Does anyone know if the Ken Kidder brass passenger cars are worth the price? There are 2 IC cars on Ebay I am looking at, a 39'6" RPO and a 60' Coach. They are $150 each so I'm not sure what they are even worth.
Thanks,
Fred
Brasstrains.com lists them at $40-50 each. I would stay away.
JW
Even the expencive cars have fallen in price a lot in brass.
I do not know at what specific part of the brass market you are looking. However, I can assure you that the prices for high-end Santa Fe brass (The Coach Yeard, Division Point) have never been higher. Brasstrains.com can now put a Division Point ATSF caboose for sale at $350-375, and it is gone within an hour. A few years ago, the price was $275-295.
Of course, there are exceptions. The prices for Sunset and Key Mikados dropped when it became clear that Broadway Limited would indeed produce the ATSF 3160/4000 class. They are supposed to be shipped in June - I am very much lookig forward to it.
derf Does anyone know if the Ken Kidder brass passenger cars are worth the price? There are 2 IC cars on Ebay I am looking at, a 39'6" RPO and a 60' Coach. They are $150 each so I'm not sure what they are even worth. Thanks, Fred
As in so many other cases the answer is that it depends - and here what matters is, do you want/need these particular prototype cars or would models of other cars fit your needs just as well? At this point prototype specific passenger cars for narrow interests are rather a hit or miss proposition. IC is not a railroad catered to often. If you are an IC modeler I'd say go for them, because you don't see much Ken Kidder stuff these days and I don't know who else if anyone made those cars.
I regard myself as a prototype modeler, but one willing to compromise to save money. Even so if something very specific is out there you often do have to swallow hard and pay the asking price because you may never have the chance again.
Just my thoughts.
Dave Nelson
IC cars from Kidder could be very similar to Southern Pacific Harriman era cars. Price also depends on condition, whether or not they are painted, what sort of condition they are in, and so on. Can you guide us to photos and a more detailed description?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/265180827317
https://www.ebay.com/itm/255000719349
The ultra high-end heavyweights seem to fly out the door at brasstrains for $800 a pop but there are some stunning large sets of cars that are welded to the floor it seems and the longer they hang around the less attractive they become when one thinks of liquidating it for themselves. Also the fact that 6 or more thousand is a lot of money for most folk to spend.
As others have said as soon as a decent plastic alternative comes out eg the MTH Century the idea of paying for possibly an inferior brass model without an interior seems unlikely.
derf https://www.ebay.com/itm/265180827317 https://www.ebay.com/itm/255000719349
Just looked at these and right now there are no bids.
However, there is a "make offer" option. If you really want these cars, you can make an offer and see if it is accepted. Worst answer you can get is "no!".
Brasstrains really sets the benchmark for fair brass pricing IMHO. They have the world wide clientele that includes heads of state an other high level business people that collect brass trains. So, moreso than ebay, the prices realized by BT is what I and many in the brass train hobby go by as a guide. Make the guy on ebay an offer, reference the research on sold models at BT to him as I find many selling on ebay are clearing out an estate and have zero clue about the true worth. Only going by over inflated ebay auctions or just a wild guess cause they have a golden train. Worst case is he never replies or says no. Then you pass and wait for a better price. Suydam also imported some nice passenger cars among all the traction models, same for S. Soho, The Coach Yard ect. Many cars came without trucks, so factor that into your budget as your going to have to buy some. Either older sprung ones from Central Valley, or there are some nice brass ones over on American Scale Models website. Good luck in your purchases. Mike
Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome