Sometime ago TM Books contacted K-Line about doing a price guide on their products. There are varaitions on what happened, but basically it appears that Maury Klein at first agreed, and then decided against it, and threatened legal action against TM if they proceeded. Ugly words were exchanged, hard feeling ensued and the K-Line price guide never appeared.
K-Line had been working for some time on their own book - a production guide rather than a price guide. The K-Line book was constantly being pushed back and was scheduled for release several times before it actually came out. Some of the folks who worked on that book were sacked afterwards, supposedly the delays being blamed on those individuals.
It is somewhat ironic how quickly the train companies (Lionel, MTH and K-Line) have all been willing to borrow and to use others trademarks, logos etc. and yet are very protective and quick to take legal action when their own logos have been misapproiated, at least by their own judgements. Both Lionel and K-Line had to cease production of their Kodak cars because they hadn't received permission. Lionel never produced their Lego look-a-like flat car planned during the mid-1990's. Lionel has been very protective over their orange/blue color scheme and now has a copyright on it. When I think of things from this vantage point, it is no small wonder some of the real railroads are now seeking the same control, privledges and rewards for use of their logos.
Anymore, in my opinion, the price guides are pretty worthless. They were always misused and misread by far too many people to begin with. Many folks noticed the highest price given for an item without even considering the grading codes included in the books and the explanations for percentage reductions in value based on condition. More times than I can recall, I saw mint condition prices on poor to good condition pieces at various train shows. A back issue of OGR dealt with the topic on price guides being just that: GUIDES, not the final word.
eBay and the other various action sites probably give a better, more current idea as to what individuals are WILLING to pay for particular trains. Of course there is some variation, but I think you get a far more accurate picture from this. Remember, the price guides came out at a time long before the internet auction sites. Often an individual would have to search long and hard, travelling to many train shows before finding items he or she wanted.
Now with a few simple key strokes, it is easy to buy or sell all sorts of trains. In this sense, it is a golden age for trains, in that buyers have never had it easier to locate train items they are looking to purchase. And to get a general item what other buyers are actually paying for those trains and not what some dealer tells you the train is worth. Remember only a few years ago when the first Vapor Records box car came out: overnight it went from Lionel list of $44.95 to $250.00, mostly because that's what dealers thought it was worth. The same car can be easily found for a fraction of the $250 it was "supposedly" worth. The first gold Lionel aquarium is another near identical example of a car dealers said was worth hundreds and now can be had for around the item's original list price from when it was first issued. The Lionel Greendale set is another good exmaple: 500 made with the same figure for a list price. You'd think it'd be long gone, but you can still buy them for half of that Lionel list price... which is still too much given the basic no-frills quality of the set.
The moral of the story: it's not the dealers or the train companies that determine what something is worth - it is the individual train buyer. And in my experience, anytime someone has told me this is what some train is worth, I have been patient, waited and found it for much less.
brianel, Agent 027
"Praise the Lord. I may not have everything I desire, but the Lord has come through for what I need."
Bob Keller
cheech,
You can try ebay or a train show. I may have the K-Line guide but have to search for it.
Lee F.
Is there a more current Greenberg or other price guide for Williams or MTH?
There is a guide for K-Line that is being sold but NOT Greenberg's and has no price listings, just the item number and descreption.
As for any other train companies I don't know of any.
is there a "greenberg" type guide for K-Line or Williams/Weaver sets ... particularly passenger cars
thanks
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month