As the 1970s MPC-General Mills Era of Lionel matured and developed, a collector market began to surface. The 1980 Lionel catalog makes it official with the publication divided into Collector Series releases and Traditional Series products. The beginnings of Lionel's Collector Series may be traced back to the 1978 catalog and the Steam Driven Passenger Trains offerings. Lionel combined Traditional and Collector Series releases in the 1981 catalog, but beginning in 1982 separate catalogs for each category were published. This section of the Lionel O27 Resource includes the items released in the Collectors Series and a few select releases from just prior to the official separation of the lines.

From the Famous American Railroad releases to special Limited sets and on to the first Fallen Flags set, you'll find Lionel's Collector Series releases from the late '70s to 1986 on this site.