| A quick look at eBay, or other online auction site | | | | So what about the real antiques? They're probably a |
| shows there's interest in the collection of Lionel and | | | | surer bet. Interestingly, genuine antique Lionel train items |
| other antique trains from the first half of the Twentieth | | | | aren't always stratospherically expensive. A lot |
| century. In the USA, iconic 20th Century brands like | | | | depends on the comparative rarity of the item and |
| Lionel and American Flyer, along with the less well | | | | also the condition. While a mint-condition example |
| known Ives and Boucher are the most sought-after. In | | | | preferably in its original box is always going to |
| Europe, it's Bing and Marklin, while Hornby's glorious O | | | | command more than a less pristine one. So rarity, |
| gauge tin-plate models from the 1930's through to the | | | | condition and completeness are the three main |
| 1950s command high prices in the antique trains | | | | parameters that govern price. At the time of writing |
| market. Reasons for train collectors chasing these | | | | this, a quick glance on eBay revealed cars from the |
| relics shouldn't be any harder to figure than the | | | | ‘20s and ‘30s going for between $20-$50 per |
| reasons why folks collect any other antique items: | | | | item. There was also a full boxed set from the 1920s, |
| craftsmanship, happy memories of simpler times past, | | | | consisting of loco, three cars and track with an asking |
| or as an inflation-proof investment. We all know that | | | | price of $1999. |
| antique-anything prices just keep moving one way, | | | | The King is gone, but he's not forgotten. . . |
| don't they? | | | | Tin-plate Lionel trains, once the uncontested rulers of |
| For starters, newcomers to this area of collecting | | | | miniature steel rails in the USA, ceased production in |
| should be aware that there are two kinds of "old | | | | 1969. These oldies, whether the reproductions or the |
| model train sets" out there. There's the real deal and | | | | genuinely old, can never compete in detail or |
| there are the brand new reproductions of antique | | | | performance with what I call the Neil Young-era Lionel |
| Lionel trains that are made by a number of specialist | | | | products - the super-detailed, and pretty expensive - O |
| companies. Let's briefly consider this second kind of | | | | gauge trains sold since the reorganization, and |
| "antique" first. Locomotives and rolling stock are usually | | | | recapitalization of the company as Lionel LLC. But |
| made to order, in limited quantities and being exact | | | | that's not what it's all about, is it? Like any other |
| replicas of the originals, they're not cheap. Maybe it's | | | | collectibles in the antique world, antique Lionel trains are |
| best to put these in the same mental briefcase as the | | | | about warm and fuzzy memories, nostalgia for times |
| handmade brass beauties we all lust over in the more | | | | gone and a genuine affection for the look and feel of |
| conventional model railroad world. Will they retain the | | | | tin-plate trains: the stock and trade of model railroads |
| value of their purchase price? Hard to say. We just | | | | before the era of super detail, ushered in by HO gauge |
| have to take a "wait and see" approach. | | | | in the 1960s. |
| My My, Hey Hey….How Much Do I Have To Pay? | | | | |