|
|
 Posted - April 24 2006 : 11:46:11 PM
|
Hello every one I have a question. Why is Tyco Trains look as more of a toy then as an Ho Train that you can collect and show off with pride. Me and my late dad(i miss him) use to run are trains a lot after he pass away(it was in 2000) I put everything into storage till 03. I then went cray on ebay and started to buy and collect more Box Cars and Engines. But it's sad to me that some people are a lot of them think of them as toys. Yes I know it was when I was little, your a kid what else are you going too think of it as when your that young. But now I see it as something that cool to have and I found out just how much fun I was missing
Please tell me what you guys think
bigmarv out
P.S. is there a web site i can go to that show you how to oil your Engines?
|
Country:  USA ~
Posts: 3 ~
Member Since: March 02 2006 ~
Last Visit: May 07 2006
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - April 25 2006 : 05:44:09 AM
|
I think people should except Tyco trains for what they were.
If you look at the history of HO trains, Tyco trains were the RTR of their time. Though not as detailed as today's RTR trains, they got the people that didn't have the time or skills into the hobby.
Just because they aren't as detailed as the newer RTR trains doesn't mean you can't collect and display them with pride.
Look at how many people collect and display the old O gauge Lionels.
Ray
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 1285 ~
Member Since: December 14 2005 ~
Last Visit: May 16 2019
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
rrfan
Switcher
Status:
offline
| |
Posted - April 25 2006 : 8:35:18 PM
|
In my book,all scale trains were toys at the time.No matter who or how old the person was or is.We are into this because we love it.I say forget the naysayers.Let them rant and rave.They only draw suspicion to themselves.I collect Tyco/Mantua exclusively and have no second thoughts.Please dont be concerned about what the misinformed and the
egocentrics have on their agenda.Tyco Rules!! Nuf Said...
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 22 ~
Member Since: January 21 2006 ~
Last Visit: January 13 2008
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - April 27 2006 : 12:55:58 AM
|
BigMarv:
I find myself in agreement with RRfan on the issue of Mantua/Tyco's relative merits as "mere toys." A review of John Tyler's brainchild as it expanded into the burgeoning ready-to-run market of the late fifties into the early sixties will show a company at the technological forefront of electronics, paint decoration, tool and die making, high-pressure casting and injection molding. It is ample testament to Tyco's skill and committment to manufacturing excellence that certain of their products are synonymous with HO railroading, both scale and so-called "high rail" (toy) trains. The comparison to Lionel shouldn't be snickered at either. As I recall Lionel's "Toys" like the scale Hudson, the Hiawatha and City-series streamliners of the late thirties were--and are--treated as serious scale models, the Hudson, in particular, finding its way onto many a serious scale layout.
I find particularly foolish the frequent rap against Tyco products that the large production numbers mitigate against their being taken seriously by collectors as great model trains. Aren't those massive numbers evidence of just how well John Tyler and his comrades succeeded in their endeavor to be the "standard railroad of the world" in HO? (to borrow the Pennsylvania Railroad's slogan.)
For generations of youngsters TYCO's trains were the yardstick against which the competition was measured. Their technical support, licensed repair facilities and dealer network were further indication of the ubiquitous nature of TYCO trains from the fifties thru the seventies.
Lastly, remind critics the next time you get kidded about Mantua/Tyco, to turn over one of those fancy Proto-series diesels or a Broadway limited brass engine and see the "made in China" underneath. As the last vestiges of America's once-great manufacturing base are crated-up, palletized and shipped to Red China maybe that zamac-cast RF-16 Tyco made with pride in New Jersey, USA, will take on a new lustre.
Magnolia Academy
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 446 ~
Member Since: December 09 2005 ~
Last Visit: October 28 2006
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - April 30 2006 : 1:45:55 PM
|
quote:BigMarv:
I find myself in agreement with RRfan on the issue of Mantua/Tyco's relative merits as "mere toys." A review of John Tyler's brainchild as it expanded into the burgeoning ready-to-run market of the late fifties into the early sixties will show a company at the technological forefront of electronics, paint decoration, tool and die making, high-pressure casting and injection molding. It is ample testament to Tyco's skill and committment to manufacturing excellence that certain of their products are synonymous with HO railroading, both scale and so-called "high rail" (toy) trains. The comparison to Lionel shouldn't be snickered at either. As I recall Lionel's "Toys" like the scale Hudson, the Hiawatha and City-series streamliners of the late thirties were--and are--treated as serious scale models, the Hudson, in particular, finding its way onto many a serious scale layout.
I find particularly foolish the frequent rap against Tyco products that the large production numbers mitigate against their being taken seriously by collectors as great model trains. Aren't those massive numbers evidence of just how well John Tyler and his comrades succeeded in their endeavor to be the "standard railroad of the world" in HO? (to borrow the Pennsylvania Railroad's slogan.)
For generations of youngsters TYCO's trains were the yardstick against which the competition was measured. Their technical support, licensed repair facilities and dealer network were further indication of the ubiquitous nature of TYCO trains from the fifties thru the seventies.
Lastly, remind critics the next time you get kidded about Mantua/Tyco, to turn over one of those fancy Proto-series diesels or a Broadway limited brass engine and see the "made in China" underneath. As the last vestiges of America's once-great manufacturing base are crated-up, palletized and shipped to Red China maybe that zamac-cast RF-16 Tyco made with pride in New Jersey, USA, will take on a new lustre.
Magnolia Academy
Originally posted by MagnoliaAcademy - April 27 2006 : 05:55:58 AM
|
Well said my friend It's make me happy to hear this
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 3 ~
Member Since: March 02 2006 ~
Last Visit: May 07 2006
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - May 04 2006 : 3:03:44 PM
|
Bigmarv27,
I agree that you can and should collect what ever you want. While I have only 1 true TYCO engine, I have many AHMs. I pride my self on being able to rebuild an old AHM and have it run better then anything that has an MSRP of less then $125. But my rebuilds are still looked down upon as "just old AHM junk". This usually comes from people who have an Atlas or P2K that will not run as quietly, smoothly, or slowly as my latest rebuild. Not bad for an engine that cost me $30 total and a weekend or two.
I think one reason people tend to look down on Tyco, (and others), is they take this hobby too seriously. They do not view anything as worth having unless it cost an arm and a leg. I like to irritate these people at the hobby shop by letting them know "I play with toy trains!" I guess they can not handle the idea that this hobby isn't taken too seriously by everyone.
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 715 ~
Member Since: May 03 2006 ~
Last Visit: September 19 2025
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - May 14 2006 : 8:58:15 PM
|
My biggest Gripe about them is that they run poorly.
Alexander.
|
Country:  Australia ~
Posts: 44 ~
Member Since: May 14 2006 ~
Last Visit: February 18 2007
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - May 16 2006 : 11:53:52 PM
|
Alexander:
I'm curious whether you're referring to "modern" Tyco motive power from the Consolidated Foods "Power Torque motor" era or just Tyco products in general when you write "they" run poorly. While I have commented less-than-favorably on the later Tyco motive power "innovations" I have to report that, in my estimation, the diesel power trucks for the original RF-16s, the Mantua Tyco power trucks for later diesels and the full range of steam motive power are, in the main, remarkably reliable performers, albeit, with their performance range weighed with respect to their competitors of the same era.
I note that, like many Lionel, Ives, Hornby and Marklin fans, the experience of taking a fifty year old Tyco/Mantua--dormant for decades--applying power to the pick-ups and having it respond immediately and break-in quickly is a pretty common--and impressive--experience. I note, also, the only steam motive power I have that can hold an operational candle to my old super-power Varney steamers are early Mantua/Tyco Pacifics and Mikados.
Newer ain't always better and the old American "heavy metal", while not as "pretty" to the brass jewelry rivet counters, is frequently more powerful, reliable and easy to maintain.
Magnolia Academy
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 446 ~
Member Since: December 09 2005 ~
Last Visit: October 28 2006
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - May 21 2006 : 08:01:14 AM
|
| I'm talking about the pancake motor versions
|
|
Country: Australia ~
Posts: 44 ~
Member Since: May 14 2006 ~
Last Visit: February 18 2007
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - May 24 2006 : 12:35:15 AM
|
Alexander:
Your brief and to-the-point opinion of Tyco's pancake-motored engines is one I can't argue with. They aren't exactly paragons of reliability or smooth performers, in my experience either. The non-prototype power trucks they are often mated with are very toy-like as well. Oh, well. For every scale Hudson Lionel sold they probably sold a hundred crappy plastic steamers. In a price-driven market saturated with other purchase options management sometimes opts for the splashy package rather than well-engineered mechanism. I'm grateful that many of John Tyler's other creations combined the virtues of both.
Magnolia Academy
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 446 ~
Member Since: December 09 2005 ~
Last Visit: October 28 2006
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - June 02 2006 : 11:14:38 PM
|
Yes maybe the earlier ones worked better, but the motors that dont run good are really bad. I dont care about the trucks their mounted on, but if it dont run good then it aint worth having.
Does someone make new Mechanisims that you can mount tyco shells on?
Alexander
|
|
Country: Australia ~
Posts: 44 ~
Member Since: May 14 2006 ~
Last Visit: February 18 2007
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
rrfan
Switcher
Status:
offline
| |
Posted - June 03 2006 : 12:52:39 PM
|
Alexander13,This may be of some help.I see you live "down under",love your country and all the people.I have found running chassies (new) at the A/LINE or Proto power west web site.These are hand built and somewhat pricey,but are excellent runners.Made in America...
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 22 ~
Member Since: January 21 2006 ~
Last Visit: January 13 2008
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - June 16 2006 : 1:27:11 PM
|
http://www.yardbirdtrains.com
He specializes in pre '71 Tyco/Mantua, but could probably be convinced to repair/resotre Power Torque drives. My suggesation would be to email him first for parts availabilty, and then start combing through eBay (and train shows/flea markets) to cannibalize for parts.
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 316 ~
Member Since: June 16 2006 ~
Last Visit: September 02 2017
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - June 18 2006 : 11:53:45 PM
|
To answer the original question, I would like to say that the folk that say Tyco trains are "toy stuff", I would have to say yes, they are. Of course, I am not afraid to say that I play with toy trains. Some folk just are not comfortable with that fact and purchase better and more expensive trains to distance themselves from what they perceive as "toys".
Sure, my expensive locos run and look great but you know what?......They are still toys! They are not "real" trains. They are replicas or likenesses.
No sir. I am not afraid to say that I haven't grown up and like to play with toys. A lot of my toys have gotten more expensive but I still like them.
Russ
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 100 ~
Member Since: June 18 2006 ~
Last Visit: January 01 2010
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - June 21 2006 : 1:12:31 PM
|
Russ and the rest of the Tyco Train buffs:
I'd simply like to add a couple of points:
1) I think as close as the Mantua/Tyco advertising department ever got to describing or delineating their trains as "toys" was in that brief era when they were marketed as "Little Trains" (mid-fifties), sporting that monicker on some of the bobber cabeese and "T.Y.C.O" on some steam tenders and the early RF-16 diesel. The later incarnations, with certain brown-box fantasy exceptions, seem to have been geared toward realistic operation (within the limits of the market and, as Russ hinted, price point.)
2) Coming from farm country I have some sympathy for older kids and their "toys." All the farmers I know buy and collect the little die-cast offerings of Ertl, Spec-Cast, Yoder and others. And, almost to a man, they chafe at those who call the little tractors toys, insisting they collect "replicas."
nuff said,
Magnolia Academy
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 446 ~
Member Since: December 09 2005 ~
Last Visit: October 28 2006
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - June 21 2006 : 10:00:13 PM
|
quote: All the farmers I know buy and collect the little die-cast offerings of Ertl, Spec-Cast, Yoder and others. And, almost to a man, they chafe at those who call the little tractors toys, insisting they collect "replicas."
nuff said,
Magnolia Academy
Originally posted by MagnoliaAcademy - June 21 2006 : 6:12:31 PM
|
Yeah. I guess that I wouldn't tell a big, burly farmer with a pitchfork that he plays with toys![:D] You know though, the boxes do say ages 6 and up! [:O)] lol!
Russ
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 100 ~
Member Since: June 18 2006 ~
Last Visit: January 01 2010
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - June 22 2006 : 11:57:59 AM
|
"Toy trains mean to me... they're a symbol of industrial America, the America I grew up in... a vanished America."
Warren Frost, Vacaville, CA, in Tom McComas' "American Flyer" video
As an unabashed toy collector I enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek response by Russ on farmers and their toys. I don't quite comprehend the thinking that "toys" are taboo but "collectibles" are OK, so I thought I'd add another "shot across the bow" of scale modelers with another Warren Frost comment: "Toy trains don't pretend to be the real thing, only toy trains. And BECAUSE of that they ARE the real thing: real old toy trains."
In the interest of muddying the water: Rail Model Craftsman, keepers of the bastion of hard-core scale-model railroading reviewed Tyco's "new" Prairie steamer in their May, 1967 issue and concluded the Tyco offering was "one of the nicest RTR steam locos yet turned out by an American manufacturer."
So there you have it... TYCO: real old toy scale model trains. How's that for schizophrenia?
Magnolia Academy
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 446 ~
Member Since: December 09 2005 ~
Last Visit: October 28 2006
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - June 22 2006 : 6:48:25 PM
|
quote:"Toy trains mean to me... they're a symbol of industrial America, the America I grew up in... a vanished America."
Warren Frost, Vacaville, CA, in Tom McComas' "American Flyer" video
Magnolia Academy
Originally posted by MagnoliaAcademy - June 22 2006 : 4:57:59 PM
|
That quote brings a tear to my eye. I long for the good ole' days of yor. At least I can relive them through my trains. Thanks for this great site!
Russ
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 100 ~
Member Since: June 18 2006 ~
Last Visit: January 01 2010
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
rrfan
Switcher
Status:
offline
| |
Posted - June 22 2006 : 8:51:52 PM
|
I too, am misty of eye just reading the posts.We are all in this together!
I have searched for months to obtain a powered B-unit for my 50's era
shark. I now own one.Want to refurb. motor/power truck assy. Any info
would be appreciated. Thanks. Wedfrentz@aol.com
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 22 ~
Member Since: January 21 2006 ~
Last Visit: January 13 2008
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - July 01 2006 : 09:31:12 AM
|
quote:Alexander13,This may be of some help.I see you live "down under",love your country and all the people.I have found running chassies (new) at the A/LINE or Proto power west web site.These are hand built and somewhat pricey,but are excellent runners.Made in America...
Originally posted by rrfan - June 03 2006 : 5:52:39 PM
|
Nah, i dont think i will remotor the Tyco, just use it for airbrush practise.....
|
|
Country: Australia ~
Posts: 44 ~
Member Since: May 14 2006 ~
Last Visit: February 18 2007
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
jlong
Big Six
Status:
offline
| |
Posted - September 24 2006 : 12:38:56 AM
|
I look at Tyco's non prototypical stuff such as the GI Joe, A Team, and Silver Streak sets as toys because that is what I think they were designed to be. I seriously doubt Tyco designers had scale modelers in mind. On the other hand I look at Tyco's SD-24's, GP-20's, and F-9's with prototypical roadnames as serious models. I'm sure Tyco designers were looking to attract model railroaders. They may not perform as well as Atlas or Kato but they weren't priced like Atlas or Kato either. They were priced for the masses as an introduction to model railroading.
1950's/60's Mantua/Tyco was definately model railroader material. The stuff was well made and looks right. Tyco, Athearn, Varney, and Penn Line are the pioneers of the ready to run model railroader world as we know it today.
As adults, I see nothing wrong with enjoying toys. There is nothing imature about it. An imature adult is one who puts someone down for enjoying something such as toys. Who wants to win the favor of an imature adult? I certainly don't. They are a pain in the ass.
John Long
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 288 ~
Member Since: September 04 2006 ~
Last Visit: April 08 2018
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - September 24 2006 : 12:35:35 PM
|
Fellow Tycoots:
I'm reminded of the definitive century-old text on collecting toy soldiers, "Little Wars." It was written by one of the greatest authors of modern times, the man who brought us works like "The Outline of History" (still a standard reference), "The Time Machine", "War of the Worlds" and "Shape of Things to Come.
When the immortal H.G. Wells wrote "Little Wars" he was simply chronicling his passion as an avid collector and gamer of toy soldiers. When "Ol' Blues Eyes" relaxed behind the controls of his massive Lionel train layout did anyone in the entourage dare to call Sinatra's passion "playing with toys?" Famed conductor David Rose (Holiday for Strings" made some cogent comments about the intellectual and psychological merits of model railroading in his standard encyclopedia of model railroading... and the primal need the hobby satisfies.
Ever since our ancestors decorated the smoke-stained cave walls of Lascaux and a thousand other forgotten places with paintings of their world in miniature man has been passionately pursuing this elemental need. And aren't those stretches of ballasted and decorated plywood, cork and homasote we render with such artistry just our personal modernized cave paintings rendered in the horizontal and illuminated by grain of wheat bulbs instead of roaring woodfires?
MagAc
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 446 ~
Member Since: December 09 2005 ~
Last Visit: October 28 2006
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
jlong
Big Six
Status:
offline
| |
Posted - September 24 2006 : 1:03:32 PM
|
Magnolia,
The rural area my mother grew up in was not electrified until 1941. When seeing some prewar Lionel bungalos I have, my mother was reminded of her brother's wind-up train along with some tin bungalos he lit up with small candles.
John Long
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 288 ~
Member Since: September 04 2006 ~
Last Visit: April 08 2018
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - September 24 2006 : 2:58:18 PM
|
lest we forget, fellow Tyco collectors...
Those candle-lit bungalows of jlong's parent's memory should serve as little illuminated reminders of just how near our collective past is to the days before rural electrification.
I grew up in the Coulee country of Western Wisconsin, a rural landscape littered with the decaying reminders of our small farm past. The countryside was dotted with the vestigial remnants of delco houses and creaking windmills. Like many an intrepid youth I explored my share of those abandoned and forlorn farmhouses. On the top floor of a tottering, weather-etched and windowless old four-square, amongst the discarded trash and paper left behind in the abandonment of a thousand dreams lay a dog-eared and tattered copy of "Electricity on the Farm." I blew a decade of accumulated dust off the yellowing cover which depicted a boy sitting on the floor of a darkened farm parlor, his hands operating the toggles of an ancient bakelite and metal encased transformer powering his carefully constructed railroad empire of made-in-Chicago, USA, pre-war American Flyer. Mom and Pop sat in old overstuffed wing-chairs--heavily brocaded, their well-worn arms carefully conserved with embroidered antimacassars--each parent astride the illuminated dial of a console radio.
I still treasure that tattered copy of "Electricity on the Farm" and every time I conjure that image--the boy in that darkened farm parlor illuminated only by the glow of the radio dial and the tiny streak of light from his train engine as it meandered around his railroad empire--I'm reminded of just how near the memory is... of our world of painted cavewalls illuminated by woodfires.
MagAc
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 446 ~
Member Since: December 09 2005 ~
Last Visit: October 28 2006
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
jlong
Big Six
Status:
offline
| |
Posted - September 24 2006 : 11:40:06 PM
|
Firelight...It is the light and heat intended for us by our maker. It is why we are content to sit behind a camp fire for hours and stair into the flames.
The same holds true for Tyco....it is the train intended for us by our maker. It is why we are content to sit and watch our Tycos go in circles forever and stair into the little churning drivers.
John Long
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 288 ~
Member Since: September 04 2006 ~
Last Visit: April 08 2018
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - September 26 2006 : 12:41:04 AM
|
"If the crowning irony of my lifelong adventures with the Locomotive-God is the fact that I have gained my knowledge of Him, as it would seem, only at the tragic expense of a still greater surrender to his power as Lord of Fears, I still cannot honestly conclude this writing in defeat before Him. He has been Lord of my Fears; but he has not been Lord of my Life. My nature is the same as when He first bore me down. He has disturbed my temper and my emotions, but they were and are mine, not His...
"He has not undone the aboriginal instinct to know... he has not undone the instinct to create...
"The Locomotive God is a Machine-God... a symbol of the age of the machine... of Steel and Fire and Smoke... constricting and unmanning man. A symbol to me of Material Dominion. A symbol to me of the delusions of a raucous America. And my life has been a fight against this Locomotive God no less. I have not acknowledged him as so many have--but as many with me have not. Yet he too has hurt me sorely, as he has hurt others...
"I will not be outwitted altogether... nor altogether constrained... by the Locomotive God."
William Ellery Leonard
excerpted from his biographical essay "The Locomotive God"
The Century Co., 1927
...for those moments when you remember life is more than just the pursuit of little brown, red and blue boxes...
Magnolia Academy
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 446 ~
Member Since: December 09 2005 ~
Last Visit: October 28 2006
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
jlong
Big Six
Status:
offline
| |
Posted - September 26 2006 : 01:21:48 AM
|
God drives a big six.
John Long
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 288 ~
Member Since: September 04 2006 ~
Last Visit: April 08 2018
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - September 26 2006 : 10:29:50 AM
|
Let's allow those 79" drives to go full-circle and permit an old-hand to chime in on the great controvery between trains n' toys...
"Most men have never heard of the "adult hobby" and confuse it with toys...
"Hobbyists go off the deep end by the merest coincidence; a flash of a television showing model trains; or a model railroader acquaintance; or, as in my case in 1936, saw it in a bank window display. What the exact urge was I'll never quite know. It does vary with the individual, but basically it is the desire to create something with one's hands.
"Let's take it from there: a desire to create something, to say 'I did it.'
You either get it bad or it leaves you cold. You can't just walk up to a man and say, 'See here, Montague, what you need is a hobby. The model railroad hobby.' Not any more than you can say, 'What you need is a psychiatrist."
Gordon Varney
or, if Tyco is your cup of tea:
"Model railroading as a hobby has come a long way in a comparatively short time... as time is measured. Yet is has given pleasure and relaxation to many thousands who have taken up the premier hobby because of its diversity and lasting fascination..."
John Tyler
nuff said.
MagAc
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 446 ~
Member Since: December 09 2005 ~
Last Visit: October 28 2006
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
jlong
Big Six
Status:
offline
| |
Posted - September 26 2006 : 11:56:54 PM
|
I've never gotten proffesional counseling but I often hear of proffesional counselors prescribing hobbys to burned out working stiffs. I work in a high stress enviroment and have found kit building to a great escape. Kits absorb me to a point where the real world becomes non-existant. The bitterness that often comes with a damned if you do - damned if you don't day at the office disapates and I wake up the following morning with a fresh mind along with a fresh perspective of the problems I left the day before. I've found the therapy to be worth much more than the cost of the hobby. To think some people have paid $2,000 to be told this.
On occasion, I hear someone grumble about someone going about the hobby all wrong even though the hobbiest they are grumbling about is having fun. It just blows my mind that people will grumble in this manner. No matter what he does or doesn't do, as long he's having fun, he's going about the hobby right.
John Long
Edited by - jlong on September 27 2006 12:03:45 AM
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 288 ~
Member Since: September 04 2006 ~
Last Visit: April 08 2018
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - September 30 2006 : 08:01:43 AM
|
| hi to all,you guys are so lucky,i saw 5 tyco diesels yesterday sell on ebay usa,which stated they were in working order in a good condition all sold under $8 dollars,if it had not been for high postage costs,would have bought for spares,tyco or tyco mantua,do not remember tyco train sets over here,only the racing sets,i do not care if they are toylike,its a part of the evolution of model railways,and without such companies,would the ones that remain have strived to inprove,i do not think so,have a great weekend all,ken
|
Country:  United Kingdom ~
Posts: 8294 ~
Member Since: September 28 2006 ~
Last Visit: October 20 2021
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - September 30 2006 : 5:57:11 PM
|
Greetings from A-merika, Ken.
When you write "you guys are so lucky," going-on to ellucidate with specific examples just how dirt-cheap vintage American-made HO is in this country, and how undervalued it is when considering its intrinsic merits, you're speaking--in part--to a small choir of American collectors who've noted that cheap vintage HO is status-quo here and has been for years: as we quietly accumulate mountains of the shiny old stuff.
I am struck by the "grass is always greener" tone of your communication as well. Stuck on this side of the pond, I'm forever scanning the internet auctions for Hornby, Trix Twin Railway, Triang and Graham Farish, lamenting the often-bargain prices and the high cost of overseas postage (if the item isn't UK-only, which is often the case.)
Everytime I want to gain some perspective on American Hi-Rail HO I crack open a copy of Model Railway Collector and drool at the terrific stuff you fellas are surrounded by. No American maker ever really fully-integrated a toy and train line the way Marklin or Hornby does. I see a truly great "toy train" layout like Mike Fowler's "Binns Road" sixties layout and my mouth waters at all that Triang and Hornby and Trix; the Merit, the Grafar and the MasterModels. MAN, that stuff is super! Every so often I open the fantastic TRIX TWIN RAILWAYS website and meander thru the "illustrated history" of TTR. It never fails to impress, and arouse envy at the stuff you guys have in far greater quantity than we "ugly Americans."
It has taken me years to accumulate the paltry amounts of early Farish 00 gauge I run. I have been putting together a large Manyways station for years as well, in small fits and starts because it is so scarce here.
So, Ken, there's the other side of the coin...
The grass is always greener on the other side of the pond!
Magnolia Academy
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 446 ~
Member Since: December 09 2005 ~
Last Visit: October 28 2006
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - October 01 2006 : 11:57:20 AM
|
| hi steve,agree with you, the grass is always greener at the otherside when what you want is the otherside,i have no trouble locating british bargains but its the american stuff i want like a couple of d&rg coaches from the 1880s that not only find hard to find but postage kills it in most cases,i am lucky in that i have a guy in states who buys for me,and i in return buy for him,where sellers international postage is inflated,but we find over here that what is sold in states for $50 costs ÂŁ50 over here?ie franklin mint(not best example) but you get it for ÂŁ50 dollars(approx ÂŁ25) and we pay ÂŁ50 (approx $100 dollars) can you explain it i cannot,ken
|
|
Country: United Kingdom ~
Posts: 8294 ~
Member Since: September 28 2006 ~
Last Visit: October 20 2021
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - October 01 2006 : 6:01:46 PM
|
Sorta off-topic, but you mentioned Franlin Mint:
I'd been wanting to see their version of the 1948 Tucker Automobile for many years. They made it 15 years ago and they go for a pretty penny. I have a Yatming version of the same car (larger scale) and was curios if the FMs were all they were cracked up to be.
Bottom line: I finally saw a FM Tucker at an antique shop a coupld weeks ago. $75 which is fair I suppose... but as a model, it was lacking. Perhaps ahead of the time in its day, but I'm more than happy to keep my $20 Yatming which is just as if not more detailed. As you say, these things are not supposed to be investments.
"Collectible" is one of the most ruined words in modern Engilsh.
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 2175 ~
Member Since: July 15 2006 ~
Last Visit: January 31 2010
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - October 01 2006 : 8:17:08 PM
|
| yat ming are not bad models when you consider you pay a little for such a big model as opposed to fm,and i think both models if my memory is correct are made in the same part of the world,fm are by far overated models ken
|
|
Country: United Kingdom ~
Posts: 8294 ~
Member Since: September 28 2006 ~
Last Visit: October 20 2021
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
jlong
Big Six
Status:
offline
| |
Posted - October 01 2006 : 11:58:00 PM
|
quote:| fm are by far overated models ken |
They are pawned as instant collectibles at prices we pay for real collectibles. A handfull may go up in value but in general they get dumped. As the old saying goes, "If it's made for collectors, it ain't collectible".
John Long
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 288 ~
Member Since: September 04 2006 ~
Last Visit: April 08 2018
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - October 02 2006 : 12:16:10 AM
|
quote:| "If it's made for collectors, it ain't collectible". |
Amen to that. I'm sick of stuff pawned that way.
Really when you think about it, you can "collect" just about anything. A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G. So saying something is "collectible" is stating the obvious and an insult to intelligence.
What they really want to say, but can't, is that it's "investible", which is a flat-out joke. "Collectible" : The P.T. Barnum adjective of the new millenium!
Everybody keeping their new hotwheels "Mint in package" will be in for a rude awaking in 20-30-40 years when they realize there was a whole army of middle-aged packerats doing the same thing, and there are tons of cars out there. In the meantime, this near-middle-age packrat actually OPENS his hotwheels, admires the castings and paint, rolls 'em around on the desk and - GASP! - has a little FUN with 'em!
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 2175 ~
Member Since: July 15 2006 ~
Last Visit: January 31 2010
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - October 03 2006 : 10:13:05 AM
|
Stellar attitude, Circlz. I always go back to the standard gauger who appalled his friends by insisting on operating everything in his collection, no matter how "pristine" or "rare." He said his trains "were made to be run, therefore THEY SHALL BE RUN." Amen.
And, after scanning years worth of internet auctions, who among us REALLY believes there is anything so iconic and rare in Tyco/Mantua that it qualifies for the bank deposit box treatment (Aside from that Mantua E-award or, perhaps, the elusive Texas loco.)
Open 'em, run 'em, use 'em. Operation is sort-of-the-point, isn't it?
MagAc
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 446 ~
Member Since: December 09 2005 ~
Last Visit: October 28 2006
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - October 03 2006 : 10:25:16 AM
|
| totally agree,the point of rtr is to run,i have bought many so called mint in box items,that when it came to run them were seized through lack of use,so get em out and use them like they were meant to,ken
|
|
Country: United Kingdom ~
Posts: 8294 ~
Member Since: September 28 2006 ~
Last Visit: October 20 2021
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
jlong
Big Six
Status:
offline
| |
Posted - October 03 2006 : 1:54:14 PM
|
quote:| Everybody keeping their new hotwheels "Mint in package" will be in for a rude awaking in 20-30-40 years when they realize there was a whole army of middle-aged packerats doing the same thing, and there are tons of cars out there. In the meantime, this near-middle-age packrat actually OPENS his hotwheels, admires the castings and paint, rolls 'em around on the desk and - GASP! - has a little FUN with 'em! |
I am guilty of weasling new Matchbox but for only the classic streetrods and I buy them purely for display. At 79 cents, why not.
A good case in point is the 60's adult hoard of Matchbox Y series models of Yesteryear that were produced in the 60's. Adults hoarded them as investments because prewar automibles were considered classics then. Adults ignored the 1-75 and K-King size series models of modern day vehicles (50's and 60's) and were deligated to be trashed by children which most were. Today, MIB 1-75 and K-King size Matchbox series are considered models of classic vehicles and they command top dollar as most got trashed. MIB Models of Yesteryear go for next to nothing because the supply exceeds the demand tenfold. Dealers can't give them away.
John Long
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 288 ~
Member Since: September 04 2006 ~
Last Visit: April 08 2018
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - October 03 2006 : 2:01:55 PM
|
| its nice to hear that dealers cannot give em away as they are the ones who create the problem,hidding stock away to make it look that items are rare then bring them up one at a time,i bought 4 boxes yes four boxes of 48 star trek communicaters from 60s at 25p a time and sold them to greedy dealers for ÂŁ5 each at one at a time i love it when boot is on other foot ken
|
|
Country: United Kingdom ~
Posts: 8294 ~
Member Since: September 28 2006 ~
Last Visit: October 20 2021
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - October 03 2006 : 3:50:58 PM
|
Great example Jlong... that's EXACTLY what I'm talking about. Attrition is what made things scarce years ago. So when all these hoarders want to cash out, they'll only have each other as they trip over themselves to sell to the now-grown-ups who want to recapture their past. What people forget is that what are considered old toys today, are only worth so much because so little survived intact - attrition, remember. Now EVERYBODY keeps things in the package - but as people have fewer children, the pool of emerging nostalgia will be even smaller. Not a good equation.
I buy what I like. If it goes up in value, that's a nice bonus. If not, hey, I can still sell it for something maybe - unlike cigarettes and beer ;)
Ken - turnabout IS fair play. I hope you kept a few for Trekkie cons and the like ;) My dad would probably have wanted one.
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 2175 ~
Member Since: July 15 2006 ~
Last Visit: January 31 2010
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - October 03 2006 : 5:39:55 PM
|
Isn't there something kinda sad about NIB, NOS Tycos? Don't you wanna just take 'em home, crack 'em open, lube 'em up, break 'em in n' run 'em 'til they're happy?
Magnolia (land of "misfit toys," or is it just "misfits" period)
Academy
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 446 ~
Member Since: December 09 2005 ~
Last Visit: October 28 2006
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
jlong
Big Six
Status:
offline
| |
Posted - October 03 2006 : 8:30:12 PM
|
Spectulators are known to cut their own throats. Most recent was the Beanie Baby craze...LMAO.
John Long
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 288 ~
Member Since: September 04 2006 ~
Last Visit: April 08 2018
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - October 03 2006 : 9:47:33 PM
|
Speculators can go where the sun don't shine. When I think of hobbies they have out and out RUINED for kids... especially sports cards... I get sick.
I used to collect 1/64 nascar back when $20 would bring home a fourth of the field for any given season. Now it's a new paint scheme every week, exclusive agreements there, $5 and up for one damn car... screw 'em. I kissed that habit goodbye in 2002, rediscovered my trains and haven't looked back. And the bottom has justly fallen out of the market for NASCAR diecast... which while I take perverse pleasure in, means I'll never get rid of the 10 years' worth of cars I amassed for a fair price.
Oh well, HO trains are more fun anyway. They're just as colorful and actually DO things.
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 2175 ~
Member Since: July 15 2006 ~
Last Visit: January 31 2010
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
jlong
Big Six
Status:
offline
| |
Posted - October 03 2006 : 10:53:09 PM
|
quote:Isn't there something kinda sad about NIB, NOS Tycos? Don't you wanna just take 'em home, crack 'em open, lube 'em up, break 'em in n' run 'em 'til they're happy?
|
Yes, that's the joy of MIB Tycos. Opening the box and running it like it was XMAS 1965. Sniping MIB Tyco on ebay and pissing off MIB collectors makes it even more fun.
John Long
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 288 ~
Member Since: September 04 2006 ~
Last Visit: April 08 2018
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - October 03 2006 : 11:42:01 PM
|
quote:| Yes, that's the joy of MIB Tycos. Opening the box and running it like it was XMAS 1965. Sniping MIB Tyco on ebay and pissing off MIB collectors makes it even more fun. |
So you gonna jump in the fray on those GT and GM&O engines? Those are already at some of the higher prices I've seen for Tyco diesels... even the Deluxe GN F7 went for less. Somebody's gonna get burned!
I do like the GT myself... but truth be told I don't want it that badly, and I have my eyes on something else.
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 2175 ~
Member Since: July 15 2006 ~
Last Visit: January 31 2010
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
jlong
Big Six
Status:
offline
| |
Posted - October 04 2006 : 12:36:29 AM
|
quote:So you gonna jump in the fray on those GT and GM&O engines? Those are already at some of the higher prices I've seen for Tyco diesels... even the Deluxe GN F7 went for less. Somebody's gonna get burned!
|
I doubt it. My tastes aren't like that yet. I like to make jokes about sniping. It's an artform for some postwar Lionel collectors. It's gotten so popular, they often snipe each other into paying twice what the stuff is worth.
John Long
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 288 ~
Member Since: September 04 2006 ~
Last Visit: April 08 2018
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - October 04 2006 : 07:41:20 AM
|
believe me i have supplied many dealers in my day with rare stock,marilyn monroe dolls ,elvis dolls,video display chuckies,all mint boxed,pokemon silver and gold cards in retail boxes,but i have never had the fortune of getting any railway merchandise,as dealers over here dont stock in bulk,and the makers only seem to make enough for the market,my name in uk for my mates is delboy,but decided not to use that with my collecting side,as i do not operate in that manner with friends,i use catfordken,on all auction sites,and any where else on internet,its amazing how many people say to me i know you from ebay or are you the guy on specialist auctions,making life a lot easier, ken
Edited by - catfordken on October 04 2006 09:13:20 AM
|
|
Country: United Kingdom ~
Posts: 8294 ~
Member Since: September 28 2006 ~
Last Visit: October 20 2021
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - October 04 2006 : 9:22:18 PM
|
No Respect For Tyco Trains
Gee, with all the discussion about market-driven high prices of Tyco on internet auction sites I guess we can close the book on this forum, which sought to inquire why Tyco trains get no respect.
Speaking for the toothless duffers in the peanut gallery I think I may have like things better when Tyco was just an orphan-step-child-cast-off-ne'er-do-well-last-ditch-alternative to "real" model trains...
MagAc
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 446 ~
Member Since: December 09 2005 ~
Last Visit: October 28 2006
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
 Posted - October 05 2006 : 05:50:56 AM
|
hi all sorry we strayed on this one,but i cannot myself understand people not having any respect for mantua tyco,tyco as to me they are what rtr locos are all about,if you want perfect reflections of locos,you buy kits and all it entails,but you will need a deep pocket,and no kids about due to the frailty,cannot beat the rtr for converting,etc,for me its rtr and the likes of tyco,ken
Edited by - catfordken on October 05 2006 05:51:46 AM
|
|
Country: United Kingdom ~
Posts: 8294 ~
Member Since: September 28 2006 ~
Last Visit: October 20 2021
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
Posted - March 26 2013 : 2:42:54 PM
|
I found this milling around on a search, good reading!!
Edited by - GG-1 Guy on March 27 2013 06:12:24 AM
|
|
Country: USA ~
Posts: 664 ~
Member Since: May 05 2012 ~
Last Visit: June 11 2024
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
Home
Forums
Events Calendar
Forum Admins & Mods
Register
