Is there really.... a big difference between the 2004 edition and the 2006 edition, of The Standard Catalog of Lionel Trains by David Doyle, because there is a BIG...... difference in the price between the two they are asking now. I have not actually seen either version so I can't tell.
Thanks
Barry
I have both, but I couldn't tell you the difference. I use old editions of the Greenberg price guides for reference. Sometimes I have to look in more than one edition because Greenberg didn't always carry detailed descriptions forward. We all need to remember, most guides are nothing more than opinions that most train folks accept.
CW's right, price guides should be viewed as strictly that, guidelines and nothing more. As with other things it's "whatever the market will bear," "supply and demand," and so forth.
Myself, I've got it in my mind just what I'm willing to spend on an item and no more. If I think it's reasonable, I'll go for it, if not, I won't.
Well thank you for your input... Don't know why there is such a BIG.... difference in price between the two editions. I already have the Collector's Guide to Postwar Lionel Trains 1945-1969 book by David Doyle so I already have a book with pricing guidelines but the book I was inquiring about has more information on each entry besides just the pricing guidelines which I was interested in. Just trying to figure out if it is worth the big extra difference in price.
And thank you too for your input. The pricing guidelines in the book I wasn't really interested in because I already have a couple of books for that. Was interested in the extra detail on each entry that this book gives.
The Doyle Catalog is pretty good, but not as good as a Greenberg book, when you compare the two. The Doyle book just gives short brief descriptions with some variations, but not ALL variations. I can only attest to the Prewar side, as I have both authors books, and don't own the Postwar version of Greenberg. The Greenberg book gives a lot of detail, and very informative descriptions, and a history behind certain designs. He also goes more into detail with variations. Reference to the other replies, most are talking about "Price Guides". Pricing, no matter what edition is just a guideline, and not a true "Cut in Stone" fact of the items worth. Pricing is very subjective, and the only way to judge a decent value is to check auction sites, and see what that items sold for, use an average of the same multiple item, and decide what you think it is worth. The Condition is #1, and not everyone will agree on the rating as you will see something that looks like it is excellent, and someone else will think it is just Very Good. You have to know the finer details of all the parts, and be able to know if something has been replaced, or has been restored.
A newer edition of a previous Catalog, usually means that they have found newer information, to add to the next edition, or corrected mistakes from the previous edition. If you have one of the Catalog books already, there is really no sense in buying a newer edition.
I do have Doyle's Catalog of Postwar, but saw no need to buy the Greenberg Postwar version. I personally have about a dozen books (Doyle, Greenberg, TCA, etc.) that covers both Prewar and Postwar Lionel. Lionel is what I grew up with, and that is what I have. The other manufacturers like Ives, American Flyer, are not what I am interested in. Most of the books are now out of print, so Sellers of these books look at them as being rare and hard to find, so they have priced them way out of line, with sky high prices.
Thank You, Thank You for your lenghty reply. I will have to check into the Greenberg books. Just trying to find a good book with information on all Lionel Post War locomotives. Not interested much in the pricing of each.
Tandem Associates has fairly good information available for free on their website:
http://www.tandem-associates.com/lionel/lionelident.htm
I agree with CW with Tandem-Associate site, and another good one to check out is WWW.POSTWARLIONEL.COM. The Postwarlionel site also lists variations that they know about, so between the two, as far as easy access to info, are those two sites. A person tried to start a website for PrewarLionel, to mimic the PostwarLionel website, but something has happened to the person who started it. The website has been dormant since last November, and repeated emails to the webmaster have gone unanswered. It was just starting to take off for those that wanted to learn more about Prewar locos.
Hey, thanks for the link to the web site. I put a shortcut on my desk top. It does have good infromation.... Can't beat the price.
The postwarlionel.com I already have a link on my desk top for that one.
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