I keep the boxes for all of my rolling stock and locomotives.
The only boxes I have disposed of are those kits for buildings, as one built the boxes are too small. I have kept a couple of building kit boxes for parts but only a few.
I have a number of old Roundhouse locomotives that were built from kits. These boxes are large enough to store the locomotives once built, so they have been kept.
I also have a few Bowser locomotives that I have yet to build and I will keep those boxes as well once I have built the locomotives as they are large enough to store the completed locomotive.
I have kept the boxes for my rolling stock as my layout spans a few eras and a lot of the rolling stock is not appropriate for the other era I model, hence I will need to store a lot of rolling stock as I change eras. I also change a few buildings when I change eras and as these were built from kits I have obtained new boxes for them as they would no longer fit in their original box.
As far as boxes for computers and tv’s etc, I have plenty of roo
Well, hadn’t thought a lot about that until you asked. But after reading some of the other responses, I’d say for me, I keep mine because:
Some of them, I know I will be selling (3-bay covered hoppers), and as one said, looks better to the prospective buyer (who hopefully will then pay what I’m asking for them).
Except for the Proto locos (where I’d have to take the body shell off first), I can put the car or loco back into the box for storage (like when I’m expanding/re-doing the layout - keeps dust and stuff off them).
Allows me to track about what I paid for them (useful if I want to sell, or just shock myself with how much I’ve put into my hobby over time).
Some protection for them (but the boxes themselves go into plastic tubs if they’ll be off the layout for long).
Briefly thought of this one as I was reading through the responses, so hope it doesn’t offend anyone - in the event of my not getting to take my trains with me when I go to my final home, the boxes can give my (grown) daughter an idea of what to sell them all for (or whoever may get that job to do for her).
Yep, the nostalgia thing is a secondary/tertiary reason…
Just because! “I don’t have to give you no reason. I don’t have to show you no steenking reason!” (My apologies to the writer of THAT movie…)
Funny, as you mention those old Proto boxes, what were they thinking having the shell off. Not that the chassis looks like something from Overland. And I thought I was going to destroy those SD7 shells trying to fit the tabs into the slots. Like a square peg in a round hole. I do normally buy engines in pairs, at least I was able to modify those old tan/ blue ones to fit a pair of locos for storage and transport.
As a former (minimal) antique toy collector I believe the practice was started as a business/proof of authenticity feature for sales. Along with a serial # on a box AND item inside matching, the box can add “anecdotal value”.
Things like date of purchase (avoids counterfeits to some degree), Sentimental added value if there is a label or other documentation from one of the old pioneers of the hobby stores like Polk’s in New York City, etc. Nitch/brand name collectors (Lionel, Varney) etc. like original boxes.
So…out of habit I’ve been keeping some boxes. Mostly locos. I do believe a locomotive in the several hundred dollar range will have an easier (if not more profitable) sale if it’s in it’s original box. Because it’s machinery/electronics not a piece of every day rolling stock.
All of the practical storage, protective transport, etc. that we MRs use boxes for is more “arbitrary” and personal than the collection zone for rolling stock in most cases.
My collection these days is down to one flying saucer and my old Marx trains from childhood which as we swap meet attenders know, is not gonna buy more than a few tanks of gas for our car.
Some craftsman kits have more collection value in their UNOPENED boxes than they ever will built. Ah the strange ways of humans…[:)]
I find all the above reasons for “keeping” boxes all have divided opinions to qualify their reasons for “keeping” them, Of all the MR train rooms I have visited it seems MR’s keep, collect, hoard anything that comes into their train room, regardless if it comes in a box or not, can you really build all those 650 kits (in boxes) in your entire lifetime? and you are wondering about boxes.
I remember and have plenty of rolling stock, and their boxes from 60’s and earlier. Yellow box Athearn, even brown box Athearn metal kits, Athearn produced “Globe” passenger cars in red and white boxes, yellow Silver Streak boxes, etc, etc.
Rich, I’m not laughing. I keep the structure boxes too. I never could reason why.
But last week, I finally had a reason. After a year long bout with trying to find the right place for my Walthers Geo Roberts Printing kit, I decided that just wasn’t going to fit well anywhere on the layout. Since I sort of just tack glued the kit as a mock up, I was able to disassemble it and will likely ebay it in its original box.
Can’t say as I’ve found a reason to keep the boxes for all of the structures I plan to keep…oh well.
I keep all my boxes. For moving I find them very good for cars, locomotives, power packs, etc… However, structures almost never fit, but I keep those also - I just like them.
But really I’m a pack rat for model railroading stuff. Even though I’m in S scale, I still have all my HO, O (scale and 3 rail), and G stuff as well as my son’s N. Most of it is packed away in the original boxes.
It helps make the model feel more complete when it has it’s box and can raise it’s value by a very substantial amount. I also feel that unless the car shakes quite a bit in the box, I put the model in it (helps me keep track of the cars, and with proper packing can actually be better for the item).
I moved in November. I had saved the original boxes for just that reason but somewhere along the line i had bought one of those big foam lined boxes and so I used it instead (obviously I don’t own enough stuff!). When unpacking weeks later I opened a box filled with - the original boxes. i had meant to toss them but someone in the family “helped” me by packing them! And so I actually paid people to move a box full of empty boxes.
I didn’t list resale or resale value in my original list of reasons, because in some 40 years in this hobby, I can count on one hand the number of items I have sold. And I have some 130 locos and easily over 1000 pieces of rolling stock.
And it is not that I am a “collector”, I simply am very careful in my purchase choices and don’t buy antihng that does not fit the layout theme. And the layout theme has not changed since about 1975.
But, resale and of course disposal sale after we are gone are good reasons as well.
My guess Sheldon is that you are the exception to the rules. I’ve been reading forums since 1995 and yes, I’m a relative old fart at 53 and I’ve observed what seems to be the majority of modelers who talk on the internet impluse buy. I’d wager that most have impulsed bought at some point, even if they have eventually change their buying habits to fit a theme or a very tight time period. I feel semi disciplined and yet I still buy from a time period of about 1970-1990 for one RR and pool or connecting power. Even I sometimes impulse buy - in the sense that I don’t fully check out a piece to make sure it is appropriate for my RR, location and era. Folks like you and Bob are probably a small percentage of the modeling customers, which is why a call it a no brainer to keep your boxes to those at large who read this. Go with the odds is what I say!
After the car is out of the box the box is out of the house. Storage space is so limited that there isn’t room for empty boxes. Now locos, that is a different matter. Those boxes are kept in case the engines need to be returned for service.
On eBay it is rare for me to buy a used car in it’s box. Once used I just want it to arrive in one piece. It can be a jewel or a piece of junk and the original box won’t make any difference.
New and unused is a different matter.
My railroad is for my pleasure and when I move it will be to my final resting place.
Built cars go on the layout. Most of the cars I build won’t fit back in the boxes when complete. To store them in the original boxes would damage the models by breaking delicate details etc…
I do use some old boxes to sort and store parts etc…Space is very limited so most boxes are tossed.