Im looking for some info


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Phantomrig

New Member
Hello everybody, im not shure if this is the correct place to ask this or if it is appropriate or not, if not i appologise. my father started collecting model trains when he was a little boy, at his last count he had well over 200 complete sets. mostly O guage and alot of HO and a few others. sadly my dad passed away recently and all of his prized trains have sat in their boxes untouched for over a year now. my mother has decided that it is time to slim the collection down and just keep the items that hold strong sentemental value, but here lise that issue. a local hobby shop is willing to sell them for us at no charge but they told us to establish a value for the items first. can anybody point me in a direction of a source that can help me establish proper prices for dads trains? we dont expect top dollar but we would like to get what is fair for them as they were dads prized possions. thaks for any help and advice.
 
I'm sorry to hear about your loss.

Look on eBay and use what you see on there as a start. It's not always right on but it might give you an idea as to what people are paying
 
There is a reference published called "Greenberg's Guide". I am not a collector but I seem to recall they had collector's guides for Lionel, American Flyer, and what is known as tinplate - stamped and embossed metal toy trains. If you can get a Greenberg's I believe you'd have a good idea on fair values. There are also people and companies that will buy out a complete collection. Just remember they are in the resale business and generally are looking to make a profit like any other business.

Greenberg also does collector shows nation wide through out the year and anyone can purchase a spot and set up a table or two. Most are a 2 day event. Greenberg advertises the collector shows in Model Railroader and usually a 1/3 to 1/2 page ad in every issue.

Best of luck and sorry to hear about your dad.
 
For the O Gauge or American Flyer try www.traincity.com. That may give you an idea of the larger trains. I also agree with NHMike's assessment that some will offer MUCH less than an item is worth. If you could list a few stock numbers of the HO I might be able to help you. Bear in mind condition is very important - and having the original box may help. Sorry for your loss!
 
thanks for the advice everybody. It will take a few days but ill try to get a small lsit together of the HO stuff, most of it is Athern still in the box and some of it is unbuilt kits.
 
Hi Phantom,
Sorry for the loss of your dad, it's probably a rough time for you.

The thing I would ask is how old are some of these sets, also did he ever buy any HO engine and/or car kits and from what manufacturer/s?

Depending on what he had some of the stuff could well be collectors items!?
 
the majority of dads collection is Lionel and Marcs, mostly Pre WW2 through Korea era trains. he has one set that he told me was only made for 2 weeks at Lionel in 1945. he has a few sets from the 30's and then he got into MTH over the last recent years and has about 6 complete sets and 10 Engines and porbably 60 Rolling stoc all of which are PS2 era.

the majority of the HO stuff was purchased sepperate but there are a few sets I will have to get them out and ID them. most of tme are NYC and PRR. the one thing he has that has us stumpped is he has about 8 deisel engines that are in a tan box with the name premier on the box, i know they are about 20 years old and have functioning mercury lights.


it will take me a few days but i will get some stuff out and post what it is here .
 
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