I can't complain!

[More to restore]

Santafekent, you took the words right out of my mouth.
I have three modern Lionel engines (4-4-2 steamer, GP9 and SD28) from the lower price end and they run fine and I enjoy them. The SD28 is the best in pulling many cars. I am HAPPY with them: they are fun and certainly not a rip off.
I do not mind that Lionel ventures into the expensive end, with TMCC, Acela and whatever. As long as there is a market for that, that is perfect, I just do not belong to that market. I wil not buy expensive trains and I will also buy PEEPS, BEEPS and whatever, I just buy Lionel lower end products that run nicely on my 027 layout.

John is fully right with the on-average hypocritical consumer: wanting home-made products that are as cheap as possible. That consumer behaviour is standard in the western world for fast moving consumer goods. Personally, I see many nice toys coming from the East and I like many of them. Some Chinese producers really do a very good job and they make lower end articles more affordable. It is a pity for our socities, but the Chinese products are simply better in price / performance. But everything comes at it's own price, and for people of the western world it means job losses, more global environmental pollution, higher steel and oil prices, etc.
And that is a reality of our world. Accept it, or go for more expensive social responsible articles. The choice is up to the consumer, and over here in the Netherlands about 95% of the population opts for cheaper products. So, in the end I am a "hypocrite" as well and honestly I do not care too much about it, because playing with trains is just too much fun. ENJOY!

[johnandjulie13]

Santafekent:

Your comment of "You get what you pay for" is primarily true. It is an unfortunate fact that no manufacturer (of any product) can produce an item in the U.S. at anywhere near the price it can be produced for in Hong Kong, China, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, or anyplace else in the far east. While many people clamor for more products to be "Made in America" they continue to shop at Wal-Mart, Target and others where, in order to keep prices low, those retailers must procure the vast majority of their merchandise from overseas manufacturing.

So, if a train made in Korea is selling for $250.00 and the same train made in the U.S. sells for $400.00. Are you still getting what you paid for? Is the $400.00 train better?

Every manufacturer is trying to deliver the products they think their customers want. Further, they are attempting to do it at the best price possible in order to maximize their profit so they can continue to develop new products in the future. RMT, Lionel, MTH, Weaver, Williams, Atlas and others are all offering products at varying prices. I am happy to buy a product from any of these companies if it fit appeals to me and is at a price I feel is commensurate with the value it offers. In this way, through all of our purchasing decisions, manufacturers are forced to be competetively efficient, or they go out of business.

Consumers always benefit when their are more manufacturers. To that end we should want all of the companies to be successful. That means better prices, better quality and more selection for all of us.

Regards,

John O

[phillyreading]

Santefekent and others,

Have you bought a low priced Lionel engine say for under $150.00?
I did one time and the engine a GP-7 would not pull more than four cars-unloaded! Unloaded it on ebay.
That is why Williams or K-Line got my money for locomotives. With a Williams GP-9 that I bought for about $125.00 I can pull around 25 cars & has a true blast horn & bell features. Every now & then there is something that I feel I just have to buy, like the new MTH locomotive.
Have you seen the starting prices for Atlas locomotives? Around $450.00, Atlas may have quality but they are pricing themselves out of the low end market.
Lee Fritz

[Anonymous]

The prices are not so bad, as long as you earn $100,000 per year.

Last I heard from the news media is that all U.S. Citizens earn a comfortable $100,000 a year.

Too bad I am not one of those fortunate citizens.

Andrew Falconer.

[artyoung]

Just picked up a used Williams scale 773 Hudson at York. Smoke, whistle, bell, "chuff", and a really powerful motor - all for $265. Felt like a good deal to me. I can't afford the big $$$ engines from the big name companies, but I have fun with what I can find.

[spankybird]

With good shopping you can find new MTH engines for $200.00 or less

I pick up this one for $200 NIB, it's a RailKing with PS2


and this little one for $150.00 and again its NIB, RailKing with PS2



tom

[Demon09]

Overall,

I noticed that too, thats partially the reason why they're on my "most wanted" list so to say..... not to mention the fact that many of the Williams trains that sell for $169.99 sell for over $220.00 from other manufacturers

The one set that has really evaded my search over the past few months is the MTH Chicago CTA set..... they were re-released earlier this year, but unfortunately I didn't have the money to get one then, and now they have been pretty hard to find (not to mention I just got a Polar Express for Christmas time, so I need to save up again). It would be very interesting to see them allow the rights to other companies to produce similar engines, but I imagine that the CTA and MTH entered into some sort of contract allowing them to solely produce replicas. Which again, ties into the original topic of this forum page, because the set is priced at upwards of 350.00 because of Protosounds found on them.

[overall]

Demon09,

I notice you are from Chicago. Williams has a lot of GP-9's painted for roadnames that were seen in Chicago. I have had good luck with Williams. Their diesels are well made and are fairly forgiving of rough track.

George

[Demon09]

That is pretty much how I've felt lately.... I am on a very limited budget, so to hear K-Line go under was a bit of a shock to me because I had just discovered them at a local hobby shop for $12 for rolling stock (and ironically it was the day they went under that I found it too!).... I understand that this was part of their downfall, but I do like the lower priced locos that are on the market.... I have enjoyed them just as much as I would any other loco, and again I understand that with production costs and inflation rates the prices will go up even for the intro level items..... its bound to happen with any item though.

So far I only have Lionel loco's just because they were given to me or on sale at the time I bought them...... I like the fact that they have such a terrific legacy as part of the company, but I can't force myself to be brand loyal, there are just too many other possibilities out there now....... My plans are to develop my layout a little bit more, and then buy an MTH loco because of all I hear about their superior steaming ability, and then a Williams loco or two just because they have a dual sound board and a low price for the quality..... hopefully I can beef out my diesel fleet, because as of now I have 3 steamers and only 1 diesel.....

[crashin2me]

Lionel and MTH continue to focus on realism and electronic sound and control systems, and despite Lionel's shift to overseas manufacturing, the prices haven't decreased as they lead us to believe.

I have a greater appreciation for Lionel Postwar Trains now and I find myself buying modern-era trains and accessories that capture the same ingenuity of Lionel's heyday.

[FJ and G]

I've purchased locos from Lionel, MTH, Williams and I'd have to say that I've gotten my best products per cost from Williams. Not that I'm not happy with others.

To each his/her own.

[Anonymous]

It's always fun to read everyone's complaints.... like the prices are too high, and they don't like chinese production. Wow! Hard to imagine a mutual solution for those problems!!

Personally, I'm happy. Not so much with MTH, since they don't even have a loco for less than 249. But Lionel has several models between 85 and 249 Dollars. I think that's very reasonable, in any scale or gauge. And I like the models too.

I would rather pay a little more and have Lionel still in business, than pay less and end up with less companies and product available.

Of course, you can do what you want with your money, but certain things are true;

You get what you pay for,

and What goes around, comes around.