A B6 0-6-0 with super detail kit just sold on Ebay for $283.69 with $14.35 shipping! This is an un- built kit. Brass B6 locos are not selling for that! Are you manufactures getting this? Small steam kits are selling for almost the same price as a RTR larger loco. I paid less than that for my P2K 0-6-0 with QSI sound! The BLI I1sa was less also. Maybe Bowser should dust off some of those old molds and release a few small steamers!
I am thinking of dusting off some of my old Bowser kits and list them.
Ebay can be a bit of a funny beast depending on who badly someone wants an item. You might find listing your old Bowser kits and selling them cheap. Just belly up to that one armed bandit and pull the lever and see.
Of course I’d say the question really is “what was the buyer thinking?” [:O]
But it’s ‘supply and demand’, once a company stops making a product, the price often goes up since there’s now a limited supply available. Just like when a celebrity dies, the price of their autograph goes up.
Precisely. How much is a 35 year-old Corvette going for these days? Even one in serious need of some TLC will cost a buyer today more than it was worth new that long ago. When they no longer manufacture an item, and while they become more scarce, the few fans who really want one drive the price up, to the delight of those who had the foresight to hoard a few, and to the dismay of those who demured and waited too long before buying them at retail prices just before the doors closed.
But how many of those can Bowser sell over say, an eighteen month period, and at what price? Buying one at $283.69 + $14.35 is one thing; selling five thousand over eighteen months might be a bit more difficult.
Well, for starters it’s disingenuous to compare prices on an out of production item with a deeply discounted item. Compare the MSRP of that P2K loco to the MSRP of the Bowser engine the last year they were sold and you’ll get a closer comparison of the value of each item.
Second, prices are inflated right now because of scarcity. Years from now, Bowser kits will either be rare items demanding premium prices, or curiosities. Either way, they’re not generating nearly enough interest to start producing them again.
It’s always hard to predict what will happen with prices and “collectible” things. I remember when I was a three-railer in the eighties and Lionel came out with their TrainMaster painted in as-delivered C&NW paint (OK technically the CNW had H-16-66 “Baby Trainmasters” but it was still neat looking) for about $225 list. They only made them one year so within a short time they were selling for around $600. However, last I checked they down to around $150-200 online. I’m guessing partly because they don’t have all the new technological advances like sound etc.
Bowser is like any other company, they need to make money to stay in business. Since no one that I’m aware of is making HO steam locomotive kits, there just may not be enough of a market anymore.
I still see Bowser locomotive kits at train shows for less than that. But not as often as in the past. And you might scout out some of the older hobby shops if you want one.