Vintage Magazine Collection Question Please Help????

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone! Im seeking the help of train collectors to find out about some vintage magazines i have. They were from my uncles collection before he passed away many years ago & now i need the room so i have to get rid of them. If i had to estimate, theres about 700 magazines total & all in excellent shape considering being 50-60 years old. So far I have complete year sets of Model Railroader from 1941-1947 & Trains 1957 assembled. I want to list them on ebay but i have no idea what the fair market value is for them or if they are in demand still? I have have looked on ebay for a few weeks & have yet to see a complete set in these years listed, let alone a few issues.

Im not sure what your forum rules are for mentioning wanting to sell on ebay, but my intentions is to just gather as much information as possible so if/when i do decide to list them, the collector knows hes getting a great product @ at fair market price. Thanks!

[joseph2]

If you go to the www.railpub.com site you could check on what the going price is. Joe G.

[Anonymous]

My local shop has a back issues section, where MR, Trains, RMC, etc, from the 60s to today go for $0.50 each.

Andrew

[CNJ831]

Loose magazines, as opposed to bound volumes, don't have much of a market. Expect to get about $20 per year for the earliest (war-time) sets and $12-$15 for the later ones. Check eBay's "completed items" section, there are typical examples there, I just looked. Railpub figures are retail prices, eBay gets about half that value.

CNJ831

[jrbarney]

Devazan,
You might consider donating them to the NMRA's Kalmbach Memorial Library. They would be interested in any MR issues prior to 1950. They do not do valuations. Check with Brent Lambert, Library Director, on magazines other than MR. I'm not a lawyer or tax accountant, but you may be able to deduct both the value of the magazines and, as a "cost of doing business," the shipping costs to Chattanooga, on your 2004 income tax.
Bob
NMRA Life 0543