Brass prices are going lower and lower. Sure there are a few that go for a premium. One example are some HOn3 models, once Blackstone came out with their models the price of similar brass tanked. The items in brass that have tanked the most are the diesels and I can see why, I can buy a brand new S4 with sound and DCC for around $70 for some models, super thin handrails and grabs, why buy brass when you have to add DCC and sound and then paint it in most cases. That being said I am still looking for a brass shop engine and T-boiler shay, but only for a rock bottom price because I have many more chestnuts on the fire.
In order for brass prices to be at 1997 levels, they'd have to be 60% above 1997 levels just to account for inflation.
I REALLY appreciate the brass collectors of days gone by that bought all the locomotives I needed and carefully stored them for me until I could afford them.
I am a pre-owned brass buyer now, and I am enjoying the current market. I am able to buy beautiful, like new, brass steamers now for less than I could buy used Oriental Powerhouse hybrid models for ten years ago.
I like brass for the durability and ease of maintenance. I do not run DCC or sound, so it is perfect for me.
I doubt the market for the models imported in the 60s-90s is ever coming back.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
It really depends on the model - less than top tier brass from the 70's and 80's has in many cases been eclipsed when it comes to detail by plastic models today. Top tier brass from the 80's still tops most any plastic model.
Then there are still the brass models that have never been made available in other forms. If you want one of those locos you have to compete for the limited number of brass models available.
Brass diesels are a completely different story. Frankly I have rarely seen any that are worth the asking price. I have one - purchased for about the price of a good plastic version, and for that price it needs drive line repairs (it already was remotored) and paint touch up. It's no more detailed than the plastic alternatives.
Mostly I am with Sheldon. I don't own a single "display" loco. I only buy things I can use on my layout. They all run. Same thing with other hobbies - if I came across a vintage electronics kit, unbuilt, that was something I wanted to play around with, I have no qualms about opening it up and building it. Darn the value, full fun ahead. Display only items hold zero value for me. Only when they get used do they have value to me.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Today's brass is just too expensive, today's plastic RTR models are much cheaper and have all the detail I need.
And older brass is another project that I don't need - I have 15 locomotive kits (in 3 scales) waiting to be built with dcc.
As for collecting, well I find it cheaper and easier to collect older kits, which I do on a casual basis.
Paul
We all have our own set of priorities for our hobby dollars. I have spent a lot on this hobby in 50 years, but $1,000 for a single locomotive 10 years ago, or 20 years ago, was not an apportionment that I could justify against my other modeling goals.
Nor would I spend the $2,500 some models are today.
As I said recently in another thread, when it comes to model trains I checked my OCD at the door years ago and instantly started having more fun.
I have two brass locos, older models I aquired at similar prices to the rest of my roaster. And which have been suitably kitbashed to be part of my freelanced railroad. So I guess it's good I did not buy them as an investment.......I doubt any collectors want them with Bachmann plastic tenders lettered ATLANTIC CENTRAL.
I am not a collector, I only buy what I want for the layout. That goes for locos and rolling stock no matter what it is constructed out of, or by whom, or when.
I do respect the craftsmanship of brass, just like I respect the craftsmanship of a 1973 Rolls Royce Corniche convertible, but I don't choose to afford one of those either.
There is a very short list of brass I would like to own, they don't come up often, I'm waiting for the right piece at the right price - but we are only taking about 3 locos that will fill a few small holes in my roster.
Sheldon
I think it will depend on what is it a model of. For models there is no high quality diecast/plastic model of, then price may remain high. Top quality plastic HO models really started in the late 90's with Life-like 2-8-8-2. As for the hybrid models, as far as I know Broadway Limited is the only one currently doing these for HO. Their last few like the T&P 2-10-4 and Pennsy S2 turbine are really nice and surpass some brass models. However, some of their earlier hybrids are nice but lack detail. Eric
I would buy brass in a heartbeat, however brass is a timeconsuming part of the hobby that I do not have the time for. We choose our battles and I like DCC and sound and I have seen many brass conversions that are beautiful and run well. My two Rapido Royal Hudsons are incredible in every aspect, so plastic is likely the future for me.
I got this for $35.00 and thought I could practice my painting and DCC/sound conversion on it. For $35.00 I won't cry if I mess up.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
MisterBeasley....Brass has better competition than it did in the 90s. I seriously doubt that brass will ever regain price relative to higher end plastic.
I pretty-much agree with Mister B's assessment of things.
While I have several brass locomotive, I never bought them as an investment, but mainly because they were affordable at the time, and appealed to me.
Some are modified to be nothing like the prototype they were meant to represent, so I would guess their value to be almost worthless for a collector, but perhaps of interest to some modellers, at a "reasonable" price -I don't know what that will be, but I will not likely be around to worry about it when that time comes.Some that I bought needed mechanical work, so, in that respect, they're better than they once were, but I don't think that will make them more valuable, at least money-wise...they are more valuable to me because they work as I need them to. For a collector, that feature might be of no importance at all, so no more valuable than it ever was., and perhaps never again that valuable.Other brass locomotives that I've altered to match the appearance of real ones in their class may now be more valuable money-wise, to a particular type of collector, but I doubt that the value would ever approach that of the unmodified model when it was new - in one sense, a more accurate model of a particular real locomotive, but of lower value than original, mainly because of the changing times.
The same, of course, goes for plastic models, so-called "high end" ones (none of which I have) or for that matter, almost any on my layout. All of them are "used", not still in the box, or in a glass case, but used for my enjoyment. For the most part, anything I've sold in the way of model trains has produced a profit over its original cost, not necessarily because it was "valuable" but because it was interesting enough to be more desireable than the model from which it had been made. Basically, the "profit" was for the money I had spent to upgrade the model, and for the work I put into it.
While that always covered the cost of materials, and usually more, it's certainly not a way to get rich.
The value, for me, at least, is in the enjoyment I get from it, not only in ownership, but also in the effort I put into it. That someone else likes it enough to buy it is a compliment.
Wayne
With brass locomotives, it's probably more than simple supply and demand. The manufacturers have made great strides in making plastic locomotives that satisfy more and more modelers, both because they look good, with high-quality paint jobs and details, and also because they run well and now even sound good.
Brass has better competition than it did in the 90s. I seriously doubt that brass will ever regain price relative to higher end plastic.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I used 1997 as a key date as I and others feel that was the peak of brass activity in addition to buying and selling. I'm slightly concerned as I still have a boatload of brass steam models of which today's selling price is now equal to yesterday's wholesale or dealer pricing. My resident expert, Swami Choochanada who was great in predicting weather for train shows and other train related things with his yak skull on a stick and by spreading powdered water buffalo poop is nowhere to be found. The current on-line brass guide by Dan Glasure has done a fine job in keeping up with today's pricing. but it is sad to see models of extroadinary quality fall into the abyss as many know there is a tremendous difference between market price and value. Even though I agree with much of the guide, I feel that it takes more than a few decades to actually learn this stuff fully.
As a brass dealer from 1986 to 2005 I never once suggested to a customer to purchase a brass loco as an investment....buy only because you want to play with it or collect it. During the1990s and well into the 21st. most new brass and quality out of production brass models never saw service and lived in a case or on a shelf....thus rendering them in exellent condition. The decline began with a new generation entering the hobby with little history with steam models (brass models which are mostly collected or played with), and of course the many dinosaurs like me retiring and leaving the hobby. Then of course is the rather new entry of really fine "brass" hybrid models from MTH and BLI. Note: I dislike the term "hybrid" and would prefer "mostly brass" instead. but that is me.
New models being imported today are priced at figures that are quite scary, but it follows the law of suppy vs. demand. Will this lift prices of current out-of-production brass models sort of like a "rising tide lifts all boats"? I don't know and Choochanada I think has fled back to India...hopefullly to gather up more water buffalo droppings. What I do know that brass is not dead, just the market is smaller. I've witnessed several younger modelers building historical pikes and have turned to brass as they cannot find what they are modeling in plastic or cast.... but in brass.....yes. There are some millenials who understand the old world quality of earlier Japanese brass models and seek them out.
For all interested in brass today, now seems the time to acquire some great models at decent prices. Opinons?
HZ