Heljan Falcon first run any value.

[D-A-T]

The only locos I made a significant profit on were the KMRC IOW 02s. Bought new for a projected layout that never happened. They sold for between £180 and £230 on eBay over the past year.

All my other sales, I considered myself fortunate if I recouped my money or thereabouts.

It’s noticeable that BR Blue locos seemed most in demand. Class 37s and 47s with factory weathering seemed most popular.

Regarding steam locos, my sales showed Pre-Grouping as the most popular by far followed by British Railways. Grouping, in my case the LNER, being the worst sales at well below what I paid.

Edited November 6, 2021 by D-A-T

[boxbrownie]

15 hours ago, sjp23480 said:

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!

Blimey!  When I looked at mine the other day the receipt in the box was for £79.95p …..t‘was while ago!

[TheEngineShed]

22 hours ago, boxbrownie said:

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

 

I'm really surprised their wasn't another Kestrel re-run after 2010, it is one of the more impressive Heljan releases to date...

 

HS4000 Kestrel Loughborough Jan 1968 by Pete Piszczek, on Flickr

[liathach]

My local, friendly model shop had a used bargain on the BR Blue Weathered model of Falcon last week.  I couldn't resist.   With a ZIMO MX633 decoder, the running is very smooth.  The lights set up is far better on this model than used on the Type Two and Type Three Bo-Bo from Heljan.

[Halvarras]

Whereas Falcon was initially released as a limited edition of 2,400 pieces (800 of each livery), Lion was a not-so-limited edition of 4,000 - this must have been too many as Hattons ended up shifting them at £70. They took similar action with DP2 which was reduced to, I think, £75 to clear (may have been just the less popular two-tone green version). I think Kestrel was reduced at one stage to encourage sales but I don't recall it going anything like this low - I'd have had one if it had, as it was such a striking-looking thing, although in my model world the excuse would have had to have been that the Western Region borrowed it for trials.......

 

As it is I have a dark green Falcon (no 58 of 800), Lion, and a later-issue blue Falcon which went up on Hattons pre-owned with a bufferbeam missing for £72 - I knew Howes were selling pairs of spare bufferbeams including sprung buffers for just £3 so I couldn't resist restoring it.

[John Tomlinson]

12 hours ago, Halvarras said:

Whereas Falcon was initially released as a limited edition of 2,400 pieces (800 of each livery), Lion was a not-so-limited edition of 4,000 - this must have been too many as Hattons ended up shifting them at £70. They took similar action with DP2 which was reduced to, I think, £75 to clear (may have been just the less popular two-tone green version). I think Kestrel was reduced at one stage to encourage sales but I don't recall it going anything like this low - I'd have had one if it had, as it was such a striking-looking thing, although in my model world the excuse would have had to have been that the Western Region borrowed it for trials.......

 

As it is I have a dark green Falcon (no 58 of 800), Lion, and a later-issue blue Falcon which went up on Hattons pre-owned with a bufferbeam missing for £72 - I knew Howes were selling pairs of spare bufferbeams including sprung buffers for just £3 so I couldn't resist restoring it.

 

Not sure if your comment about WR trials for Kestrel was a statement or wishful thinking, but it is actually true, there are lots of pics on the Birmingham line via Princes Risborough.

 

John.

[Halvarras]

6 hours ago, John Tomlinson said:

 

Not sure if your comment about WR trials for Kestrel was a statement or wishful thinking, but it is actually true, there are lots of pics on the Birmingham line via Princes Risborough.

 

John.

 

Wishful thinking John, but I've checked your comment and yes, it did indeed perform its first demonstration run from official handover at Marylebone up the Chiltern line as far as Princes Risborough and return on 29th January 1968 - I suppose the first run of this eye-catching locomotive would have had many cameras out, by those who knew about it in advance anyway. But that appears to have been it for a WR connection, plus of course it was on its original heavyweight bogies, not modelled by Heljan. Perhaps if its weight issue had been recognised and addressed much earlier it would have been trialled more widely - then, who knows, perhaps some runs along Brunel's Billiard Table might have occurred. However the fitting of Class 47-style bogies didn't completely cure its track punishment problem - it was just a heavy beastie.

Although this was one locomotive I wish I'd seen (alongside D7071/9, D1788 & D6597......), looking at its life story I don't think it was ever destined to happen - it only worked passenger trains into Kings Cross during October/November 1969 - my first visit to KX was in December '69 (which meant I also just missed the possibility of seeing a Deltic in green) - and when I did a week's Western Rail Rover in late July 1970, with two tours of London and extensions to Crewe and Derby, any remote chance I may have had catching up with it were scuppered as it was at Sulzer's factory in Barrow in Furness from June until early September that year. I think Fate was sending me a message! Its time spent on ER freight around Shirebrook was a considerable distance from my home base in Cornwall, which didn't help.

As an admirer I often wish I'd just bought the model anyway and made up an excuse - Rule 1 and all that!! 

[John Tomlinson]

2 hours ago, Halvarras said:

 

Wishful thinking John, but I've checked your comment and yes, it did indeed perform its first demonstration run from official handover at Marylebone up the Chiltern line as far as Princes Risborough and return on 29th January 1968 - I suppose the first run of this eye-catching locomotive would have had many cameras out, by those who knew about it in advance anyway. But that appears to have been it for a WR connection, plus of course it was on its original heavyweight bogies, not modelled by Heljan. Perhaps if its weight issue had been recognised and addressed much earlier it would have been trialled more widely - then, who knows, perhaps some runs along Brunel's Billiard Table might have occurred. However the fitting of Class 47-style bogies didn't completely cure its track punishment problem - it was just a heavy beastie.

Although this was one locomotive I wish I'd seen (alongside D7071/9, D1788 & D6597......), looking at its life story I don't think it was ever destined to happen - it only worked passenger trains into Kings Cross during October/November 1969 - my first visit to KX was in December '69 (which meant I also just missed the possibility of seeing a Deltic in green) - and when I did a week's Western Rail Rover in late July 1970, with two tours of London and extensions to Crewe and Derby, any remote chance I may have had catching up with it were scuppered as it was at Sulzer's factory in Barrow in Furness from June until early September that year. I think Fate was sending me a message! Its time spent on ER freight around Shirebrook was a considerable distance from my home base in Cornwall, which didn't help.

As an admirer I often wish I'd just bought the model anyway and made up an excuse - Rule 1 and all that!! 

 

FWIW I never saw it either, having been close on several occasions but never quite in the right place.

 

It's ironic that most of its life in the UK was spent working the Mansfield  - Whitemoor freights whilst at Shirebrook, as you say the KX - Newcastles only lasted a couple of months, yet you'll be mighty pushed to find much photographic record of the former.

 

The model does come up on ebay from time to time, and a bit of patience will probably enable you to get one for far less than the £200 noted above.

 

John.