronomically expensive?  Do they have anyone with a shred of intelligence in marketing and product planning?

!!!!!   NEWS FLASH  !!!!!

No one, I repeat NO ONE knows how much this is going to cost. So ant speculation is just that - speculation. I really wish CTT would delete these posts because they do nothing but cause issues.

Lets discuss the differences between a ZW and a Z-4000.
1. The Z-4000 can only control a MAX of two lines at a time, not engines, but independant lines. The ZW can control up to 4.
2. The new ZW-L will provide 200 speed steps providing you more control ovedr your conventional engines.
3. The new ZW-L provides a full 720 Watts... the Z-4000 400
4. The Z-4000 is Pure Sine Wave, the ZW is not

So in order to gain ALL of what the new ZW-L provides you will need TWO Z-4000s. So IMHO, if Lionel brings this puppy out at under $860 you'll be getting more bang for your buck. I'm not going to speculate what the cost will be because that isn't productive.

---
EDIT

I just checked the shipping schedule and the ne ZW-L is not listed yet.

Also - the above is not intended as a slight to any forum member.

[balidas]

lionroar88

DJSpanky

Wow, I'm just catching up on this: Lionel is phasing out the ZW for this new transformer which is going to be astronomically expensive?  Do they have anyone with a shred of intelligence in marketing and product planning?

!!!!!   NEWS FLASH  !!!!!

No one, I repeat NO ONE knows how much this is going to cost. So ant speculation is just that - speculation. I really wish CTT would delete these posts because they do nothing but cause issues.

Lets discuss the differences between a ZW and a Z-4000.
1. The Z-4000 can only control a MAX of two lines at a time, not engines, but independant lines. The ZW can control up to 4.
2. The new ZW-L will provide 200 speed steps providing you more control ovedr your conventional engines.
3. The new ZW-L provides a full 720 Watts... the Z-4000 400
4. The Z-4000 is Pure Sine Wave, the ZW is not

So in order to gain ALL of what the new ZW-L provides you will need TWO Z-4000s. So IMHO, if Lionel brings this puppy out at under $860 you'll be getting more bang for your buck. I'm not going to speculate what the cost will be because that isn't productive.

---
EDIT

I just checked the shipping schedule and the ne ZW-L is not listed yet.

Also - the above is not intended as a slight to any forum member.

 

Thanx for giving us this info. I love ZW's and became a little discouraged reading the above posts.

[Bob Keller]

I agree. Lets hold our comments to what we know, not what might or might not be the case for something that probably hasn't been determined yet.

[Anonymous]

Spanky,
I wasn't jumping down anyone's throat. I was simply stating that speculating about how much this will cost isn't productive - as many others in this thread were doing.

[phillyreading]

I am not that interested in any new transformers by Lionel at this time, as my postwar ZW & KW  and other postwar transformers still work great. Maybe some other people will be interested in buying something new. Right now I will be looking for bargains at hobby shops or trains shows when I can afford to go to one.

Hopefully with the economic crisis in full bloom Lionel will take into consideration what the market can bear as far as costs go. What I am getting at is most people are trying to keep their house verses buying all sorts of new model train stuff. At least that is how it goes here in southeastern Florida, the banks own(re-possesions and foreclosures and walked-away from loans) about 11% of the houses right now and that figure is growing.

Lee F.