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Originally Posted by Steamer:

no sweat! being on the hunt is part of the fun! I'd rather be hitting shows for one, but between my 21 turn and the lack of local shows, the net is the next best thing.

Just thought of this Dave!!

The Lionel postwar 2055 is the same boiler casting as the 2065. You could pick up a 2055,(and Ive seen them for $100 w/ tender). remove the boiler front and replace it

with an original 2065 boiler front with the feed water heater. The only draw back would be the number 2055 on the cab

Therer is a lot of this nonsense on the Bay.  But you have to admit, members of this forum are fairly well educated when it comes to trains and their values.  The best one I've seen lately is the Lionel Lackawanna wood reefer (6-36131) which is about $150.00 from more than one eBay seller, but you can get it, as I did, from Grzyboski for $24.95!  Hey, c'mon, it's from 2009!!!

The reason why we see so many items on ebay "selling" at good prices is because many sellers use a stooge to bid the prices up. Can't tell you how many times I've seen the same item listed again after it was "sold". Hold your ground men, and the prices will continue to fall. There are far more trains for sale than buyers right now.

Even truly "rare" doesn't mean it's worth much.

 

I have a gun collector friend who gathers any"rare" gun that comes along, thinking that because not many were made they are valuable.  I have spent over 40 years trying to convince him that maybe... just maybe... not many were made because they weren't worth a **** in the first place.

 

He sometimes spends way too much because most of the dealers in the area know he'll pay it for a "rare" piece.

In this day and age of the internet,smart phones,etc, there is no reason why a buyer/seller can't have an idea of what they have. Maybe not 100% sure, but at least in the ballpark. And at least find those who do know. But, I'd say that a good percentage of collectors have made a purchase with their heart, knowing they were paying too much. The thing here is not to go too overboard, and buy a total POS for gold.Just restoring old cars, you always put more into them then you could ever get selling it. We do it for the love of the car, or it was Dad's train,etc.




quote:




Even truly "rare" doesn't mean it's worth much.

 

I have a gun collector friend who gathers any"rare" gun that comes along, thinking that because not many were made they are valuable.  I have spent over 40 years trying to convince him that maybe... just maybe... not many were made because they weren't worth a **** in the first place.





 

It's true that rare does not always mean more valuable. For a rare item to have value, enough people have to know about the item, and want it.

 

In the world of trains, there certainly are low quality pieces that are worth a great deal. The first example that comes to mind is the first American Flyer 625 tank car. All of them warped badly, presumably most were discarded. Today it is rare and highly prized among American Flyer collectors.

 

 

 

 
Originally Posted by ADCX Rob:
Originally Posted by Dennis LaGrua:

...many sellers use a stooge to bid the prices up. Can't tell you how many times I've seen the same item listed again after it was "sold"...

That gets expensive pretty quickly(final value fees), and is pretty transparent now with the way eBay tracks bidding behavior.

That is a correct statement but I guess some ebay sellers would rather pay the for sale fees than let an item go for what they feel is half the cost. The are certainly some legitimate rare collectibles, scale Hudsons, orig Girls train, a couple 6464 box cars, a few F3's but these days I see so many trains for sale that I consider very few really rare. . There are over 100,000 Lionel pieces alone for sale on eBay right now. Does that sound like trains are rare? If the truth be known, the market is flooded with trains and some collectors are swimming in the stuff.

as was stated in the first post i like my steak rare. since i have never eaten a train and don't plan on it i'm not into rare trains. i have several Bill Lenoir locomotives which are 1 of a kind and therefore are collectible to the right person. Again to the right person .

i think what most of you are missing is no matter what the venue is ebay auctions train shows or whatever anyone trying to sell an item is going to put it in the best light. a small home in realtor's speak is cute. a car salesman tells you the car was driven by a little old lady(he never met my grandmother who could burn rubber with the best of them) so what makes you think that someone is going to post common as flies at a picnic. tell me none of you ever implied something is better rarer nicer than the average.

my best advice is to use you wallet and brain to your best advantage. study up on what you want to buy and pay accordingly. the true value of any item is what a buyer is willing to pay and what a seller is willing to take. that has nothing to do with rarity just basic economics.

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