Your Best Buying Deal Ever?

Paulo

 

I think a lot of us think we get good deals. After all it's like beauty is .....in the eyes of the be older.

 

Yesterday going into my local kinda sorta hobby train store when I was leaving I seen a Boston Red Socks Majior league RTR set for $130.00 out the door brand new.

 

I could care less about this type of set, BUT!!

 

I was in there to pick up a few odd ball pieces of track.

 

Couldn't help it. I instantly thought boy I can kit bash the heck out of that Berkshire.  SO fate strikes a old train guy again.

 

It left in my truck. Hopefully it will be a fun project down the road.

 

MSRP $379.99  At least I sure thought is was a deal.

 

 

HAVE FUN

 

Larry

 BRAND NEW Lionel scale steelsided reefers for $17 a piece, from a rather well known dealer/ forum/ magazine sponsor.

best modern era deal: an atlas 60' hi-cube boxcar nib $44 shipped, off the ebay.it was a buy-it-now that had been listed minutes ago.-jim

My Ultimate Auction Purchase

86

Lionel postwar 3464 merchandise car with red letters instead of blue letters.  Came as an extra car on a train set i bought which did include the correct blue lettered 3464 car also.  $250.00 for the set. Probably should have kept at least the red lettered car.

Thanks Larry, your boy home? Was thinking of you/him the other day as I drove home from Mother Rucker.

86TA

Yes sir he is.

 

Selected for W-5 and going through the schools IN RUCKER

 

Thank you so much for asking!

 

You know DADS WANA BRAG

 

 

 

Larry

 

 EDIT QUICKLY

 Shoot , I forgot he is coming up here for a visit this week end with his family for Mothers Day

 

I won a Lionel Amtrak HHP-8 last year!

Glad to see most everybody came out ahead on buying O scale engines and rolling stock. The best deals I've had recently were an MTH U.P. Heritage W.P. SD70Ace, PS2, NIB for $219.00 and a Sunset Models S.P. MK6 2-8-2 with QSI sound NIB for $370.00.

 

That's easy.  Rather than report the unforgivable offense for removal, it would have been more friendly to just remind the OP that he "accidentally" posted a discussion thread in the for-sale forum -- which is a no-no.  But no big deal, 'cause the moderators would probably MOVE the thread... which is what they ultimately did.

 

That's how you handle it with a little class.  I checked with Miss Manners tonight, and she has lots of openings in tomorrow's class for anyone who would like to polish up on their social skills.    She told me the full moon is causing all kinds of problems.   And I told her I understood completely, 'cause I had two perfectly good discussion threads zapped into cyberspace today due to a couple of crybabies stirring up trouble because the threads weren't "worthy" of their time.  

 

David

 

Back on topic here...

 

The best toy train deal I've seen in the past several years occurred right here on the forum when Walter had a tremendous "New Year's" sale on his fabulous RMT Ore cars for about $10/each.  I think that was 2 or 3 years ago, and I've gotta confess I still have a few ore cars still in their shrink-wrap boxes awaiting their inaugural run on my soon-to-be-started new layout this year.    $10/each had to be the closest pricing I've ever seen to late-1960's pricing in modern times! 

 

David

I'm tellin mom. It starts early in life .

 

Most things I buy are a heck of a deal but has been a few years since I picked up rolling stock for 5 bucks a piece. Probably the cheapest was a Lionel GB&W Waffle sided box car for a $1.25 on ebay.

How about a good deal until you try to run it? I brought a 3rd rail north shore electrol liner nos for $300 less then any where else only to find that the glue that held the wheels together and the window dried out and everything is falling apart.

I would say my Williams brass USRA 2-8-2, got it for less than $190 shipped!  Even after installing PS2 and adding a few parts to make it into a Seaboard class Q3 it still came in at  under $500.

 

 

Years ago at a Greenberg show I bought, from a private seller, a Premier Santa Fe ABA in freight livery, a caboose, and 15 weathered Premier tank cars with Kadees.  I think the total was about $450.

1/43 vehicles at a local drug store, $2.00 each.

I bought the whole box. 10-12 cars.

Besides winning the Amtrak....I purchased a working MTH Greyhound Bus Station in excellent shape for $75 from a local train shop.  I also purchased the MTH Premier Wabash Heritage Diesel at TCA for $325.   This was my first winter buying a lot of train stuff.  Were these good deals?????

I have gotten some very nice freight and passenger cars for a good price. Although I bought a brand new legacy es44ac for under 400.  Of course now it's having issues but price wise was great

Larry Sr

Look at that Little Stud Dog: Making Warrant Officers proud by sharing the "Sound of Freedom" all over the world.  I've also worn the ISAF patch more than I care to remember!

 

Tell him congrats and congrats to you for raising a CW5!  A lot of reasons for you to be a proud dad...

Got an unopened postwar Lionel Operating Stockyard set in March for either $40 or $50, don't remember exactly.Box was mint, envelope had never been opened, etc. Neat opening it for the first time- a little glimpse of what the hobby was like 60 years ago. 

FIRST THING ! 

 

THANKS TO ALL CURRENT & ACTIVE MILITARY MEMBERS !

 

THANKS TO ALL VETS FROM ALL BRANCHES of the MILITARY !

 

two deals recently

 

Two P&LE CARS & a PENNSY coach for $40 plus S&H

 

three Mth Christmas cars for $ 30 plus S&H

 

all MTH RAILKING stuff ! 

 

 

 

 

I thought that I won a Lionel 8404 Penna. 6-8-6 steam turbine on e-bay for $200.00 that included shipping only to receive a 18010 scale steam turbine. Boy was I surprised at the size of the box it came in.

 

I think that might be a contender "for the win"!  (Assuming no one else posts either the inverse story of buying a 18010 for more money and receiving a 8404, or how they accidentally shipped turbine auctions to the wrong bidders! )

 

-Dave

 

Not to get into specifics, but the best deals I've always encountered were right here on the OGR forum.  

 

I've purchased a few fantastic and highly desirable locomotives, all from some very nice and respectable people.  The transactions have all been seamless, with the added benefit of having the opportunity to meet some new folks, who share a similar interest in this great hobby.    To me, it is that intangible that makes the deal all the more worthwhile.  

 

That being said, I did get a few "decent" deals on eBay...but those transactions are few and far in between...especially subsequent to eBay's alteration of it's cost structure (selling fees, etc).  Just my humble opinion based on observations/trends throughout the years.  

 

Best,

Michael

+1 !

Best buying deal EVER has got to be

Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund

of which quite a bit was bought in the 2008-2009 time frame. An unrealized capital gain equal of almost one years pay and quarterly dividends too.

 

Second best has got to be Basement Watchdog battery backup sump pump, bought maybe in 1996, has needed two more batteries, but the pump itself is still working. The main pump is also Basement Watchdog brand.

 

Model train wise,  has to be the used MTH IC passenger 5/2/1 car sets. They just work and dont derail, they don't chip, the length is right for O72, and the used price was good.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------

 

(And yes thanks to veterans, and thanks for posting the pic of the Chinook).

Oh yea one more a Hotwheels Batmobile '66 Barris model 1:48 scale for $20.00.

Used K-Line GP38 for $25.00.  Was told that it did not run, Removed the engineer from between the motor and flywheel installed new 9v battery and it ran.  Ran OK for 6 months then I smoked the QSI unit and installed ERR so to run with my other TMCC engines.

The best deals I got were a PW Texas Special F3 AB for $100 and a 671 loco from the electronic set for $100

I don't remember what was my best deal. But, when I use to go to York, back in the 70's, 80's and 90's to buy things for the store, there was always one deal that stood out from the rest. Those trips to York were the greatest.

I've had three that were really awesome:

 

1. I saw a guy setting up Lionel trains on a table at a flea market. It was the Lionel 1619W set with several add on cars (but no boxes). I asked how much for one of the cars, and the seller responded $40 for the lot. Needless to say that it came home with me (even though Grandpa thought it was junk....until he heard what I sold the engines and caboose for!)

 

2. I bought a very nice 1964-66 Lionel 773 at auction for $350. It had the wrong tender, so I bought a 2426W at York for it for about $250. So $600 for the combo (plus my time to clean out the old grease), and a 2046W to sell, that works for me!

 

3. This one wasn't as good as I thought, but still worked. Last week I bought a Lionel Red Baron Pylon, Lighthouse, and Pedestrian Walkover for $100 shipped. They were listed as NIB, but they weren't. The pylon was covered in dust, and both it and the Lighthouse were wired to a lockon. The Lighthouse doesn't work, but my Dad wants to play with it. For that price though, I still did good though.

two come to Mind

1. A pair of Lionel legacy Mallet's purchased here on on the forum (Thanks Rocky Mountain)

2. Several years ago went to York looking for a full set of 12 Weaver coal hoppers There were a few on a table in the Red hall and we got to talking, these cars needed some work but I had excess Weaver trucks at home. Well, he had all 12 and we agreed to $90 and BTW he included the Blue Mountain coal loads for all. (they were in the Erie Lackawanna road name)

In April 1979, I spent $15.00 on a marriage license.  Mayhem ensued.

 

Larry

You mis-read the title......

BEST deal you ever made!!!!

 

 

 

 

BTW....we married in Jan 79.....must have been a good year.

As a noob, I probably don't know enough to find great deals.  But 2 that were pleasing to me:

 

1- we wanted the VL Challenger but it was released like a year before we were really into the hobby.  By that time, they were very tough to locate, especially in black color scheme. And the aftermarket price (if you could find one) was like $2,500.  A gentleman (on this forum) sold me a virtually new example for less than the original pre-order price.  It was ouR first Lionel high-end engine and it is not only amazing, but still my favorite (even over the VLBB).

 

2 - I wanted heavyweight scale NYC Madison passenger cars. After very many phone calls to dealers and searching Fleabay, the best deal I could find were lightly used Railking semi-scale (whatever that means) cars. They were priced at approx. 35% of new scale cars. I then called the last dealer on my list (forgot the name, but located on the West Coast).  He had old stock NIB Premier scale cars and his asking price was approx. 20% below the hugely discounted RK semi-scale cars.  He also had the additional 2-pack and said if I bought all 7 cars, he would only charge me an additional $25 and split shipping with me.  I now own 7 brand new (in brand new boxes) NYC Premier scale heavyweights. 

 

In in terms on non-hobby, I did a portrait of a friend for Christmas and he liked it so much, he gave me my first car. A jalopee with a million great memories!  

 

Peter

I once got a new old stock train set at a hobby shop for $120. It was a Lionel set 6-30025 Chesapeake Super Freight with fastrak, separately boxed cars and a C&O baby Berk with TMCC and rail sounds. I could not believe the price because it originally retailed for $470 but they rang it up and that was that. It was probably last years set they wanted to move or the shop was getting out of the rr biz.

One of the first Pennsy engines I bought was an MTH T-1.  However, it was conventional so I had it upgraded with PS-2 and new smoke unit.  Soon after I decided to set my layout era to 1949 and the MTH model no longer fit; its aerodynamic fairings were gone by the end of WWII.  So I sold it for a pretty good loss and bought a Lionel T-1, which I needed to add cruise (TAS EOB to also get 4-double chuffs/rev) and have the way too wide center drivers milled down to prevent shorting on switches.  I also added LED lighting.  It never ran right even after having a couple of techs look at it.  Finally I had gunrunnerjohn look at it and he fixed a bad trace on the EOB board.

 

So what does this have to do with getting a best deal?  It took a while and cost me a bundle, but I now have a great looking, great running era correct T-1 that is worth far more to me than I spent on it.