> Ed, a quick check of Lionel's S scale website, and I can't seem to locate
> this model. (S cylindrical hopper)
> Mark Mugnai
Hi Mark....
I will have to agree that consumer communication from Lionel is not one of
their strong points. However, if you check the Lionel.com web site and
download the current AF catalog and then flip the pages, you will see the
product in question. The S cylindrical hopper in many different paint schemes
is there.
I didn't mean to excessively get on your case earlier, but it is frustrating to
me that the Lionel of old is typically ASSUMED to be the Lionel of today. That
impression is held mostly by people who have not actually seen and held the
current Lionel models being produced -- either in S or O gauge/scale. I
understand the difficulty in revising a mental image of a firm that has been
making toy trains for over a half century. But things are changing -- slowly
but surely.
In addition, however, Lionel still deliberately makes toy trains that are
appealing to the AF folks and the O 3-rail crowd. That part of their product
line is not going away. So if you look at those products, you might conclude
Lionel has not changed one whit. You'd also conclude that Ed L. is nuttier
than a fruitcake. Reasonable assumption for sure. But it would be an
incorrect conclusion.
The trend line is clear: No S catalog, then an S catalog, then S scale wheels,
then DCC....... I can assure you that the next S catalog will have some very
interesting information for the scale folks. My point is that each year there
is improvement. Each year the Marketing folks make new decisions based
primarily on: (1) what sold the prior year, and (2) the letters from customers,
and (3) dealer suggestions. Item (2) is where Alan Lambert is going to help us
all do a better job. Right, Alan?
So my tirade this week is to request that you hold the product in your hands
BEFORE taking it to task for imagined faults. This tirade also applies to
non-Lionel products also. And MTH products as well when they eventually reach
your hands. No more assumptions about products. Only observed facts. Fair
enough?
I can tell you absolutely that Lionel can make stuff as good or better than
SHS. So can MTH. (I am not choosing favorites.) The problem is not the
capability. The issue is their motivation.
And it is our collective job to motivate them.
Cheers....Ed L.
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