“He
wanted to leave town,” recalls
McComas, “but he felt bad about the
money he owed me so he offered me three
boxes of old trains.”
McComas was single, living on the
North side of Chicago, and had no use for
the trains.
“The last thing I needed was three
boxes of old trains.” But the friend
insisted, so McComas took the old trains.
A year later, McComas had some guests
over for dinner. One guest was a train
collector. McComas told him about the
trains. After dinner, McComas spread the
trains out on the floor. The guest offered
$5000. McComas immediately became
interested in toy trains.
The collection included some of
Lionel’s finest trains, including the
streamlined Hiawatha from the 30s, a
scale Hudson, a scale switcher, and classics
from the Lionel Postwar era like the Santa
Fe F3 and GG-1.
Turns out there were about 10,000
collectors in the country, but very little
had been written about toy trains.
Information was passed primarily by
word-of-mouth. McComas, after meeting
a number of new collectors who, like
himself, were having a hard time finding
out about Lionel trains, decided there was
a market for a book.
“ I would have bought the book if it
were
available,” says McComas.
So much for focus groups.
Tom contacted Jim
Tuohy, a good friend and
one of the best writers in the
city.
“What do you know
about toy trains?” asked Tom. “Nothing,”
replied Jim. “Neither do I. Let’s write a
book.”
Incredibly, they convinced a bank to
loan them $20,000. It was the summer of
1974. McComas made a mailing
announcing the book. He also took it to a
national train show in Seattle. “I stacked
the books on a table and it was like selling
cold beer in Brooklyn on a hot summer
night. Guys were grabbing the books and
throwing money at me. I think I sold 300
books in less than two hours. It was
amazing.” At the same time, the first
returns from the direct-mail campaign
were due. McComas called his father who
was to check the post office box.
“My dad said the box was empty. My
heart sank. I thought there would be at
least ten orders. Then dad said there was a
note in the box saying to go to the front
window because there was too much mail
for the box. There were two bags of mail,
over 1200 orders.”
All 10,000 books sold in less than six
months. McComas paid the bank back
and found himself in the publishing
business. Over the next five years,
McComas and Tuohy wrote six hardcover
books covering the history of Lionel. The
books included color photographs and
information for collectors. Since the
McComas-Tuohy books, many more have
been written on collecting trains, but
those first TM books are still considered
the definitive work on Lionel.
McComas and Tuohy next
collaborated on Great Toy Train Layouts of
America. Published in 1987, the
hardcover book featured color pictures
and stories about elaborate layouts around
the country, including Frank Sinatra’s.
Sinatra was a toy train enthusiast and had
been a TM customer for years. One
morning the phone rang in TM’s office.
McComas answered.
“The voice said he was calling for
Frank Sinatra. Sinatra was in town for a
concert and wanted some information about a Lionel train. The
caller said
Sinatra would get on the line. Tuohy is a
great Sinatra fan so I put the guy on hold
and told Jim the phone was for him. Now
Tuohy is a very charming guy but not
early in the morning. ‘Who is it?’ grunted
Tuohy. Frank Sinatra I said and handed
him the phone. Tuohy grabbed the
phone. He heard Sinatra’s voice and
nearly fell on the floor.”
The emergence of videotape
prompted McComas to return to his
filmmaking roots. The Great Layout book
eventually became a six-part video series,
the second of which was chosen by People
Magazine as one of the ten best videos of
1989. This was the first of many awards
TM would win.
In the late 80s, baby boomers who
played with Lionel trains as kids were
reaching their peak earning years, and
could now afford to buy all those trains
they had once only dreamed about. And
they did. The hobby of train collecting
enjoyed dramatic growth. The Train
Collectors Association, the largest toy
train collecting clubs, approached 40,000
members, and a number of new books
and magazines devoted to train collecting
were launched. TM rode the hobby wave
with books, price guides, and videos.
In 1993, TM produced their first children’s video. The
idea came from
McComas’ son Jeffrey. “Jeffrey would get
up at seven in the morning and go non-stop until ten at night.
The only time he’d
sit still was when he watched me edit train
videos."
So McComas put together a show
featuring the things Jeff liked-- trains,
animals, jokes and snappy music. The
show was a big hit with Jeffrey. McComas’
wife Charyl thought other kids might like
it too, so they designed a cover, entitled
the video I Love Toy Trains, and took it to
a video trade show in Las Vegas.
“It was the hit of the show,” recalls
Charyl. “We received orders from
Blockbuster, Readers Digest, the Wireless
catalog. It was amazing.”
I Love Toy Trains quickly became
TM’s best-selling title and one of the best-
selling children’s videos in the country.
More videos were produced and the series
began to win awards and gain national
exposure in magazines and on TV.
McComas’ appearance on CNBC’s The
Tom Snyder Show generated the largest
viewer response in the show’s history.
The show was so popular, they
decided to run it five times during the
Christmas holidays when Tom Snyder was
on vacation. “They told us about four of
the reruns because we had to prepare. moment the flashed our
800-number all
six lines would ring off the hook. We had
to have people in the office manning the
phones.”
On New Year’s eve, Tom and his wife,
Charyl, invited four couples over for
dinner. Tom had to go out to the office for
something (the TM office is about 100
yard from their home). It was about
11:15. All of a sudden, all six lines lit up.
“
Omigod,” said Tom. “They’re rerunning
the show.” McComas busied out the six
lines and ran inside to tell everyone to
grab their drinks and come out to the
office. For three hours the dinner guests
took phone orders. “We had another
party the next year, “recalls Tom, but
nobody wanted to come.”
Each new I Love Toy Trains video
received rave reviews in People Magazine,
USA Today and in hobby and library
journals. I Love videos were picked up by
catalogs, toy stores, video stores and
libraries all over the country. Sales were
also been fueled by enthusiastic word-of-mouth and the one million
mark was passed in late 2001.
An executive at Caterpillar saw the
videos and asked TM to produce similar
shows featuring big Cat machines. So
the I Love CAT Machines series was born.
TM had always worked closely with Lionel. Lionel management realized
that
TM books and videos did a great job
promoting Lionel trains and creating new
Lionel customers. Lionel, in turn,
cooperated with TM by providing
hardware and opening their files and
archives exclusively to TM.
A Lionel Christmasfeatured several
collectors who reminisced about growing
up in the 1950s and receiving Lionel
trains for Christmas. Collector Jim Blesko
of Syracuse, NY wrote, “I watched it three
times in a row. Saw something new each
time and each time tears came to my eyes.
McComas has captured the essence of
where this fascination with toy trains
began.”
The Toy Trains & Christmasseries
features Lionel trains and Department 56
villages. The series also features the talents
of songwriter, composer and singer Jim
Coffey. “Jim was a great find,” says
McComas. “His voice and music are
perfect for both our I Loveand Christmas
series.”
In late 1995, 25-year-old Joseph
Stachler joined the video production
team. Joe has been a Lionel train
enthusiast ever since he can remember
and he has accumulated an amount of
technical and historical knowledge about Lionel far beyond his
years. He also is a
very talented cameraman, editor and
writer. “I love making movies and I love
Lionel trains. This job combines both so I
like my work.”
“
Joe is passionate about both trains
and filmmaking,” says McComas. “Our
productions have improved immensely
since Joe came with us.”
In 2000, the McComas-Stachler
team produced a two-hour show
celebrating Lionel’s 100th Anniversary.
The show is narrated by broadcasting
legend Tom Snyder and has been shown
on PBS station all over the country. It was
also chosen by the New York Film and
Video Festival for competition in their
documentary category.
In 2002, TM released the Celebrity
series featuring the layouts of Frank
Sinatra, Tom Snyder, and Mandy
Patinkin. In the summer of 2003, TM
spent two weeks in Wyoming filming the
All About Cowboysseries. PBS picked up
both shows.
TM has also opened I Love Toy
Trains: The Store, a retail train and toy
store located in New Buffalo, Michigan.
TCA Quarterlyeditor Bruce Manson
comments on TM’s body of work. “Since
1974, TM has provided the hobby with well-written books and beautifully
produced videos,” says Manson. “I know
a lot of guys who joined the TCA because
TM books and videos reminded them of
what great fun they had with toy trains.
The TM crew has amassed a body-of-
work that is unmatched in our hobby.
Congratulations.”
Joe Stachler: “We work hard to
produce quality shows that both entertain
and inform. We also never miss an
opportunity to add humor and good
music. People recognize this and
respond.”
2004 is TM’s 30Anniversary.
Looking back, Tom McComas smiles.
“
It’s been great fun. We travel, meet
people, laugh. I wouldn’t have it any other
way.”
The future includes a new children’s
series, All About Trains, a video on the
Caterpillar NASCAR racing team, a video
on HO model train layouts, and, a video
for the toddler set, Baby Loves Trains.
More information
www.tmbooks-video.com
800-892-2822. |
