Does anyone know a reputable online appraisal service for the train set pictured below? Or a physical place in Southeast Florida? Thanks in advance!
From my knowledge it isn’t worth much. Tyco is an old producer whose products are entry level. The engine has a phony paint scheme and none of it is high quality compared to todays best companies. I may be wrong but I would be surprised if a knowledgeable person would spend $25.00 for your set. Not everything has a premium price based on age in the train field.
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That’s good to know, thanks!
There are Tyco collectors out there.
To have any real value, everything must be in their original packaging, and as perfect as possible. Unfortunately most trainsets were played with and the packaging thrown away.
But, being Tyco, they made a lot of train sets which were of entry level/mass market quality, so they won’t command a big price. There are some toy train collector groups out there, they may be able to help.
Auction sites are the worst places to establish a value, as it depends on bidding. There is no shortage of “rare, vintage” Athearn locomotives on eBay with the seller demanding a premium price for a generic locomotive. Which Athearn made by the thousands every year for several decades.
Thanks, betamax! I’ll be sure to try and locate collectors and/or groups, that’s a great idea! Cheers!
I think the thing here is Lionel made a standard (large) gauge “Blue Comet” train set that, like new in the original boxes, would be worth $7-8,000. A c.1980 Tyco train set would be nowhere near that, maybe $50 total.
Getting the latest “HO Collector” annual might give you some leads. I know there are some books out there on the value of old trains.
Thank you, wjstix!