Heljan Falcon first run any value.

[Simon Moore]

I've just been in the railway room & came across my 00 falcon. 

 

It was the first model I purchased when I came back to the hobby. It's the limited edition version of 850 & I remember being lucky to get it as it was a sell out at the model shop 

 

I've never touched it I've kept it pristine in the box its only been test run up a length of track.

 

Im curious, is there ever likely to be any value to the model or should it just get weathered & join the rest of the fleet on my layout?

 

Cheers

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

The only way to find out what value it really has is to sell it! (I don't believe it will have  any significantly higher value than those versions of this model that are still available new, but it only takes a couple of people in a bidding war to 'win it' to push the price up.)

[Guest JiLo]

Its only worth what someone will pay for it, which changes with every person who looks at it.  One person may pay 100 quid, another 20 quid!  8 on eBay at the mo, between 70 and 210 quid.  The lower with no bids, the latter sound fitted

[Ian Hargrave]

1 minute ago, JiLo said:

Its only worth what someone will pay for it, which changes with every person who looks at it.  One person may pay 100 quid, another 20 quid!  8 on eBay at the mo, between 70 and 210 quid.  The lower with no bids, the latter sound fitted

 

But perhaps wait a bit ....until the last few minutes maybe. These things are akin to changes in fashion or mood swings.....or whatever the finances in the pockets are currently available.

[Hilux5972]

1 hour ago, Rhb Simon said:

I've just been in the railway room & came across my 00 falcon. 

 

It was the first model I purchased when I came back to the hobby. It's the limited edition version of 850 & I remember being lucky to get it as it was a sell out at the model shop 

 

I've never touched it I've kept it pristine in the box its only been test run up a length of track.

 

Im curious, is there ever likely to be any value to the model or should it just get weathered & join the rest of the fleet on my layout?

 

Cheers

If you like the loco, weather it and run it. If you don’t really like it, put it up for auction and see what people will pay for it. The fact that it’s almost brand new would be a selling point for a Ltd Ed surely. And if it’s complete with a certificate, even more so. 

[Simon Moore]

I had no intention of selling it, I've kept it pristine in the hope it would be worth something in the future when it gets passed on to my son for instance. I nearly bought another at one point so I could have a running model.  

I will stick a chip in it tomorrow & give it a run. Such a shame a so called limited edition model isn't worth anything for being a limited edition.

 

Thanks for the advice 

[cctransuk]

2 hours ago, Rhb Simon said:

I've just been in the railway room & came across my 00 falcon. 

 

It was the first model I purchased when I came back to the hobby. It's the limited edition version of 850 & I remember being lucky to get it as it was a sell out at the model shop 

 

I've never touched it I've kept it pristine in the box its only been test run up a length of track.

 

Im curious, is there ever likely to be any value to the model or should it just get weathered & join the rest of the fleet on my layout?

 

Cheers

 

Never buy model railways as an investment, or to pass on to family as a bequest.

 

You'll be disappointed if you sell them, or the family will just take the first offer made to get them off their hands.

 

Buy what you like, run them and, if possible, flog them before you peg it; to save the family the trouble of disposing of your treasured collection.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[Guest JiLo]

22 minutes ago, Rhb Simon said:

I had no intention of selling it, I've kept it pristine in the hope it would be worth something in the future when it gets passed on to my son for instance. I nearly bought another at one point so I could have a running model.  

I will stick a chip in it tomorrow & give it a run. Such a shame a so called limited edition model isn't worth anything for being a limited edition.

 

Thanks for the advice 

I think just about every loco made could be classed as a limited edition, the production runs are small (550?) these days, but like CCTrans says, don't buy as an investment!

 

Or paint it yellow (or Loadhaul) and bang it on eBay!!!

[jukebox]

6 hours ago, cctransuk said:

 

Never buy model railways as an investment, or to pass on to family as a bequest.

 

You'll be disappointed if you sell them, or the family will just take the first offer made to get them off their hands.

 

Buy what you like, run them and, if possible, flog them before you peg it; to save the family the trouble of disposing of your treasured collection.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

 

It's getting the timing of that part right that is the key!

[Enterprisingwestern]

8 hours ago, cctransuk said:

 

Never buy model railways as an investment, or to pass on to family as a bequest.

 

You'll be disappointed if you sell them, or the family will just take the first offer made to get them off their hands.

 

Buy what you like, run them and, if possible, flog them before you peg it; to save the family the trouble of disposing of your treasured collection.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

 

There are no pockets in shrouds.

When I'm gone it won't bother me what they sell for.

 

Mike.

[JSpencer]

I forget how many Falcon's Heljan made in the first run but believe it was nearly 4000 models, all liveries included.

I think a re-run was done several years later for Hattons of which some are still available here: https://www.hattons.co.uk/237345/heljan_5313_class_53_d0280_falcon_in_revised_lime_green_and_brown_livery_limited_edition/stockdetail.aspx

They also have a few secondhand on sale for less than the original price. Overall you could argue that the market is saturated and probably lost interest.

 

As Ian says, model railways are not really an investment. There are a few exceptions but even these loose value over time. New blood is hard to draw into the hobby, video games are often blamed for this but actually I feel the real competition is coming from cosplay and reenacting.  (Wargaming such as warhammer was another form of cometition but I think that is loosing steam too).

 

A small number of model releases, especially all new loco types can fetch a fortune if they sell out in the first weeks and supply does not meet demand.  This is often helped by being pretty, brand new, getting rave reviews in the magazines and being very much in peoples eye upon release. Over time there price comes down as they gradually cease being the latest fashion. Very few of them have little staying power (I can only think of the Bachmann C class in full SECR livery that is still commanding a respectful price many years later).

 

Another exception is that reruns of certain models I brought around 10 years ago, when they were less than £100, but now asking for £150 plus for new, can now fetch a price on the seconhand market that is more than I originally paid for it but is still less than the latest release. This will last only as long as another manufacturer does not go off and produce a better all new model of the same loco class. (I suspect Bachmann Deltics will drop in price on the secondhand market once the Accurascale version is released - indeed Bachmann Nelsons fetched a good sum until Hornby's came along).

[Dunsignalling]

There is something of an inflationary effect on most models unless a significant upgrade has occurred in the meantime. Where prices of newer versions have steadily risen over the years, they seem to drag up the value of older ones. Hornby Bulleid Light Pacifics are a good example, with early ones (Tangmere, Wilton etc.) in good condition easily fetching twenty or thirty quid more than they cost new despite not being especially hard to find. Rarer versions (notably City of Wells, which is also unique in another sense) often seem to go for not much less than a new one.

 

A directly comparable version of your Falcon (I have one also!) is still available and seems to be in fairly plentiful supply. A rough rule of thumb, if you do want to sell, is to pitch the asking price roughly half way between what you paid and the typical box-shifter price for a new one. 

 

John

 

 

Edited August 19, 2019 by Dunsignalling

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Bear in mind also that the original Falcon releases had issues with the fairings, that might make the newer improved models more acceptable to some.

 

Mike.

[Steven B]

It will be worth more to your son if it's something he remembers you getting enjoyment from. Run it, weather it, enjoy it; don't worry about the resale value.

[47164]

5 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Bear in mind also that the original Falcon releases had issues with the fairings, that might make the newer improved models more acceptable to some.

 

Mike.

I seem to recall that the first issue was subject to a chassis recall, which Heljan rectified exceptionally quickly. , as the issue I tbink rendered the loco inoperable in one way or another.

[cctransuk]

1 minute ago, 47164 said:

I seem to recall that the first issue was subject to a chassis recall, which Heljan rectified exceptionally quickly. , as the issue I tbink rendered the loco inoperable in one way or another.

 

Really?

 

I have a first issue FALCON, which performs faultlessly.

 

Anyone else care to expand on this?

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[stovepipe]

There's been 14 different releases of Falcon since 2007, 6 of which were variations on the Lime Green livery (the last of which is still in stock at Hattons.)

 

The first 4 were runs of 800, the next two were runs of 1,200 and 500. The later ones were probably 500 again, so you are looking at close to 8,000 models in all. That's a fair number in today's terms.

 

I remember there being an issue with fragile lower buffer shrouds at first, but not any chassis problems. We can't check back now on old RMWeb sadly.

[TRAILRAGE]

Weather it , run it and enjoy it!

 

When my father goes his stuff will be passed to me and when I go my son will get it all. I have several LTD Editions or LTD production run loco's. There only really worth something to me and bought them when I could afford such luxuries so I could run them. 

 

Cheers Trailrage

[John Tomlinson]

I suspect that "limited edition" is in many cases a meaningless term these days.

 

Anything can be "limited" irrespective of the actual number produced, provided you stick to that number and don't exceed it.

 

I seem to remember that Heljan got round this with Falcon in 4mm by introducing a second run of weathered models, so they didn't duplicate the first batch that were pristine.

 

A friend of mine paid £180 for one of the pristine WR two tone green examples after the first run sold out and he resorted to ebay. A year ago I bought a mint and probably unused example of the same on an ebay auction for £80!

 

As noted above, never consider model railways as an investment.

 

John.

[GRUNFOS]

Add a bit of weathering and run it as an everyday loco. My boy loves this and it will be his one day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[No Decorum]

20 hours ago, John Tomlinson said:

I suspect that "limited edition" is in many cases a meaningless term these days.

 

Anything can be "limited" irrespective of the actual number produced, provided you stick to that number and don't exceed it.

 

I seem to remember that Heljan got round this with Falcon in 4mm by introducing a second run of weathered models, so they didn't duplicate the first batch that were pristine.

 

A friend of mine paid £180 for one of the pristine WR two tone green examples after the first run sold out and he resorted to ebay. A year ago I bought a mint and probably unused example of the same on an ebay auction for £80!

 

As noted above, never consider model railways as an investment.

 

John.

Yes, limited edition is a marketing ploy which is ignored when it suits. Off hand, I can’t remember how many limited editions Heljan produced of Falcon but there were more than two, each using a slight variation as an excuse. In one case, I think the only difference was an etched falcon for each side. Heljan isn’t alone – Bachmann produced a limited edition Green Arrow many years ago, which I thought a silly thing to do for such an important prototype. Later, another Green Arrow was produced as an ordinary catalogue item with a different mechanism and a few other tweaks. I find that sort of thing leaves a nasty taste. Moral? If it’s not available with a standard discount, ignore it unless for some reason it particularly chimes with you.

[boxbrownie]

Forgive my ignorance…..but when was Kestral released?

 

I thought Falcon was after.

[33052]

2 hours ago, boxbrownie said:

Forgive my ignorance…..but when was Kestral released?

 

I thought Falcon was after.

Delving into the RMWeb archives it was in 2009.

[atom3624]

There does seem to be a bit of demand for several Heljan models - Lion, Kestrel, EM1, EM2, DP2.

Some are trying to sell for frankly stupid money - more fool the person who pays that, but fair enough.

 

I've noticed Falcon isn't quite in the same region, generally still into '3 figures', but only just.

Possibly not helped by that Hatton's fire sale a few years back where they sold for £75 (??).

 

Al.

[sjp23480]

2 hours ago, atom3624 said:

There does seem to be a bit of demand for several Heljan models - Lion, Kestrel, EM1, EM2, DP2.

Some are trying to sell for frankly stupid money - more fool the person who pays that, but fair enough.

 

I've noticed Falcon isn't quite in the same region, generally still into '3 figures', but only just.

Possibly not helped by that Hatton's fire sale a few years back where they sold for £75 (??).

 

Al.

The last Kestrel I saw on ebay went for over £200, not too shoddy.

 

I nearly bought one at Roneo Models, £110 and certificate #2 of however many were produced.  

 

Ah well!