I recently found a mint copy of the 1979 WALTHERS HO scale catalog at an antique store with a MSRP of $5.00. I scanned through it and compared a few items listed then and now in the 2004 edition of Walthers for a price comparison. I listed a few items below FYI.
1979 2004
Kadee #5 couplers(#380-5) $2.20 $2.95
Athearn GP-9,UP (140-3154)pwrd $16.98 $44.50
Athearn 86’ hi-cube (GTW) $5.00 $11.00
Atlas signal tower (150-740) $3.00 $7.75
Woodland scenics,Smiley’s tow service $16.95 $26.98
Testors paint 1/4 oz. bottle $ .35 $1.19
Kalmbach Publishing
“Small Railroads u can Build” 48 pages $3.50 $12.95
64 pages
and “Modeltronics” had a Mantua built 4-6-2 pacific where they installed a sound system and constant lighting for a price of $159.95.
Idon’t know what the inflation rate has been for the last 25 years but you can decide if the inflation rate has hit the MRR industry hard.
2004 hasn’t ended yet - so there is no 2004 figure yet. But the catalogs actually come out the end of the year before. So using 1978 and 2003 would match the catalogs. 2003 is about 2.8 times 1978.
Enjoy
Paul
For what it’s worth, in 1953 my first Lionel set cost $57.95 (Canadian). My father was paying either $50 or $55 amonth to rent an apartment at the time.
So maybe with the exception of the paint and the book, model railroad prices have risen pretty much in line with inflation? Seems like the Kadees actually went down in price!
Even the paint isn’t that far out of line–it tripled in price. Kadees definitely seem to have held their value.
And, of course, anything tech-related went greatly down in price and up in performance–where was command control, CAD software, built-in sound, etc., in 1980?
You’re right about the tech-related stuff. In the 80’s there were a series of articles about linking a PC to a layout to run turnouts etc and I remember thinking “man, that would be expensive.” I think the computer used was a 286 machine. Given the price of computers now - especially older machines - interfacing a computer with a layout is massively relatively cheaper than back then.
“Mid tech” item also have not risen as much as inflation. I remember when I was in, I think, Jr. High (late 70’s) saving my birthday and Christmas money and whatever else I could earn for about 6 months to buy a MRC Controlmaster X. I think the price was about $40.00. For about the same amount now (or maybe slightly more) you can get a MRC Tech pack that is highly superior.
So some things have gone up, some have stayed stable and some things have actually gone down in price.
JUST check out the number of US Dollars to buy an oz. of Gold 25 years ago.
50 years ago it was $24 oz. and we kept a sufficient amount in Ft Knox to cover our paper ‘Gold Certificate’ s . Check your local newspaper for TODAY’S price. Also notice our paper money no longer says’s “Redeemable upon demand in Gold” (or Silver) .
25 years ago, what did one pay to get into a Movie? - If you were old enough.
I think I have a late Seventies MR with an article about computer interfacing using an Apple II, featuring a home-brewed 8-bit interface card to plug into the Apple bus. It doesn’t seem that long ago that computer people still built their own cards from kits (or homebrewed 'em) to add functionality to their 8-bit home computers…
And how much was that Apple II compared to what you can get today? I find that simply amazing. My dad first got the computer bug in the mid 70’s (back then only serious hobbiest did the micro computer thing). If he were alive today he would be amazed, no shocked about the leaps and bounds made in the micro computer world. Of course I think he’d also be blown away by what is available today (RTR, BLI, Proto etc). Time have changed. But Model Railroading is still fun!
Remember, he lives in California. The median home price here is about $400,000 (if I remember correctly). Of course, San Diego, Los Angeles, and SF Bay areas really drive that number up (I think the median home prices there are over a half millon dollars). It has been considerable lower in other areas but the prices there are rising rapidly.
I remember buying a 2-truck Heisler loco when I was young. This was when AHM first imported them from Rivarossi back in the mid-seventies. The loco cost about $78 then, including tax! I had it in lay-away all summer, mowing lawns to pay for it. I think it was the single most expensive item on my layout at the time.
I think Walther’s sells them now for about $220. Granted they are now DCC ready, have better detailing and a superior motor. I should have kept my old favorite though… sold it off when I got out of the hobby after college.[:(] [banghead]
Wow. The median house price here in the megalopolis of Lubbock Texas is something like $80,000.
This is a really interesting topic. Maybe someone at Model Railroader would take a stab at writing an article comparing prices over the last, say 30 or 40 years and see what types of products have increased in price faster than inflation, which have increased the same and which has increased less. Have some pictures to show the difference in quality/detailing etc and talk about what is available now that wasn’t then. I think it would be of interest to lots of folks and could even dispell some of the ideas that old farts like me have about “the good ole days.”