PJB posted:scale rail posted:There is a toy/train store I would buy building materials from when we lived on the mainland. They had shelf after shelf of old MTH, Lionel and many other brands of engines and cars. Most were years old and had outdated sound system and running equipment. They even had some S gauge cars that were made by companies that had been out of business for years. Everything to this day is full retail price. I don't get it. Don
What's not to get? It's a brand new item, isn't it? Assuming apples-to-apples features, the only value difference is lack of warranty. The OP thinks it's all worth 50%?
I should've been more clear. NOS rolling stock bears little risk. Agree with all the posts related to supply and demand. No concerns here and I'd suggest people pay what it's worth to them. If one is hard to find and completes a collection, you might pay over MSRP. I think we're all on the same page.
My main concern/question was about electronic-based locomotives. Newer versions generally have sound and some capability upgrades. Also, as several have mentioned, the new one comes with a warranty; NOS likely does not. Lastly, and this appears to be in contention, electronics might degrade over time or, worst case, not have replacement parts available. Remember the ERR uproar?
For those reasons, I believe locomotives' value declines over time much like style or fad-based products or even smartphones. I don't argue with retailers' attempts to try to sell NOS at original MSRP. I'm merely stating that I'm not willing to pay it just as I won't pay the 2010 price for an IPhone 5 today.
Let's try these more specific cases.
- Compare a NOS Polar Express junior Berk w/TMCC 1.0, one with LC, and a new one with LC+2. In this case, there's room for a seller to hold close to MSRP on the TMCC 1.0 and LC versions since those were probably around $300 - $350 and the LC+2 looks to have an MSRP of $500. But, if dealers discount new LC+2 to a street price of, say, $400, that has to have an impact on NOS.
- A Rail King Berk from 2004 with PS2 and an Imperial Rail King Berk from 2017 with PS3. MSRP has only gone up about 10%. In this instance, I think the NOS has been severely devalued by perhaps 50%.
For those like @rich883, if you "struggle to understand the fixation on prices here", then why take the time to ring in? I struggle to understand why people comment on others' threads when they're not interested in the subject. For example, I struggle to understand the concerns about paint or rivet-count accuracy, so I don't comment because it merely comes across as raining on their parades. The whole point of the forum, I think, is that people can and should discuss what's of interest to them. To each his own, no?
