Athearn Challenger price reduction

[MRTerry]

We just got word that Athearn has reduced the price on their new - and very impressive, based on a quick look at the sample that just arrived - Challenger to $359.98. We hope to have a complete story up later this afternoon.
Have a great weekend,
Terry

[Anonymous]

This is what Athearn said in their e-mail newsletter:

"4-6-6-4 Challengers

We have GREAT news on a couple of issues relating to the 4-6-6-4
Challenger.

First, they are due here early next week, and should be in stores before
the end of October.

Second, we are REDUCING the retail price of these great behemoths! We
have received information that another maker of Challengers is again
leaving the HO marketplace, and will be liquidating their remaining
Challengers. We want to make certain that our faithful dealers and
consumers don't get fooled by a large price differential. We want you
to select your Challenger on the basis of quality and service backed by
a company that’s committed to HO-scale products and has been for over 60
years.

The Athearn Genesis Challenger is a superior unit, featuring
- Superior detail
- Superior painting and lettering
- Superior tractive effort
- Superior multi-feature sound
- Superior quality
- Superior value

The MSRP has been reduced to

$359.98

This is an INCREDIBLE price, and is an excellent opportunity for you to
get one of these popular locomotives.

Quantities for the first production run are limited, so if you want one
of these remarkable locomotives please contact your hobby dealer
immediately!"


Bob Boudreau

[fec153]

Gee! I wonder who the other company is? Leaving H O Again? AWW![;)][;)].
Phil

[Anonymous]

I'll bet it's Rivarossi that's exiting. Hornby's offereing to aquire Lima was approved, so Rivarossi's dead...........

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by 4884bigboy

I'll bet it's Rivarossi that's exiting. Hornby's offereing to aquire Lima was approved, so Rivarossi's dead...........

Bring me up to speed.
I didn't know Rivarossi was producing any Challengers?

Maybe it's Lionel?

[Fergmiester]

Go onto the Walther's website and you'll see that the Rivarossi Challengers in 4 versions are all sold out

[twhite]

Aww--not even on the market yet and we're getting a price reduction? Gee, maybe if they continue dropping the price, I can afford one just to kitbash it into something else. Maybe a Z-6? Certainly not an L-105, that's Baldwin. Oh well, I'll just have to wait and salivate.

[Anonymous]

I think they are referring to Lionel, as leaving the ho market. [%-)] Regardless, as this is excellant news for a substantial price reduction, on a good quality loco with sound. Hopefully BLI and others will have to take a long hard look at their own pricing.

[rexhea]

Just got an email from Internet Trains. They will be selling the Athern Genesis Challenger for $269.00 for a short time. Suppose to be in next week.

REX

[Vampire]

A price reduction in a new locomotive?? [:O] Who else hopes this becomes a trend??!

Actually I'm glad to hear Athearn is finally getting these done. Their web site hasn't had any updates on the Challenger for a long time.

Rivarossi or Lionel exiting the HO market? That's almost worthy of a topic in itself.

Well, maybe not...

[Anonymous]

Does anybody know the warranty terms on this Athearn ?Lifelike spells their's out on the Heritage series and Walthers covers the new FEF-3s for 12 months.

I got too inpatient. Just bot two P2K Berks. Was seriously thinking about giving the Spectrum HW a second chance but now I think I will park that idea on the back burner.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone read that Lionel is dumping their challengers on the market? I looked at the Lionel web page and they are still listing the challenger as normal with no hint of any changes.

I was under the impression from the Athearn price reduction memo that the other maker must be Lionel and they are going to dump their engines onto the market with a major price reduction. I purchased one of the Lionel engines when they first came out, and if they are cheap, I would probably purchase a second one for parts. My first one runs good after twenty hours or so of breaking in time on the rollers, but the gearboxes are already in question from the run time.

I hope Athearn offers parts also as their tender shell is much better than Lionels and it could be used to replace the metal shell on the Lionel engine. This would reduce the tender weight to the point the Lionel engine might actually pull much better.


This could be a great opportunity for us and both engines will be a bargain. Seems funny to me that Athearn could lower the price and still make money. Could it be that all of the prices are really extremely overpriced? The factories in China pay at labor 25 cents an hour labor to the workers so the engines probably cost about 100 dollars without the electronics and maybe 160 ready to go.

Just a thought.

[Anonymous]

I've got to take advantage of the $270.00 from InternetTrains! 3985 is as good as mine!!!!!!!!!!! BWAHAHAHA!!!!![:D][;)]

[Anonymous]

[zzz][zzz][zzz][zzz][zzz][zzz][zzz][zzz][zzz][zzz][zzz] It's not a Western Maryland Challenger, so why should I care?[}:)][%-)][(-D][(-D][(-D]

[mustanggt]

Great. Big, expensive steam. For that price, I could buy a 3 atlas guilford gp40s.
And a new kato MBTA F40PH (when they come out)

[ben10ben]

" I looked at the Lionel web page and they are still listing the challenger as normal with no hint of any changes."

If Lionel should decide to liquidate their remaining challenger inventory, they will likely offer all of their remaining stock to a select few of their larger vendors at a greatly reduced cost. They won't indicate the change on their website, either, probably. If it is indeed Lionel leaving the HO market, look for "blowout" prices on their Challenger from Trainworld, Charles Ro, and Justrains.

On a side note, Lionel's new CEO reported today in a visit to the Train Station in New Jersey that they will be remaining in business, and have no plans to sell out to anyone else.

[Anonymous]

$270.00 for InternetTrains, $250.00 for FirstHobby. Waiting for Trainworld's adjusted price but they said "On Backorder". Will try again today /tomorrow.

[jsanchez]

I could not help but think maybe the bubble is starting to burst in the high end HO Market. It seems everyone is trying to be the Mercedes or Lexus of the HO market, when what the hobby needs is more Chevys and Honda's to use a car comparison. With Marklin/trix having trouble(they are laying of 400 workers in Germany), Riverossi bankrupt, Athearn having to lower prices and Lionel exiting the HO market again, something is not healthy, the areas in the USA with the largest model train markets are the ones loosing the most manufacturing jobs, Pennsylvania , Illinois, Ohio, etc. It has to be having some type of an impact on hobbyshops and model train sales, disposable income is a thing of the past for many folks. Just trying to survive in PA..

[Anonymous]

This makes one wonder - if Athearn was originally going to offer their Challenger for what - $599 or was it $699 - they would have obviously made a profit on them. Now at $359, does this mean they will be making $240 (or $340) LESS profit when selling them? Was the price inflated that much? Was the engine originally priced to compete with Lionel (or whoever) with no regard to an actual fair value price? Their actions sure make me wonder what the actual cost would be out of the Chinese factory!

It doesn't really make any difference to me as I have no need for a Challenger. I wonder how many modellers will buy one at this new price whether they can honestly say it is justified in their modeling scene?

Bob Boudreau

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by 4884bigboy

I've got to take advantage of the $270.00 from InternetTrains! 3985 is as good as mine!!!!!!!!!!! BWAHAHAHA!!!!![:D][;)]

That makes two of us. Except mine will probably be from FirstHobby or 1stplacehobbies.com.

[Anonymous]

I received my first blowout prices on Lionel today about noon and they are listed below.

I am sure most of the dealers will be doing this so these prices may not be the lowest.

Not a bad price. I may get one to use for parts on my first engine.

LIONEL:

ALL MODELS QUANTAM SOUND EQUIPPED

UP TO 60% OFF RETAIL PRICES
 QUANTIES LIMITED <> ORDER TODAY

NEW! Lionel Veranda
MSRP $499.99Â Â Â Â Your Cost $209
___LNL58102Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO VERANDA TURBINE #64
___LNL58103Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO VERANDA TURBINE #71
___LNL58104Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO VERANDA TURBINE #66
___LNL58105Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO VERANDA TURBINE #75

Lionel UP Challengers While Supplies LAST!Â
MSRP $599.99 TO 699.99Â Â Â Â Your Cost $239Â
___LNL58003Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO UP #3710 4-6-6-4Â Â Â Â Â Â
___LNL58007Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO UP #3984 4-6-6-4Â Â Â Â Â
___LNL58009Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO D&RGW #3805 4-6-6-4Â Â

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bangert1

NEW! Lionel Veranda
MSRP $499.99Â Â Â Â Your Cost $209
___LNL58102Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO VERANDA TURBINE #64
___LNL58103Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO VERANDA TURBINE #71
___LNL58104Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO VERANDA TURBINE #66
___LNL58105Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO VERANDA TURBINE #75

Lionel UP Challengers While Supplies LAST!Â
MSRP $599.99 TO 699.99Â Â Â Â Your Cost $239Â
___LNL58003Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO UP #3710 4-6-6-4Â Â Â Â Â Â
___LNL58007Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO UP #3984 4-6-6-4Â Â Â Â Â
___LNL58009Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO D&RGW #3805 4-6-6-4Â Â

Hey BangerT1, whos offering those prices? Lionel direct? Are you a dealer?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by wes454

QUOTE: Originally posted by bangert1

NEW! Lionel Veranda
MSRP $499.99Â Â Â Â Your Cost $209
___LNL58102Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO VERANDA TURBINE #64
___LNL58103Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO VERANDA TURBINE #71
___LNL58104Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO VERANDA TURBINE #66
___LNL58105Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO VERANDA TURBINE #75

Lionel UP Challengers While Supplies LAST!Â
MSRP $599.99 TO 699.99Â Â Â Â Your Cost $239Â
___LNL58003Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO UP #3710 4-6-6-4Â Â Â Â Â Â
___LNL58007Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO UP #3984 4-6-6-4Â Â Â Â Â
___LNL58009Â Â Â Â Â Â Â HO D&RGW #3805 4-6-6-4Â Â

Hey BangerT1, whos offering those prices? Lionel direct? Are you a dealer?

No I am not a dealer, just quoting a dealer I buy from. He just lower the Veranda to 195 and most of the dealers I talked to today are trying to get some to sell.

I usually do not give out names, but I think all the dealers will have the good prices in a day or so.

One of the shops I buy from in Illinois already had it on the web and the Athearn Challengers were a low 239. I did indeed order two. The Lionel models are not great, but I did order a Veranda as I have one of their 3710's.

Today, 10/13/04, Internet trains has the Lionel Challenger for 199. It is actually a good buy for 199 to use on a club layout.

[Anonymous]

wow.. at those prices i may have to beg the wife for some $$ to get a turbine.. sweet!
no wonder athearn cut their prices.. they would have been sitting on challengers for months.

[darth9x9]

Got gotta love competition!

BC

[Anonymous]

what I'm wondering in my warped little mind is this. Would it be better to spent the extra money and get the Athearn Challenger?? I liked what I saw in the pics that MR posted, but I don't know if I like the little handheld thing for the sounds...any thoughts?

[Anonymous]

its a hard decision. The athearn model seems to have finer detail at least looking at pictures. At the same time the pics i've seen of the lionel models look great. hmm..

[dknelson]

If their phrasing was another maker leaving HO "again" seems to me that can only refer to Lionel, which is in HO for the third time.
I hope the Athearn people were not starting a false or ill-founded rumor.
Lionel, Rivarossi, and in theory I suppose Bowser (metal) all offer Challenger competitors (and that old Bowser can be made to look very very good as a classic article by Bob Darwin years ago in MR showed).
Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

In HO Athearn appears to have more credibility and that too is what I based my first Athearn purchase on, the Challenger.

There were a few disappointments posted about their Veranda so I'm steering
away from chasing prices.

[davekelly]

Just got an email from internettrains. Lionel challenger is 199.98.