Lionel Centry Club 1- What happened to our investment value?

[DCmontana]

I shed no tears.  I buy trains to play with and no matter how pristine, I can't resist watching trains run.  For years I have seen warnings about investing in old trains and people still do it.  I remember when people thought all old Lionel trains were worth a fortune, in the eighties.  Now, unless it is decidedly rare, or absolutely mint, it probably will only buy a burger and fries for four people at a reasonable resturant.  If you bought the century club trains hoping to make money in a couple of years, you were really kidding yourself.

 By the way, I have a rainforest tree house for sale in Arizona.  Let me tell you man, it is a steal!  Contact RED'S FRIENDLY RealEstate!

[pbjwilson]

611,

I recall the big build up that Lionel gave to the Century Club engines. If I were in your shoes I'd be pretty upset if I saw these selling below what I paid for them. As I recall these were to be limited production, one time offerings to commemerate 100 years of Lionel. Lionel put alot into promoting these items. I guess you will always have those who bail out and sell cheap but I would think in the long run they will hold their value and appreciate.

[Deputy]

611 : Perhaps if you were a bit more specific on which items you think are selling for a steal, we could comment more.

Dep

[Anonymous]

If the word "investment" is even part of your vocabulary in this hobby today, you're in the wrong hobby.

Toy trains stopped being an "investment," by and large, when us oldsters in the hobby ultimately accumulated all that we had wished for in our youth (primarily postwar), and when the manufacturers multiplied and then just kept on grinding out stuff as fast as the Chinese factories would allow.

Try again in another 50 or so years if "investing" is your thing, but even then I have my doubts.

Collect something--trains or anything else--because you have a passion for the items themselves and they bring you enjoyment and relaxation.  NEVER collect for any other reason. 

[nblum]

"Bottom line, I would have hoped that I could have sold them for at least what I paid for them, but I guess they were over priced to begin with with."

 

There aren't too many products that you can sell for what you paid for them.  Even unopened.  I think the assumption that these would maintain or appreciate their value is your own, not anyone else's. 

 

In any case, if anyone still living has an unopened set of the original postwar Lionel's Girl's Train, which at issue would have been considered overpriced, but is now a true collector's item, they know that the nature of collecting is unpredictable.   Collector value usually only becomes evident decades later. We'll know the collector value of the Century Club stuff in 2030 or 2050, or even later.  If you had a Shakespeare First Folio in 1650 or 1750 it was worth not much, if anything,  to speak of, but in 1950 it had become priceless.

[Deputy]

Hmmm...I think this observation belongs with the "it depends" group. As in it depends on what CC trains you are talking about. I have seen the 671 Turbine and NYC F3 go for a pretty good chunk of change lately on E-Bay. Where have you seen them going for less than what you paid for them? I will be there pretty quickly to scarf up

Dep 

[Pennvalley]

Kind of like my Danbury mint die-cast models that now bring about 30 percent of what they were new.

[anjdevil2]

It's always heard that you should collect what you like and if it appreciates in value, that's a bonus.  Certainly, I've been burned on some speculative diecast vehicles, but I enjoyed buying and showing them.  Like you've heard before.....stuff that is "collecable" can be very volitile.

Just my

[Anonymous]

I don't recall stating that Linonel wrote anything about them being good investments. I do recall it being in an article or two in the popular train magazines. I have many other collectable trains, Williams, MTH, etc and they've all gone up in value. It's only the Century club 1 trains that have gone down in value, except maybe the CC1 S2.  I fully understand that there are many reasons why folks bought these trains, but I do know that many folks made purchased them specifically for collectablitiy with no intention of running them to preserve thier value. In fact, Lionel's CEO at the time made a public statement that he hoped folks would actually take them out of the box and run them.  I think it goes with our saying,  if you purchased the trains with the intention of never running them then you must be intereseted in preserving thier value as an investment. You are correct, like other investments sometimes they go up and some times they go down, but that's the risk you take. Value and collectablity are proportional.  If there are sought after collectables, then the value would be high. Bottom line, I would have hoped that I could have sold them for at least what I paid for them, but I guess they were over priced to begin with with.

611

 

[nblum]

I don't recall anything in Lionel's promotional literature or any of the magazines touting these as investments.  In general, collectibles are a truly lousy or at least unpredictable investment, unless we're talking long dead major artists or sculptors, or antiques, and even then caveat emptor.  Sorry.

 

Personally, I bought them to have repros of iconic postwar models with modern sound and command control.  For investment purposes I use Vanguard index funds mostly. 

[Anonymous]

I was wondering if anyone else was feeling that they got sold a bill of goods about that value and collectability of the Linoel Century Club 1 trains?   I can't help but notice that these trains are selling for far less that what we (thoes of use that purchased them) paid for them originally. I remember reading articles in train magazines indicating what a great investment this was going to be.   Well, I made the investment and now I see LCC1 trains being sold new in the box for far less than the original purchase price.

I remember that Linoel was very tight lipped about how many century club trains they sold, I assume this was becase they sold too many to be of any real collector value.  Any thoughts?  

R/NW611