While many dealer brass prices are still close to normal, maybe slightly lower, its the train shows where the deals are.
Case in point, at yesterdays(and today as its a 2 day show) show at the Lincoln Square Mall in Urbana IL, I picked up the following brass for prices unheard of at shows just a few years ago. I was shocked at the prices and spent way more than I should of but with my wife's approval as even she knows what these normally sell for.
First up is a Overland Models, factory painted and lighted IC (death star) SD70, new in the box, never has touched track till about 5 min ago. Asking price, $200. I had to make a quick run to a bank machine after getting my wife's approval (all large purchases have to have her or my trustee's approval). Then a couple hours later, show was packed with people and our G scale live steam group was set up running trains, I found this PFM DRGW caboose for $18, a old brass 40' bulkhead flat for $5 and my friend got a Hallmark SP long drovers caboose for $10, all from the same older gentleman selling off some of his collection. All items were boxed other than the bulkhead flat. Toward the end of the show, the friend of the gentleman I got the SD70 from showed me this book covering the first 10 years of Overland models. I bought it for $40.
These are the kind of deals that are out there, lurking on tables mostly filled with plastic models are the brass gems that myself and many others are drawn to. The prices may supprise you, dont be affraid to ask if the box isnt priced, dont assume the asking price will be in left field because it brass. I will add, if its a widow asking something totally way to cheap on a brass model, think about offering a bit more than her asking price. I hope to think that modelers as a whole are a bit better/more honest than some folk. Anyhow, here are my "deals" from yesterdays show.
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome
I was never into brass. I always thought it to a "collector" item.
One the wife's clients has 3 lighted curio cabinets full of brass, he doesn't own a piece of track, they just sit, to look at.
Mike.
My You Tube
mbinsewiOne the wife's clients has 3 lighted curio cabinets full of brass, he doesn't own a piece of track, they just sit, to look at.
.
I love that guy!
He bought it, created the demand, and held onto it in mint condition until the prices fell and I could afford it.
It is so nice of these people to absorb the depreciation for me, and store these items until my girls grew up and I can buy things for me.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Pretty much any model train can be a "collectors item" as folks collect many many different things, it doesnt have to be made of brass per say. Many brass models run really well or can with a simple motor upgrade on older steam models. The OMI diesels, like the one I got, are much more robust to repeated handling unlike the ubber fragle Athearn Genesis models that have handrails fall off or grab irons break if you look at them the wrong way. There are duds that do not run well without lots of work, but that goes for many other non brass engines. Just like any other part of the hobby, we each have our own likes and dislikes. Brass isnt for everybody, but the excuess of being to expensive, doesn't hold true as much anymore these days(depending on the model(s) one desires to own).
Mike the Aspie
Yea Mike, I suppose, "collectors item" is in the eye of the collector.
I guess what once amazed me was the detail in brass locomotives, steam or diesel. Plastic models have caught up to that, in my eye. And once it's all painted, only a collector of brass would recognize it as such.
Yes, at one time is was the price. And before my skills at detailing and the mechanical and electrical part of running a locomotive evolved, brass was something you looked at. Thats the way I saw it, anyway.
I have more fun with my rebuilding, and detailing my plastic models. Nothing that any family member has to deal with later, they can just pitch it.
I'm not collecting trains, I'm running them and "playing" with them, and they can all meet their demise, when I meet mine.
If you love to run and collect brass, you go for it!
Thanks Mike, there is a "feel" when you handle a brass model vs a plastic one. I have owned the Genesis version of my SD70, it was fragile as he-- when compared to this brass one. The few brass freight cars I have are older ones that are bare bones detail wise, even compared to a blue box Athearn. But they were cheap and they are "brass" and fill a need. I have known a few fellow modelers, some could care less what the model is made of, but a couple who did act like they didn't care, changed that thought after buying thier first brass model. One in particular I remember very well. I was buying my 3rd brand new Overland diesel thru a local dealer when a friend that I worked with had a really good week in sales and decided he wanted to get himself one that wasn't painted for some "bling" in his display cabinet before having it painted. He tagged along when I picked up my model that I had ordered and inquired as to what they had available for purchase. Karen at Broad Ripple Station showed him 3 or 4 different diesels that she had excess to orders on hand and he chose a CNW Dash 8-40C. I forget who got to do the paint work, might have been Roy S down at Mt Vernon Shops. But when he held that big 6 axle in his hands, it was like a kid on Christmas morning. Only then did he start to understand why I really love brass trains. Mike the Aspie