Nice article in the Wall Street Journal

Classic Toy Trains Forum
1

I am not sure if this link will work (WSJ is a subscriber site). But there is a neat article about model trains in the paper:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122877524153989295.html?mod=todays_us_the_journal_report

Regards,

John

2

There are some other ways of getting this article through Google News for example. I love that the mainstream media rediscovers model trains around the holidays! John, did you see the Tribune’s list of area train layouts - Hancock Bldg, Morton Arboretum, etc?

3

Hello Doug:

I did not see the list of layouts in the Tribune. When was that in the paper?

Regards,

John

4

I heard a little blurb on the local radio about a big Harry Potter thing at the Museum of Industry there in Chicago, wonder if they’ll have a Hogwarts Express layout with it.

5

Thanks for the link John. The WSJ has done a similar article in the past, focused on the baby boomers who grew-up with Lionel trains getting back into the high end of the hobby.

But I like this quote from another recent article, speaking with Jerry Calabrese:

“Lionel is expecting a 50 per cent increase in sales of starter sets, including licensed ones such as a Harry Potter “Hogwarts Express,” over 2007 based on holiday pre-orders from major retailers. Lionel sold 200,000 model train sets in 2007 compared with 80,000 in 2004, and the bulk of those were the ready-to-run sets, according to the company.”

Obviously the media likes to focus on the"dream products" that most cannot afford, be it cars, houses, fashion, guitars, etc. Most people who pick up one of those nice home magazines, may drool at the homes shown, but then go back to the reality of what they can afford.

That’s why I think it’s nice to see other media outlets focusing on the youth element of the hobby and starter set products. Given Lionel’s increase in starter set sales, you might say that Jerry Calabrese has done a good job. On the other hand, given the amount of high end product cancellations, one could take an opposite view.

Even the established “boomers” in the hobby today, like the ones referenced in the WSJ article, still got their start many years ago with a starter set. It might have been nice if the WSJ article had mentioned the recent increase in starter set sales, which would have really brougth the article full circle. But every bit of press attention outside of the normal train magzines is still a good thing.