Vintage 1973 Marx set????!!!!

[pbjwilson]

This takes the cake. 1973 - a prime year for Marx.

"It's an old train in a box, let me see, yep, $800.00. Put it on e-bay!"

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=19147&item=5976892391&rd=1

[guilfordrr]

Okay, two possibilities. One, he knows nothing about trains. Two (and more likely), he's very desperate for $.[:D]

[Anonymous]

He must have realized that he was way out to lunch and changed his price because it isn't at $800. The minimum price is $99.99 and at least one guy out there is willing to pay that.

[Dave Farquhar]

It's at $227 now. Three different people bidding on it; none with a rating higher than 20. The set doesn't seem to be anything special. It's in nice shape but it's pretty easy to find early '70s Marx sets in good shape. Maybe the buildings are a selling point since you don't see them real often.

Still seems way out of line to me though. I'm happy when I can get $5 apiece for the Marx 4-wheel plastic cars. Unfortunately that set has the bad version of the 490 locomotive. The chug-chug noise causes the locomotive to bob up and down and lose power.

The years to look for in Marx are 1974-75. It was the end of production and they introduced some new items around that time, so there are some rarities in those last two years.

[pbjwilson]

I'm amazed. It's about all I can say. I was surprised that anyone was willing to go $99.99!

[Anonymous]

I was wondering if anyone could help. My uncle gave me his toy train set before he passed away. The box says stream line steam type electrical train made in u.s. by louis marx & co. The number on side of the box is 24524 with 25242 stamped next to that. All i know about it , is that it has an open spoke "999" engine, Baltimore & Ohio gonola which is gray with white and black trim, a green boxcar with yellow trim saying Gaex on the sides,a black coal car ? i guess that says n.y. central on both sides, and a caboose that the top half is red and the bottom half is gray which says n.y.c.20102 on the sides of that.....he also had a marx tunnel with a painted scene of a saw mill i beleive on it with a r.r.crossing sign that is all black with white signs w/black writing........the transformer as well as a boatload of track is with it.........the box is plane white with a beige/brown wood grain design and lettering on it..........i know nothing about toy trains but i am fond of it because it belonged to my uncle , i was wondering if anyone could give me any info on this train, and some tips for storing it, it is in great shape as well as the box and i would like to keep it that way........i was wondering if this is of any value beside sentimental that i would need to take any precautions with.........any help you all could give me would be greatly appreciated.....thanks

[Anonymous]

freebo76,

The train you have is a Marx 3/16" scale train set from the late 1940's/early 50's. It is O gauge. As far as values go, it depends a lot on condition. I'm surprised that you mention the engine is open-spoked, as that is a collector term and not something the average person would know. If does have an open-spoked cowcatcher, it is worth $60-$100. Otherwise, if the cowcatcher is plain, it is only worth $20-$40. The NYC "coal car" (called a tender) is worth $15-$20. The B&O gondola car is worth $8-$15. The GAEX boxcar is worth $10-$20. The caboose is worth $10-$15. If, however, it is lighted (it would have a copper piece on the bottom to touch the track if it was), it would be worth $80-$160. The tunnel is worth about $10. As I said before, these values as dependant on condition and that is why there is a range in them. Track doesn't have a lot of value.

[Anonymous]

thanks for your help. the terms i was using was from some research i had done from some of the links supplied by a member on this site.what would be something good to use in cleaning some of these pieces ?.......the only thing i see wrong with some of them is that they look like they need cleaned a little bit..........again , thanks alot for your help

[Anonymous]

Hello:
I believe that I have a similar set: The side of the box says 3987/12. All cars are appartently made of tin. The two sides of the engine are dull metal with black stripes circled by red stripes. The box has 5 cars plus engine plus track and transformer. I am obviously having trouble with any specs on this system as most sites are devoted to Lionel. If you can identify the approximate year of manufacture and provide any background info, I would be very appreciative.

Thank you in advance
"Rod" [e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Rod,

When you mentioned that on the sides of the engine there are "black stripes circled by red stripes", I immediately thought of the later version of the Marx Canadian Pacific-type steam locomotive. Is this what the engine looks like?



If so, your set would most likely date from the late 1940's to 1952. If you listed what the cars were, that would be helpful. However, I'm going to wager a guess on what they are. The set that this engine is most frequently found in contains a black New York Central tender (coal car), a silver 553 Santa Fe Middle States Oil tank car, a green 552 Rock Island gondola (open) car, a brown 59 Union Pacific cattle car and a red 556 New York Central caboose. If this is the case, your whole boxed set would be worth anywhere from $100-$150, depending on how good the condition is. If there is rust, bad scratches, etc., the value would be less, but since you have the box, I would imagne that the condition is pretty good.

If the cars (or the engine) are different, let me know. The type of cars that this engine pulled are of the 6-inch variety.

[3railguy]

The box art probably sold the set because it is rather stunning. Because the set is nearly like new, complete with the origional box, and decorator items, this adds a hefty premium. The origional $800 price was way out of line I agree. $225 seems more realistic. How it runs is probably irrelevant to the buyer. It's likely he bought it to display. It may bring him fond memories of the early 70's. I remember paying $175 for a cheapy 1964 Lionel set in the origional box and guys thought I was nuts. I was thrilled to get it because it was identical to a used set my uncle gave me in 1967.

I don't care how well a toy train runs or looks good sitting on the shelf, it is nothing more than metal, plastic, and paint formed to entertain us in different ways. It has no other real purpose in life. How it entertains us, is really up to the individual.