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 Posted - April 01 2010 : 12:04:35 AM
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I was bidding on a 3-piece auction, mainly for the supposed Lionel HO Hustler engine. I'd queried the Seller about gears on the bottom, and the vague response was " it has the engine, it's all there ", which didn't answer my question about the gears, but...I won the items.
Got them today, the Mantua Sharknose engine is all metal, maybe PRR scheme, very faded, doesn't run. Nice otherwise, I like it. Came in a white and blue Mantua Metal box, maybe that's worth more than the engine? LOL. Says kit #215 on it, A unit, $14.95 original price.
The mantua all metal flat car is nice, has one hoop on one end, not knuckle coupler, missing coupler on other end. Rolls decent.
But the one I really wanted turned out to be a rubber-band drive. SHell is #51, blue, says Navy Yard on it. Haven't seen it before, came in a HO Lionel box 0570-1, I"ll have to research that. Bummed that it is not a geared Lionel Hustler, even after I asked about gears, guess the lady selling it didn't know what to look for. Not sure if I should give her a Neutral on Ebay for that or not. Definitely not a positive outcome for what I really wanted although I only paid $7 for the auction, and 7.50 shipping, and the two Mantua pieces are all metal and decent. Lionel doesn't run, either, I get a slight crackle when it's on the track, one roller is split on one side. Definitely not a happy camper at the moment. I'll take the wires loose and just power those to the motor first, see if it even runs that way.
Oh well, sometimes you get deals but they're not what you really wanted. I think this is one of those times, I got some restoreable vintage Mantua, but wasn't my primary objective at the time. I'll have to keep looking for the geared Lionels, they're selling for $20+ on Ebay now. I'll just have to swallow and pay for one if I really want one, I guess.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - April 01 2010 : 02:47:28 AM
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Hi Jerry. Do not give the person a bad rating. The US Navy Hustler is one of two that Athearn made for Lionel. It did come with a Rubber band Drive. Not Gears. If the shell is Good condition with a clean box it is worth a lot More than you paid. If you paid $7.00 then you got an excellent deal. Post picture of the engine so I can see the Condition  carl
Numquam Immoderatio Satis Est
(Too Much Is Never Enough )
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Posted - April 01 2010 : 07:29:58 AM
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quote:Hi Jerry. Do not give the person a bad rating. .... If you paid $7.00 then you got an excellent deal. Post picture of the engine so I can see the Condition carl
Originally posted by VintageHOÂ -Â April 01 2010Â :Â 02:47:28 AM
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Wasn't going to give them a bad rating, just a neutral. I may just not give any rating, just let it go. I guess no rating is better than a bad or neutral, right?
Here's some pics of the Lionel hustler - has a broken mounting tap, but nice otherwise.
And a side view :
rear view here :
Overall, for what I paid, I think I got a great deal...but it really wasn't the deal I was looking for, and I specifically asked about gears. Oh well, I guess God smiled on me for paying so little for some good stuff, so I shouldn't complain TOO much - but I gave up on other auctions with what I wanted ( they had pics of the underside, geared Hustlers ),so I could bid and win on this one first, not having much $ left in the Paypal account at the time last week. Very annoying to get this, and it turns out to be not what I had asked about directly. Guess I stepped on one of those banana peels this time... the metal Sharknose is probably worth alone what I paid for the entire auction. Man, is that thing HEAVY. Hope I can get it running.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - April 01 2010 : 07:36:01 AM
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| hi guys if i got that lot for $14.50 i would be over the moon,and give the guy a hug let alone a negative or nothing,ken
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Posted - April 01 2010 : 10:21:19 PM
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I don't think the seller should even get a neutral. Far as I know it was as advertised, she didn't misrepresent the item. Just not what you expected. Thats how I see it. Like you said , she apparently didn't know what you meant. As far as questions go on ebay, I've found that getting questions answered properly or directly is kind of an enigma. And I don't know how many times I've asked 2 for 3 individual questions (in one email) about an item and the sellers only answer the first question.
That all metal Shark is a dandy item.
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Posted - April 01 2010 : 11:43:21 PM
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You could give her a positive rating, but explain in the comments that her description was too vague, but you're still basically satisfied. I've done that when I've had relatively minor complaints that didn't warrant a neutral or negative. You can also give her a low star rating in the description accuracy part of the feedback, since she was unable to give you a clear answer.
I think you did pretty well for $15. You can probably get that Shark running.
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - April 02 2010 : 07:55:21 AM
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quote:You could give her a positive rating, but explain .. that her description was too vague, but you're still basically satisfied. . You can also give her a low star rating in the description accuracy part of the feedback, since she was unable to give you a clear answer.
I think you did pretty well for $15. You can probably get that Shark running.
Originally posted by NickelPlate759Â -Â April 01 2010Â :Â 11:43:21 PM
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Yes, I held off giving feedback right after I opened the package and checked all the items out. I knew I was a bit steamed about the diesel not being what I wanted ( ESPECIALLY after I let other auctions go to bid on this one ), so didn't want to give a bad rating out of frustration. Still, what I really wanted was a geared Hustler, not (another) rubber powered one, and felt like I wasted my money to some degree, although I DID get some fantastic pieces with it. Never had a full-metal diesel before. Can these things be repowered at all? Looks like an early pancake type motor in there.
Since it wasn't a huge sum of money, although at the time I was short on Paypal funds and had to decide whether to bid on this one or others, I will probably just give a ding to the description part, and give a positive. True, I got a deal, but I still didn't get what I wanted, even after asking for a better description. Oh well. I'll just let it go and chalk it up to another inexperienced seller. I COULD have had TWO geared Hustlers for twice the money, if I had let this auction go...water over the dam now. C'est la vie.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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 Posted - April 02 2010 : 6:00:23 PM
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| I've been working with some Mantua Shark Nose diesels and have found a couple that were "good" but I burnt out the armatures. After reading another older forum topic about magnets, I think my magnets were very weak. I took a "junk" magnet out of Mantua MU2 drive and placed it next to the Shark's magnet for a test: in one orientation, the most "sticky", the Shark did not run, but in another orientation Shark runs much more strongly; lots of room so I glued in place the extra magnet and Shark runs great! I probably need to add some steel "magnetic field directors" to better link the two magnets.
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Posted - April 02 2010 : 7:56:32 PM
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quote:I've been working with some Mantua Shark Nose diesels and ... I think my magnets were very weak. I took a "junk" magnet ... and placed it next to the Shark's magnet for a test: in one orientation, the .... Shark runs much more strongly; lots of room so I glued in place the extra magnet and Shark runs great!
Originally posted by offtrackthoroughbred - April 02 2010 : 6:00:23 PM
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Not a bad adaptation, using a more modern magnet to enhance the old one. I'll have to give that a try myself sometime with some older units that don't work.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - April 02 2010 : 9:38:52 PM
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I took apart the Shark's brushes, and cleaned them with a tiny wire brush. Definitely had a glaze on them, plus some crud on the wire spring contact grooves. After a little maintenance, I put it back together, and cleaned the wheels also, they were heavily crudded, I set the chassis on the track, then set the heavy body on it. Hit the power, and away it went! Erratically at first, then it smoothed out. Slow, but does go around the circle. More than it did out the Ebay box! So with a little common cleaning, I think this will be a fine old runner. Here's a pic of it -
Notice the paint loss on top, and some on the front and sides. Is there any loss of value in repainting these? I'm thinking of stripping it down to metal and shooting it with some plain black, since it's already wearing off, or the former owner did some stripping, too. Hard to say. I think this is my very first Heavy Metal Mantua, and it's a nice one. Don't want to ruin it by modifying it , but not sure how valuable they are. NOT for sale at this time, it's a keeper. LOL.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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