Rene Schweitzer: I’m excited to be sitting in Howard Hitchcock’s office at Lionel Trains’ headquarters. Thank you for meeting me today.
Howard Hitchcock: Welcome! I’m glad you were able to make it.
RS: You’re nearly halfway through your 125th anniversary celebration. How is it going? What have you heard from your customers?
HH: It’s going really well. It’s been an interesting year. We got the year off to a bang with a great Q1 catalog [Big Book 2025]. Lots of really interesting and great products in there, and a lot of throwbacks and nods to classic Lionel items. Everybody in the [hobby] space has been in a bit of a challenge over the past couple of months, with the tariff situation.
RS: Certainly.
The business has been interesting and challenging, but we have really been doing well. We’re working with our retailers, our wholesalers, and dealers, to continue to bring products to life, to continue to get things out there, to continue to celebrate the 125th.
HH: We’ve done some exciting launches, in partnership with licensed products. We’ve had events locally and have taken that message to the shows that we’ve attended and will attend throughout the balance of the year.
RS: When we met at Trainfest, we talked about your “battery O” line, and we’ve since reviewed the Thomas & Friends set, and found it was a lot of fun. What’s been the reaction from customers?
HH: The reaction has been very positive. We had a sharp price point with Thomas, which is exactly where Thomas needs to be because of the age demographic that it fits into. Then we tried it with Barbie as well. We sold out in the first year of both offerings, and we’re really pleased with that result.
As part of the plan launch for Q1, we came out with four additional items that look a lot more like a [traditional] “O gauge” set. We’re leading with two of our strongest licenses, The Polar Express and Harry Potter. You’ll also see a Pennsylvania Flyer with a Santa Fe F unit. There’s even a fifth one, which is a holiday version. It will have a lot of the same features set used in both Barbie and Thomas in terms of the water vapor smoke.
The individual passenger cars will have lights that you can control. The cool part about our product, though, is that it will run on an O gauge electric track.
RS: Yes it will. We’ve tried it.
HH: Honestly, even the cars will connect to other [non battery] O gauge products. It’s a great entry price point into the market for people who want to explore model trains and maybe not jump in at the higher price point level.
RS: It’s something that the kids can handle, and not worry about breaking.
HH: Yes, you still get the experience of the model train. It does have both the remote control and the Bluetooth—least the next Thomas offering will. The first version of Thomas and Barbie didn’t have Bluetooth, but the new version will. You’ll be able to use the remote or the [smartphone] app.
RS: That will be great for all ages.
HH: We’re very excited. We think those will have a really strong presence.
RS: Since we’re at your headquarters, in 2012, you moved some manufacturing back to your facility. What kind of products do you make?
HH: In 2012, we started with personalization. Someone has the ability to go online and select a product, upload a photo and a sentiment, and create that product as either a memory or a gift item for somebody. We then went into some light manufacturing, with U.S. parts. We’ve since moved away from that and have really focused on the decorated in the USA [products]. We do a lot of [product] runs for clubs and organizations. We have a lot of personalization that we do now.
[With these personalized items], you can pretty much expect a Christmas boxcar, a Father’s Day car, happy birthday, etc. It’s the occasions you want to celebrate for someone who is a train enthusiast.
RS: Do you know what your most ordered design is?
HH: I believe the most ordered design is the Christmas coach for The Polar Express.
RS: That’s a surprise!
HH: If The Polar Express is in the mix, it’s usually in the top spot or very close to the top spot. The general Christmas one is also popular. Father’s Day is one of the next most popular, so depending on the year, the top spots will sometimes shuffle around a bit.
The nice part about the decorated models is that we’re able to do small runs of customized products for trade shows. An example would be items for Comic-Con that we do exclusively, or small batch runs for clubs and organizations to celebrate anniversaries. It gives us a lot of flexibility.
RS: I saw a little demo of the machine at work, and it’s mesmerizing to watch.
HH: It is. That technology is now being employed more and more overseas. You’re starting to see factories that have much larger flatbed versions of those printers that produce top quality graphics.
RS: Do you have a favorite [design]?
HH: As a business guy, my favorite is the one that sells the most. [Laughs.] From a personal perspective, I’m a Disney fan. I’m often inspired by Walt and his creativity. We did a Walt Disney celebration for their 100th [anniversary]. That was probably my favorite Disney.
RS: Since we’re at your headquarters, it’s hard to ignore that we’re very near [the home of] NASCAR. What non-train items does Lionel make that our readers might not know about?
HH: We are the official die-cast manufacturer for NASCAR, so we make all of the replica cars that exist in 1:24 scale and 1:64 scale for the racing series. Our products can be found in similar distribution models of what we do on the train side.
We also make the products that you find in Walmart, Target, and Meijer. We support the official league website, nascar.com. We have exclusive offerings and products, as well as the “trackside” merchandise. So if it’s NASCAR die-cast, it’s most likely coming from us.
We represent all the teams, through the Cup Series, Xfinity, and Craftsman Truck. We also do some late model asphalt and dirt products.
RS: Oh, really?
HH: We have an array of things. The die-cast market, at least in the U.S. on the racing side, is really focused on the 1: 24 scale and 1:64 scale, with 1:64 being more of a “Matchbox style” car.
RS: We often get questions at the magazine about the future of your S gauge line. What can you tell us about that?
HH: We still own American Flyer. To be honest, when we look at the business model, we have to evaluate where we invest and where we put our priorities. As S gauge is a small, passionate group of folks, we continue to make some products in the line.
We have what I think is our best looking Polar Express set [in S gauge] in terms of proportion in detail. We’ll [continue to release] some annual cars and key items that we know that the collector would want. We’ve just struggled with the market size, and have to make a business decision.
RS: That makes sense. There are a couple of new pieces each year.
HH: I think the people that buy those [products] love them. Who knows, anything is possible in the future. No decision is final, right?
RS: That’s true. What shows will Lionel be attending for the rest of the year?
HH: We’ll be participating, as we do every year, in the 55th LCCA [Lionel Collectors Club of America] convention in Scranton [Pennsylvania]. Then we’ll round out the year with Comic-Con. We love this show because it gives Lionel a presence in a space completely outside of the normal train market and a chance to get people excited about the Lionel brand and all of the crossover partnerships we have in terms of our licenses.
We’re able to leverage things like superheroes and Harry Potter that we do for the purpose of drawing more people into the train space. A lot of the folks that will buy those products may not have looked at model trains. When they find they have a crossover passion, though, they become enthusiastic about it.
It [Comic-Con] is in New York, which, of course, is the heart of “Lionel land.” You do get a lot of people who grew up with Lionel who stop by. They will share their memories. It’s a great way of keeping Lionel just top of mind and in the kind of conversation that’s larger than the overall. Not that it’s bad, but it’s just larger than the model train space.
RS: Are you expecting to be at Trainfest again this fall?
HH: Yes, we will. It’s a great show. We love meeting the fans. That show has gotten a good response for us.
RS: Can we expect some fun releases for the rest of the year? I’m assuming you are continuing your theme of releasing items as your anniversary continues.
HH: Absolutely. It’s important to pay attention to our social and digital platforms. There will be some limited exclusive items that will be available, as well as a lot of the mainstream items that will be launched in the catalog.
RS: And sign up for your emails, because you have all sorts of things that are announced via email.
HH: Digital has become the way of communication, right? We’re engaging with fans through email and through social [media], you’re able to move quickly. And honestly, in the current business environment, it’s been helpful from the pricing side of things too.
RS: That’s true. Anything you’re excited about from the 2025 Big Book?
HH: There’s a lot in there! There’s something for almost everybody, right? Some of our locomotives are fantastic. They’re some of the best I’ve ever seen in the industry.
For me, what I found to be really cool and definitely a labor of love was the launch of our Star Wars products. As a kid, I was a fan of the original Star Wars series. To bring that to life sort of reconnects you to your childhood. We chose to focus on the original three movies, Episodes 4, 5, and 6. We came up with some really interesting and fun takes on how the [product] works with elements from the movie. We’ve got some chasing gondolas that replicate certain areas. Some of our filmstrip boxcars are really cool. We worked very closely with the team on the Star Wars side of the business. They’re great to work with. You’ll continue to see us [release] some great products in that space.
RS: Star Wars is Q3, or is it Q4, for delivery?
HH: Probably a bit of both. We should start seeing them in Q3. The delivery should wrap up in Q4. I actually just got back from Asia and saw some samples while I was there and they’re looking good. What has to happen next is approvals, then we move into the production phase.
RS: Let’s say someone has never heard of Lionel. What would you want them to know?
HH: We have always been about innovation. When you really think about electric trains back in 1900, you were controlling a toy product with electricity when a lot of people in the country may not have had electricity or running water. Lionel was cutting edge.
Lionel has always stood for quality. It builds connections within a family that create memories that last a lifetime. We are, and continue to be, a classic quality, timeless product. That is what Lionel is all about. That’s the mantra that we work on. It’s the basis of how we develop products and bring products to life. to continue that tradition of building memories that will last a lifetime and hopefully another 125 years.
RS: I love that. What does the future of toy trains look like?
HH: Toy trains have had a good run over the last couple of years. Classic classic hobby stuff is always met with some headwind when you look at whiz-bang technology, like video games.
One of the benefits that came out of the COVID-19 years was when people had more time, they invested in things they loved. That reinvigorated a group of people who were train enthusiasts. We’ve done a good job of continuing that momentum. At the end of the day, as long as we continue to deliver quality, innovative products, the model train space is healthy and will continue to thrive and move forward.
RS: I really appreciate your time with me today.
HH: Thanks for visiting. I hope you enjoy the rest of your tour.
