Hi guys:
A mail order dealer has emailed me the “buy early” pricing for new LGB product.
One example is the LGB 27872 Dgtl NYC Mikado Steam Locomotive with Sound
at an early buy pricing of $1574.99
or at a later regular pricing of $2,099.98
Is this realistic product pricing by LGB?
Your thoughts?
Norman
If’n you really want it, you, or anyone else will have to pay their price.
If this is the ONLY way you can get a NYC Mikado it seems to me the current iteration of LGB is going the same way of the failed Company.
Selling product ONLY equipped with the whole box and dice, i.e. digital and sound, at a premium, was a contributing factor of the original failure. Lots of customers baulked at that as the only option. Seems like the new owners have still not woken up.
Hi Tony:
I did not want one way back when they were being dumped. Too toy like I thought. Grooves cut through the underside of the boiler for sound emission and the scale of the loco was larger than 1/29 scale. Someone explained to me that LGB took an existing drive and scaled the Mikado using the existing drive. No matter that the resulting scale was larger than 1/29 scale!
The green “Southern” paint almost made me buy one. That was a beautiful paint. But everything was plastic including the handrails and the drive rods. Too toy like. I forget what the clearance pricing was. It was very low. Maybe LGB will survive on their German prototypes sold to the European market place.
Who is going to pay the price exceeding that of a properly scaled live steam brass loco for a plastic over scaled model? I just do not understand their business model.
Norman
Norman,
these days the preorder price is a steal. I do not think the New York Central version was released previously. About five years ago one could get a pristine ‘as new’ Southern/U.P./ or Sante Fe for around $700. These days current used price is around $1500. The drive was built for the Mikado and not an adapted drive. LGB only got close to 1/29 scale when LGB of A released the 50-footer boxcar. Up until then ‘standard’ gauge was around 1/26 or 1/27 scale. The current day Genesis is close to 1/29 scale, but then close only counts in necking and horse shoes.
In Australia, the Mikado will retail around $2800 when released. $1575.00 preorder is a bargain!!!!That price is a bargain. Ten years ago, that was the price they used to sell for. Factor in time and inflation, that is pretty good. Dennis
Not sure “bargain” is the correct word to use…“Fair” seems more appropriate. It is a fair price. I would consider one as I really like my Mikado but it has a very annoying “squeak” I cannot silence. Drives me insane, so sadly it spends most of its time in the box. As much as I want the LGB I may consider an Aristo version (quieter?).
How many of you actually use all those “extras” that LGB builds into those engines?
When I bought my first LGB engine the Sierra sound was not compatible with battery and had to be replaced with Phoenix sound. The digital on my Forney quit working when the engine was nearly new. A dealer from Germany was visiting a dealer-friend and wired around it. Now it works great.
How much did I gain with the “extras”?
I think that could be said of any engine manufacturer. Every Bachman I have except the Annie has a battery/track powered switch, I never run battery and likely never will, yet I pay for added parts and labor for something I won’t use. Same with the NMRA/Large scale switch, added couplers for running with non 1:20.3 rolling stock, etc. Not as expensive as an added decoder but still stuff I paid for I don’t need.
I do understand your point Doug. We wind up paying for someone elses needs while ours seem to come up short. I like the LGB sound, but I usually run “quiet” so it too does me little good. Still I line up to buy!
LGB ceased to be an anywhere near an approachable product since Marklin took over. I’m waiting to see how LGBs new “low price” lineup actually prices out in reality.
Norman Bourgault said:
..........Is this realistic product pricing by LGB?
Your thoughts?
Norman
The best I can hope for is the new LGB will help drive down the prices of used LGB… Is a 20-30YO Stainz REALLY worth $100+?
Had LGB been the only option to me some seven years ago then it unlikely that I would be in our hobby.
Mention in an earlier post refers to track/battery options. The reason I like and buy Aristo-Craft locos is because they have the two power type option. I run track power in the main but on certain days, aided by a trailing battery car, I can run using batteries. No complication with wiring etc.
One thing that has always puzzled me was the amount of LGB stock on dealers shelves, both sides of the Atlantic, long after the ‘belly up’
event. Overproduction I guess coupled with a slow down in sales?
Alan,
All the stuff on the shelves got there when LGB was really flogging the stuff in order to get as much liquidity as possible. The “interesting” moves in 2005 through 2006 were something to behold, either side of the Atlantic. One day we should have a “Where are they now …?” follow up on the players in that charade.
ELP may have sold it at “flogging” prices but they sure as hell are not selling it at those basement prices, nope…full MSRP and beyond in almost all cases, so someones trying to make out like a bandit.
ugh, that sucks. I WAS thinking about one of the LGB mikes… I think an aristo mallet is a far superior idea now!
Hmmmm. Tooling costs are______Plastic used in the mold is_______Marketing cost__________
Sound system_______
This is not a new model.
My Canon EOS camera at $800 - with two lenses - is more intricate than this re-railed Sumpter loco.
Victor Smith said:Vic,
ELP may have sold it at "flogging" prices but they sure as hell are not selling it at those basement prices, nope...full MSRP and beyond in almost all cases, so someones trying to make out like a bandit.
We can moan and groan, as long as the stuff sells at those prices the price won’t come down. The price always comes down when the mfgs have too much inventory and can’t move it.
Just tells everyone who wants to know the value of the LGB brand. Come on Marklin, give the company up to someone who wants to make it THE brand name among those who used to trust it at fair prices.
Here we go again , blaming LGB for the greedy importers’ mark-ups .
I do not pay anything like that for LGB in the UK .
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:Victor Smith said:Vic,
ELP may have sold it at "flogging" prices but they sure as hell are not selling it at those basement prices, nope...full MSRP and beyond in almost all cases, so someones trying to make out like a bandit.We can moan and groan, as long as the stuff sells at those prices the price won’t come down. The price always comes down when the mfgs have too much inventory and can’t move it.
If anyone IS buying NOS or new LGB at full MSRP now its got to be a pretty small audience, at least compared to a few years ago.