DSchmitt
ATLANTIC CENTRAL
Once apon a time, model train manufacturers actually made the trains before they advertised them, and actually had them in stock to actually sell.
Really?

Having worked in the model train business from 1970 until 1980, I can tell you that the cartoon above depicts the exception rather than the rule in those days.
Sure, sometimes stuff was out of stock between production runs, or simply out of stock at the distributors in your area, but manufacturers, distributors and retailers did not "dump" product at sale prices a year after it was released.
It was just the opposite, there was very little discounting, and those who did discount generally only gave 20% off, even if they were buying at the lowest price directfrom the manufacturer.
Shops, and the distributors who supplied them, prided themselves on the selection of merchandise they had on hand for their customers to view and choose from.
The next new item from Athearn, Walthers, or whoever was generally a closely guarded secret until the product was ready to ship, or at least actually in production.
Sheldon