Need Help With Identification

[Duffman99]

Hello, I do not know much about the different brands of model trains.  My father left me with several hundred various types and I've been working to sell them on ebay.  For those I had in the original packaging that hasn't been an issue but the left overs that are loose do not show any distinguishing stamps that I can find.  All of what I have unpacked so far have been packed and in storage since the mid 70's.  I found newspapers in the box older than me.  Most are plastic, some are metal or wooden bases with metal housing.  Does anyone here know how to look at an engine or car and be able to tell who the manufacturer is?

[Yampa Bob]

Unless the manufacturer's name is on the bottom, it's hard to know the origin.  They could be USA, Yugoslavia, Austria, England, China, Korea or Japan etc.

Sorry to say, their value is low, might be a few collector pieces.  Sounds like a great start for a layout of your own.

[Duffman99]

Thank you for your reply.  I will probably sell those in bulk then.  I had many brass locomotives that sold far above what I expected, but i'm sure that all has to do with their construction.

[Yampa Bob]

Also sorry to say, you probably sold the brass locos too cheap.  There is a growing market for them.  But you appear to be satisfied with the prices received, and someone else will greatly enjoy them.

Sell the cars in small lots of similar items, maybe 6 of a type, or make up assortments of 6 all different.  Provide good pictures.  Sometimes a buyer will bid high just to get one that is in the set.

If I didn't already have too many cars, I would buy some of them myself. 

Good luck

[Jim Banner]

One of the advantages of selling on eBay is that even when you, as seller, do not know the worth of what you are selling, there are usually buyers who do.  A low starting price is a great way to get people to start bidding.  How many times do we see somebody offer an item with too high a starting price and then get no bids?  So they offer it again with a low starting price, only to have it sell for much more than their original starting price.

Personally, I am surprised that there is still a market for old brass.  Most of the old brass I have seen is no more detailed than modern plastic and requires a great deal more work to make it run half as well.  Old brass is like the guy driving a BMW junker down the street.  Ask him why he doesn't get a decent car and he'll tell you "but this one's a Beamer."  As if being made of brass or built by BMW were automatically a mark of quality.  New brass and new BMWs may deserve their reputations, but junk is junk.

[Santa Fe buff]

Well, the buyer probably wants that locomotive in brass, or just has a certain taste, as for the BMW junker, they are too expensive to buy new. After all, a beamer is a beamer. But sometime someone puts a 99cent item hoping for bits, but gets none, my uncle got me a cool ATSF freight car off of eBay because with one minute left, he had no bids, and was still at 99cents... But Jim is right too, why old brass, brass loses most of whatever quality it ever had.

[Loco Bill Canelos]

I would definitely try to put some of it up on Ebay with a low starting price.  Take good pictures so buyers in the know can identify the items.

My trains from the 60's and 70's sold very well.   

At least selling them on Ebay you will get a market price. 

Try selling freight cars in no more than groups of 5 to 10, and locomotives from 3 to 5.   

I got a very high price for one of my older loco's because the guy wanted it for parts!!

Good luck with your sale!