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The Lionel Collectors Club ofAmerica (LCCA) has a long history of pro-ducing interesting and colorful rollingstock and locomotives exclusively for itsmembers, but the decision to make areproduction of the fabled postwar 1960Halloween General Set broke new ground.This would be the first time a complete setwould be offered to LCCA members asone package. Buying a special car was onething, but would LCCA collectors payalmost $300.00 for a reproduction set?Answering that question provides aninside look into how Lionel and the LCCAworked together and created a modern ver-sion of a legendary postwar favorite.

A Brief History of the LionelHalloween Set

This set had long been confused withthe similar 9666 Sears set from 1959. Thecomponents were similar: a General loco-

motive, a flatcar with horses, and a combi-nation baggage-mail car and passengercoach. But the Sears set used different col-ors, car numbers, and packaging. It wasonly in the last few years that diligentresearch on the part of postwar collectorspositively nailed down the identity of theHalloween General and the set that wentwith it. (See Greenberg’s Guide to LionelTrains 1945-1969, Volume IV by Paul V.Ambrose and Joseph P. Algozzini.) TheLCCA supplemented this research withthe examination of several completeHalloween sets. The club also used an orig-inal engine and cars as samples.

What came to be known as theHalloween General Set by collectors wasmarketed in 1960 by a mail order firmnamed Gifts Galore. The colors chosen forthe 4-4-0 General locomotive gave the setits name and were unique to the GiftsGalore train outfit. The engine boiler waspainted black, and the engineer cab and

cowcatcher were a flat orange, with “1882”on the side of the cab. The steam dome,sand dome, and ornate bell were paintedgold. Since it was an O27 engine, the 1882did not have gold boiler bands on the bodyor MagneTraction on the driving wheels.The 1882T tender body was black andorange, with the gold, heat-stamped ini-tials of the Western & Atlantic Railroad onthe sides. Many collectors consider it themost attractive General made during thepostwar era. The fenced flatcar with horseswas numbered 1887 and was the only carof its type that had yellow fences and car-ried this number. Other fenced flatcarswith horses were branded with the number1877. The 1866 combination baggage-mail car had a yellow body with brownroof and lettering. It was a standard pro-duction O27 item that was built from1959 to 1962 and was a component in cat-aloged O27 General sets. On the otherhand, the blue 1885 passenger coach was

Building Your Own CollectiblesPhotos by Rich Melvin

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made only in 1960 just for this set. All theother passenger coaches in the series werepainted yellow. As a result, the 1885 is espe-cially prized by collectors even though it isnot lighted and does not have operatingcouplers.

The special flat-top set box without alid had a die-cut insert adorned with redand green glitter that, in addition to theother set components, also held a 1015transformer, 12 pieces of curved O27track, 4 straight O27 tracks, a 90-degreecrossing, and last but not least the 963-100Lionel Frontier Set. The Frontier Set wasthe only boxed item in the set and con-sisted of a Plasticville log cabin, a wind-mill, log fencing, five animals, and a waterpump with handle. Both the box and the963-100 number were unique to the GiftsGalore Halloween General Set. The setbox had a plain cardboard sleeve to enclosethe contents, and for additional protectioninside, the set was covered with a piece ofgray cardstock. There was no number onthe set box and, as this is written, no num-ber has been unearthed for the HalloweenGeneral Set.

Considerations in Building the Set

Several reasons motivated the LCCAto remake the Halloween General Set.Collector interest in a modern version wasalmost a given. Original examples of com-plete sets are hard to come by in any con-dition. Locomotives and cars can be foundseparately on auction sites and at train shows,but they are usually in pretty bad shape andare more suitable for use by operators thanas display pieces. A Halloween General Setin pristine condition, with the distinctivepackaging intact, is virtually impossible tofind, and the prices demanded for such aset are beyond the means of all but themost affluent collectors. It is probably safeto say that due to scarcity and desirability,it is the most expensive postwar set toacquire that is headed by a 4-4-0 Generallocomotive. Let’s face it, when the askingprice hits five figures, most of us are out of

the running for an original. A reproduc-tion is the only realistic choice we have forsomething like a Halloween General Set.

Production costs and tooling availabil-ity were two other important factors wherefortune smiled on the LCCA. Even thoughoriginal sets were ferociously expensive inthe marketplace, cost estimates for a quan-tity of new-build Halloween General Setsindicated they could be sold for a surpris-ingly affordable price. Better yet, Lionelwas using the tooling for a similar Generalset featured in the 2003 catalogs—the 6-31939 Great Train Robbery Set, whichcame complete with track, transformer,and a handcar. This meant the tooling wasavailable at the factory, and a time-con-suming, possibly expensive search for itwas not required.

Now the challenge for Lou Caponi,then president-elect of the LCCA, andMike Braga, at that time director of LionelCustomer Service, was to translate the his-torical knowledge they had gained aboutthe set and its obvious desirability into anattractive, affordable package that collec-tors would buy. The LCCA also wanted touse the set to entice new members to jointheir club. The rest of this story chronicleshow they did it.

Set Descriptions and Trade-Offs

It was neither possible nor desirable to

make an exact replica of the postwar setand its packaging. Trade-offs were neces-sary and they largely benefited the finalproduct LCCA buyers received. Overall,the overriding priority was to make theoutward appearance of each piece of the 6-52300 Halloween General Set look asclose to its original counterpart as modernmanufacturing techniques would allow(Photo 1).

The General

The colorful 1882, 4-4-0 steamer and1882T tender were upgraded from thepostwar version. A smoke cap was added tothe smokestack along with an operatingsmoke unit. The motor and frame assem-bly were modified to ensure that the new6-52301 General would go down the tracksmoothly without wobbling. The toolingfor the postwar-style open-frame motorcould not be found, so Lou stayed with themodern can motor and solid state E-unit,which increased reliability. The rear driverswere equipped with traction tires, and thatmade it feasible for the General to haulmore cars than the three in the basic set.The black and orange colors of the loco-motive and tender were carefully matchedwith a postwar Halloween General, whichwas destroyed while being studied as apaint sample along with the three originalcars that were also sent to China as paint

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and appearance samples. This hadrepercussions when it came time to dothe packaging.

Rolling Stock

Die-cast metal trucks and operat-ing couplers replaced the plastic trucksand couplers of the postwar cars. Thisgave a high-quality look and better oper-ating characteristics to the 6-52304,1887 flatcar with horses (Photo 2), the6-52303, 1866 combination baggage-mail car, and the 6-52302, 1885 pas-senger coach. Technological advancesallowed the addition of an air whistle inthe yellow and brown baggage-mail car(Photo 3) without raising the cost ofthe set too much. Lou reasoned thatevery set with a steam engine shouldhave a whistle, so in it went. There wasprecedent for this in the postwar Lionelline. The more expensive Super OGeneral sets housed air whistles in their1875W yellow and brown coachesbecause the locomotive tenders of theGenerals were too small to accommo-date them. The desirable blue and

brown passenger car was the hardest carto do right (Photo 4). Illuminating thecar was easy, but the blue on the bodyneeded to match the color of the origi-nal, and it took five or six tries beforeLou was satisfied. This snag happenedeven though the factory had a postwarsample for reference.

More Trade-Offs

Certain items from the 1960 GiftsGalore outfit did not make it into theLCCA set. The transformer, the figureeight of O27 track, and the 90-degreecrossing were easy to delete. Theyadded cost, took up valuable space inthe set box, and collectors had little orno use for them.

The Lionel Frontier Set wasanother matter. It would have made adesirable addition to the LCCA set, butthe club would not commit to produc-tion quantities a year in advance asB a c h m a n n , t h e o w n e r o f t h ePlasticville line, required. Excess inven-tory of Plasticville would have deval-ued the set in the eyes of collectors.

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Besides, the results demonstrate that delet-ing the Lionel Frontier Set and concentrat-ing solely on the production of the engineand rolling stock proved to be a good deci-sion (Photo 5).

Set Box Packaging

The idea of using an exact replica ofthe original box was abandoned at an earlystage. After what had happened at the fac-tory to the Halloween General Set sam-ples, “Nobody who owned an original set

box was crazy enough to lend us one tosend to China,” Lou said. Postwar setswith boxes were worth far more on the col-lector market than components withoutthem, and it was just too big a risk for a pri-vate owner to ship one overseas.

This gave Lou Caponi and the Lionelgraphics people the opportunity to comeup with a brand-new design. The endresult, shown in Photo 6, was a classy-looking box cover that utilized glossy blackand orange to frame the colorful Lionellogo on the upper left and the LCCA

“Lenny the Lion” patch on the lower right.These elements helped highlight the digni-fied script in the center that spelled out“The Halloween General,” with the draw-ing of the General below it. The coverlooked so good it became the branding forthe new Halloween General Set.

Three requirements had been specifiedfor the design. It had to have a lift-off lid,be made to certain dimensions, and carrythe line “Produced Exclusively for theLionel Collectors Club of America byLionel LLC.” There were objections that

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the black boxes would be dull and not lookgood on retail shelves. It was pointed outthat the set was going to private collectors,and one look at the lively box art dispelledthe dullness argument (Photo 7).

In what seemed to become a recurringsituation for the program, two problemsdelayed production of the box and thedelivery of the set for several months. Thestatement that proclaimed the set was pro-

duced exclusively for the LCCA was omit-ted, and the drawing of the General usedthe wrong black shade for the body so thatit got lost on the glossy black cover. Thebody color of the General had to be a dif-ferent shade of black than the box cover tomake the design work. It took four weeksto get another box sample and threemonths to produce the final approved ver-sion that enabled the sets to be shipped.The finished Halloween General Sets sat atthe factory (Photo 8) until the new lidscould be produced because it was tooexpensive to send them first and then shipthe redesigned lids separately.

Advertising and Promotion

The first hobby magazine ad for theLCCA Halloween General Set appeared inthe October 2003 issue of OGR. It wasaimed squarely at nonmembers. For$299.95, they could join the LCCA for ayear and buy the set with free shipping.The member price was $269.95.

A later ad produced by the LCCA was

so well done it received a national advertis-ing award (Photo 9).

One of the aims of producing the setwas to use it as a vehicle for gaining newmembers. New members and currentmembers could only buy one set each,which motivated more people to join theclub. By the time the December 15, 2003,ordering deadline was reached, the LCCAhad three times the number of orders than

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had been projected. The HalloweenGeneral Set program also fit well withthe club’s efforts to continue to providemembers with unique benefits as partof their LCCA experience. TheGeneral set promotion succeeded onboth counts. Collectors were glad toown it, and operators enjoyed running

it. Not bad for a set that initially costless than $300.00 and mimicked thebest qualities of a legendary Lionel out-fit that could cost thousands more thanthat. The LCCA Halloween GeneralSets are routinely going for twice thelaunch price and more—that is not badeither.

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