Posted on 03/04/2007 7:53:07 AM PST by Ready4Freddy
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sales of model trains are picking up steam again thanks to deals linking them to the "Harry Potter" and "The Polar Express" movies, along with a new approach to marketing the old-fashioned toys.
Lionel, one of the big names in model trains in the 1950s, has watched as its business had to focus less on selling toys to kids than serving an older but much smaller hobbyist market. Folk-rock singer Neil Young, 61, is so passionate about trains that he bought a fifth of the company in 1995.
Now, the company is bringing trains back to young people, and sales are up 40 percent in the last two years.
Lionel signed deals to bring out "Harry Potter" and "The Polar Express" trains, and filled shelves at department stores such as Macy's and Target, instead of just hobby shops.
"We're a resurgent brand based on nostalgic appeal," said Jerry Calabrese, chief executive of Lionel.
Last Christmas, the company advertised toy trains as the ultimate gift by setting up displays at Macy's Santaland and Grand Central Terminal in New York. Forty percent of Lionel's sales of $70 million in 2006 came during the Christmas season.
This sort of advertising is as much geared to children as it is to parents who remember Christmas train displays when they were young, said Andy Edleman, vice president of marketing for MTH Electric Trains.
MTH sells its trains with promotional DVDs and catalogs that portray parents and children enjoying trains together.
"We almost make them feel guilty," Edleman said, before adding that "people would prefer family participation and nostalgia" to things like Game Boys and PlayStations.
Companies such as Lionel and MTH also showcase their products at events like the World's Greatest Hobby...
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Something is just pure-T freaky about kids not liking to play with toy trains.
Whenever I think of model trains I think of Gomez Addams....
lol
I remember the slot-car stores / tracks up in Bellaire, TX when I was but a wee lad. Tons of analog fun!
Something is just pure-T freaky about kids not liking to play with toy trains.
My grandfather had a huge Lionel train set up in his basement. He had loads of models, scenery, etc. It was magical to watch it all in motion.
No self-respecting boy in my day went without.
His son (my uncle) got it all. I'll bet it is worth lots. I also wouldn't be surprised if my uncle sold it. :(
I still have the memories though.
Thanks for the ping. What's a slot-car?
It may be making a comeback.I have 17,000 nephews. And none of them have gotten into trains, despite my parents' (their grandparents') best efforts to turn 'em on to the hobby, except one. He's 4, but I think it's telling that he may be the smartest of the bunch.
http://www.hoslotcarracing.com/
We have a cool track in the basement for the boys.
"Last Christmas, the company advertised toy trains as the ultimate gift by setting up displays at Macy's Santaland..."
I never knew they stopped, although it is understandable.
Macy's used to have great set-ups back in the early 50's. When I was a kid, one of the best things about going Christmas shopping with Mom in Manhattan was getting to see the trains in Macy's. She'd park me there while she "...helped Santa" by shopping in the toy dept. She knew I'd still be there and not have wandered off no matter how long she took.
What's a slot-car?
Hey Mama!, how's things?
Recently dug my old Lionels out and have started cleaning and repairing them. Every thing runs and works now but am having a dickens of a time replacing all the dried out, rubber insulated wires.
(Waitress! More coffee needed at this table!)
Lionel long missed its most brilliant advertising possibility.
Building, or buying *real* trains!
Not practical trains, but fantasy trains. Nostalgic, futuristic, ornate, etc., for touring around the country.
A modern locomotive costs about $2M, the rest of the cars considerably less. But that price could be amortized over twenty or thirty years, and even then the train could be sold at a good price.
Most of the time, these trains would sit on small sidings near public parks, and their cars would be small retail, like a Starbucks car and a high tech product display and retail car for high end electronics. From local businesses, with just empty cars traveling around with the locomotive, keeping fuel costs low.
And each time a new style of train arrived in a town, it would get a free promo in the local newspaper.
They might have also commissioned a luxury train that would move around the country like a cruise ship solely for tourism. An American Oriental Express.
lol. see my reply to WV MTn Mama!
Things are OK here. Although, I have a bad cold...
I can't help you with the wire problem but it sounds like you are having fun getting them ready for action! :)
When my younger daughter was five she developed a passion for toy trains. We bought a modest set and then expanded it over time. Each trip to the hobby shop was a pure delight.
Sadly, as she got older the trains turned to I-pods and boys. I miss the good old days!
LOL!!
Take them for a train ride. It's a sure fire way to get them interested in Locomotives. I took a train from Albany to Niagra Falls with the kids and they had a great time, plenty of room to move around, switch seats, snack car and lots of leg room for Dad!
Then our house would be the least freaky place on earth. My 5 year old loves trains and I am sorry to admit we are spoiling him. Just got another HO gauge train last night. Going to Lowes to get board to put it on. I have to admit that I like them too. Never had one as a kid. My parents thought it was too macho for a girl. More confessions, when he is at school I play with them. (Shhhh don't tell anyone) ;-)
Yup. Even though I turned 15 and went crazy for 'em - at 43 years old I'm smart enough to know that at the molecular level they are still icky.
And those true-love comic books they read were just atrocious.
It may be making a comeback.
That really is nice to hear. Computers and Playstations are nice and all but I do sometimes miss the days when kids used their own imaginations to entertain themselves. It made for more interesting kids too IMO. They all seem the same to me now-a-days.
Anyway, girls did cars too, you know. I had a Barbie Car. A big, pink plastic convertible so she & Ken could go to the beach with me. Wasn't motorized though (guess all the cooties would just muck up the transmission, so manual was the way to go!)
Back in the day, my kid sister had a wind up train and wanted electric like me. I traded something to a friend for a beat-up Lionel diesel loco. Took the clockwork out of my sister's engine and jammed the shell down on the Lionel chassis and motor. Gave her some track and a small transformer and she was in business.
That must be tough to admit in a world where the freakier the better - but I'm damn proud of you and yours. Keep up the good work raising real kids. ;-)
What the heck were those? We didn't have 'em in my neighborhood. My bros had superman & spidie. I had Barbie & Betty & Veronica. Also was a big fan of Beano, but that was British, IIRC, don't know if you could get it here w/o a transatlantic subscription.
Can you imagine the display if one of these computer whiz-kids decided to integrate a program with a freight yard set-up? All automatic switching, coupling etc?
Sorry 'bout the cold.
The wiring just takes patience and a steady hand. Things I find to proportionatly decrease as the years increase. LOL!
You sound like a great big brother.
"You sound like a great big brother."
I wouldn't go that far. :)
It didn't stop her from being a brat. Heck, she's 58 now and she's still a brat! LOL!!
At the time I thought they were just a nuisance but it turned out they were a harbinger of troubles yet to come.
When my hubby and I first met, he was BIG into running his model railroad, and I naturally joined in.
We still have our original setup on a big hinged plywood base - you can haul it up to the ceiling on pullies to get it out of the way, or it will fold up. All HO scale.
He was glad when I started helping him, because I am an expert at doing the landscape, houses, stations, etc. I have always been very nearsighted (good for detail!) and I love fiddly work. Our main passenger station is a thing of beauty!
Sadly, after we had our second child we had to disassemble everything and store it in the garage because he needed the train room for his bedroom.
Anyway, girls did cars too, you know.
DANG! I would have so loooooved those! Way cooler than Barbie & Ken!
Man, I had completely forgotten about that...
Duncan Yo-Yos.
I used to have the one called Satellite or something like that that had the lights on the inside that flashed as you yo-yoed. LOL
Occasionally if your skills weren't up to snuff the thing would get open and the batteries would fly out and pop someone in the head!
Didn't play with 'em (that I recall), but if yall are talking about model cars on racetracks, those have never gone out of style you know. Lots of kids still have 'em. I'm just not sure they're called "slot-cars", at least not here.
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad
Historic Texas State Railroad from Rusk, Texas to Palestine, Texas
And a good article:
We didn't have no steeenkin' lights!LOL!
IIRC, the top Duncan model at the time had 4 rhinestones on one side and was made if wood. (Urban legend at the time said that this upset the yo-yo's balance.) In the schoolyard game of "can you top this?" I put a couple of dozen rhinestones on my yo-yo using a center punch and glue. Sparkled like crazy but the sharp edges tore up my fingers!
Ha! That answers the question of "Gee, I wonder why I was pinged for this post?" LOL! Actually, when my sons were young we used to take them to the model train shows in downtown Denver. My husband had what he calls a "Christmas Garden" around the tree every year with a model train so he likes them, too. There is just something fascinating about those tiny towns with all of their detail! I could sit and watch (often multiple) trains move through the big setups for hours! So- R4F- good guess! :-D
I enjoyed watching the trains crashing into each other. Gomez always had the funniest maniacal grin when he crashed his trains.
My friends and I would occasionally pool our resources and come up with a "mixed consist" of windup, battery, and power pack locomotives and rolling stock.
The main objective of each get-together was, naturally, cornfield meets. Or in our case, living room carpet meets.
I had a lot of fun, as long as it was the other kids' locos that were involved.
Here are some useful linguistic tips which will stand you in good stead if you get caught:
1. They're not "toy trains." They're scale model trains.
2. It's not a "toy train layout." It's a scale model rail system.
3. You never "play with your toy trains." You operate your scale model rail system.
4. "Engine" --> locomotive.
5. "Switch" --> turnout.
--From Sid W Sodnagel's Rules of the Scale Road.
Lionel "O" and "O27" and American Flyer were not made to scale. IIRC that started with "HO".
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