EBay madness

[andyman7]

3 hours ago, 40152 said:

Hello, what’s this? £9.99 for an empty box? Complete with one bit of sellotape too:
 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224930656588?hash=item345ee9714c:g:tC8AAOSw3KRiUthj

 

Ah yes, silly me, it’s for a precious Hornby ‘Nellie’. That explains it, then....

 

Cheers,

 

’152

 

3 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

For an extra tenner, you get a loco in the box.

 

Curious livery though!!

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394028110735?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=t2xl6dl7sj-&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=3qkTzGg7QRS&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

But in that style of box, you also need the two bits of cardboard tubing to slip over the buffers and protect the couplings. As it will be posted "flat", you obviously won't get those.

 

l've got a Dock Authority shunter in its original Triang (pre merger!) box, WITH the cardboard tubes AND paperwork. must be worth a bob or two....

 

Actually to be completely authentic it would need the yellow foam wrapper, but the originals have long since crumbled to dust. Plus a Service Scheme booklet and stamped Operating Manual. However there is an active market in trading those (I've got a pile which are used to complement the correct models should they pass through my hands).

There is a decent collectors market for Nellie/Polly/Connie in clean condition because so many were well used. That box is a fair price IF you need it to go with the model.
There are plenty of items in this (very long lived) thread that are just plain bonkers. Then there are the things (like this) which are bonkers to some, but not others, which is great because it means there are sellers, buyers and everyone can be happy 😀

Edited April 20, 2022 by andyman7

[MrWolf]

If you happen to collect Dinky or Corgi Toys, the repro boxes start at just over £4 upwards. Originals are worth much more depending on condition. I can understand a 60 year old Tri-ang box in good shape being £10 or more.

I do think that £20+ for more modern loco boxes is a bit of a liberty.

I sold a virtually mint Continental 0-4-0 on the Nellie chassis recently, which are supposed to be rare, it made just over £14.

No box though!

[Enterprisingwestern]

5 hours ago, MrWolf said:

which are supposed to be rare,

 

Is you higgorant or what, you don't spell rare like that, at least not on ebay!

 

Mike.

[Ruffnut Thorston]

12 hours ago, 40152 said:

Hello, what’s this? £9.99 for an empty box? Complete with one bit of sellotape too:
 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224930656588?hash=item345ee9714c:g:tC8AAOSw3KRiUthj

 

Ah yes, silly me, it’s for a precious Hornby ‘Nellie’. That explains it, then....

 

Cheers,

 

’152

 

Another of the dismantlers...

 

All the parts available separately! 

 

 

[Michael Hodgson]

13 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

Cue half a dozen of those buses appearing on eBay with a £500 buy it now price! 

That's the thing with buses.  You wait for ages and then a whole lot turn up all at the same time

[40152]

1 minute ago, Ruffnut Thorston said:

 

Another of the dismantlers...

 

All the parts available separately! 

 

 

Yes, I saw a Nellie body from the same seller at £8.99, a pound less than the box it might have come packed in. What next? Flogging the original fluff off the carpet of the original owner found wrapped round the mechanism? 
 

Whilst I hear what others are saying about original boxes and their relative ‘worth’, it’s just not for me. However, we’re a broad church and everyone is entitled to spend their hard-earned in ways that please them.

 

Cheers

 

’152

[MrWolf]

8 minutes ago, 40152 said:

Yes, I saw a Nellie body from the same seller at £8.99, a pound less than the box it might have come packed in. What next? Flogging the original fluff off the carpet of the original owner found wrapped round the mechanism? 
 

 

Plus another Nellie / Connie nr mint unboxed and quite a lot of Rocket bits.

 

8 minutes ago, 40152 said:

Whilst I hear what others are saying about original boxes and their relative ‘worth’, it’s just not for me. However, we’re a broad church and everyone is entitled to spend their hard-earned in ways that please them.

 

Cheers

 

’152

 

It doesn't bother me either. Whilst it's nice to have a loco in its original packaging for protection against dust etc, I am always reminded how much of a #### it can be to get locos out of those old styrene trays without snapping bits off or dropping the damn thing on the floor.

[Enterprisingwestern]

2 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

 

Plus another Nellie / Connie nr mint unboxed and quite a lot of Rocket bits.

 

 

It doesn't bother me either. Whilst it's nice to have a loco in its original packaging for protection against dust etc, I am always reminded how much of a #### it can be to get locos out of those old styrene trays without snapping bits off or dropping the damn thing on the floor.

 

23 minutes ago, 40152 said:

Yes, I saw a Nellie body from the same seller at £8.99, a pound less than the box it might have come packed in. What next? Flogging the original fluff off the carpet of the original owner found wrapped round the mechanism? 
 

Whilst I hear what others are saying about original boxes and their relative ‘worth’, it’s just not for me. However, we’re a broad church and everyone is entitled to spend their hard-earned in ways that please them.

 

Cheers

 

’152

 

As I re-wheel, change couplings, re-number and a host of other things on any given model, keeping the box it came in is the least of my worries!

 

Mike.

Pssst, anybody want to buy a not inconsiderable number of rather nice Accurascale boxes before I bin them?

[Michael Hodgson]

3 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Pssst, anybody want to buy a not inconsiderable number of rather nice Accurascale boxes before I bin them?

Keep them for a few years, they'll be worth even more on ebay then

[PieGuyRob]

I really don't understand Hattons second hand pricing. A DCC ready Heljan class 128 is cheaper than a DC only class 128, which is in semi kit form. The only thing I can think off is the Royal Mail livery commands a premium.

 

[SR71]

As far as boxes go I have a daydream, should I end up with McAlpine money, of setting up a small replica model shop with all the boxes on shelves. But other than for that I can't see the point... Aaand you'd have to have all the same era boxes or they wouldn't match and that would be more annoying.

 

Meanwhile I enjoy the discount on unboxed items. Or not in this case;

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275267263202?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=mQofCEK2SNe&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=uL-JGcPYSsK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

About £15 mint boxed which that most definitely isn't!

[PieGuyRob]

On the boxes front, I have actually purchased one so far. I received a load of unboxed locomotives of a friends deceased brother in law. So I managed to buy the exact box for one of them, a Bachmann class 37.

[MrWolf]

Or if you don't like boxes but want something "mint" and "unused" 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/194979938024?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=kbUWMDe-QIO&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=3qkTzGg7QRS&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[Michael Hodgson]

I would say the boxes are worth keeping as they are for the most part well designed for protecting the stock and they seem to make a difference to the value in the event of resale.  Resale eventually is likely for most of our rolling stock, whether that is bevause of a change  such as moving house or a decision to change scale, or of course by our executors after our death, since in most cases the relatives will have no interest in the models.  So it makes sense to keep the boxes, even if all we do is shove them in the loft.

[Hal Nail]

On 20/04/2022 at 17:14, Michael Hodgson said:

People decide they want something and lose all sense of proportion.

Patience pays off as a buyer. If I want something I track a few and eventually one sneaks through, maybe after a glut, badly titled or ending at a bad time, that has attracted less interest.

 

Contrary to the widespread view that Sunday is the best time to sell, nearly all my bargains are bought then, when there is generally far less late bidding than I see on the equivalent items at other times.

Edited April 23, 2022 by Hal Nail

[2E Sub Shed]

9 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

I would say the boxes are worth keeping as they are for the most part well designed for protecting the stock and they seem to make a difference to the value in the event of resale.  Resale eventually is likely for most of our rolling stock, whether that is bevause of a change  such as moving house or a decision to change scale, or of course by our executors after our death, since in most cases the relatives will have no interest in the models.  So it makes sense to keep the boxes, even if all we do is shove them in the loft.

As someone confronted by well over 2,000 items (so far) that require re-boxing, you may need to do a little more than shove them in the loft . Sorting this situation out for a family member who has no knowledge and has  a considerable amount of rolling stock to dispose of. Fortunately between Hattons web site and eBay have been able to match rolling stock to boxes. 

[PhilJ W]

11 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

I would say the boxes are worth keeping as they are for the most part well designed for protecting the stock and they seem to make a difference to the value in the event of resale.  Resale eventually is likely for most of our rolling stock, whether that is bevause of a change  such as moving house or a decision to change scale, or of course by our executors after our death, since in most cases the relatives will have no interest in the models.  So it makes sense to keep the boxes, even if all we do is shove them in the loft.

 

1 hour ago, 2E Sub Shed said:

As someone confronted by well over 2,000 items (so far) that require re-boxing, you may need to do a little more than shove them in the loft . Sorting this situation out for a family member who has no knowledge and has  a considerable amount of rolling stock to dispose of. Fortunately between Hattons web site and eBay have been able to match rolling stock to boxes. 

As long as the executors know where the boxes are, or are aware that they exist.

Edited April 23, 2022 by PhilJ W

[Shovelto]

Re: Boxes in the loft.  I have logged all of my stock ( on the layout ) and boxes (in the loft) in a simple piece of software called Model Train Catalogue.  Thus when the time comes my executors have a fighting chance to match them up

[The Johnster]

I'm more than happy to buy unboxed items so long as they are packed securely and the price reflects their unboxedness; in fact, from a budgeting point of view, I prefer this.  I do keep such boxes as I have though, as I live in a rented property, and while my landlord says he is happy for me to stay there indefinitely he could of course sell to another landlord with me and the others as sitting tenants (this has already happened once) any time he likes and the new landlord would be withing his rights to not renew the 6monthly tenancy (so would the existing one), and I'd have to pack it all away and move.

 

The previous landlord moved me across the hallway to an empty flat for a month while he refurbished mine, proving the wisdom of this approach.  The boxes live in a stack on top of the wardrobe, any unboxed items can be wrapped in newspaper & bubblewrap if needed ad there is room on top of the wardrobe for about twice as much stock as I've got, much more than I'll ever need...

[Enterprisingwestern]

1 hour ago, The Johnster said:

The boxes live in a stack on top of the wardrobe,

 

I need a fecking big wardrobe!

 

Mike.

[The Johnster]

One of the advantages of a smaller layout, Mike...

[Michael Hodgson]

6 hours ago, The Johnster said:

 

The previous landlord moved me across the hallway to an empty flat for a month while he refurbished mine, proving the wisdom of this approach.  The boxes live in a stack on top of the wardrobe, any unboxed items can be wrapped in newspaper & bubblewrap if needed ad there is room on top of the wardrobe for about twice as much stock as I've got, much more than I'll ever need...

You are wise to take such precautions given your circumstances.

[The Johnster]

It's sort of hedging my bets against the worst case scenario, but I'd say hanging on to the boxes makes sense for anyone who does not own their own home, including those with mortgages, as bad things happen to good people and homes can be lost for all sorts of reasons, divorce in my case.  Having the boxes to hand at least offers some protection for the locos and stock, and if needed you can box it all up for storage or move to wherever you have to be next in a fairly short time.

 

The divorce, in 1985, was a complete disaster that it took me several decades to recover from, and it was only in 2016 that I felt in a position to have a go at another layout.  I had managed to keep hold of some locos and stock, but none of the locos (all Mainline) lasted very long after the restart and the stock has now all been replaced with current standard stuff, proper brake levers, turned buffers and so on, or had the chassis replaced in order to bring them up to scratch.  But the disaster of 1985 has left it's mark and I am concious of what can happen, at the same time as being hopeful that it doesn't...

[47137]

14 hours ago, Shovelto said:

Re: Boxes in the loft.  I have logged all of my stock ( on the layout ) and boxes (in the loft) in a simple piece of software called Model Train Catalogue.  Thus when the time comes my executors have a fighting chance to match them up

I like the sound of keeping a proper inventory. I have some spreadsheets but they are not complete. I suspect an inventory needs photographs for each item if executors are to understand it.

 

I also think about sticking slips of paper underneath individual models, to show the manufacturer and their part number. This ought to help the exectutors match models to boxes.

 

Little labels might help me remember what some of my models are too, especially my Continental ferry wagons.

 

- Richard.

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

I'll not be here, won't bother me what happens to my precious things, I think you're all getting a bit uptight personally!

 

Mike.