--- In [email protected], "Ed" <Loizeaux@...> wrote:
>
> > Lionel, IS beginning to cater to the scale side of S. They're not there
> > yet, but I give them point for making the attempt. Lionel could have just
> > as easily not bothered.
>
> > Oddly, Lionel's attempts will likely succeed or fail based on how the
> > relatively small S scale market reacts. I think that's why the diesels are
> > the only thing with scale wheels right now. If they don't sell in the
> > scale market, they can inexpensively default back to Flyer
>
> > Rich G(ajnak)
>
> Rich....
>
> I think you are very observant about Lionel. The Lion is very conservative
> and seems to avoid risk at every opportunity. Other firms such as Overland
> Models, MTH, S-HS, RRM, AM, SWM, etc. jump right in and actually sell
> everything they ever make over a period of time. Not immediate, of course,
> but eventually it is all sold.
>
> I think it might be interesting to examine why Lionel is excessively
> conservative. Might be financial reasons such as the company cannot afford a
> loss? Might be Lionel marketing folks feel at home and truly understand the
> Flyer segment, but feel like scale is another planet? Does Lionel do HO? If
> the goal is to make money, that is the place to be. But HO offers them no
> advantage for name recognition. Are people afraid of perhaps losing their
> jobs (and homes) if a new product is a dismal failure?
>
> Just thinking about the differences in corporate culture. Is there an
> explanation for that? If we understand the reasons/rationale, perhaps we can
> overcome the resistance.
>
> Just thinking....Ed L.
>
Ed,
I have no insider information about Lionel, all I can do is observe from the
outside and whatever my evil twin picks up on the OGR board.
Lionel has made several attempts into HO in the, shall we say, "modern era."
All have been unsuccessful, even going back to pre-DCC days.
They might have mis-timed the market, but I suspect it was assuming the Lionel
brand would carry as much influence in HO as it does in O. My experience with
HO is brand loyalty is pretty much non-existant. HOers expect a locomotive to
run well and be have detail consistant with the price. A manufacturer ignores
that primary criteria at their own peril. Plus nowadays, be compatible with
DCC via electronics or plug.
MTH quickly learned that lesson in HO.
Some of the brand loyaty arguments on the OGR board make most of the worst of
ours here seem like a Sunday picnic.
Lionel's management seems to have stabilized (finally) and perhaps this is also
a reason for expansion into S.
Lionel seems to understand the schizophrenic 3-rail O market reasonably well,
which runs the gamut from toy trains around the Christmas tree to some of the
3-rail scale guys, who if you Photoshopped out the third rail, you'd swear you
were looking at a 2-rail O Scale railroad.
But, even with 3-rail O they stumble occasionally.
Flyer was always Lionel's red-headed stepchild, and I'm not really sure they
understand the Flyer guys either, (they've been feeling ignored) that's why
these overtures to the S Scale market are so surprising.
Swinging pilots aside, I know the U33C has some detail issues, which is again
surprising because they got it them right on their O Gauge version. We'll have
to wait and see how the SD70 turns out, but I'm expecting some lessons to have
been learned.
I think where Lionel could really succeed with S Scale freight cars. They make
some really nice cars in O and excellent UP and B&O cabooses. I have high hopes
for the cylindical hopper.
Lionel has it's flaws, no doubt about it and there are some folks on this board
and elsewhere who won't give Lionel a second look, regardless of what they do.
But, Lionel seems to be willing to put forth some effort to change this point
in time, even though it's slow change. I intend to ecourage Lionel to produce
better S Scale AND Flyer stuff.
I know full well that Lionel will never be a "truly scale" manufacturer, it's
just not in the corporate DNA, but if they can produce quality products to
attract folks into either S Scale OR Flyer, so much the better.
Rich G(ajank)
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