Value of Original Boxes

I’ve often seen “with original box” on items for sale. I know this can be important for such things as locos that come in fitted boxes and R-T-R cars. It’s nice to have original boxes to store cars that came in them, even kit car boxes that don’t have fitted liners, do have the car identification on them. What I’m wondering is are the boxes that building kits come in of any value? The buildings will no longer fit in them, but do collectors find them of value? Though I doubt it, thought I’d ask.

I am apt to keep the directions, always have, but have seen several requests for old instructions since joining these forums

As you may be able to tell, I’m trying to get things cleaned up so that I can start to ready the room for a new shelf layout. Hate to throw things away that still have value. Don’t want to keep usless stuff.

Thank you for your thoughts. (Sorry, no pennys)

Richard

Boxes are valuable if someone wants to spend money to buy them.

Somewhere around here, I’ve got some boxes of building kits by Suydam. I look forward to the feeding frenzy to follow. Please be advised that I am fond of $100 bills hand delivered.

Going the other direction, I’ve got a pile of Athearn boxcar kits. I am considering dumping the contents so that I have more of those excellent boxes. Have you noticed that train boxes today have irritating plastic windows??? NOT good for storage.

Richard. Your fortune resides in honest work. Not bubblegum wrappers.

Ed

Hi, Richard

I was once a box-saver. Stereo equipment, computers, printers, LGB/Aristo-Craft/USA Trains, every cardboard box from hundreds of HO cars and locomotives. Seriously, there were probably enough to fill a good portion of a 53’ semi trailer!

They were all in my attic. Hot, dry, dusty attic.

Were.

After the fire department left I didn’t have any more boxes [:O]

That dry chip-board and foam burned like a Bessemer Converter! Add to it about a dozen foam cushions from patio furniture and Dante would have been proud.

Today, I have no extra room for boxes. I saved the ones from the more expensive locomotives and all the brass locomotives. The rest all get recycled. My heirs will have to deal with selling off stuff sans-box.

Since they were all destroyed about six years ago I haven’t missed or needed a single one. I’ll keep a box for maybe a month for warranty stuff that may need to be returned, after that… bye-bye.

Regards, Ed

I doubt it. Only Lionel, American Flyer, and a few other toy trains seem to have value for the box by itself.

The collectable structure kits seem to be the unbuilt ones.

But then again, there may be someone out there collecting boxes - you just never know. You could ask around at the LHS or Train show before tossing.

Paul

Very few items we have actually will turn into collector´s items, for which a collector will cash out quite a pretty penny. If the original box is still with the item, that pushes the value up to another level.

Difficult to find out which one of our treasures will be a collector´s item in the future, though.

I keep RTR locomotive and freight cars…BB,Roundhouse,building kit boxes gets tossed. I have kept BB locomotive box lids for storing frequent used tools and paints.

I appreciate this thread because it serves as a reminder to me to toss the old building kit boxes which are stored in my attic. I will continue to keep the original boxes from the locos and rolling stock because they are needed when you pack and sell unwanted items on eBay. But, the building kit boxes will go.

Rich

There seems in my mind no better way to store or move locos and rolling stock than in the original boxes if they will fit after construction/modification.

Even after I do tender swaps on steam locos I usually modify the original loco box to hold the new tender.

I use more substantial boxes of any kind for various kinds of storage, excess structure boxes or other boxes go in the trash.

Since I have never really sold off anything to speak of, I worry not about resale value, just my own storage/moving and logistical uses/needs.

Sheldon

It’s a matter of convenience in storing and sorting to have boxes for rolling stock. No real value in resale, maostly, except being a little extra perk if you are selling online that costs you nothing and might make your item sell vs a identical item without the box.

Sort of like the “cash value” they used to print on coupons being (.02 cents or something) to let you know they’re not worth zero, but just a little more than zero.

For me, they’re a pretty good source of card stock, which is something useful in this hobby. I use card stock for roofs on kitbashed structures. Big boxes make big roofs.

But as a keeper for the completed structure, obviously they are worthless.

I also can’t imagine the collector side of the hobby having much interest in an original box that has no contents.

I recently moved about 700 miles. The original boxes for locos and rolling stock were a very nice thing to have.

I only kept and keep locomotive boxes because if I ever want to sell they get a better price when in the original box. The only carboxes I keep are the beautiful Kadee boxes. As to buildingboxes, I cut out the picture of the building that most of the boxes have on the front and attach it to the valance approx. above the spot where the building is on my layout.

Hans

I dunno Mike I seen groups of empty BB kit boxes go for over $20.00 on e-Bay… I couldn’t help but chuckle. Also seen a empty United PRR K4 box go for around $40.00 on e-Bay… That I can understand since brass collectors want the original box since it ups the resell price.

LION Kept the blue box boxes for parts. Others not so much. I do have all of the boxes from my subway cars, (48 at last count), to what end I know not, since I permanetly attached the cars in 6 car sets. When the time comes to sell them they will have to be packed in 4’ long shipping tubes.

Oh well, as computer administrator, we still have computer boxes stored since our first Epson CM-10. Computer is long gone, the the box is still there.

We have a burn-pile behind the powerhouse. two or three times a year, weather permitting, we drop a match on that thing…

ROAR

The original boxes often also have the price that you paid for the item. That can either be extremely depressing or quite cheering, depending on your mood and the facts.

Really old orignal boxes of model railroad stuff – I am talking pre 1950 here – can be entertaining and interesting but whoever it was that kept them wasn’t thinking “I’d better keep this – someday it will be really entertaining and interesting.” After all, pre-1950 boxes of saltine crackers and gelatin desserts can be entertaining and interesting too …

Dave Nelson

I like the new plastic clamshell boxes for storing cars and engines not in use, but sometimes need to modify the packing to clear added details – so that kills the NIB collector value. Old kit boxes are used to store some parts, but many of those old boxes won’t hold a completed car without causing damage.

While packing Christmas away, and after reading this thread, I just threw arm fulls of empty boxes into the recycling bin. The wife did a great job of down-sizing Christmas items, and I ended up with two extra Tupperware bins to put unbuilt kits in. I kept the boxes from the grandson’s MTH Rail King set, just in case of his future address change.

Mike.

Thank you all for the replies. Pretty much as I expected, not worth much unless someone is looking and there aren’t many looking for building boxes.

I do keep the car boxes, just to have a safe place to store when not on the layout or if I should ever decide to unload them. When I’m gone I have no idea what will happen, not my worry, though I will try to leave enough information, so they have a chance for a new home, especially the sound locos.

Thanks again,

Richard

I am always amazed at what antique shops price these for. Don’t know if they sell many, but they price them like they’re something precious.

Paul

I have kept the original boxes for all my rolling stock; as it has turned out, I have had to store my rolling stock for quite a long time due to living circumstances, moving, living in appartments etc.

During the past 5 or 6 years, my modeling focus has shifted backward in time so I have been selling off my more modernish (late-1980’s - early 1990’s) rolling stock. Most of it is new in the box and a few items test run only, so I think that all helps to make it more salable to folks who are looking for those kinds of items.

The original box is handy if you move and have to safetly store trains as well.

If I’m buying a ‘slightly used’ engine on say an on-line bidding site, having it in the original box is nice as it makes it more likely it will arrive without damage. Similarly, when I moved 10 years ago, it was glad I had held on to the boxes of a number of engines so that I could put them back in the box when moving them. Otherwise, as noted in earlier posts, most of the stuff we have in HO or N is really designed (or likely to become) ‘collectibles’ where having the original box greatly helps the value.