I thought I saw the prices of brass going down, it seems in some cases a nice brass loco could be had for $135.00, of course there were more expensive locos too, I was just leafing on the internet and some brass was astronomical, An NP 4-8-4 A-2 was $3,850.00 and a brass 52" bulkhead flat car was selling for $285.00, not too much of a bargain here is there. $300.00 for a flat car? ? must be a lot more millionaires into model railroading than I thought.
Brass quality is very much like plastic models. There are the cheap models, with many missing details, unprototypical items, out of scale this and thats, and then there are some that are much better. It costs a lot of money to have something as simple as a bell made specifically for each different model than to have a one size fits all approach. While I would agree that $4k is a bit much for what “I” would pay for a loco, there must be people out there willing to pay it if these companies are still in buisness this far into a crummy economy.
Millionaires? No, I don’t think so. Some just prefer the quality pieces. They may own only a few “very expensive”, detail correct locomotives, etc., rather than everything in sight. (Expensive is used subjectively)
I personally find it offensive to be asked, “Wow, what did THAT cost?” Frankly, it’s none of your business.
Life is all about choices, Plastic/Brass, Timex/Rolex, Toyota/Cadillac, Scratchbuilt/RTR, House/Apartment, Liberal/Conservative, etc…
More accurately, pricing of brass models usually depends on scarcity, popularity, and just how recently a particular run was made. Some older brass models were produced in numbers rivalling those of current plastic locos, so their pricing is relatively low. Likewise, a number of older locos have a reputation for being poor runners and/or more bare-bones than more recent examples of the very same engine. Conversely, models representing some very localized yet interesting RR, or specific unusual loco, remain hard to come by and demand top dollar, old or new.
What’s largely been the source of seemingly declining prices in recent years has to a considerable degree been the selling off of quanities of the more “common”, older models from collections, either where better examples now exist that are also better runners, or where the collector has past away, or is thinning his collection to retain only the best. Brass models of high quality (Crowns and such) and those from the recent tiny production runs, continue to demand ever higher prices. And as there remains a distinct, all be it small but dedicated, brass collector’s market, such prices (in the $2,000+ range) will continue to be seen well into the future.
CNJ831
If you like it and value it and can get it for what you think is a deal, then you scored!
PFM Great Northern Pacifics are beautiful steamers to me and I have bought cherry versions with original box, plastic wrap, with very little tarnish for what a plastic steamer goes for retail today. They are hardly making them anymore, and the ones they do make are incredible (W&R, for me, are beautiful but I don’t see myself ever affording one). Look at what MDC and Arbour and other steam kits go for on auction sites and you can be amazed, only to see the same things go for a pittance at a different time. One week I get a deal, another week the same thing is going for multiples of the price. Online auctions are addictive and sometimes frustrating if you get a hinky seller. But the hunt is part of the fun, and deals are out there.
Hi from Belgium,
Brass locomotives is a two side market which could explain some astronomic prices. Construction also is costly because many parts are handmade and the models itself are handmade and in a small series.
Buyers of brass loco’s are put in two category, first modelers which are asking for a specific model of a specific company, which are often aviable only with brass models.
Second the collectors which want each models produced and store them in the box. Some of these models may be never touch a piece of track. Same sad thing exist with crafstman kit like FSM or South River Model Works which are never constructed.
The limited series and the collector appeal certainly have influenced the price to go up in the end of the nighties…
Some model are sold out well before the series is made, but if you ask the promotors, few, very few models will ever run on a model railroad.
It’s a kind of speculation, and like the rest of speculation I beleive the top price are gone, because many big collection are now coming on the market.
It’s the change of generation, many of the collector are now old men which have begun to collect in the sixties and now are dead or want to sale their collection.
There is far more models on the market since 2004; very old model like the PFM are found in auction everywhere even here in Europe; thats confirm somewhere the change of the propriety of the models.
So in the end I am a strong beleiver that the price of brass locomotives will go down in the coming years.
But I see also plastic models in the range of 500$ to 600$ on the market, MTH or BLI for example, and for some brass model, which is specific an around 700$ to 1000$.
The difference are not so great and you buy a model