Buyer Beware! Take a closer look!

[El_Fixes_Things]

Noticed this in an online auction, and thought it would be a good thing to highlight.
The following pictures are from a currently (as of this post) live eBay listing.

For those not in the know, at first glance this appears to be the very rare, desirable “WNBC” version of the Lionel 0056 AEC Husky switcher. This locomotive was part of a special display Lionel created for NBC executives (Image from this forum):

Needless to say, both the display and the switcher are very desirable, being items which definitely were made in small numbers.

But- there’s a catch. As far as I am aware, all authentic WNBC switchers used a decal on each side of the hood. These decals are very fragile it would seem, as most pictures I’ve observed of the WNBC switcher show chipping to the decal, be it minor or major.
Note that original decals have almost definitely yellowed with age. Here are pictures from a concluded online auction that show an original switcher:

See if you can spot the faint yellow tint and rectangular outline of the decal.

Now, compare it to the one from the current eBay listing. Notice the font is different, there is no yellowing decal outline, and worst of all, the lettering is uneven.
That said, instead there is a whitish rectangular outline, which seems almost to be the right shape.

Whether or not this model was originally a rare WNBC switcher, it is my personal conclusion that the WNBC lettering is NOT original. The uneven lettering and differing font suggests to me that this unit was re-decorated with Letraset dry-transfer lettering, as I have played around with it before and gotten similar results (though better ones are definitely possible if you’re not as bad at it as I was).

It is possible that the decals had flaked off of this piece, and the owner tried to replace the missing lettering. But even so, I think the collector value was lost along with the original decals, and it should not warrant a higher price than an ordinary 0056.

As always, be careful out there and watch out for pieces that are not what they at first seem!

-El

[Flintlock76]

Interesting Ellie! While I’m familiar with WNBC radio out of New York (“Imus In The Morning” was broadcast on WNBC) I’ve never heard of this particular Lionel product.
WNBC radio is now WFAN, a sports talk channel, although still 660 on the AM dial. NBC-TV is still the same on Channel 4.

[Dave45681]

Interesting topic. I am not by any means familiar with any truly odd-ball Lionel HO stuff like this, but it’s interesting.

Based on your pics of the 2 different items, aside from decal font and fading/chipping evidence, it occurs to me the text itself is also different/wrong.

Hopefully someone looking at this lot for the purposes of this particular piece would recognize “66” instead of “660” and “AM” instead of “N.Y.” on the “Radio Info” side of the engine.

I have to agree the alignment of all the text on the “TV Channel” side (particularly the word Channel) also looks so off, I would assume a home made attempt.

Neat topic to keep us all (in a general sense) reminded of looking at the details.