I think it's a great piece of engineering, and I hope AZL sells as many of them as they can make. But for me, they took a few too many shortcuts in the design of certain things, which stick out like a sore thumb. Example: the drive rod and piston are not articulated; they're one piece, just like all of Märklin's. Yet the $100 Tenshodo is articulated. I realize that articulating it properly would have kicked the price up even higher, but if you're going to go to the trouble of making a high-end brass steam locomotive in the first place, why cut corners like that? Again, it's not a put-down of AZL or the model; it's just me. If I had the cash for one, and if I wanted a Challenger (and I don't have the cash or want a Challenger), I don't think I'd buy one.
