I am not too well versed in the prices for HO items, much less HO brass engines, yet need to determine the value of some that I have been given. [:)]What’s a realistic price guide that you more knowledgeable HO operators/collectors use? Is there a ready source for obtaining one?
There is currently no practical price guide available for brass HO locomotives. The last such detailed publication (The Brown Book of Brass Locomotives, 3rd ed., by John Glaab) came out in 1994. Prices/values of many models have altered dramatically over the intervening decade, as well as many new models being added to the market.
Although quite time consuming, probably the best method for evaluating the approximate “street price” for many locomotives is to watch their sell prices on eBay. Somewhat less reliably, one could also try contacting different brass dealers and ask if they have a certain model on hand and what they are asking for it. But be advised, however, that prices can vary widely between dealers.
CNJ831
List what ya got.
Here is a good guide for pricing Brass. But you do need the Brown Book like said above.
Buying for resale is difficult as is appraising. It is a crap shoot at best. Some dealers follow other dealer’s pricing. Some set the trends with knowledge of quality, number of items imported, and overall desirability. There are no current price guides. Here are some methods used for pricing:
existing pricing from dealers
knowledge of model
rarity
builder and reputation of importer
sales at many shows we attend, and yes, eBay, an excellent source for pricing.
Brown Book, but almost a decade out of date. It is an excellent compendium in it’s present state.
http://www.brasstrains.com/ramblings/introductionToBrass.asp
Hope this helps! [:D]
In brief summary, I have:
Custom Brass RDC-2 Painted C&O #9060
Custom Brass ST-802 Painted C&O #602
Custom Brass ST-270 Painted C&O #305
Custom Brass ST-803 Painted C&O #549
Sunset 2-10-2 Painted C&O #4000
Key 2-8-2 Light Mike Painted B&O #4579
Key 2-8-2 Unpainted
PFM/United 4-6-2 Painted Southern #1401
Empire Midland DL-103 Painted Southern #1401
NWSL 0-6-0 Unpainted
Hallmark EMD SD-24 Painted EMD Demo
Hallmark GP-7/9 Painted N&W 506
They all look to be in good enough condition to run properly, but I have not had the opportunity to test them. Any help in arriving at a value will be appreciated.
Most of the time, you will find examples for sale on line at Caboose Hobbies, the Caboose, Piermont, Original whistle stop, Gunnings and Canadian Model Trains that can help you make a determination.
Another way is to go to one of the major dealers and find out how much they will give you for the engines if you want to sell them. Most dealers will offer about 50% of the overall price because they have to stock, advertise and sell them over a period of time and brass prices are not so hot recently. They still are worth their prices, but if you wanted to sell quickly, you get less.
I Listed a few web sites below that have mostly used brass and you might get some idea of a general price of your models. Your brass might be better or worse condition so you will have to consider that factor in every case. If you have rare Crowns, they are more expensive in the unpainted condition unless they were imported with paint. Rare engines always bring better prices in their import condition. Most of the pre seventies engines are not real expensive except for a few PFM Crowns and some of the Balboa Master series. Some are extremely rare and they would be worth quite a lot if you have both the engine and original box.
If you want to list them on line, I will look at the list and email you my assessment and thoughts off line at no obligation. It is something that most of us are willing to do to help someone evaluate the models.
They are always worth some value.
Thanks for the suggestions and insights regarding my quandry over trying to derive at an appropriate value for the brass engines. I will begin exploring the referenced resources and will remain open for any further comments and estimated values.