300 items for 40,000 = $133 per item.

I didn't see a single thing there that would get me to part with $133.

quote:

Originally posted by BillP:
300 items for 40,000 = $133 per item.

I didn't see a single thing there that would get me to part with $133.

I would be willing to buy as many of any of these as I could find for $133.00 each - all day every day.

Geez Frank, when you put it that way...

Jon

quote:

300 items for 40,000 = $133 per item.

I didn't see a single thing there that would get me to part with $133.

Ya wouldn't pay $133 for the Girls Pink Steamer ???????

quote:

Ya wouldn't pay $133 for the Girls Pink Steamer ???????

I wouldn't. Don't forget, the seller is counting engines, tenders, and boxes seperately. So the engine and tender would be $266. What's the condition? Is it original?

actually the condition on the pink steamer isn't collection worthy

If you take a good look at the pictures, you will notice that mosts of the steam engines appear to have been abused and neglected. It's hard to judge the condition of the diesels from the photos and most of the rolling stock appears to be in fairly decent condition.
But I don't care how you package it, whether an all-in-one package or individual pieces, IMHO the "collection" is not worth anything near what the seller is asking.

PRRHORSHOECURVE,

Yes, I am very close to Justrains, I pass Nicholas Smith every day going to work, and I am 10 minutes from the Brandywine Museum. I guess you could say I am lucky, I only go to those places every so often. There is actually a new hobby and train shop that openend in the North Wilmington/Talleyville Delaware area on Rte 202 that I havent been to yet. I know they sell Lionel. I still miss Train99 that was on Route 202,right over the line in PA.

Again, I dont know what this gentlemans true story is, but even before I left Long Island, soooo many houses were going foreclosed, and for sale, and some were even boarded up. Why would you want to play 400k for a 50 year old small cape cod/split ranch home, and then pay another 9k for property tax??
I miss my home town of Deer Park, Long Island NY, I was born and raised there, moved away to Delaware in 1990, then moved back to DP in 2001 when i was offered the FDNY job, after 6 years with FDNY, and suffering illness from being 9/11 survivor, I took early retirment, and got a new job as a project manager for retail stores, and moved on with my life and back to Delaware again. (still a volunteer fireman 18 years and counting, and my health from 9/11 has improved thank god). Its just a shame that many people are suffering in this economy. My friends back in NY are feeling the hurt, As PRRHORSEHOECURVE said, maybe I am a lucky devil, and thank you for saying that, but I dont see it that way.

Mark

quote:

Why would you want to play 400k for a 50 year old small cape cod/split ranch home, and then pay another 9k for property tax??

EXACTLY why I couldn't establish myself in Bergen co, NJ!

quote:

As PRRHORSEHOECURVE said, maybe I am a lucky devil, and thank you for saying that, but I dont see it that way.

Mark

While you maybe "homesick" sounds like you need to "stop Children... what's that sound? Everybody Look what's goin round!" and smell the roses. Besides all the model train stores and close proximity to the US Train Mecca - Strasburg & the York show & TWO of the USA's Greatest Train Museums
[The RR Museum of PA & the B&O Museum in Baltimore] You have no sales tax [in DE] and I bet your property taxes & car insurance makes life a bit more pleasant than the rat race on the island. also you must be a skip & a jump from SMS rail services in NJ- the Nations only all BLW powered RR! Have a Natta Boh & run some trains!

quote:

This is were Obama's bail out got me.

Is he an ex-investment banker?

quote:

Originally posted by TrainPop:

the "collection" is not worth anything near what the seller is asking.

Absolutely true, but in response to Bill's post that there is not a single item he would pay $133.00 for - I found many.

Does anyone know him? Perhaps he can be invited to the forum so he could be "talked down from the ledge". There are a lot of constructive ideas here that could be suggested and might actually help him out. As Frank53 pointed out there is easily $1,333 worth of items to start, I 'm sure there are more. Just a thought.

James

Took my friend NICKY to the bar the other day...ASKED the Bartender if he would serve him even though he is the OGR PESKY RESIDENT TEENAGER(a MASCOT of sorts)...the Bartender replied..."Yes, I can serve him...to the ALLIGATORS!!!"(a FLORIDA joke)...GO PHILLIES!!!

quote:

Originally posted by NickyBigBoy:

quote:

Originally posted by prrhorseshoecurve:
Sorry Nicky Big Boy but I don't get it?

I've noticed in almost all of Ron's posts he uses a lot of caps to "UNLEASH THE FURY!"

I have a LOT OF FURY...to UNLEASH at 58!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Ron Blume:
Yes, I can serve him...to the ALLIGATORS!!!

I wouldn't mind that...



GO GATORS!!!

I am not a collector so maybe I don't know anything about collecting but I don't understand why any collector would want to buy a huge collection of someone else's? If you are a collector wouldn't you want to collect what you want not what he wanted. It seems to me that the only people who would buy something like this would be dealers who are going to break it up thinking they can get more selling it on a piece by piece basis than they paid for the lot. Or a collector who just HAS TO HAVE a few of the pieces and figures on selling the rest piece by piece to get his money back.

Wyhog

quote:

I am not a collector so maybe I don't know anything about collecting but I don't understand why any collector would want to buy a huge collection of someone else's? If you are a collector wouldn't you want to collect what you want not what he wanted. It seems to me that the only people who would buy something like this would be dealers who are going to break it up thinking they can get more selling it on a piece by piece basis than they paid for the lot. Or a collector who just HAS TO HAVE a few of the pieces and figures on selling the rest piece by piece to get his money back.

quote:

I am not a collector so maybe I don't know anything about collecting but I don't understand why any collector would want to buy a huge collection of someone else's? If you are a collector wouldn't you want to collect what you want not what he wanted. It seems to me that the only people who would buy something like this would be dealers who are going to break it up thinking they can get more selling it on a piece by piece basis than they paid for the lot. Or a collector who just HAS TO HAVE a few of the pieces and figures on selling the rest piece by piece to get his money back.

In the oldie days, most collectors I knew would buy whatever they could find, pick out what they wanted to keep, and sell or trade the rest.
If a desired item was not in collector condition, it was kept until a better one came along. Then the lesser item was traded or sold.
Some items went to operators.
Items that weren't nice enough to sell to an operator went into to parts bin to be canabalized for parts.

quote:

I didn't see a single thing there that would get me to part with $133.

I don't think some of you folks got the humor in this!

Large train collector's or even places like Tranz might be interested in his collection. Price always depends on condition trains are in. Some of the large collectos have gotten into the "sell train" business, that's why they look for large collection to sell on the bay or other outlets. These trains are bought at wholesale or below prices.

Tex

Thank you for the link to Jo Stafford.

Best,

Mark

Once I built a railroad, I made it run, made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?



(How about $40K?)

And, he relisted this collection at $45,000 !!

Can you believe it?

Richie

He RAISED the price!?!? That makes no sense at all...

Wow, this is a good one. Couldn't get $40k for it, so why not boost it up to $45? Perhaps all the free advertising he got with this thread had inspired him?

Would be interesting to see what this would go for with no reserve. I'd guess about 20-25K. I also saw a yellow 752E and several semi scale Hudsons, one I think was a 763E.

quote:

Originally posted by Richard Cuozzo:
And, he relisted this collection at $45,000 !!

Can you believe it?

Richie

There's an old saying in sales that sometimes you can't sell a good item because you tried to sell it too cheap so no one thought it was worth buying. Therefore, you have to raise the price way up to get anyone to think it's worth the buying. That must be his thinking here. When it doesn't sell the second time I wonder if he'll up it to 50K?

quote:

Originally posted by Dennis Holler:
Would be interesting to see what this would go for with no reserve. I'd guess about 20-25K.

20K was my guess when I read through the list.

What he should do is take offers. Maybe if he starts the bidding at $100,000. he might get a $40,000. offer.

quote:

Originally posted by eddie g:
What he should do is take offers. Maybe if he starts the bidding at $100,000. he might get a $40,000. offer.

I'm thinking he'd need to buy about 30K more in trains to get that 40K offer

I guess I feel for him, when you make that decision sell its tough and this ain't the 80's when those F-3 sets were worth thousands, now it might only be hundreds. That may be why he thinks its worth 40K

quote:

Originally posted by Dennis Holler:

I guess I feel for him, when you make that decision sell its tough and this ain't the 80's when those F-3 sets were worth thousands, now it might only be hundreds. That may be why he thinks its worth 40K

Even worst Dennis, he may have bought them in the late eighties, or early nineties.

His latest rant explaining why he upped the price would be enough to keep me from buying.

Must've lost his bet with Obama on who would win the world series.!!!

LOL! I guess this seller likes paying E+AY fees more than he needs the $$ from the sale!

I've been lurking on this thread for some days: it seems to have hit a resonant note with many of you. What i find remarkable about the offering is that the seller seems to have little (insofar as i can discern) inherent affection for the collection, itself. Well . . . that and a huge attitude problem about how life has mis-treated him.

I'm strictly an operator; i have some PW that i have vague idea of its worth . . . but it is truly irrelevant to me. I buy what i'll run & have no desire for a collection that takes up space.

What i do (modestly) collect is revolvers. I have a few dozen, and have thought about -- should circumstances turn -- how i would dispose of them? It would be a melancholy day, but my buyers would surely know that i had invested some interest and attention on them. They are carefully maintained (and shot!) and all in perfect operating condition. To my untrained eye, both the layout and condition of much of the rolling stock can only be called "anything but."

I get none of this from the seller, other than "40 years". A long term speculator, perhaps? If so, it is hard to be sympathetic if he is disappointed.

-- gary ray

quote:

What i do (modestly) collect is revolvers. I have a few dozen, and have thought about -- should circumstances turn -- how i would dispose of them? It would be a melancholy day, but my buyers would surely know that i had invested some interest and attention on them. They are carefully maintained (and shot!) and all in perfect operating condition.

Do you have a list of all the cars and track items they made?
I had a whole bunch of them, along with a track that lunched them, and flipped them over. I think the track came with a car that was not available for seperate sale.
I gave the whole kit and kaboodle to my kids to use. We still have all the cars, but the launcher went to toy heaven. (for those that love or hate Mike Wolf, the launcher came from Mike's Train House, purchased on a closeout)
A few years ago, I picked up another launcher toy (mint), and some more carded, nos cars. I don't know exactly which ones I have, as they are boxed up, and in my attic.
The cars show up on Ebay from time to time.

As far as selling parts (or all) of my collection go, I don't know how I would feel. I don't have the sentimental attachment to my toys that some folks seem to have. I don't know whether I am missing something. Trains are just objects, no matter whether they are finely detailed models, operators pieces, or collectors items. What's important to me are the memories surrounding the experiences and people I've met along the way. The trains themselves aren't necessary to retain those memories.

Wow,
He even attacks the current President for the new bankruptcy laws. Those were changed a few years ago.

As for why he raised the price, I posted:

quote:

Originally posted by iakobos:
There's an old saying in sales that sometimes you can't sell a good item because you tried to sell it too cheap so no one thought it was worth buying. Therefore, you have to raise the price way up to get anyone to think it's worth the buying. That must be his thinking here. When it doesn't sell the second time I wonder if he'll up it to 50K?

This morning I went and checked out the new auction where he explains the real reason he raised the price. I stand corrected.

quote:

All you Obama fans that ask mindless question and angered remarks I'M GOING WITH YOUR PLAN, I am relisting this item and since Obama said the economy is gettig better I RAISED the price. COME AND GET IT!!! KINDA LIKE GAS PRICES,CREDIT CARDS AND BANK FEES,HEALTH INSURANCE AND A LOAF OF BREAD. LETS NOT FOGET THE REVISED BANKRUPTSY LAWS, I WONDER WHO THAT HELPS??

SINCE Obama said IT CAN'T BE THE ECONOMY "DA" IT MUST HAVE BEEN THE WORLD SERIES THATS WHY IT DIDN'T SELL THE FIRST TIME.

I have to admit I did chuckle a little bit.

This man sounds like a very angry person. I believe that he needs to worry more about finding work than devoting all his energy in trying to point out that we have a president trying to build a Soviet style economic system here. What else is new?

In the next two years, this story will be repeated 100,000 times over. Only the names of the blamed will be changed.

Maybe the recession is over. See this.

quote:

Originally posted by Norm Charbonneau:
In the next two years, this story will be repeated 100,000 times over. Only the names of the blamed will be changed.

lmao...how true, how true!

I think that this guy needs professional help. Wouldn't go anywhere near where he lives

Doc

quote:

Maybe the recession is over. See this.

Everything about this A-A set is sharp! I'd bet the boxes alone made up for at least half of the sale price. Master cartons and individual boxes like these don't sell cheap. I lost an ebay auction once for the 2378 Milwaukee Road F3 master carton when it went over $1k, and that's just one empty box.

Check these out:

K-Line IC diecast hopper ...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...geName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

K-Line IC smoking caboose (I got one for around $30 three months ago) ...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...geName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

K-Line CNW 21" bilevels (not that high) ...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...geName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I think we're all aware of the "collector mentality." We all are guilty of it to some degree...some of us more than others. Some of us dare not speak its name. We know we've got it...we just don't admit it.

This is a multi-faceted syndrome that would take psychologists and sociologists many pages to explain.

The makers of "stuff" rely upon the collector in all of us. Just think back to all those Franklin Mint series of plates, commemorative coins, trains, little pewter thingies, etc. They were all pretty much worthless as soon as we bought them.

The blue collars (I am one, so don't start a rant) cannot afford to collect really valuable things...things that will inevitably increase in value...but we like to THINK that what we are collecting will somehow become more valuable some day. The makers rely on that failed logic to sell us stuff we don't need, and which won't appreciate. They look nice on the shelf, but they have no intrinsic value.

Jeff Foxworthy (one of the blue collar comedians) on the subject:

"The sophisticated collect stocks and bonds...rednecks collect commemorative NASCAR plates."

Add to the above, the mental illness (and I mean that in the nicest way possible) that gets people to try to collect all the versions of "something" such as the 6464 box cars, the F3 Diesels, all the AMT/KMT boxcars (my personal compulsion) all the (fill in the blank) Railroad rolling stock, every Disney character on a tank car, etc.

I knew a man who was the 7th child of immigrant parents. He never owned a new pair of shoes until he was drafted into the Army in 1950. He had always been forced to wear hand-me-down shoes that had been worn by his siblings. When he got out of the Army, and was able to get a job, a house, a wife and kids, and started to accumulate wealth, he built an addition to his home to house his collection. The collection consisted of every brand and type of men's dress shoes, in every variation and every color. He had shelves of shoe catalogs. He had shoe salesmen visiting him every week, and they all sold him shoes. He would take a pair down off the shelves, polish them, wear them for a few hours, and put them back on the shelves, and start over with another pair. He died owning easily a thousand pairs of shoes. His kids gave them to charity.

Some of us collect to acquire those toys which we couldn't afford when we were kids. Some of get caught up in the "Franklin Mint Syndrome." Some of us think that the run-of-the-mill will somehow become rarities, if only we should live so long.

I think the Ebay guy is suffering from pieces all of the above, and may now have seen the light.

There but for the Grace of God go us.

(I'm looking for a New Haven boxcar by AMT. It will complete a small section of my collection. Anybody got one?)

Hi Arthur, as I said before if we take all the junk collectables that we bought over the years and bury them in a time capsule for about two thousand years we will have museums fighting over them. Unfortunately I may be to old to enjoy the extra cash by then.

I tell my wife that "The Christmas Tree Shop" is nothing but all the crap we'd be trying to get rid of at our next garage sale. At our next garage sale I was able to point this out, and she conceeded I was right!

Jon

quote:

Originally posted by gg1man:
Unfortunately I may be too old to enjoy the extra cash by then.

Keep eating your vegetables. You never know.

quote:

Originally posted by BillP:
300 items for 40,000 = $133 per item.

I didn't see a single thing there that would get me to part with $133.

I'd be willing to part with $133 for either the Texas Special F's or the prewar Hudson!

I'll agree with Eddie that it was odd to photograph the tenders seperately. The value in a steam engine is to have the appropriate tender with it.

Jim

It didn't sell at 40,000 so he relisted it at 45,000.

Hmmmmmmmmm

ralph

I subscribe to the life is short theory. I am fortunate to be able to afford pretty much whatever I want to buy so when I see a train item on eBay I want, I'll buy it, even if it means I end up paying a little bit more than if I waited for another to show up later. To me, the extra $20, $30 or even $50 might be worth it especially since I get to enjoy it now and don't have to spend the next several months scouring the internet and shows looking for that one item.

I purchased a ton of train stuff off of eBay this summer when prices were lower and people needed the money. My "must-have" list is shorter than it has ever been. Some people say "more money than brains" but I say that it doesn't do much good to die with millions in the bank. Might as well use it throughout life to buy the things you really want when you find them.

Some people say the man with all the shows above is a bit crazy. I say he enjoyed life to the fullest. Shoes made him happy and filled a void from his youth.