I think the seller has an interior designer in mind to be bought for a bar/restaurant installation. I wish him luck. [swg]
Even if it were a NYC Hudson, I wouldn’t offer $50 for it. Think how many nicer-looking, better-detailed HO locomotives - even in brass - you could pick up for 1/10th of that cost. [:S]
Perhaps one of these 1:32 Fine Art Models Hudsons would be more to your liking?
F.A.M. produced a limited line of G Scale models some years back that are extremely well detailed. Amazing stuff.
Regards, Ed
Now you’re talkin’, Ed! Maybe I’ll write FAM and see if they’ll do a 1:1 version. Now THAT I’d drive all the way across the US to see. [:P]
Tom
Kevin, you won’t like my answer, but you already provided it. It is worth whatever you are willing to pay.
Sleep on it. Finish your meetings in Atlanta this week and drop by the antique store on the way back home. Take another look at it and see if you still WANT IT.
You will probably never be able to resell it, at least not for much if anything.
If you still must have it, leave your name and email address with the owner and tell him if he gets an offer less than $4,500 to contact you for a counteroffer.
Meanwhile, go about your business and see if you continue to lust for the item. Chances are, you probably won’t. You initially acted on an impulse. See if it is a lasting desire to have this item.
Rich
Aside from all eagerness to have that thing, let´s take a look at what is actually is!
- It is not a piece of art.
- It is not a model.
- It is just a big, rather crudely made representation of a steam engine, without any function.
- It is only a home made piece of railroadiana for decoration purposes.
- It is not antique.
It has hardly a commercial value. There is no material value attached to it and we all know, how much, or better, how little value, the labor of love has, that we put into our layouts.
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And the fact it is not a scale model is the only reason my wife might allow it into the house on permanent display!
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Yes, it is an impulse, but we have been looking for something this size for a shelf in the living room for about a year. I know a locomotive was not what my wife had in mind, but she is on board with the “folk art” look of this piece.
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I think I have what I will offer in place.
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I do want it, but I certainly do not need to have it. If the seller does not accept my offer, I will simply move on. There are countless more antique malls in this country to rummage through.
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The largest antique mall in Georgia, Ian Henderson’s in Monroe just closed up shop due to a lease problem. Now there are hundreds of sellers in Georgia looking for new outlets. The market might be changing quite a bit.
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-Kevin
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But, you’re not going to tell us? [:(]
Rich
I think you made a good point. The item is folk art, not a model. The crudeness of it is part of the appeal. It identifies that it is a hand made one-of-a-kind piece that is probably built by an unprofessional. In which case, its fairly impressive, especially if it rolls nicely.
Sure
By what definition? I think some could argue it’s art. Often art immitates real things. Maybe a form of impressionistic art? [:P]
The asking price make it a luxury for many. Could I afford it? Sure, but I have thing much more needful of that kind of cost, even if it were dropped 1k or 2k.
Don’t get me wrong - it’s pretty cool as a mantle piece but for the price …take off a zero and maybe.
This is a cultural issue. I know that the folks at your end of the Big Pond have a rather liberal attitude towards what is art and what not. But in my neck of the woods, not all crafted things are considered art, even in a very loose interpretation of the word. Same goes for the use of the word “antique”.
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Antique has no meaning in the USA. It has become a synonym for “used”.
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-Kevin
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I think I must be actually from the opposite side of the pond then. I hold more to your definition of art than most around here.
As for a presentation to an executive or something - that thought crossed my mind when I was writing my previous post, but then I took another look at it. No way in the hot place would such a crude thing be a presentation for a retring executive or even a highly valued engineer. Nor would that have been a shop apprentice job, not looking liek that. There still exist some locos built by the Reading Loco shop apprentices - fairly accurate in every detal, and everything works on them (which necessitates a few out of scale bits). There are also on display some smalle models made as gifts the president. They are very finely detailed models that just about anyone interested in trains would be pleased to have on display. This thing is no where near that in quality.
Perhaps somewhere out there are other things made by the same person - maybe not a train person, but the train is just one of many similar models handcrafted by this unknown person. Might be a farm tractor, or a truck, or automobile out there, made with similar techniques.
–Randy
My father, from the “old country”, had a phrase that he used to describe such things. It was pronounced something like zoot-beck. Roughly translated it meant an expensive (or not), useless item, that took up space and collected dust.
I resent that remark. I do not consider my layout a zoot-beck. [8o|]
But, thanks for the definition. My wife is from the old country and constantly refers to my layout as a zoot-beck and I never knew what she was saying. [(-D]
Rich
Really? I don’t believe that. But if true, you didn’t happen to marry an Armenian girl, did you?
Max, would I lie to you? [swg]
Yes.
So you did marry an Armenian girl?
LOL, no, I married an American girl.
Rich
While a piece like this is one-of-a-kind and, therefore, makes it more valuable, you must keep in mind, this is made by an (probably) unproffesional. If a kid made a single model locomotive out of cardboard, it’s also one-of-a-kind, however, not valuable. Similarly, if this $4500 engine was put together with, say, Elmer’s school glue, and about to fall apart, It’s not worth much. However, if it is well built, smooth rolling and sturdy, then the “this is the only one ever made” argument holds some weight. Just a little more. I wouldn’t pay anything over $200 for it. (the same price I’d pay for a brass engine.)
Charles