A store is closing out “G” scale Buddy L sets. They are 4 piece starter Santa Fe says the engine is diecast and the MRSP was $499.00 they are selling them @ $125.00 Does anyone have any experience with this Brand, or is it best stayed away from. Thanks, Dave
Dave
I have not seen one in person. I went on their web site to look at the set you mentioned. For $125 that looks like a good buy.
I have an LGB “G” scale with about 12 cars that I set up at Christmas. A starter set for LGB sells for about $250-300 complete with transformer and track (basic circle.)
I don’t know how their quality compares to LGB, but a Bachmann Big Hauler (toy trainset quailty) is still about $150, so $125 still looks good if you like the quailty.
Hope that helps a little. Let us know.
For sale here in california at “Tuesday Morning” for $99.95 starting 7 Nov. get there early!
You can find information about Buddy L sets at http://www.gardenrailways.com or http://www.mylargescale.com
Thanks Cacole for the link. I found out to Run not walk away from this deal. Are the Bachman Starter Christmas Sets at Sams for $138 any better. I have an airbrush, so I can overlook the North Pole Colors. Thanks in advance, Dave
They are crap, good only for parts. The cars are OK but the engine has a poor motor, poor peformance and poor reliability. Buy a Bachmann xmas set from Sams Club, waaaaaay better and superior engine for $135
These are cheap knockoffs using the venerable name of Buddy L sets of days gone by. But if these are old days quality Buddy L, I’m a Chinese Fighter Pilot!
[#ditto] The new Buddy L is definitely crap.
Well I bought one today for $99 bucks! To those who are knocking it, how do you know it’s crap? Do you own one?
These have been around since early part of this year…word’s been on the street since
the beginning of summer that these had issues…being new to G I doubt you could have known there were things to consider before purchasing.
Dont panic! these can be used fine if you dont plan on haulin 10 cars or using any switches or climbing 4% grades. If you are…
Go to www.mylargescale.com go to search enter Buddy L and you will see what we are talking about and find options and solutions for fixing any issues you might encounter.
When they first came out, I got to examine one right up close and personal like, I was able to gather that the oversize flanges would reek havoc with any switch, there were only two power pickups I could find front pilot and rear trailing wheel, the overall detail quality was shoddy compared to similar items like Bachmann’s Annie. These and other factors led me to decide that it was not for me.
Subsequently on the other large scale forum people who actually bought them started reporting a host of problem, motors that stopped working, constant derailing, etc. and then came all the corrections that owner were making to fix the problems.
The general consensis was that while these can be made to work adquetly they do require a lot of modifications. I might pick one up still. Mostly for parts or If I can modify it with the corrections I might bash it into something. I want to build a Minaret type tank lokie out of one I still might, so dont feel like if you bought one you got screwed. Chances are if you just use it as it comes you’ll have no trouble whatsoever.
Please keep us informed as to how well yours holds up, we’d like to know.