I have a Bachmann ON30 Thomas Kinkade Christmas train set and would like to repaint it and detail it for my ON30 railroad. However, I wondered, considering the high price of these sets, and possibly high resale value as a collectors item, would it be better to sell this one and buy a new loco and cars? What do these sets usually sell for, and would it be worth it? I would probably only sell the train, though, and not the whole set. I don’t have a box.
I’ll tell you what I think, and not what I necessarily know: I got the same thing as a gift for Christmas several years back. It was a joint venture between my wife and her mother. It took just over a year of receiving a package most months before the set was complete. It is a nice train set, runs well. It looks nice, too. I have a good idea what it cost, though, and I think what they paid must be close to four times what it would have sold for in a hobby shop. I’m probably way off…a friend who knows me well says I should make my best guess about the value of things and then double them…I’m usually that far off. It’s why I won’t go to swap meets and garage sales.
Let’s say it cost $1000 (mine came with enough HO EZ-Track to make approximately an 8’ oval with a double ended siding, so two turnouts were included. A nice caboose, two automatic crossings, and a power pack with wire contacts…oh, and a re-railer/crossing that also serves as a track contact point for electricity. There was the engine and at least four each of boxcars and passenger cars, plus a combine.) The price may seem astounding, but this was through the Bradford Exchange…I think. They would have ordered perhaps 600, maybe as many as 1000 of the locomotives and cars sets from Bachmann, and then made up the sets as the orders came in by getting tracks from Bachmann, power packs, and the crossings to mail out. Each package, at least 10, drew about $12.00 in shipping as a low guess. So you can see that it adds up if you didn’t get it at a flea market reduced greatly. And this is what I think may be the reality. They are as “collectible” as all those 11" plates you see at garage sales with roses, The Blue Boy and other famous classic paintings…you know what I mean. Plates each bought from the Franklin Mint for $140 and available to you for $10 each, four for $30. Our trains sets are plastic, not heavily detailed, and have decals with the Thomas Kinkaid Christmas motif. The individual cars might be worth $40 new at a train shop…I
I have the same trainset, courtesy of my mother. She gets sucked into all the “collecter” stuff. I got number 10,957,777,001 of how ever many they could sell before the storage costs exceeded sales. Don’t get me wrong,it really is a nice little around the tree train, just not at that cost.
I
I think they might have made two different sets because while looking online I saw a set with boxcars and red and green passenger cars. Mine does not have boxcars, and is all green. I think it was supposed to have a third car, but doesn’t. It was given to me, so I didn’t pay anything for it, but I saw online that you can buy them for about $210 for the train and supposedly the track and stuff for only shipping and handling.
Typically, valuable collectibles are items that are rare, ones that have a broad interest among the population, yet were never sold in large numbers, or stimulate some childhood memories.
Unfortunately, Thomas Kinkade train sets are unlikely to ever be included in any of these categories. Overpriced at the time of their original sale, the only likely direction for their value to go over the years is downward. It isn’t going to be another Lionel Girls Set.
CNJ831
These “collector” train sets from the likes of Bradford Exchange are horrendously overpriced for what you get. The set may cost you over $1,000 by the time you have received everything, but you probably couldn’t get more than $200 for it on e-Bay or at a train show.
If you’re reluctant about repainting something that may have value in the future, consider purchasing new items. Micro-Mark (http://www.micromark.com) sells Bachmann Spectrum On30 engines and rolling stock at reasonable prices. A DCC equipped 2-8-0 Consolidation, for example, is priced at $136.95. What did Bradford Exchange pay for it? Probably less than $100 in bulk. What did they charge for it? Maybe $400 or more.
My personal opinion about places like Bradford Exchange is that they are sucker bait for people who are looking for a last-minute Christmas gift, have money to burn, and who have no concept of the true value of the items. That’s just my [2c]
These so-called “collectible” trains and other stuff they push are only collectible because they say they are. If anyone thinks they are actually getting something that will be worth more later on, then I have a bridge to sell them! All a scam.
One of the folks on Antiques Road Show once said “If it’s sold as a “collectable”, it isn’t!!”[:D]
I would say go ahead and fire up the aribrush. I have two of these sets, both were gifts fortunately so I didn’t have to pay for them. The only good thing to say about them is that they are at least made up with quality locomotives and rolling stock from Bachman. I never hesitated to repaint them, and in fact have just finished successfully converting one of the locomotives to DCC. The second goes to the workbench today, if my LHS has a second decoder in stock.
Not only are these items overpriced when sold, the vendor’s also sell many many other variations on the same theme. The have sold these same sets as Civil War sets, as Disney sets, etc. For “collectibles” they are as common as dirt. One of my two sets was called the “Moonlight Epress”, and was decorated with pictures of timberwolves of all things! There is a Moonlight Express set currently listed on E-bay for $250, and that has 0 bids on it…
Paint 'em up and weather them. Do a real good job, and post your progress on the forums so people get interested in your work. Then, when they’re done, and you have an audience of fawning admirers, sell them off as custom weathered by the famous so and so, and they’ll go for hundreds of dollars per piece. The fact that they are former Thomas Kincaid sets may make them even more valuable for the irony factor!
I’ve seen N scale boxcars sell for close to $100 just because they’re nicely weathered, and associated with a particular modeler.
Lee
I would have to repaint them, if my daughter (a serious painter) ever saw a Thomas Kinkade anything in the house, I would be as good as dead.
Rick
I agree - add detail parts as needed and fire up the airbrush. After the mother-in-law moved in, I began receiving styrofoam packages on a regular basis. I ended up with two On30 engines with matching passenger cars, one painted for McDonalds and one for the Fire Fighters. Also received many nicely detailed HO F-7A’s and a couple of F-7B’s painted for various different roads as well as Bat Man, Chevy Corvette, etc. All will eventually get repainted for the home roads and/or connecting roads. Only problem with the ones with Bat Man and other scenes on them is that it looks like Bachman cast the bodies with most side details smoothed over to give a flat surface for the painted scenes. Will probably end up purchasing new bodies for them. Seems a shame to have all that motive power that needs repainting - but, at this point I didn’t spend any money so I have to come out ahead of the game.[:D]
Chuck
ok, it sounds like I should keep it. Thanks!