Hidden Treasure in the Modern Era: MODERN era Lionel Promotional Sets

Stretching back into the prewar era, Lionel famously produced special sets for certain retailers or companies.

Most collectors know about the prewar Macy's Special tinplate set or the postwar Zenith promo set that was an in-house salesman's incentive set.

But lots of folks don't realize that Lionel continued this service on into the modern era, and some of these sets are scarcer than their postwar ancestors.

Many of these types of sets were issued in white set boxes with large stickers put on them. These sets often featured the same cars just with different company designs on them to reflect the promotional sponsor.

Many of these sets are medium-priced such as the ones for the various car manufacturers: Chevy, Mopar, Ford. Some are slightly more desirable such as the Nibco plumbing, Keebler or Kal Kan.

THEN there is a set like the one produced for the Case Farmall McCormick company. It was uncatalogued and was limited to 500 sets, and even better became an instant cross-collectible. That is, Lionel folks wanted it, and farm collectors such as Case, International Harvester, and Farmall collectors wanted it.

These sets often feature lots of neat specialty touches--what we call "Easter eggs" today. The Farmall steam set has "1954" as the cab number. Fun Fact: The "1954" under the cab window of the locomotive corresponds to the year they started using the Torque Amplifier on the iconic Farmall Super M tractor.

Sometimes these sets had the company name or product on an item or two while the other items were more common. 

Unlike other promo sets, however, the Farmall set featured its names and designs all pieces. Like some other more collectible promo sets, this one had a special flatcar with a unique tractor load. It carries three Farmall Super M toy tractors which were actually supplied by Farmall to Lionel!

Another fun inclusion is the caboose's "Letter Series Tractors" lettering which references Farmall models like A, B, H, M, etc., ending in 1954 with the Super series.

So if you collect specialty items, don't pass up a neat uncatalogued set just because it is in a plain white box or is modern era. It just might be rarer than your favorite postwar promo set!

Right now, you can check out thew Chevy Bowtie set as well as this scarce Farmall promo set in our listings here at Lone Star Trains. Just search Lionel Farmall.

(And more promo sets on the way, so keep checking back!)