Hi all.
I have been tasked with rehoming the things from my hubby’s parents garage. Among these things are several American Flyer train sets from the early 1950s. (Most are in decent condition, obviously vintage toys, normal wear, played with but respected iykwim)
Can you please advise me of a good place to sell? I know I could donate them somewhere, but this isn’t about philanthropy and I don’t have the patience for ebay or lowballing resellers. I’d honestly prefer a burn pile to that headache.
Inventory isn’t huge… I’ve got 5 engines (302, 21004, 21004, 21085, 21165) approximately 30 pieces of rolling stock, 10ish pieces that do things (idk what this term is? the rocket lauchers, spotlights, magnetic car loader, baggage car etc…) and a huge box full of track and track holders.
So, what’s my best option? The burn pile? It can’t stay here.
Hello Kristi, and welcome!
Not a Flyer guy (They’re on here, they just haven’t seen you yet!) but there’s a bit of advice I can give you. Those early 50’s Flyer sets ARE worth something, not as much as they might have been 10 or 20 years ago but still not deserving of a burn pile!
Are there any hobby or train shops in your area? (Not meaning to pry but where in the country are you?) I can tell you there will be people interested in what you’ve got. “Lowballing resellers?” Well keep in mind if a hobby shop buys them from you they can’t pay you what they’re worth, they have to sell them what they’re worth which I’m sure you can understand. Whatever $ you get is still better than a burn pile!
Here’s a podcast episode where an expert in this area explains the practical options for people in your exact situation…
Hi! Thanks for the reply!
I’m in Oklahoma.
I’ve not yet talked with train resellers, so no personal judgement. But if they’re anything like the antique resellers I’ve met, it might be less painful to strap train sets to my back and walk them into the flames. 
Hi!
Thank you, I’ll take a look!
My first suggestion would be to try Trainz.com.
If your goal is to make money, you’re going to have some degree of fuss, be it minor or major. If you want to get the most they could be worth, it’s going to be more hassle- selling to a dealer/re-seller will mean selling for less, since they have to be able to turn a profit. An individual who isn’t planning to re-sell will be more willing to pay more, since they aren’t trying to make money. If your goal is simply to get them out, then either donate them to a goodwill, a railroad museum, or see if there’s somebody local who will take them off your hands.
To re-iterate: profits you can expect are somewhat proportional to how much time and effort you want to put in. Throwing them in a burn pile is not necessary, I guarantee you that there are better ways with minimal fuss.
If I were in a position of just needing something to go, I wouldn’t worry about how much money you “could” get. Just find a taker, and be done with it. If getting money is the priority, then you’re going to have to accept some hassle.
It sounds like you seriously don’t want to deal with the selling process, but you’re also very reluctant to let them go without getting something for them- somehow to the point you’d rather destroy them than give them away for free. I’m not quite sure I get that, but if you’re so upset about the idea of trying to sell them that you’d rather burn them, I think you’re better off just giving them away.
-El
I’d find a model train show in your area. It’s only one day of hassle and you can lower prices towards the end to make sure you get rid of everything. Price per table is only usually around $25 and the “people watching” is worth the price, just for the entertainment value.
I tried looking on-line to see if there were any train shows coming up in Oklahoma but found nothing.
I don’t know how far away you are from Oklahoma City. I know OK’s a big state, but there’s a train shop in OK City that might be interested. You’d have to contact them.
Craigslist.
From reading your post it doesn’t sound like you care about money. Did you disclose where you live? Location will determine how easy it is to sell. The closer you are to the Northeast the more potential buyers there are. Keep in Mind, American Flyer is a smaller segment of the collectors market.
eBay is the way to go if you are willing to put in the work, which it sounds like your not. If you don’t care about price, pack them in some bubble wrap and drop off at a Goodwill or similar store where collectors are sure to adopt them. Another alternative is to visit the TCA website, https://www.tcatrains.org/ , and look for a chapter near you. Bring your trains to a local meet and I’m sure someone will take them off your hands.
Good luck, -AR-
If you have a local auction house take them there and get what you’ll get.
A $100.00 is my cut off. If I can’t get $100.00 for my time, it is donated.
For some things I will put them on FB market place and if someone wants it, I leave it on the front step and tell them to put the money under the door mat. I have sold a lot of things that way as it takes little time on my part and I haven’t been stiffed yet.
If you really want to just give them away, there are several model train clubs in Oklahoma that I’m sure would be grateful to receive them. They will put them to good use or sell/raffle them off to raise funds for their operations. The Oklahoma Railway Museum has a list of some clubs on their website: Oklahoma Model Railroad Clubs – Oklahoma Railway Museum
If you do want to sell with minimal hassle, I would bundle up a box of several pieces at a time and try selling on FB Marketplace. Get a sense of pricing from Ebay and adjust your price depending on how quickly you want to sell. I have to believe asking 50% of an average price seen on Ebay (and no shipping or tax!) would have them flying out the door. When offering items through Marketplace I always specify cash only, and explicitly say no Zelle or Venmo, local pickup only. And insist on all communication through Messenger - all the scammers seem to want your cell phone immediately.
Fellow Okie here. The Whistle Stop would consign them and that would get you maybe 45¢ on the dollar (which is better than the 30¢ on the dollar you’d get from a bigger buyer/reseller). However, you might also reach out to a guy named Ricky Custar who lives in Perkins. He’s a dealer and does shows all over, but he might pay better than some others.
Oh and, the OKC Train Show will be held at the OKC Fairgrounds on Nov. 15-16. Details here:
And there are also train shows in Wichita and Broken Arrow soon as well:
The family has been instructed to destroy and place in dumpster. Seen too much headache and heartache trying to sell.
I have a lot of operator postwar, 500 or more feet of GarGraves, 100 switches, three AC memory walkarounds, ZW, KW, LW, 1033’s…boxes of signal bridges and cantilever gantrys, all going.
Stacks of restored vintage H0, back to pre-war.
Bandsaw is what I recommended, cut everything in half first.
Buildings are easy. Stomp them! I even have a couple of pre-Botchman Plasticville.
Those long and short cast tenders…sad.
Nobody wants it.
Reseller shows up, sees it all, says “What else you got?”
We tore down my budddies railroad several years ago. Featured once in CTT. Dozen or more full passenger trains, probably 40 engines, over 100 freight cars, buildings, signals, cast autos…probably 40K or more…pickers. I want these three autos. Finally went to two resellers, and the dump.
Great point! Give it all to a model railroading club.
Rich
Good idea! Find one! Start at the “top”…enemaray…nope. Go to the bottom…lack of members to sort, price, list, display and store…nope.
There are a couple out there. But your cost to pack and ship…
Now I feel rather depressed!
Join the club. All the folks who used to buy it all are dead or in memory care units.
To keep the family from having to deal with the shysters (what do you mean by “restored”?) and dumpster divers, just whack them up. A lot of the 027 late 40’s early 50’s look like painted plexiglas. They shatter real nice when stomped on.
TOC