I wish I was a collector.

I've started to collect more because I feel certain items will be valuable.

I think we all are closet collectors.

Some just have much bigger closets.

Now I need a bigger house or fewer hobbies.

If you buying trains to make money you are buying for all the wrong reasons. You buy trains because you like them. But them to run not to hang on a shelf.

 

The collecting frenzy is over, more and more PW collections are hitting the market as the pw collectors are passing on.

 

There  are allot better investments then trains.

That's what I think....

 

The only time I made some money on trains is if I buy real low from ebay and then sell it for more. This can happen a lot, but one must monitor ebay on daily basis few times a day. I also made some money selling some HO brass, but that was pure luck.

 

Just do what makes you feel happy, that is what this hobby, and all other hobbies, is all about...feeling Good

I also share this view.   Buy what you like and run it!

 

The PW collectible era is really over with maybe a few exceptions.

 

When PW boomers put away their toys for other interests, time and attrition reduced the available supply.  When the boomers (me included) wanted to re-capture youth we looked to our toys of yesterday and the PW market took off.  Now those same collections are coming back on the secondary market with many fewer buyers.  The generations after us have their own non train iconic toys to chase. 

 

As far as modern "collectibles" go, IMO you can not manufacture scarcity. There may be a scattered few really rare items, but I believe the market is saturated already.

Since our trains are no longer casually stored, but pampered from the moment they come out of the box, I don't believe there will be much attrition over the years.

If 1200 units of an item get built, 75% or better will survive.  

 

So, buy trains that make you happy and satisfied, run them or not, but please do not expect a rise in future value.  

Just my $.02 worth.

 

Jon

There are plenty of Postwar Lionel Trains that can be collected without spending 1,800 dollars on a single 6464 boxcar.
You can choose to collect items in your price range.

You don't have to buy the first example you see.
You don't have to buy mint, in box examples.

Part of the fun is the hunt, wait for an example in the condition you want, at the price you are willing to pay.

In my younger years I was a true collector, buying expensive pieces that I wanted but didn't need. I accrued many pieces.

Today I consider myself an operator and layout artist. Look back I bought not for need but just to have and had no idea how these trains could ever be used or run.

The P/W 6464 box cars at one time commanded good prices but the used market values are now declining. The modern reruns of the series sell at very attractive prices, look and run so much better than the old. Which ever era you are interested in, be patient and look for the buys. Prices are all over the place and there are bargains everywhere.

It's a pretty straightforward question, albeit without the correct punctuation.  I don't know much about 6464 box cars, or I'd have some suggestions. 

The 6464s are still an iconic Lionel product, and well worth collecting.  You certainly don't have to fork over $1800 to have some nice ones.This 6464-50 M&Stl in very near excellent grade came from Charles Siegel's Train City for $29.50 some years ago.  Others that seem to be in the same general price range are 6464-1 WP with blue lettering, 6464-75 RI, and 6464-300 Rutland rubber-stamped version, according to Greenberg's.

 

I don't profess to be an expert on these colorful and realistic cars, but perhaps this will give you some encouragement and a starting point.  Prices can depend on where and when you buy, of course.

Thanks for the input.

 

I don't buy toy stuff to make money. All the trains I have get a lot of use by little hands at Christmas or anytime they want. I have sets from N to G and set up whatever they want to play with.

 

I just think it would be cool to have some original pieces for no particular reason. I know nubes to any hobby pay too much and cause market spikes to the dismay of regulars.

I'm mainly a buy it to run it but I do have a couple sets never run just for the idea of having something old never run I don't know lol 99.5% of my trains are runners I have 2 runners ( sets) I will not part with there part of my collections the rest no plans to get rid of but would if really needed to. I for got I have a Williams Girls set on display but never has been run also so guess you could say 3 sets never ran. I just like that set sitting on shelf above my desk 

Collecting trains for investment NOT!!! unless you some how stumble across a real rare item and some one is basically giving it away then it might be considered a investment ie blue comet set and owner wants $100 for it and its mint in OB's 

We know that's not going to happen thou. 

Buy trains to enjoy them rather you want to run them or display them as a piece of art but not as a investment. 

Nearly all of them in decent VG condition should go for about the same as a new modern day car. There are a few that will take more money to buy, and a few will be a bit less. I think I have around 15 of them and haven't paid more than $75 for any of them.

 

I have two in so-so shape for sale on the forum right now:

 

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/t...37#41412508872384337

 

You will want to proceed cautiously though; these cars can be quite addictive. Trying to quit collecting them can be difficult despite having numerous other choices of cars available that are more detailed and better decorated for less money.

 

J White

 

 

The redo's are not so bad......always loved the 6464s.....but could not seeing paying those outrageous prices......they make a colorful display....

 

Getting them one set a year as they were re-issued really spread the cost over the long hall.....I think people collected these sets thinking they would hit astronomical values.  They haven't and the complete set can be found pretty reasonably.

 

 

BTW.....

I am really an operator.......but I became a collector by accident......Christmas 1958, Santa brought the New Haven F3 freight set.

 

Peter

Sometimes people forget that originally, these were toys, and made for boys to play with, abuse, lose parts from, and destroy in the sandbox. The ones that managed to survive BECAME collectibles.  The value in these collectibles has been created by chance. They were produced as toys, got ignored, got found again, and now have value. 

 

There is no such thing as an INSTANT collectible. Ask all the nice folks who spent their savings on all those Bradford Exchange coin sets, or the "collectible" dinner plates, MatchBox toys, Beanie Babies, etc.  Their money was wasted in the hopes that somehow, they were the only ones who realized some magical power to create wealth. Guess what? The manufacturers capitalized on that mis-guided belief.

 

The new sets of 6464 boxcars were made to allow enthusiasts (not speculators) to enjoy copies of a dwindling supply of the real thing.  They look great on the shelf, but they will never (in our lifetimes) be "collectible."

the first of the series seems to have people thinking its made of gold as the rest I have seen around $50 these I've seen from $40 on a real lucky day to over $150 more commonly now me I would never pay anything like that for them. haven't looked lately but about 4 months ago that was the going price. 

Correction check this one out lolhttp://www.ebay.com/itm/1993-Lionel-6-19247-Postwar-6464-Series-1-Box-Car-Three-car-set-L0971-/390990408157?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5b08d829dd

 

I picked up this repo of the Santa Fe 6464 for $20 and its my favorite because somebody customized it with a shock to the shock control!

franktrain 

 

You could probably "collect" the entire 9200 series boxcars for around $100...they are essentially the same as the 6464 boxcars, but different road names.

 

Jeff Davis

I get a kick out of reading posts with broad pronouncements along the line that the collecting frenzy is over and collecting is dead.  In my opinion these statements constitute hasty generalizations about people buying and selling trainsand are inaccurate to say the least.

 

I am an operator and not a collector by anyone's definition. Virtually all of the pre-war and post-war train stuff I purchase with only a few exceptions would be considered operator class motive power and rolling stock; in very good condition but still operator class.  The reason I buy operator class is because the premium post war engines, rolling stock and accessories in excellent to like new condition are still commanding very high prices.  Perhaps not as high as the mid 1980s but still very high.  I would love to buy a 1950 Lionel 773 in excellent to like new condition but can't afford the $1500 to $1800 that is required to buy one.  The same thing goes for all of the Lionel Berkshires in excellent to like new condition.  They are not going for a thousand bucks but usually sell for $500 to $800.  In fact when tracking E-bay and on line auctions for almost any excellent to like new Lionel, American Flyer and even Marx engines the prices are still a lot higher than the stuff classified as operator class.  Even MPC engines in excellent to like new condition are generating sales on E-bay and on line  auctions at very good prices.  Pre-war equipment in the same condition is even higher.  The point is people and lots of them are still buying/collecting old trains in great shape.  Follow an on line auction sometime and see how many people are bidding on pre-war and post-war equipment at very high prices.  As Tom McComas says on many of his TM videos, "Prepare to be amazed."  Well built, sturdy, durable, and reliable made in the USA trains are still coveted by a heck of a lot of people so I don't think collecting is quite dead yet.  . 

 

 

I don't look at the hobby as a collector or anything like it. I purchase what I like and plan to run it as often as possible.

 

For me this makes the hobby much more fun not to have to worry about value.

As others have said, you don't need to spend a lot to get some vintage items. In fact, I've been selling some postwar here. Still a few items remaining.

 

And to me "collector" tends to be a bit of a derogatory term sometimes. So, I am not a collector, I am an operator, though some of my engines are almost 100 years old and they do spend considerable time on shelves between running sessions.

 

Have fun.

 

Tim

quote:

And to me "collector" tends to be a bit of a derogatory term sometimes

 

The only place I have encountered where "Collector" is sometimes a derogatory term is right here on this site. 
People collect all sorts of things, from matchbooks to automobiles.

Follow the example of the wealthy & strive to be a strategic buyer (like Warren Buffett), not a collector ... of anything. Collecting is for museums. There are very very few of us mere mortals that have ever collected & then liquidated for a profit.

 

There are all sorts of consumer items that go in & out of fashion, that become more or less available with what now has become a world wide economic/liquidity cycle. Further there are consumer items that are considered "politically incorrect" for now that may become increasing scarce and very desirable as time goes by.

 

Perhaps the most strategic thing to be collecting & setting aside now (ie hoarding) is cash. As Tom Keen has observed recently: "there are people out there that are up to there eyeballs in cash." Those of us who were setting aside cash during the boom of 2002-2007 were duly rewarded during the liquidity crash of 2008-2010. Didn't matter whether you were interested in  toy trains, the DJIA or Apple stock, supply became available for a song.

 

One final bit of advise? Get your news by following the money from a reputable source such as http://www.bloomberg.com/ and not the marketing, disinformation & diversion for what passes otherwise as new/news today, business or otherwise.
 

I guess it would be safe to call me a collector who appreciates scale size and prototypical detail as well as a operator who enjoys running the trains I collect.

My toy train layout will never be hirail but its big enough and detailed enough to give my scale sized motive power a small element of reality.  And that's all it will ever be because  I love putzing around with it, changing the layout from time to time as a form of relaxation.

But the truth is, I find operating trains even if it were my favorite engines on the most elaborate layouts for any length of time BORING to the tenth degree. 

Joe

Seems like another one of those threads where someone wants to tell the other person they are wrong.
I am an operator and "collector" who only buys things that I like.
In hindsight, it seems that I have "like" and bought at discounts, mainly through patience because I am inheriting "cheap"

Maybe I just have good "taste" when it comes to trains.
They advice that I would give if asked, do what you feel most comfortable doing.
If you enjoy it weather you run them or not. That is what thy are for. To enjoy the way you want to, not how some operator says you should. If you make money( profit). More power to you and something else to enjoy if that is what you like.
Myself, I am diminishing all the collector value that I earned due to my need to kit bash everything and my lousy driving. I definitely would have been a lousy train engineer. Lol.

Maybe I should spend a little time proof reading before I post.
That was painful and embarrassing to read. Lol

I to agee with buying trains as an investment.Is over now pw trains don,t bring as much money as they use to.So I buy what want and run it.None of that keeping trains in boxs in the closet for me.I run my trains and have fun doing it.I think people are in for a shock when they find out.The trains don,t bring as much money as they thought they would.The way things are now they will be real lucky.To get even half there money they invested in the trains.