Take a look at this one. Over $500 listing for one car. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kadee-31020...881132?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item2eb4ec4eac
If that is a one off prototype,that price as a starter may be crazy,but who knows? My friend called me at 2 AM one time,got me out of bed.Aurora once made limited runs of T-Jet cars that were actually painted,not plastic color.There was a '65 Cobra roadster,original black,still in the original,taped box..It had 13000 bids on it,sold for $6500.00!!!!
I wonder how many good investments I've blown ? I usually weather the cars , toss the pizza cutter wheels and sometimes lower the carbody. Tank cars get the treatment as well . Maybe I should avoid the micro trains stuff ? Seems kinda foolish not to have them running in a freight train. Randy
You could do one of the oldest tricks in the book. Get your hands on an old Kadee car, remove the pizza cutter wheel (the ones with the ribs on the backside of them with the metal axles) and put regular MT wheelsets in their place. Keep the old wheels on hand somewhere tucked away. Then when it comes time to sell it (if you decide to) simply put the old wheel back in. That way it appears that the car has never been on the rails. Dont ask me how I know this trick.
How many good investments blown? None. Nobody knew when they were originally sold and used what price they would command in the collector market decades later just like nobody in 1957 knew that '57 Chevys would be classics. It's your car, do what you want with it. If you have fun running weathering and running them, more power to you and don't sweat the "collector" market. If somebody else's bag is keeping them pristine in the box, then more power to them.
As soon as I receive any new M/T car, I convert it to body mounts and get everything adjusted. Done and no looking back.
I just buy whatever fits my time line and run it. I never got into collecting even with the O scale stuff. Doesn't matter if it is an old Micro Trains car or a 1957 Chevy, its only worth what someone will pay for it and in this economy that is not much. Stuff that is on the home layout now is mainly detailed, painted, body mounted and wheels switched out and worth nothing but the time I have invested in them. Lord help Angela in what to do with them when I check out.
If you really want to blow the minds of any collectors in attendance when you are running your layout, run a couple of the the so-called high value cars in a freight train on the layout. Watch their eyes and reactions when they see and recognize the cars. Did this at a layout tour a few years ago, 3 collectors were in the layout room. Every one of them quietly came up to me and inquired about the cars in the train. Two of the guys started a bidding war right then and there. I noticed that the rest of the cars on the layout and the cars in my displays and cases got a very thorough going over by the collectors. They were quite upset when I stated that 1) I run what I want. 2) Nothing was for sale. 3) I have at least TWO (sometimes more) of every car in my collection. I've since (1999) given up Special-Run collecting. It just got to NO FUN!!!!! And that's not what my Hobby is about!
What I like to do is find and buy a "collectible" MT car that has been an old runner and put that out there. I sometimes find them for about what the MT trucks and couplers would cost. I also got some NIB 1973-74 blue label Kadee-MT cars for $8 each at a show. I love the look on the collectors' faces when they see those rolling around. Andy Tetsu Uma
I have to admit that's really funny. In the spirit of this thread, I think I swept up some granules of ballast from my floor. They can be yours for $0.0000001 a pound. Sold separately, of course.
Free shipping? I'm still shocked that the last time these listed they got $0.26 apiece for some. But IIRC, the bidder list was "Private" and no one could see who was bidding, so they might have been trying to make it look like folks were bidding on them. Added: I just checked and the bidders list is set to "private" again.
Has a bid of 1 cent. The cheapest shipping would be a stamped envelop. It is going to cost the seller to sell USED rail joiners. On the other hand WHY would you buy used rail joiners? Gary
I'm still waiting for someone to list used, bent track spikes. Or possibly broken Rapido couplers. Either of those should be red hot sellers.
Darn - I have thrown out 100s of them. Could have gotten rich. Still have some Rapido Couplers............. Gary
Just shows the level of depravity "Evil-Bay" has sunken to lately......... I got disgusted here about a week ago and closed my account, I decided I had had ENOUGH!! It has got to the point where it's no longer "humorous", now it's just sad!!!!
Ken- I actually did that just for a laugh to see what I would get for them. I bunched oh about 20 sets of couplers together in a grab bag. I was shocked to see that 2 people got into a bidding war over them. I think they sold for somewhere around $22! I had enough to do this about 3 times and all 3 times they sold! I was laughing all the way to the bank with that one. The best one though that takes the cake for me is the extra delrin washers, bolster pins, and bushing that come with MTL couplers. I off loaded 2 sandwhich bags of those for about $9 each! Like they say one mans trash is another mans treasure! LOL Ryan
Ryan- Well, maybe I should try it. Ha ha. Perhaps I will sweep the train room floor and offer a mixed assortment of pet fur, sawdust, used ballast, etc. Sell it by the pound?
"one off prototype"(model) Originally Posted by porkypine52Noted these two listings on FeeBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Micro-Trains...item2a210758fc and http://www.ebay.com/itm/Micro-Trains...item2a2107729a The first tank car for $5,000 and the second one for $4,000! I used to be a Special-Run collector and I have a bunch of high value cars, but these two would be a little out of my league. I guess if you have to worry about the costs, they ain't for you. Notice that they are both a BUY IT NOW listing and the 26 day listing period. I'm going to watch them just to see what happens. Seller says it's a one of a kind car as he claimed with several others, some of which he sold. If grandpa took the time to do a trial run with different paint colors using already existing artwork, who's to say he didn't print two cars, or three cars.... in each color? If you trust a complete stranger enough to pay him an extra $4980(?) for one of these cars, you're either fairly well off financially or more than a little foolish. Maybe both.
Here's a guy who specializes in that move: http://www.ebay.com/itm/N-Scale-Mic...317503?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item337a9b1b3f I've always wondered how he gets bidders after substantial markups from his original listing's asking price. Can only speculate that potential buyers contact him after the first listing has ended unsold and inquired about obtaining those items.
