Radio Shack now has trains

[FJ and G]

posted December 16, 2004 01:50 PM
The Silver Line Express is built by Radio Shack and is carried in its Crystal City, Va store.

The set fits in with their other best-selling toys, all of which are remotely controlled cars and trucks.

The Silver line is a passenger set with an oval and 2 spurs. One spur leads to an engine terminal where the train's batteries get recharged. Yes, it's remote control with speed adjustment and directional control.
Price is $30.

Someone could have made a killing doing a similar low-priced set produced en masse (esp. if it were the Polar Express). And this Radio Shack set comes with radio control--a "must-have" for many of today's kids. Perhaps Radio Shack knows something that the toy train companies don't?

[Dave Farquhar]

Absolutely they do. I remain convinced that something along the lines of K-Line's $40 battery-powered set would be a huge hit if people could buy it somewhere that they're used to buying toys. The K-B toy store at the mall where my girlfriend and I walk had a huge pile of $60 G gauge sets at the beginning of the month. It took them about a week to sell every last one of them. They didn't look as good as even MPC-era Lionel, and chances are they'll be yard sale fodder in six months, but whoever made them got a nice cash injection.

That K-Line set ought to be able to sell just as well, and if inexpensive expansion packs like additional track and cars were available, would keep kids interested in it.

I think plastic track, battery power, and remote control is the future. Rechargeable batteries don't cost any more than transformers; plastic track does great in places you wouldn't dream of putting metal track; and everything else operates on remote control.

I'm sure Lionel and the like can't afford to make such a set in sufficient quantities for the mass market; so why not get a manufacturing partner who has the distribution channels already in place, license the idea and the name to them, and let them handle it?

[3railguy]

Someone did do an inexpensive Lionel liscenced battery train a couple years ago.

[espeefoamer]

Is this the beginning of the end for large scale electric trains[:0][B)]?

[jkerklo]

I don't know about the end. I think any interest in trains is positive towards the hobby. A plastic RC train just might lead to metal track and a transformer.

Along those lines, have you seen the Lego trains. Rather well done. There was a complete layout (Youth in Model Railroading) at the November RMDTCA show. Looked about G Scale. You could lay down track, build cars, build engines, operating cars, a crossing gate, ... It was quite interesting.

John Kerklo
TCA 94-38455
www.Three-Rail.com <---- New Stuff