The other day a friend of mine asked me to look at some Old trains he inherited from an uncle. Rubbing his hands together while looking at the Lionel trains in the boxes, I said Gee, I’m no expert but looks like they have been stored for quite a while as they were dusty and the wheels were rusted, he said yea, they were in my Mom’s attic for the last 25 years, “so how much do you think they are worth” I hear people pay “Big Bucks” for old trains, Sadly I hear this a lot, I hear it at tag sales, garage sales, flea markets, these are Lionel or Marx or tinplate, I’m sorry but to me they are only worth what you are willing to part with them, or on the other side Pay for them, I suggested he take them to the local hobby shop , hoping to inspire him to see the value of the trains ,beyond the almighty dollar, and hoped to maybe, just maybe spark an interest in the hobby. am I alone? or have my fellow modelers been in this position. Its still the greatest hobby
While run of the mill Lionel trains of the past can be found at low prices – by which I mean, not much different than what they sold for new – Lionel in its original box for whatever reason takes on an entirely different and hugely higher value. Indeed there is a thriving market just for the boxes! It may seem odd to scale modelers but that is the fact. And the trains are so durable that rust and dust can be cleaned up fairly readily, and often they run just fine after years of nonuse with a bit of lube. Your friend may have a surprisingly valuable collection there and there are books and other resources on values that he can explore. What the hobby shop might be able to do is help him decide what condition the trains are in because values tend to be organized by “mint” “like new” “gently used” “normal wear and tear” “poor” and so on
Dave Nelson
Here is the skinny I tell people when asked such a question, or if it is “casually mentioned”:
Something is only worth what someone will pay for it. Just because it is old, doesn’t mean it is valuable. Just because it is valuable doesn’t mean someone will pay for it. Just because it is worth something, doesn’t mean someone wants to buy it. The BETTER THE CONDITION, the MORE COMPLETE it is {boxes included}, the MORE RARE IT IS, the more valuable it CAN be. If you have something RARE that is COMPLETE IN BOX in EXCELLENT CONDITION and SOMEONE wants it, you MIGHT have a very valuable item. The trick is to match up with someone willing to pay for what you’ve got.
That usually brings frowns, or a “what do you know attitude’”… but invariably when I ask a few months later, I usually only get mumbles about what they “got” for the “valuable items”!!!
It is amazing how people think they will “make a fortune” on getting rid of “old stuff” passed on to them or that they inherit…
[8-|]
Your friend could start with a Lionel Price Guide
He needs to learn the grading standards and accurately identify what he has.
Or he could contact the local TCA chapter and see if he could hire someone to appraise them.
I see lots of old Lionel in antique shops priced at the high end prices even though they are really at the low end of the condition spectrum. This leads people to assume that any old Lionel in any old condition is valuable.
My guess is your friend is in for disappointment. Personally, I would value them more for the family connection. I have my Dad’s old Bailey #4 plane. Dates from the late 40’s and is worth no more than $15-$25, but it’s the first tool I grab if there’s a fire.
Enjoy
Paul
Any item is worth only what someone is willing to pay for it, provided you can find that person who wants it and has the means to acquire it.
From your description of the condition of these Lionel trains, they may not be worth much.
At practically every one of our club’s open houses someone brings a box full of old trains, usually extremely cheap and broken HO scale toy train sets that were bought to run around a Christmas tree and then put away for many years and forgotten. They invariably think they are valuable antiques that are worth a small fortune, but we usually advise them to try selling at a flea market or yard sale because they are worthless to us.
Funny how non hobby people seem to think any old model train stuff is valuable! Must be another urban ledgend. I too have seen and heard my share of people assuming they were going to make a killing selling off some old well played with toy trains. I sort of get the impression that when you tell them their stuff isn’t worth much, they think you are trying to fool them so you can get it for next to nothing.
Our local club has an annual train show, and we make rental tables available for people to sell their stuff. One young fellow wanted a table to sell off his old trains to help pay for college. When he showed up with a bunch of military toy trains I knew it wouldn’t go as he had expected. He left part way through the show without any sales.
A fellow I know heard that a widow was trying to sell off her late husband’s layout stuff. He got a look at it, saw that it was mostly toy train stuff, not even any Athearn models, was thinking of offering her $200.00 for the lot. Before he could make an offer, she told him the stuff wasn’t going to leave the basement until she had $2000.00 in her hand. Imagine she still has it.
I see trains once in a while at a local flea market. Saw a standard Athearn heavyweight passenger car on an antique dealer’s table, priced at $25.00. They were still available new for under $20.00 at the time. Also as has been mentioned, I’ve seen boxes with old toy trains stuffed in them, looking well played with and having $50.00 price tags on them.
There are suckers born every minute I guess!
Even well preserved antique or vintage tinplate does not sell as well anymore…no one is interested in someone’s well used toys…[:-^]
Hi,
Lots of good comments so far!
I’ve built up a fairly large collection of postwar Lionel (46-60) and have run into your situation a number of times over the years. Let me “bullet” my thoughts…
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In the '80s and '90s, the market for postwar (and prewar) Lionel was at its peak. Today’s market is about 1/3 of what it was then. That being said, the “pristine in the box with all the papers” still commands big bucks.
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I have sold original Lionel boxes that were absolutely worthless (as boxes) for significant monies on Ebay.
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Of all the folks that told me over the years that they want me to assess their “antique” Lionel trains, almost all of them were rusted junk, mostly built after Lionel’s heyday by successor owners. Actually, only one fellow had anything of value, that being a 1950 F3 AA NYC set - which he refused to sell.
Unless you have access to an expert, or dealer that you trust, then probably the best thing to do is to let the market speak, take lots of good photos and float them out onto eBay. First, things first, I would advise them to do some research so that they can properly identify the models, date them etc. Again, eBay is not a bad place to start to see if you can find the same models and start to build an understanding of what you have and what they are worth.
My observation is that old stuff that we inherit is generally NOT a get rich quick opportunity. If it is valuable, generally the original owners know this. My mother has a number of antique furniture pieces – not just old furniture, which is what most stores purporting to sell “antiques” actually sell. She has lots of paperwork on it, and if my brother and I don’t keep the stuff (and we do plan to keep most of it), we will carefully sell it through auction houses where we will get the best value.
Similarly, among my grandfather’s belongings, we found a first edition copy of JFK’s Profiles in Courage signed with a personalized note to my grandfather by the author. Through meticulous and careful research, we have determined that this book is likely worth between $5 and $10 grand… but of course we’re not planning to sell it.
But for the most part, the junk in your parents attic really is just that: junk, kept around for sentimental reasons. What inhibits most people is that they are afraid that if they just unload the stuff, they will miss a windfall and someone else will get a bargain. My wife did find a first edition, first printing of Tom Clancy’s The Hunt for Red October at a book sale for $0.25 when it’s actually worth about a hundred bucks, but personally, I wouldn’t worry about it.
If you’re ecology minded and don’t want the stuff in a land fill, then buy all means, sell it or donate it, and take the risk there might be a gold nugget among the dross. if you really want to get the correct value for it, be prepared to spend some time and money trying to figure out what it’s really worth, and accept the risk that all that time and money will most likely be wasted.
Here’s where a lot of people get ripped off or get fed the wrong information…They have no idea how much a old Lionel can be worth to the collector…On the other hand some Lionel isn’t worth very much to anybody.
The worst mistakes people make is asking those that have no real clue what the item is worth and then ask on the wrong forum…
One should with items in hand contact a Lionel appraiser(LCCA) and get a honest answer.
Be sure to know and understand a hobby shop owner may not know the real value unless he is well schooled in Lionel prices.
As a example a old 1955 era NYC F7A/A set could be worth mega dollars where as a 1970 NYC A/A could be worth far less.
I’ve seen certain freight cars sell for $500.00-the s