But Lionel remains an important player in the niche electric train market. Today the toy landscape is vastly more complex and varied. Although the diesel locomotives didnt always have the same features like Magne-Traction or sounds, a lot of them did have the means for retro-fitting. One thing Ive always liked about the Fundimensions line of Lionel trains is that you could count on them to be a lot like the Postwar originals. In 1985 model train buff Richard Kughn bought the company and held it for ten years. in a Fundimensions Diesel: by Joseph Stachler. : Lionel Big Scale Trains and Accessories for 1978: shelf worn, some foxing, color illustrations DATE PUBLISHED: 1978 EDITION: 23 Lionel Big Scale Trains and Accessories for 1978 by Lionel of Fundimensions: Fair. General Mills leased the Lionel name in 1969, producing the trains through its Fundimensions group, but met with mixed success during fifteen years of ownership. Lionel continued to introduce a new train line each year through the 1960s, even while finding a buying public less enthusiastic for its durable product. (HO) Lionel 5-5613 CN Canadian National Alco Diesel T-12001 FUNDIMENSIONS UNTEST. Model railroaders began favoring cheaper engines that ran on smaller gauges and thus demanded less household real estate. But competition and a lack of interest among American boys accounted for declining sales. Sales peaked at $32.9 million in 1953, making Lionel the biggest toy maker in the world. Sales topped two million in 1929, declined during the Great Depression, but rebounded to $10 million in the hungry postwar toy market in 1946. When Richard Kughn bought the Lionel name from General Mills(Fundimensions) in 1986, he formed Lionel Trains Incorporated, or LTI.
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It official closed about the time General Mills(Model Plastics Corporation, or MPC) started production of Lionel. Rivals such as Ives and American Flyer eyed the electric train market, but Lionel remained the preeminent producer of electric trains and accessories. Yep, the Lionel coporation doesnt even exist anymore. There were other toy trains, even other electric trains, but Lionel trains soon became the most popular. When a customer bought the train rather than the product it advertised, Cowen realized the toy's potential and started the Lionel Manufacturing Company in 1902. Joshua Lionel Cowen, an engineer and entrepreneur, built his first electric train as a store- window attraction around 1900. General Mills leased the Lionel name in 1969, producing the trains through its Fundimensions group, but met with mixed success during fifteen years of ownership.