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 Posted - February 03 2012 : 5:12:09 PM
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Last night, I read an interesting thread on the Atlas HO Forum, about the flea markets/swap meets and those vendors with tables of the "same old junk" seen in the same boxes every time there is an event. The OP referenced Tyco, Bachman, etc. items that were often seen shrink-wrapped or priced as if they were "valuable", vendors who lugged these boxes of stiff from show to show, etc. I thought about what the various posters were saying, and to some extent, I agreed that there IS a lot of old stuff generally seen at these events. But a few posters also stated that there was something to be gained in terms of personal satisfaction, from buying these inexpensive things and sometimes fixing them up, or using them to build up a car or engine inventory,etc. I also found this attitude one I could side with. I know that some of this stuff looks like the
" island of lost toys", but while time marches on and better trains are available today, does that mean all the old stuff is truly worthless?
Take a look at this Atlas thread and post here with feedback.
Siouxlake/Ron
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Posted - February 03 2012 : 5:18:30 PM
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| It's not that it's worthless so much as it's worth less than what those vendors want. I always enjoy upgrading the cheapies, just to see the look on the faces of hobby snobs when a bright orange and yellow TYCO Chattanooga GP20 pulls 35 cars quietly around a show layout.
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Posted - February 03 2012 : 5:33:42 PM
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Oh I totally agree with you there, shaygetz
I do hate paying for alot for Tycos 
Especially the DC comic cars  They ain't worth what price is on them bleck
Maybe I oughta have you update my locos hehe 
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Posted - February 03 2012 : 7:44:21 PM
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As a member of the Atlas forum (same screen name), I know what you mean.
You guys have to understand, this forum is pretty much the only hardcore Tyco enthusiast group you're gonna find. And one thing we all know about this stuff is that there are diamonds in the rough, for sure.
As a "serious" modeller, and not really a collector, I can say that once you get past the gaudy paint and cast on stirrups, quite a few Tyco freight cars are actually pretty decent. case in point, the Tyco 50' flat - those in the know actively search them out.
All the old Tyco steamers (except the Chatt 2-8-0) are actually Mantua designs, and we all know how robust and well engineered those locos are.
But the thread is about those who ask astronomical prices for old, broken, or dusty "junk" that the average HO scaler doesn't really have much of a use for.
Let's call a spade a spade. We're a pretty cheap bunch here, aren't we? We all want the obscure stuff but by and large, but because it's Tyco, we're not really willing to spend much on it. We all want to be the ones that find that unbuilt, still-in-the-plastic Life Like McDonald's kit for 75 cents and sell it on Ebay for healthy dough, but we ridicule those who actually pay those prices - none of us want to be the ones that actually pay over $100 for that kit, amirite? Who here wants to admit they paid more than $50 for a Super C630 complete with vampire trucks? We chuckle to ourselves and think "what a maroon" when we hear that someone did just that.
Now I'm not defending the clueless sellers. As we all know, contrary to popular opinion, Old Trains do not automatically equal Big Bucks. But some of these guys just do not understand that they're not going to put their kids through college with that dusty box of half-broken Tyco holdovers from the '70s out in Grandad's baby barn. And some of them get downright mean when you tell them the truth (couched in somewhat better terms, of course).
But you never know what you might find, I guess.
Kris Carver-Seaboyer
Modelling the Grafton Terminal Railway, set in New Brunswick, Canada in the 1978-1984 time frame
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Posted - February 03 2012 : 8:03:09 PM
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And I can't tell you how many times I've heard sellers with overpriced items grousing to another seller about how no one's buying anything, as if you're obligated to if you attend. I don't know how those guys even pay for their tables, since they have the same pile of overpriced crap at every show. There are plenty of others I find with more reasonable prices, though, and if they're a little high I always ask if they'll haggle.
There was a guy on the MR forum -- can't remember who at this point -- who loved to do upgrade Tyco flatcars with real wood decking, new stirrups, and some weathering. They looked fantastic.
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - February 04 2012 : 09:27:11 AM
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quote:And I can't tell you how many times I've heard sellers with overpriced items grousing to another seller about how no one's buying anything, as if you're obligated to if you attend. I don't know how those guys even pay for their tables...
Originally posted by NickelPlate759Â -Â February 03 2012Â :Â 8:03:09 PM
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I've heard the same thing at those local Fire House toy shows, and they gripe about Ebay ruining their business, too. But there IS a way to get people to buy your stuff - REDUCE YOUR PRICES. I guess they haven't heard of that yet, though. Must be a concept alien to price-gougers. Reduce my prices? Why <sputter, stutter >, that would mean I'd get LESS money! Can't do THAT!
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - February 04 2012 : 09:40:23 AM
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To paraphrase something I said on another thread:
Hobbies are a lot about personal satisfaction. I get a lot of satisfaction from buying an old "toy loco" (any brand) and fixing it up and perhaps making it run better. Yes, I have spent $20 on detail parts and $20 on a can motor to enhance an AHM GP18 that I bought for 5 dollars. I really enjoyed the process and I am satisfied with what I accomplished. What about the 10 to 12 hours I spent on it?
It's a hobby. 
By the way, I have some completely stock, unaltered TYCO engines that I plan to run as is, cheap paint and all.
I have a couple of off-the-shelf, RTR items. I got no real enjoyment from the purchase. (the hobby shop owner did, so that's a plus). If it weren't that they were a particular roadname, I would not have bought them at all. Also, it took no talent to purchase the items. Yes, I had to have a little bit of talent to work at my job to earn the money for my purchase. But, that's a whole different matter.
You ask, are the old TYCO,etc. worthless because newer and better stuff is available now?
In this disposable, got to have the best society, yes, I think you might be right. The TYCO's are what they are. They still pull rolling stock around the layout and put a grin on our faces or at least a grin on the inside.
Unspoken expectations are premeditated failures.
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Posted - February 05 2012 : 01:32:35 AM
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quote:
I have a couple of off-the-shelf, RTR items. I got no real enjoyment from the purchase. (the hobby shop owner did, so that's a plus). If it weren't that they were a particular roadname, I would not have bought them at all. Also, it took no talent to purchase the items. Yes, I had to have a little bit of talent to work at my job to earn the money for my purchase. But, that's a whole different matter.
Originally posted by NC shortlines - February 04 2012 : 09:40:23 AM
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I have the same feeling. I have a number of expensive locos like my Allegheny, and they just sit. I much prefer monkeying around with and improving older stuff. There's much more personal satisfaction in that for me.
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - February 05 2012 : 01:54:56 AM
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I agree with the idea that too many dealers at Train Sales be it a flee market or yard sale complaining about their sales. I am going another route on 16 June I am having a auction yard sale. It will be run the same as any auction with 25% of the profits going to the Cancer Society.
I have had cancer twice and if it were not for them I would not be here. So now its time to give back. I have been buying up box lots and am working to get most of it running so I can sell it them.
Should be a blast.
I will post some of the units on here so you can see what I have and maby purchase some knowing where some of the profit is going.
Thanks.
Ken
FIDDLEHEAD RAILWAY CO.
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Posted - February 05 2012 : 11:34:33 AM
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Very commendable and appreciated, Ken. I will be watching, so let us know here on the Tyco Forum when you have things ready. Thanks.
Ron
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Posted - February 05 2012 : 12:34:07 PM
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| I like alot of the older stuff,like walking into a time portal and looking at things from the 1940's on up especially if the layout is 50 years old.BUT if the item needs work I not paying top dollar. I like saying to my kids This I had when I was your age and you will get it someday,pass it on down. my kids and I like going to the shows and they are beginning to pick out things to add to the layout.
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Posted - February 05 2012 : 5:58:38 PM
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That's a very nice thing you're doing, Ken. Sorry to hear you've had such a rough go of it.
As for the PT's, yes, they can be maintained or repaired, but as a trainset loco for kids they pathetically under-engineered and gave Tyco and HO trains in general a black eye in the 70's.
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - February 05 2012 : 6:53:38 PM
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I never realized what a nerve I would strike by referencing that Atlas thread!
Many of the remarks here parallel my own thinking, as I engage in our hobby for my own self-satisfaction, not to earn a jillion bucks, that's for sure. Some of the vendors I come across at the quarterly swap meets are honest businessmen, retired from something else, and have put their hobby knowledge to use in acting as traders. They generally offer a bargain or two, and I am happy to haggle with them, just as they are willing to give and take with me. I see the often enough to be name acquaintances and this is also a source of personal satisfaction to me.
Other vendors are basically running driveway garage sales on (and under) their display tables. That's where I like to play railroad archeologist and look for viable relics ( not valuable one, but usable ones). Most of the junk dealers are pretty old and I think it's also pretty sad to see them sitting there each visit with the same old stuff. I know of two that recently passed away, and their junk is now under someone else's table. Those old timers cone to the shows just for the social aspect, to still be in the swim and out and about.
Perhaps we all will end up with nothing but left-over stuff from another time and place, sometimes I sit back and think that, as a middle-aged model railroader, I am like a guy with a collection of 1950s popular music;
No one listens to it, it's no longer popular, and it may well be forgotten when my time is past.
That's all for Sunday night,
Siouxlake/Ron
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