A year or so ago was talking to a guy about Lionel accessories (specifically the Gantry cranes) and he told be at one point the makers of Erector sets had made a Gantry Crane for Lionel with Lionel’s name and logo on the box and everything. Since then on and off been searching for info on it and haven’t found any. Anyone know if it was a limited edition item,and when it was made? or if the guy was just wrong or telling be a story because i didn’t know any better?
Since Erector was owned by Gilbert, the maker of American Flyer trains, I doubt that they would put the Lionel name on anything. However, Lionel also made a competing construction set for a while. Perhaps this is what he remembered:
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Yeah i remember seeing somewhere that the guy that made American Flyer invented the Erector set also part why i asked since doesn’t Lionel have the Flyer name now? It’s possible he miss remembered things about it but the box he described to me was a big wood box with the circle Lionel L logo on it.
A.C. Gilbert invented the Erector set and his company eventually ended up buying American Flyer in the late 1930s, putting him in direct competition with Lionel.
Lionel had a competing, Erector-like building toy for a few years in the 1950s. It wasn’t especially successful. Lionel has never been all that successful at its non-train ventures. Lionel also tried to compete with Gilbert’s science toys with limited success.
Gilbert had a series of things go wrong in the 1960s and ended up going bankrupt around 1966 or 67. Their most valuable property, the Erector set, was sold to Gabriel Industries. It has changed hands a few times in the decades since.
Lionel ended up with the American Flyer name and tooling as part of a deal to liquidate the remaining American Flyer merchandise. Lionel wasn’t in the greatest of shape at the time either, of course.
OK maybe the one he’s talking about then is the Lionel version. From the sounds of it in those few years there wasn’t a real big number of them made then especially since i haven’t seen anything on them online.