Our man at the Toy Fair - Klaus Baumann, a name you should keep in mind since you'll be hearing a lot about and from him in the near future specifically re his expertise in LGB loco values - send the "GARTENBAHN profi" magazine to Yours Truly which is the base for the following "news". In case any of you like to go to the original article please look for pages 6 - 15 in The "GARTENBAHN profi 2/2012 - Wieder Gas geben" ( meaning: stepping on the gas again). Taking the liberty to condense the contents dramatically here is what one German press is thinking about LGB this Spring.
Not much is new at LGB this year. It's more a "re-animation" of things well known, tried-and-true. The RhB series are shown in different colors. The Toy Train program got re-instated with a battery-driven, RC-controlled "Harlekinzug"(=Clown Train) for toddlers and an ICE, the German high-speed train. Within the RhB series the "Bernina" is a 3-part rail-car which is currently not available. Production is planned but a clear delivery date has not been set, with earliest delivery suggested to happen in 2013. (Yours Truly heard rumors that the German dealers are extreemly upset about the new Marklin/LGB policy to NOT publish information about possible delivery dates. Yet, they started selling by promoting pre-ordering. Yours Truly thinks that neither policy will help much to improve the new LGB image....). A Saxonian 1K loco was displayed at the fair in an unfinished housing, not yet motorized.
Available locos and cars have a hefty price tag this year . The RhB Gea 2/4 (No.211) is listed for Euro 600.00 ( approx. US$ 800.00 - in Germany!), the RhB Ge 2/4 in green (No. 202) will be Euro 550.00 (or US$ 730.00) in Germany. Quite a few cars have been re-manufactured some in new colors which will not necessarily support the collector's intention of supplementing their layout.
A really new LGB mold for a loco is actually a Marklin loco (E 10, a German Express Train Loco from the 1950's) and will be manufactured in the newly planned "Mix-and-match G-scale" and will NOT match the Old German LGB (version) standard. This is supposed to be a "counter-offer" to the new PIKO models. - Why - the Old LGB was a standard in itself...! A few more German locos are listed to be available sometime, as the VT 133 and the Niki S.
The US market gets the same treatment as the German customer: quite a few announcements and no specific delivery date include the Mikado in New York Central colors , the Porter steam loco (with no spare parts or spare motors available on the US or German market), and a White Pass Diesel engine No. 4 - 2-axle. Car-wise are scheduled (?) a Conoco tank car, a transporter with 2 muscle cars (Cobra and Corvette), and a 3-car Union Pacific live stock car set.
An opinionated Yours Truly believes that selling something someone does not have at hand is a bad thing in the long run. Promises are broken, contracts cannot be kept as traded in the first place, money is spent and goes where it does not belong. The looser is in the end the manufacturer because the customer will go where his wishes are fulfilled. For the Old German Standard LGB enthusiast that will be more and more the collectors/auction market or the estate market.
And now to something completely different.... a note from "the editor": Klaus' web page is growing. He would be tickled if you keep reading at www.traincraftbyklaus.com. He put an interesting "lemon-list" on it. You will find it under "Repair".
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