04-25-2014, 10:45 AM
I have noticed at the last train shows I have attended that there is an overabundance of Tyco, Model Power and Lifelike cars and they are all overpriced. I was buying brand new tyco cars just after Christmas in the early seventies for 75 cents each. Inflation has taken a toll, but to make any of these runable you need wheel sets and Kadee's. Some of the bodies don't look bad with just a little weathering, and by changing the grabs and rigging some look darned good.
The original Tyco sets with the single truck drive (before durotorque) at least ran long enough to get a kid interested, then they installed the durotorque drive and it was burned up in less than a week and all interest in the hobby was lost. IMHO these poor models drove families away before they started. Model Power made a fairly good Shark, FA, and E7, with the big can motor and the all wheel drive but had other models very poorly built and a big disapointment to us when they were the only suplier of some models. Guess I am saying they drove their market away.
Charlie
The original Tyco sets with the single truck drive (before durotorque) at least ran long enough to get a kid interested, then they installed the durotorque drive and it was burned up in less than a week and all interest in the hobby was lost. IMHO these poor models drove families away before they started. Model Power made a fairly good Shark, FA, and E7, with the big can motor and the all wheel drive but had other models very poorly built and a big disapointment to us when they were the only suplier of some models. Guess I am saying they drove their market away.
Charlie