I thought I have seen them all on ebay. A Mantua 1950’s Shifter with tender. Unopened but the loco and tender are shown outside the box.
Bids starts at $195.00. Buy It Now, $695.00. Oh, free shipping.
Anyone?
Rich
I always buy at least “2” of everything if not more so I wouldn’t be a [player unless he had at least “2” of them!! Maybe he’d knock 5 bucks off for a pair eh?
Such a deal!!!
Mark
The sad part is that some fool will fall for the “Rare Collectable” claim and pay the Buy It Now price.
No, I don’t think anyone will even pay the starting bid price. If you look at this guy’s other listings, you’ll notice that there are no other train related items. Chances are, he has no idea what he’s got, and he’s charging that price because someone told him it was worth that much.
When in reality, it’s worth at least $700.01!
Down here old Mantua locos in many cases are collectible. Set them out at the curb Monday evening and they’ll be collected Tuesday morning. Joking aside though, I have come into possession of a couple of Mantua/Tyco F units ($0). Rebuilding the MU2 motors was out of the question so I pitched the old chassis and mounted the bodies on Athearn frames. That’s the only way I’ll keep any of those old Mantua locos.
Hi, Running Bear,
The ‘Shifter’ is Mantua steam, from 'way before they became Toyco. I have its tank loco equivalent in service - as it has been since 1948.
It’s a nice little loco, even with the original Pittman motor (which I still use,) but NO WAY is it worth what this guy is asking. I suspect that he has drunk deep at the well of Brass, and doesn’t realize the difference between that and cast Zamac.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I suspect he’s been looking at some past listings of Tyco sets labeled as ‘collectible’ (yeah, right!) as well as talking to some people who know even less than he does.
Well, it’s not quite as bad as that $5,000 Athearn SD45 from (supposedly) 1966 that showed up a few years ago. Man, that guy got all bent out of shape at all the people who sent him an electronic Bronx cheer.
There’s another “antique” shfter on eBay for $19.95 which is missing some screws. Come to think of it, so’s the guy trying to get at least $195 for the other one. At least with the $19.95 Shifter, you could probablty get screws from Yardbird. I have no idea where the guy trying to sell the other one would get screws to replace the ones he’s missing.[(-D]
Andre
Whew, I bought it in the nick of time. Wait a minute, this is the same thing I threw away just last week! Crud, I thought it was something special.
From time to time I’ve seen a few items that were either mistaken for what they were or marked up 10K% due to sentimental reasons. Another thing I see is a cast zamac train with a brass compressor being sold as a brass locomotive. Some people know nothing about trains and assume the first thing they see similar to theirs must be the same. Of course it might be a 1 of 10 top end brass unit, but whats the difference. I saw an old Mantua trainset, used, a bit abused, missing some parts, but was still marked at $175 at a swap meet a few weeks ago. I dare say they took it home again, just as this will be.
I still have my 1961 Tyco train set - opened, but seriously like-new (since I was still in the womb when my father bought it, it didn’t get played with much). Even all the plastic windows are intact.
I’m sure an actual collector would pay me $50-100 for it, but it has sentimental value and who knows where those actual collectors are? (hello? hello? is this mike on?)
While there are indeed early examples of Mantua locomotives valued in the many hundreds of dollars, this Shifter sure ain’t one of 'em!
CNJ831
I have an old 0-4-0 switcher that I wouldn’t part with for anything, because it belonged to my father. But that’s the only reason it’s valuable.
But seriously, I think the E-Bay dude just mistyped. He meant $19.50.[;)]
I sure hope it’s an honest mistake, but really, there are a lot of scam artists on E-Bay.
I see this all the time in antique stores. A dealer in something else has an odd boxcar or two of the LifeLike, Model Power, Tyco cheap trainset variety - no box of course and still wants $20 or more for each car.
Enjoy
Paul
One would think buying model trains from someone who knows nothing about trains could yield some real bargains. Usually its just the opposite. Either the asking price is insanely high, or the item is represented as excellent condition, but turns out to be a piece of junk, the seller not knowing enough about trains to realize what is broken or missing. Those pre-1970 Mantua steam engines were great little models, easy to assemble, good pullers (for their size) and almost bullet-proof.
I just looked at the item on ebay. I hope the starting bid was supposed to by $1.95, because that is all that locomotive is worth. I think the box might actually be worth more than the locomotive. Mantua locomotives are like one step up from a Tyco. Not very good runners, and not very detailed.
The Mantua all metal steam switchers from the 1950s were and are nice little locomotives that if properly assembled ran smoothly and quietly. The motors had plenty of pulling power and Mantua’s brass channel bearings provided a good seating for the axles. After market valve gear kits were available. The generic looks made them look plausibly like a wide variety of prototypes if detailed and modified.
Dave Nelson
Speaking of Ebay goofs, look at this.
EMD RS-11? If he was a “Fellow Modeler” wouldn’t he know who made the RS series? [:-^]
Don’t sell Tyco to short…That 4-6-0 and 2-6-0 is a Sn3 modelers delight since it makes a very nice narrow gauge ten wheeler and mogul…
No one does that anymore in Sn3, believe me I know. Sn3 is basically collecting PBL brass and RTO cars.
Harold
Edit: They do make great early 55n3 4-4-0’s and the PBL cars are the right size to go with them as early 55n3 cars.
There is a 17 page thread title" Some Vintage HO" on modeltrainjournal.com, 3-rail O-gauge forum, currently on page 3 or Aug 1. There is a lot of pictures and it’s fun to look at.
Dennis