Making them work on LL engines is a pain in the a$$ though. I know it can be done, but it still is a pain. We also don't know how long Kato will have these available as parts.
Only Atlas-China was mentioned earlier by Tim. I think the Life-Like has the plastic gear at a slight different location on the axle than Kato/Atlas?
Would you expect ESM producing entire wheelsets (wheels and plastic gear, or just wheels with half-axles)? IIRC, Kato wheelsets' half-axles should fit into Life-Like axle tubes (it will be slightly loose fit).
As for length of availability, what model RR manufacturer ever guarantees that their product will be perpetually available (especially nowadays)? FVM wheels are gone, BLMA (are they around?), Tangent (?), and do we have guarantee that IM or even ESM wheels will be available forever? Nope.
