I believe that williams list price is even more like $620 for the freight set and $525 for the GG1 set.
Bachmann has really cranked the price of Williams since taking it over.
I have argued this with them but they always claim this and that but I have the catalogs to back myself this set has jumped over $200. sugested retail price
Just Trains add For Williams Girls sets.
GG-1 Girls Freight set = $335
Steam Girls Freight set = $379
GG-1 Girls passenger set = $335
" If my memory serves me correctly, the original postwar sets weren’t too pricy about 3 years ago. No?"
About 4 or 5 years ago I saw an UNOPENED girls set go for around $17,000.00. About a year later the same set was sold by Stout for $25,000.00.
Bill T. he was saying list for lionel just over $500 so wanted to see Williams so I quoted Williams list price I know you can get them a lot cheaper but I was comparing list to list as he stated list on lionel.
Williams by Bachmann listed catalog prices are really bogus. Any of the major dealers of Williams products discount 30 to 40%.
Currently on EBay there is a girl’s set, postwar classics (2001 edition) going for $595 buy it now price. I don’t find that outrageously high, but a bit more than I have to spend at the moment. Thanks to Kool jock for the detailed differences. I thought only the sprung trucks would be a difference. While not comparing each version too closely, I have found all of the colors to be close enough to each other repro. I’ve never seen an original.
I like to share something concerning these sets. Yes the 2010 set is a much better set. Here it is July 2015 and I have made the decision to add a 2010 set to my collection. I did some research for the between the 31700 set I believe was made in 2002 and 38340 which is a much better set without the ivory transformer made in 2010. What I can tell you is I could find this set 31700 set all over the place, but the 38340 set was a very hard one to find. The 37100 sets were not selling and the highest price I saw in research is $375.00 and there was many to pick from. The 38340 2010 set there were very few of these sets and when I did find this set the lowest price I could find was $569.00 which was the list price in the 2010 Lionel catalog. I only found 4 sets and the highest price was $669.00. I did my research for a week and this is what I came up with. In my opinion the 2010 set will always hold their value
Steve
Reminds me of a tale…
Several years ago we were at Lady Firestorm’s sisters place for Thanksgiving. I’d brought a copy of “Classic Toy Trains” along and had left it open to a page where the Conventional Classics Girls Train (properly called the “Lady Lionel” was being advertised. Well, the look of horror on my sister-in-law’s face AND her daughter’s was absolutely priceless! Quite the feminists, a “Lady Lionel” will NEVER darken the door of their house!
And don’t get Lady Firestorm started on the subject! Whenever she see a picture of the “Lady Lionel” her upper lip curls enough to tickle her eyebrow!
I don’t think its a good idea to purchase toy trains with the idea that they will appreciate, or even retain their value. Consider the money spent.
I’ve always wanted to add a Girl’s Train to my collection since I first learned of it. To, me it doesn’t matter if it’s the original or not. Is K-Line the only manufacturer who actually produced extra cars and a whole town’s worth of accessories? If I remember correctly, they even added white track to the set. It may have been a good idea to add one or two cars and/or accessories a year in those pastel colors the set used. That way, owners of the set would have a way to expand their Girls World © TO Enterprises.
By the way, Steve, what is it that makes you feel the 2010 set is better?
I thought Williams made a bunch of girls train items. Of course I could be mistaken.
Williams made a freight and a passenger girls train. One was pulled by a GG1, the other was a steamer, not sure of the model.
They did, but not anymore. There’s been a major massacre of the O gauge Williams line at Bachman’s hand. Just a shadow of what it was.
Personally, if I were to bother with that set, I’d just rebuild one from older, rusted-and-dusted models.
Has anybody got any photos of the actual set, out of the box? The only pictures I have seen are the graphics from the catalog or pictures of the original set box, still sealed, on ebay. Not enough to prompt me to buy it, that’s for sure!