The biggest problem I've seen with the plastic wheel sets in Athearn blue box kits is not the plastic wheels, but the rusted steel axles. They generally aren't rusted when they come out of the box, except in the case of models that have ben sitting in boxes on a shelf waiting for me to have the time to build them. With in a year of building or acquiring an Athearn model the axles are rusted, and rust on the ends doesn't help them roll. I've used Proto 2000, Kaddee, Northwest Shortline, Intermountain, and Athearn Genesis over the years largely depending on what wheel sets my local hobby shop had in stock or when there was a choice, which were least expensive. I haven't seen any difference operationally between any brand and another.