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I just saw this on ebay. There is a DAP ABA set for sale. But it has the paint flake/chip issue and on top of that it seems the owner tried to paint over it. Wow. What a mess. When I saw this I cringed.
When will people learn??? 
The ENTIRE set (including all locomotive units and all passenger cars) MSRP'd out to $1700 or so, as I recall. Now someone is trying to sell "just" the ABA with paint flaws AND a poor attempt at fixing the flaws for a shade under that??? 
We've also heard some folks trying to sell the entire set for something near $5K, but I'm not sure if there have ever been any actual transactions at that ridiculous price. It would be pure lunacy.
The set is nice, but it's not $5K nice. That's for sure. The passenger cars are ABS -- not aluminum. 
Even GGD sets aren't going for that price!!! A beautiful 12-car Pennsy Congressional (full scale) goes for around $2,200. And if you add a nice scale GG-1 to that, you MIGHT hit $3K MAX.
For another reality check... I seem to recall someone selling the entire set MINT here on the forum either in Feb 2012 or Feb 2011 for basically the MSRP as catalog'd. That was a very fair deal. I personally wouldn't pay a penny over MSRP, but that's me -- especially now that we're hearing there are potential paint-flaking issues here.
I would love to see Lionel offer this set with aluminum passenger cars. And perhaps THAT would put an end to the stratospheric prices sellers are trying to get for something that is -- as we've often seen in this hobby before -- just a moment-in-time collectible.
Gosh... you'd think folks would learn by now! 
David
