Best looking and most collectible F-3's in past 5 years??!!

[FEClionel]

What in your opinion is the best looking and will be the most desirable F3 in a few years. There have been a lot of new roadnames and reissues of classics, what are the few that are must haves???

[Algonquin]

I vote for the Santa Fe Warbonnets

[Anonymous]

lionel C&O

[brianel027]

I vote this is sort of like walking on thin ice as far as desirable (meaning collectible meaning worth a lot of money) is concerned. Train items that were collectible 5 years ago, aren't today. The train companies once made tools and dies meant for longevity and many runs. MTH made it's initial dies like this. Now look how the consumer's expected detail level has risen! What was acceptable as a scale detailed engine a few years ago is no longer acceptable now.

And remember, the big 3 players are in a dead heat competition with eachother. And I would say neither Lionel, K-Line or MTH will easily or willingly let one of the others get a heads up on them. You see this when company A issues a new item, then companies B and C soon offer their own versions. MTH raises the bar, then Lionel does, then K-Line does.... the consumer benefits. The after sale market on this stuff is another issue. When Lionel was the only company, they could worry and plan for things like after sale value and collectibilty - it was good for their business. Now they have to worry about the other mentioned companies, plus Weaver, Williams and Atlas all after a piece of what was once all Lionel's pie!

And who knows how well all these computer controls and digital circuit boards will hold up in 20 years? Will they even be useable if they still work... you buy a home computer and it's outdated in a couple of years.

I'd say the best looking F-3 is the one you want to buy. And that's the sole reason you should buy it - because YOU like it. The hobby is going through changes and the overall U.S. economy is lousy. Prices are down and so are wages. This is a rough time to buy for investment sake. Buy what you like - if it turns out it later is worth money, great. But if you liked it in the first place, you still lost nothing.

Which come to think of it, is why folks bought trains a generation ago... because they liked them and ran them! The best reason of all!

[SPFan]

It appears the Lionel and K-Line have just raised the bar. Detail seems to be approaching what only used to be available in brass. I've always been a steam fan but that new Lionel SF F3 is looking pretty good to me. Actually all the road names look good!
Pete