I suppose I could have put this comment in any of the other forum categories, but since my allegence is with 2 rail....well here goes.

It's those boxes that all our stuff comes in...blue ones, orange ones, purple, yellow, red orange and yada yada yada. Do I keep that form fitting beauty for the day I resell the item on the bay? Surely it will help double it's value. Do I keep it because it will help protect the model when and if I ever move? Oh yeah don't forget the day you need to ship that brass piece off to the custom painter...surely that's the way to pack up such a deserving model. Then lets not overlook the value of having it's original box..can't you just see their eyes flashing when they get a load of that tidbit. Pity the poor soul who has to say "no original box"...he's finish for sure as a serious modeler. The boxes are getting more lavious which each successive new product...the holy grail of boxes is more appealing than the poor running beast that it once contained. It's a cubic madness we all contend with and perhaps has even become a hobby within a hobby for some...witness the empty, but original boxes for offer on that auction site. Store them away somewhere out of sight, but heaven help you if you let them fall into a mildewy semi crushed state of misuse. The exact one you finally need for some legitimate purpose will be MISSING or worse...ruined by field mice who found that glossy blue skin the most tasty of all the offerings.

Go ahead,I triple dog dare yah to be daring and toss them all out now that the total absurdity has been addressed...it's just plain scandelous!

Bob...

This message has been edited. Last edited by: flanger,

I come from the time when kit-built models and even Max Gray's imported brass trains often would not fit back into their boxes once built or made ready to run on a layout.

So I made (and still make) my own boxes out of single or double ply corrugated cardboard for large, heavy models or from the backs of old desk-top calendar pads for cars up to 50' in scale length. Every car and loco has its own custom fitted box. Even new ready-to-run stuff that arrives entombed in super-sized coffins with all those little tabs, cushions, blocks and wedges; rate a fresh, down-sized, custom-fitted box.

The boxes I make are simple:
The bottom is made with flaps that wrap snugly around the sides and ends of the model, including a wrapper and cushioning. The top is exactly made the same way but to fit snugly over the bottom (which is just a little higher than the model). The top is bound with stringed packaging tape and holds the bottom flaps inside. Each box is cutom cut and fitted for the model it contains.

Some computer printed labels applied to the top and ends yield a good-looking, sturdy, custom-fitted box protects the model and identifies what's inside. Further, it's a lot easer to take the model out and put it back in this kind of box than with the super-cubic extravaganzas used for a lot of ready-to-roll stuff.

Those smaller boxes help when moving and storing or when transporting models to other layouts, train meets, contests and shows. They also help when selling a model. It gets packed for shipment inside another, larger box with appropriate 2" cushioning on all 6 sides. It arrives in perfect shape, even when sent as far as West Australia.

Ed Bommer

Hi Bob,

It's pretty easy for me. Life is uncertain and one never knows when an item may have to go from point A to point B. It is a H*ll of a lot simpler to accomplish that without damage using the original packing material.

As for the scenario where the Collectible ends up being worth LESS than it's packaging, I find that a bit on the ridiculous side.

Apart from that I find the subject pretty boring!

SW

I got rid of all my boxes in HO and now am having a hard time selling the stuff to switch to O scale. Keep the boxes.

-Joe

quote:

Originally posted by flanger:
Do I keep that form fitting beauty for the day I resell the item on the bay? Surely it will help double it's value. Do I keep it because it will help protect the model when and if I ever move? Oh yeah don't forget the day you need to ship that brass piece off to the custom painter...

It depends on the space you have for storage, if you got lots of room then keep them, if not toss them and move on. The cost of the space required to save the boxes cancels out any gain you might have from keeping them so it comes down to which is easier, storing and not worrying or tossing and wondering? I've got a lot of room so I don't need to choose but if I ever move I'll throw them out without doubt....dave

nice piece of writing Bob!

another way to look at it, and it has certainly helped me, is when you find yourself in the dog house, it becomes so much simpler to create shelter for yourself out back. all those manmouth boxes, complete with insulating styrofoam, stack up nicely for an overnight stay.

I once threw out the boxes until I found out that, wait, people think cardboard is worth a lot of money. And so I anally keep the stuff just wishing I could toss it. But like others who won't buy your model if placed on Ebay if it doesn't come with its original cardboard. But that goes with all collectables. original packaging sells.
I have a friend that collects beer cans and so I thought to have some fun. I bought a small case of those miller screw tops just released and drank the beer and re packaged them into it cardboard,wrapped them up and put them under the house for the future can collector to find in a 100 years with a note to enjoy the collectable. Oh, my friend has a can of Apache beer from the 20's or something that had a beveled screw top, paid a small fortune for it. Bet it would be more if it had cardboard. LOL.

Phil

quote:

Originally posted by phill:
I bought a small case of those miller screw tops just released and drank the beer and re packaged them into it cardboard,wrapped them up and put them under the house for the future can collector to find

Haha, That's really making a sacrifice for science? I'm too lazy for that, just drink Pliny the Elder and toss the bottles.

quote:

Originally posted by daveb:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by phill:
I bought a small case of those miller screw tops just released and drank the beer and re packaged them into it cardboard,wrapped them up and put them under the house for the future can collector to find

Haha, That's really making a sacrifice for science? I'm too lazy for that, just drink Pliny the Elder and toss the bottles.[/QU

I was down at the Forum with Pliny and Josepheus dropped by and we compared notes on the building of the aqueducts and the Appian way. Josepheus said that the adea for the aqueducts took hold when the Senate saw a 1/48th model of one.

I am a self-confessed box freak. I save almost anything made from corrugated brown paper.

But you are on the wrong forum. A missing box from a 2-rail model is not the catastrophe it is for a Lionel giraffe car. I bet the price difference for a Max Gray 4-10-2 with and without a box is infinitesimal. Just do not let it get crunched in shipment, or you will be out 1300 bucks either way.

The price for an item does drop dramatically when the item in question is offered without the box, however boxes do use up a lot of space which was not a problem for me when I lived in a house. Then I was able to store boxes into ceiling crawl spaces and in closet in the basement. After retiring I moved to a 2 bedroom garden apartment and I was forced to ebay a lot of equipment and toss most of the boxes for items I chose not to sell. Since I've settled into my new enviroment going into my third year I've accumulated more equipment and the boxes are piling up again. Now with companies like GGD/ 3rd Rail with offerings of 12 car consist the boxes are more and larger. The bottom of my closet are filled to capacity and so is the space under the bed. And again I am debating on throwing the boxes out....But what am I saving the boxes for since I don't plan on selling anymore of my stuff,,,,,Karl

The overwhelming majority of my rooling stock is either kit built or scratchbuilt -- no boxes....

I'm not industrious enough to make my own boxes either.

Almost every freight car is in 4"x4"x12" boxes from ULine - buy them in a bundle of 100 flat, fold them up as needed, label the ends, and then they all sit on the storrage shelf neatly & uniformly....and now I need another 100 boxes...

quote:

witness the empty, but original boxes for offer on that auction site. Store them away somewhere out of sight, but heaven help you if you let them fall into a mildewy semi crushed state of misuse. The exact one you finally need for some legitimate purpose will be MISSING or worse...ruined by field mice who found that glossy blue skin the most tasty of all the offerings.

Hence the argument of additionally purchasing those plastic Sterilite/Rubbermade totes!

Oh, for the most part, boxes are useless to me after the purchase makes it home.

If I need to store O scale stuff, it goes into the 5K baseball card collection boxes (the massive ones that take a forklift to move when they are loaded to capicity) which fit all but the longest O scale cars. I can aslo stack my Flyer stuff in them.

The boxes make great kindling...

quote:

Originally posted by mwb:
The overwhelming majority of my rooling stock is either kit built or scratchbuilt -- no boxes....

Martin,

If you would put those suckers in boxes you wouldn't have to worry about them ROOLING off!

I know it was a typo, but I just couldn't resist! Laughing with you and NOT at you!

SW

Ah well, in my case every piece of ready-to-roll-out-of-the box stuff has been touched or altered in some way. Like adding uncoupling levers, changing trucks and wheel sets, intalling Kadee couplers, even repainting and relettering some of the freight cars.

Passenger equipment too, such as upgrading a GGD Pullman to have better looking doors, repairing assembly and shipping damage as well as painting errors. Or in altering an MTH 64' wood side coach to have it follow another prototype. Ditto for 'de-toyifying' an MTH 2 rail FM diesel switcher from the 1990's.

So for the most part, their original boxes would be the least concern. The models that were in them are no longer 'factory fresh'. They have been used and re-worked in some way. So they've lost any collectable value they may have had.

I do though keep the boxes for imported brass along with all the paper work. However even there I make new, closer-fitting wrap-around boxes. One can easily damage a brass steam loco after extracting it and replacing it into the foam bedding too many times. Best to save that and all those little cushiony things that get tucked into the loco it here and there for long-istance shipping when that time comes

It's all part of the fun. This is a hobby, not a business.

Ed Bommer

quote:

Originally posted by Simon Winter:

quote:

Originally posted by mwb:
The overwhelming majority of my rooling stock is either kit built or scratchbuilt -- no boxes....

Martin,

If you would put those suckers in boxes you wouldn't have to worry about them ROOLING off!

I know it was a typo, but I just couldn't resist! Laughing with you and NOT at you!

SW

Hmmmm.......maybe that was supposed to ruling stock,

I am not trying to hijack this thread, but if you happen to have empty and unused boxes of American Lightweight cars, I'll be willing to buy them. I am looking for 6 boxes.

And yes, I have contacted the fellow who bought that company a few years ago and he does not have any.

Thanks in advance.

Yves

You know, I don't plan selling any of my trains and I am older so what the reason to collect boxes. When I am gone who cares boxes or no boxes. Just leav e it on the layout

I have an attic full of empty boxes for all my stuff in all scales, most have the purchase receipts in them.
My son asked me why I'm saving the boxes, my answer was...When I go to that great train layout in the sky, your job is pack everything back up in those boxes...but alas i'm not sure if he will know the difference between an RS-1 or an AEM-7...i should have included pictures in each box along with the receipts.

I've had problems finding boxes for my 85' auto-parts boxcars and 89' autoracks. I eventually found that they fit beautifully inside standard two-foot-hoagie boxes, which i can typically snag a couple of for free from the local Wawa. I've also used some of them for shorter rolling stock.

I'm still hanging onto my blue loco boxes; but anything else for freight cars is likely to be repurposed for sorting and storage of parts and detail bits.

--Drew

My eldest son and just had that discussion about "train stuff" and value and when I go to the "big layout in the sky" as you describe it.
I have literally closets full of boxes. It is an issue, whether to keep them and therefore incur storing them, or throw 'em out. I must have 100 Atlas boxes alone.
Frank, you make a great point.
And I really don't know what to do with them.

I guess one could put engine and car numbers on the boxes if they aren't already there and that would be a head start to finding the right box.

Phill

I vote for keeping the boxes. You never know what the future holds... hard to believe this could happen, but one might totally lose interest in the hobby for various reasons. Holding on to the boxes will make the trains easier to sell and won't diminish their value.

Lucia

For anyone who needs them, Trains has a huge amount of empty Lionel boxes on the bay ending in about two and a half days. Joe