Does a full restoration including repaint hurt or help the value of the train. I have a 1946 lionel engine and tender and it is chipped and I want to repaint but will not do it until I find out either way. Thanks for your help.
mike
You will get replys on this question.
To repaint; depends on several things. How bad is the present condition, how much is it worth to sell, or how much is it worth to you after you make it look new again. Any repaint will lower the value, but if it’s bad enough to need redoing, what have you got to lose. A beat up engine has much less value than a nice one.
Mike, I’ve been doing repaints and restorations and kitbashes for the 17 years I’ve been back in the hobby. Basically as a rule, yes a repaint or restoration will affect the value. But whether this is up or down depends on the quality of the job you do, if you really want to then sell it and then finding the right buyer who wants the piece you restored and will pay for it properly including your time, effort and parts.
Early on I found there was an arguement that collectors wanted original Lionel trains with no touchups or visual alterations. Even the Greenburg price guides state replacing old wiring should not negatively effect value. But visually, collectors want original pieces. And unless the item is very rare or unusual, well used trains have never commanded top prices (though that doesn’t stop some from asking, and others from paying those inflated prices). Times have changed.
Most collectors who buy for financial investment want near mint or mint examples with all packaging. And I find it amazing that even in this day and age, there are still original Lionel’s that fall in to this area. But there are tons of trains out there that do not fall into this context. And now with so many newer trains available, with the improved graphics, paint and electronics, prices on well-worn or obviously used trains have gotten to a point where they should be.
So doing a restoration, if it makes you happy, is more than reason enough. If you do it to improve the financial value of this piece in someone else’s eyes, you never know what will happen.
I’ve been at train shows and had people offer me good respectable money for some of my rebuilds and custom repaints for cars in roads that have never been made. But I’m not really interested. My trains are worth what they are worth to me, and that’s good enough.
What’s your objective? To sell the item at some later point or to enjoy it? If your purpose is to collect or “invest”, leave it alone. If you want to play with it, I would probably paint/fix/restore so it looks and runs its best. Just remember to mark/note the restoration work so you don’t get in trouble down the line for selling a restored item as mint[:)]
It is not beat up to bad. It has nicks here and there and it bothers me. But I do not want to repaint if it will devalue it. It does need a good cleaning of the wheels and needs new center rollers and definately new wire as it is disintergrating. It has personal value as my father in law gae it to me and i also have one that was my moms and is probably a little more nicked up as my brother and I played with it. Thanks for your help everyone
Restoreing the engine to good working order should not change the value,repaint will.
Which would you pay more for? A perfectly restored and repainted oldie or a pristine one that never left the box. There’s something about “original paint” on antique cars that everyone loves, so it is different than a repainted old car. No matter how good the paint job is.
A trick that I read in an old CTT (I can’t remember when) is to use gun blue on the chipped spots. It hides the chips unless you look closely, and since the piece hasn’t been repainted, it theoretically doesn’t hurt the value.
Hmmm I willl have to ask my dad if he has any blue around the house when I go home next.
My objective is to have them look good and run good. At this point I am not really interested in selling off any old lionel. I would however like to invest in the new 2-8-4 berkshire from the tom hanks christmas movie. I saw it at macy the other day and I thought it looked pretty good. I think I would shorten the tender draw bar to bring it closer to the engine though.
Thanks for the advise.
mike
If it’s real beat up, it has very little collector value and repainting it helps. If it’s lightly scratched and nicked, repainting will devalue it. There was a time when no one would consider restored trains and they were considered taboo by collectors. Times have changed. Repaints hold their value really well these days.
remember, something os only original ONCE. If it looks pretty good, since it has sentimental value, I’d leave it be.
A magic marker does a good job of touch up and if a sale is in order can be completely removed.