The first of this year’s Hawthorne Village wonder offers came as a blow-in in another company’s non-model-railroad catalog (of miscellaneous junk at inflated prices.)
For just 23.33 per easy payment you get the Budweiser Holiday Express, broken down (by payment) as:
Nothing.
Nothing.
Bachmann (I think) On30 2-6-0 (in Budweiser colors), 16-pc loop of Power-Lok HO track, ‘power pack’ (wall wart) and ‘speed controller’ (fixed DC in, variable DC out.)
Nothing.
Budweiser car (Which one? GOOD question. Shown are a baggage car and a flat with a beer wagon and a Christmas tree.)
Nothing.
Another car, maybe…
Somebody into On30 can decide if this might be a good value. The only thing I can use is the ‘speed controller,’ which might be a possible basis for a tethered throttle. OTOH, I can almost certainly assemble a better one from electronic catalog parts for less.
If you read the fine print, I think it’s more like 20 or 30 payments.
From what I’ve seen, Hawthorne Village is good at taking a Bachmann standard line locomotive, having it custom painted in some ridiculous “Rare, Collector’s Item” scheme, and charging 1000 percent over the item’s actual value.
I never thought Hawthorne Village or any other such similar issuing company products worth much of anything I’d be interested in buying…not even for “just 15 easy payments of…”
I ignor their ads and throw them straight into the trash…AFTER I have shredded the Order card with my name and address on it so no one can “kindly” turn it in for me like once happened before on some books! A lesson for all to learn form me…SHRED the order Cards!!!
I will pass on this as well. Unfortunately, since it has “collectors item” attached, my mother will not. I hope it’ll make it at least 5x around the track, because I just know I’m going to get it for Christmas…[:(]
I tear it up and toss it. Doesn’t look like anything that catches my eye. So shred and into the refuse it goes, or, on second thought, time to light some charcoal.
They used to have an Elvis series. Surely it’s a collector’s item by now. Actually, it was advertised as a collector’s item when new. So now it’s probably worth nothing.
Actually, considering that Bachmann has a set with this locomotive and 3 passenger cars listing for $350.00, this set with 2 cars for $210.00 is not that outrageously priced, even granted you can probably get the Bachmann set at a deep discount.
Not my taste, but then I collect other things so who I am to criticize.
Actually it’s not junk, it’s the same Bachman On30 equipment you would buy from any hobby retailer. It’s just painted in ridiculous schemes and horribly overpriced. I got mine as a gift from a relative, a trip through the paintshop was all that was required…
And, yes that is the “Thomas Kinkade Village Christmas” collection in the background.
Just in case you do end up with one of these train sets, all is not lost. My mother-in-law who is a mail order junky, gave me one of these sets painted for McDonalds. I lubricated and brush-painted the loco and cars, decaled for my home road and applied dry-brush and chalk dust weathering. It is actually a sweet running little engine. I’m pulling four passenger cars and could pull a couple more I’m sure. We retired the old 0-27 Marx on the wife’s Christmas Display layout and replaced it with the repainted Hawthorne Village On30 train. Pics attached.
My wife is a dyed-in-the-wool Elvis fan. When a friend of hers sent her an ad for Hawthorne’s Elvis train, she just HAD to have one! She wasn’t concerned about the cost (grossly overpriced) or the scale (HO and I have N scale). She just wanted it because it was ELVIS!
I checked on the auction site and found several auctions. Missed on a few of them but got lucky on one. The whole set for less than $100. Needed a few new couplers, but it runs just fine on our Christmas display layout (simple loop built for On30).
Also found a few other auctions with Elvis HO train cars and bought them, too!
You should have seen my wife’s face when she opened her Christmas present last year! You’d have thought she’d struck gold! LOL
It’s Bachmann train set quality and overpriced. That’s usually a deal killer unless you do as I did and buy used.
I’d do it again in a heartbeat just to see my wife’s reaction again!
