Operating vs Collecting...... a sign of the times?

[Big_Boy_4005]

Dave's topic about investment and value has gotten me to wonder. Have you changed your focus toward this hobby since you entered it?

I know I have!!! I started out going, literally, by the numbers in MPC.

With all the different manufacturers that have entered the market, is there much collecting done outside pre and post war?

Is this fact turning more of us into operators, and bringing us closer to what HO and N have always been about?

[Anonymous]

I was a collector but I have become an operator. I used to keep new ones in the box until I started to buy the ones that need some help and fixed them. They take more time but I'm into it for the sake of the hobby. Besides trains are no fun when you can't play with them, or take them apart and see how they work . I started to run all of them. Still get mad when I scratch or de-rail them, but I 'm not scared to use or take them apart.

Angelo

[FJ and G]

Boils down to time and money for me. If I were rich, I've often thought that I might try collecting stuff, but it also takes time looking for it.

BTW, are there N and HO and G scale collectors? Seems we toy train freaks a bit collector-zealous.

Anyway, I'd rather operate my toy train instead of seeing it collect dust on a shelf. I always wondered about how model car collectors or any sedentary collection like dolls & stuff, could just let them sit in cases.

I like movement.

I think the focus of toy trains, to get back to your orriginal question, has indeed shifted over the years from collecting to operating; esp. since there are so many reproductions and collections aren't that profitable (usually). Also another trend for the last couple decades has been to scale operation; influenced undoubtedly but folks making their exodus from N and HO.

dave vergun

[Anonymous]

Depending on when one entered the hobby is a starting point. I 'came back' aound 1979. There were still bargains to be had, and I obtained most of what I wanted from the Lionel catalogues. It is unlikely that there will not be a return to these heady days.
But then came MTH and others with more exciting products, but this prompted Lionel into exciting products as well. These weren't 'collected' - these were bought! Sometimes at astronomical prices!
However, these are not collectibles. They are to be used and enjoyed for the duration of our interest in the hobby.
After that - who knows?
[xx(]?

[Big_Boy_4005]

Right Dave, that's my point about HO and N, and even G. They are generally NOT collectable, and are marketed as models to be run. This seems to be the trend here in 3 rail O, and is a real departure from 20 years ago.

BrianW has hit it fairly well here, according to my calculations and experience. Let's see how many more guys agree. I'm almost afraid to say this, because it has been so peaceful here, but isn't this one of the differences between CTT and OGR? Same trains slightly different focus. As always, no right or wrong to enjoy trains.[swg]

[FJ and G]

CTT and OGR hedge their bets, however, not willing to lose collectors, operators, traditionalists, or contemporary.

In OGR, there's Boyles collectible column and even Jim Barrett discusses fixing up old ZWs. In CTT, there are modern operational layouts. Matter of fact CTT's own surveys point out a trend to operator, and hi-rail/scale, at that. I see CTT trying to provide a balance of each. OGR does the same. Nice to gain new markets but bad to lose the old! Personally, I could care less about Kuhn's collection or how to fix a 1953 milk platform, but there's enough other stuff in CTT to interest me. The marketing/editorial lineup of both magazines is such as to try to please as many people as possible.

I don't see anything wrong with discussing these differences as we're not slighting individuals or their tastes.

[Big_Boy_4005]

Dave, I know that you and I can discuss this calmly and intelligently, as we always do. I think we are in agreement here. Your citing different elements from both magazines shows how similar they are, but also exposes that focus that I mentioned earlier.

It seems that your taste and mine are very similar indeed. However I can honestly say that mine has changed over time. I didn't used to be as much of a modeler as I consider myself today. 20 years ago, I was more of a toy train operator and collector, and now I am a model railroader. I'm putting the label on myself.

It is the manufacturers that have presented us with this opportunity, but the choice is ours as to which way to go.

[SPFan]

There are folks who collect HO Brass. I quit collecting about 20 years ago when prices really spiked. The same thing happened to HO that has happened in O in that better models were being produced for less than the market values that the older stuff went for at the time. I suspect there are still many hard core collectors but I think its just a desire to fully represent a particular road name rather than to have everything that a particular manufacturer (eg Tenshodo) or importer (eg Balboa) brought in.
Pete

[FJ and G]

Pete,

As a kid, I envy'd those HO brass locomotives; but my snowshoveling income couldn't pay for them. Nowadays, I look with envy at 3rd Rail and Weaver brass, and my writing income still can't pay for them. :-)

In the case of 3rd Rail; they tout their products as limited-run collectibles; the exception rather than the rule.

dave

[Anonymous]

I myself am very much a collector type. I am interested in prewar and postwar and am looking for rare variations and boxes and everything. However, I am an operator, too. I have a traditional-style green carpet tinplate layout. I believe that toy trains should be run and not just sit in boxes or on shelves. I have many shelves, but that's because I have more trains than the layout will handel. I do like the modern stuff, but it's all quite expensive (yes, prewar and postwar is too, but since it's all second-hand you have a much greater chance of coming across great deals) and doesn't quite have the same feel or charm that the old stuff does.

I also have HO. I started in HO when I was a kid and HO shows up all the time on the second-hand market (where I buy practically all of my trains). I have my HO trains on a more scale-like layout. I guess I have the best of both worlds with my trains.

Yes, there are collectors of HO trains. Prewar and postwar HO trains are just as collectable and valuable as their larger counterparts. Hornby Dublo, Tri-ang, Trix Twin, Trix Express, Marklin, Flieshmann, American Flyer, Lionel, Marx and others all have strong followings. However, these are all more toy trains rather than scale models and that is why. I myself am a Tri-ang collector with a large collection of it with many good pieces in it. I also collect Japanese-made toy trains from the 1960's, many of which are HO. I've also got a small amount of 1950's Marklin and Flieshmann. Believe it or not, there are actually some people out there who collect Tyco. Their Petticoat Juntion set usually brings over $300 on ebay. Boxed A-Team, G.I. Joe and Rambo sets from the 70's are also in demand. It certainly isn't the scale guys who are buying them.

[cwburfle]

I don't think there are any good indicators of the popularity of Collecting verus Operating. As a collector, I don't buy CTT or O Gauge Railroading because both magazines are clearly written for operators, not collectors. I read CTT for a good number of years, starting with the premier issue. But I dropped it when it seemed that every issue had an article about the investment potential of toy trains.

The online venues don't have much about collecting either. I think that for the most part, collecting is a solitary activity. Sure, it's fun to B.S. with friends about the latests acquisition, and to travel to shows together. But when you come down to it, there isn't much new to say about Postwar Toy Trains.

I think alot could be written about MPC era and newer trains, but nobody has stepped up to start writing much yet.

[IRONROOSTER]

I'm a collector, but only because I keep buying the new stuff that keeps coming out. Although I am primarily into S, scale not Flyer, I have a Lionel NYC Flyer set plus some extra cars and track that I'm looking to build a small layout for. Everything I buy, I plan to run. I still have all my HO stuff from 30 years ago- some of which is now "collectible", but all of which was run except for the kits that I haven't built
Enjoy
Paul.

[FJ and G]

I understand that Marklin makes some of the most collectible pieces. One locomotive, a rare one, costs upwards of 10 or 20K.

I still have my HO trains from the early 70s; not as an investment; mostly because of nostalgia. And, have you ever thrown away a train? Very hard to do!

Dave Vergun

[Anonymous]

And, have you ever thrown away a train? Very hard to do!

Dave Vergun


Some of our parents didn't have seem to have such qualms!
[:0]

[Anonymous]

Still can't forgive grandma for dumping my dad's old trains!!!!

[Big_Boy_4005]

My mother only made me get rid of the boxes, that was bad enough. She once suggested that I had too many trains and that get rid of some, she called me a pack rat. I let her know in no uncertain terms that that was not an option. She never asked again.

[Anonymous]

My dad din't even have a chance. She waited for him to go on his honeymoon, dumped his trains, and his baseball cards. Boy was he pissed.