Are You A Collector?

Bob, I am in the same boat as you except I have not ventured into other scales. I just keep buying what strikes my fancy with each catalog that comes out. I have tried doing some shows to sell something's but I bring home what I took. I ran out of room years ago but the bottom line would be I wouldn't have it any other way.......Paul

I don't call myself a collector per se because I only buy equipment that is New England related with an emphasis on the Boston & Maine. However, the database that I have generated has over 3 hundred items; more than I really need.

I would probably be classified as a collector also. I too am addicted and have been for awhile. I have more cars and engines that I could ever run. In the good old days at Davis Electronics I would usually buy two of every car that I wanted, one to run and one to stash away. but I never ran any until we moved into our third house which allowed me room for a small layout in a 10 x 12 basement bedroom. I have migrated into acquiring bigger diesel engines and like some others on this group, I can't run an engine without having a matching dummy unit! The herd has thinned some, storage is pretty much confined to under the layout and craw space and a deep basement closet. Trains have been removed from my chest of drawers (jeans are finally off the floor) and trains gone from under my bed. But I'm always looking for a great deal on the next engine! 8-)

Jeff

I think I am more off a hoarder or more politely a picker. Collector connotates some rhyme or reason to the pile of stuff.

Brad

Was a collector of trains, now an operator.  However,  a spark ignited interest in 1:18 scale diecast model cars. Some beautiful stuff out there.  I'm trying to "limit" purchases to Chevys, Caddies, actually all GM's, Fords and Mercs from 1950 to 1966.  It's amazing how many models are out there.  RICH

Yes.

Didn't start off that way. Lack of self-control....

The amount of train hoards around the country has to be enormous. 

When a collector passes away, his family brings all of his mints in box stuff to train shows and such.  In addition to the fine merchandise they usually have great stories about how dad was going to build the ultimate layouts when he retired but he died at 56.  Don't be that guy,  enjoy what you have.

 I don’t know that I really qualify as a train collector. Collecting would suggest a plan, but I have no plans. I don’t get carried away with my purchases, but if I like something, I will buy it regardless of how well it fits with the rest of my stuff. Also, anything I buy is going to spend time on my layout. 

 I do collect toy cars, though that has slowed dramatically since I spend more and more time on my trains. 

I am sensing a lot of guilt here.  Lets be honest.  We buy it because we like it.  As kids we probably could not get much of what we wanted and now we can.  I collect and really don't care about the consequences after I die.  My instructions are to put me in a dumpster and move on.

If the kids are half as smart as I think they are, they will enjoy the stuff that interests them or sell it and make money.  The trains will never be worth what I paid but some of the cameras, the art, the neon and the buildings will give them that warm and fuzzy feeling in the pocketbook.  In the meantime, I will keep adding shelving to display my trains.  2500 feet of shelves and growing.

Lots of definitions for collector here.  Personally, in the past I would tell folks I was not a collector; I was an operator. For a long time all my trains, while far more that I could run at any one time, were appropriate for my late 40s era operating layout.  No shelf queens; all my trains were run although some more often than others.

Then I picked up the K-Line American Freedom Train 17-car set and an MTH scale GS4 in AFT colors.  This got me interested in all things bicentennial and now I have many bicentennial related items on display that I do not run.  So yes I am a collector.

I'm bad. Really bad.

Collecting trains nowadays seems to me to be on the verge of being a hoarder.  That may sound harsh to some.  But with toy trains not having the inflated value they did in the seventies and eighties, collecting them just for the sake of collecting simply creates a room or rooms full of stuff.  No appreciation in value will be realized these days as it one did.  

Don't get me wrong, some of us like to have variations of a certain item or items.  Some collect based on road names.  Others collect on god knows what premise.  

But collecting, as I mentioned in my first paragraph, can lead to hoarding, which is not healthy.  

I collected way to much over the years I’m over overwhelmed with HO train stuff. I’ve been selling a lot just when I think I’ve made a dent I find another  Storage tub full of HO. I slap my hand a lot when it comes to O scale  I do not want  to get in the same boat that I was in with HO. I also have a huge collection of 1/25 scale model truck kits and resin conversions not counting my toy farm tractors and my Millitary models but I’ve been selling a lot of my collection off since I’ve turned 50 I want to focus on O scale and stay there and down size a lot 

My collection started with the purchase of locomotives I liked, and then buying cars to put together a realistic trainset to complement the power (with a limit of 25 car lengths per train).  And I have found a way to bring my "collection" under control.  Using Doug Kearney's O Gauge Haulers, the sets are organized so that I can grab a set and take it to the club to run.  For example, I can load up a complete ATSF El Capitan, or a 2912 prewar freight, or a CZ and run it wherever.  I am just about down to "what I cannot live without", and have sold the rest at train shows.  I just need Doug to get settled in at ABQ and find the time to offer another run of Haulers to get the remainder boxed and organized.  It seems easier for me to handle a collection this way. 

Hope this can help.

You have to have some trains to run some, right?  In that sense, everyone who has trains to run is a collector.

I set strict limits on what I collect for my layout so that I can run the kinds of trains that I want to run.  There is no danger of this "collection" getting out of hand because I can't afford for it to.

OTOH, I consciously collect (in a more conventional sense) Marx, but, again, with very strict limits:  EX or better, boxed sets of 8-wheel plastic or Deluxe plastic with minimal duplication along with a few boxed accessories in similar condition.  There are a few extra pieces that I have for a display I want to build.

And I couldn't possibly care less about appreciation in value.  These trains are for my enjoyment and to share that enjoyment with others.  Why the items one collects need to appreciate in value in order for the aggregate to rise to the level of collection escapes me.

As stated above, toy trains may never have the appreciation in value they once did in the 70'd and 80's.  I have never purchased a toy train or anything else for that matter with the expectation that it would appreciate in value (with the possible exception of buildings).  When I got back into trains in the 80's it was because of what I considered to be works of art.  As a kid I had a 671, 675 and a 2343 and some cars.  It was great fun and I enjoyed it.

The brass engines that Williams started rolling out after the first few somewhat lacking in detail were astounding.  Then Weaver started producing some really nice brass engines.  The high point for me was the MTH Challenger.  It blew me away.  Turns out Mike was the common thread in both Williams and Weaver brass production.  Probably should also include the diesels that when compared to other manufacturers at the time were equally as beautiful.

I am happy to sit in my train rooms and just look at the trains that are so much more than the toys in enjoyed as a kid.  They are works of art and show the love and commitment that MTH has brought to the hobby.  If I never run any of them I am content to just enjoy the privilege of owning them.  Hoarder or not.

Bill, what you say is what it is all about.  Outside my family, beyond my grandkids and my Bride, no one has ever seen my layout.  But, I can go down there, turn on some trains, sit back and ENJOY!  It's worth the price of admission for me, and beyond that, there isn't much left.  I think it's far better than reality TV, that is a given.

Bob Severin posted:

I am a HOPELESS collector. I have WAY more trains than I will ever be able to run. Just unpacking them is a major effort. And, it doesn't stop with O Gauge. A couple of years ago, I decided to venture out into N Gauge land. So, I have about ten complete trains, lots and lots of track, a few buildings and about six power supplies.

I was into N scale back in the Seventies.  But we lived in an apartment then, and I never had space for a layout.  One advantage of N, I suppose, is that when you pack it up, it doesn't take up much space.  All my N scale equipment is stored in a single cardboard box.

Then, there is the vast collection of 1/43 vehicles, and Franklin Mint wooden shelves on which to display them.

I'm looking at my layout right now.  I have about a dozen 1/43 and 1/48 automobiles.  A few of them were expensive Brooklin-class vehicles, but most came from various retail stores for under ten bucks.

And it doesn't end with trains. There is a collection of Murano Glass clowns numbering between 150 and 200.

Well, you've got me there, Bob.  I have never collected a glass clown in my life.

I never had much as a kid, and perhaps this is a reason for my unreasonable behavior. I just like having stuff.

To some extent, I can sympathize.  My family was a long way from being affluent.  I spent years drooling over Lionel catalogs, staring at the things I knew I'd never have.  And I freely admit that I'm compensating for that, now.  But I don't think I've gone overboard with it.

I think I have ten or twelve O scale locomotives and nine or ten postwar.  Sure, it's more than I can run at any one time, but even when they're not on the layout, they look nice.

 Now, what to do with all this stuff? I can never sell it all, so I'll have to devise a way to somehow lessen my possessions before I utter a final croak.   

My sister loves toy trains.  So she gets whatever my wife can't sell after I'm no longer around to lay track.

--John

 

I used to consider myself a collector, but gave that up about 20 years ago. When it was just postwar, MPC and LTI, I would buy literally "by the numbers" and only Lionel brand. But as other manufacturers joined the marketplace, my interest shifted to scale trains only. I still have all that early stuff, but I'd love to get rid of most of it, but it has no value anymore, and very few people want it. There are probably over 1000 pieces of that. 

With the stuff that I'm currently using, I probably have another 1000 pieces, but I view it as a model railroad. I have a layout large enough to hold it all. I buy what I see out on the rails, that fits my railroad's motif.

Hoarder has such a negative connotation. I'm an accumulator. I've even gone so far as to call myself a "roach motel" for trains. Trains check in, but they don't check out.

Elliot, great attitude!  The last paragraph says a lot, LOL.

I became a "collector" when Lionel began re-releasing the 6464 series in the 90's.  Then Lionel, LLC started adding new cars to the series, and I bought some... then they added "Archive" versions... then added "Variations"... and pretty soon my limited, defined, concept of a collection was no longer something I was going to buy into.  Their over-marketing drove me away from ever being a collector again. 

Since learning that lesson, I've become much more discerning... always asking: is that what I really want?  Will they make a better version someday?  Is there anything I can get rid of at the next show?  Will that engine get my train over the road better than anything I've got now?

Jon

I am a collector, not a hoarder I, limit my purchases to two road names, but not because I don't like to run my trains, I would love to, but I have no room or time at this point in my life to set up a layout, therefore I collect and display. At some point after I retire and I don't have the daily pressures of life weighing down on me I will set up a layout, if I pass before then, oh well that's life, until then I buy what I like, be reasonable with my purchases, set up a carpet layout every once in a while when my knees and back allow and just enjoy what I have.

Bob, a hoarder who finally wants to empty his basement is a dozen collectors' delights.  Two suggestions: 1. set a $ goal for something you want to buy, e.g. new tv, refrigerator, fancy suit.  Having a motivation will help you get going, and  2. start your selling efforts with just one box of stuff - put a value on its contents and find a local train show (or make your own - find your local TCA division and reach out to the president).  C'mon, you can do it!  By the way, in what state do you reside...

working on my third layout  .For the past  7 years everything that I like I put on shelf's  to put on the layout!

Once I built the table and started  install what I had.... I had a LOT of extras that I  will never will be able to put on the table..

Yes I loved getting the stuff I got , and thought I could use it!! but after seeing where or how I can use it is not so good..

SO either keep collecting and enjoy or build layout and get ONLY what you really LOVE ..

If you can afford it and enjoy it buy it!.....Nothing wrong with collecting what you like ...But I try to be very selective and not go over the top. For me I reach a saturation point after a while and then I slow way down with my purchases. Everyone needs to have something they enjoy and if we enjoy collecting are trains so be it.

Storage space. Always the problem. I have so many clear plastic boxes stacked up that getting something out to run is tedious and often I just don’t bother. I have at least five times as much stuff ad I can display. And I display a lot . Boxes under my bed, boxes stacked in my bedroom as overflow from the train room. 

I sell some things on Ebay but it is slow (and I almost always haver the lowest price). Since  I began buying scale cars rather than traditional, I nearly doubled what I have  thousands of items  

Butwhen I try to thin it out, I get all glassy eyed at the neat stuff far too often and don’t pull it for sale. 

Finally, there are the boxes  Back in the day, most boxes could be flattened so you could keep them all. Now with the plastic inserts, I have to toss them for everything but the engines because even my off-site storage locker is filling up with them. 

Does any of this sound familiar?

 

 

 

Not only FAMILIAR, but almost an EXACT scenario here.  Thank heavens for the hobby there were guys like us to buy up all the surplus from the dealers before they all went out of business.  I just check eBay for Williams Passenger Cars.  Take a look.  There are in excess of 10 pages of listings.  three years ago one would have hard pressed to find 50 total listings.  And then look at what is actually selling.  Complete sets for under a hundred bucks with five or six bids.  Everything else, with what would be a normal selling price ($200, give or take), no takers.  

The trend is not good for the owners/sellers, but great for anyone still out there and ready to buy.

Thanks Bob,

  Now I'm looking at passenger cars!  8-)

Jeff

Bob Severin posted:

Not only FAMILIAR, but almost an EXACT scenario here.  Thank heavens for the hobby there were guys like us to buy up all the surplus from the dealers before they all went out of business.  I just check eBay for Williams Passenger Cars.  Take a look.  There are in excess of 10 pages of listings.  three years ago one would have hard pressed to find 50 total listings.  And then look at what is actually selling.  Complete sets for under a hundred bucks with five or six bids.  Everything else, with what would be a normal selling price ($200, give or take), no takers.  

The trend is not good for the owners/sellers, but great for anyone still out there and ready to buy.

Believe me, I know. When going to sell on Ebay, you must click on the “Filter” header at the top of the page and then “Sold Items” to find out what the real value of an item you are putting up is rather than the current asking prices. 

This can be a painful experience.

when K-Line and especially MTH entered the market back in the day, I knew that appreciation of values for O gauge trains would soon come to an end. Too much supply and not enough demand. Simple.

What I didn’t anticipate was the introduction of all the new bells and whistles (literally) which would make older locomotives much less desirable compared with the new offerings. Try selling an MOC loco in mint condition but without a horn or whistle and see what you can get.

Operator, not a collector.  Thought I was a collector once, learned I was not.  I have most of what I want but I do not need to walk into a room hands on hips declaring all this is mine.  Now getting rid of the stuff I do not want has been a humbling experience.

Isn't everyone who buys more than one "train" item a collector? I'm not of the means of quite a few people but I have several nices pieces, all of which run and fit on my layout. Because I have a small amount of stuff I have the boxes for everything I've bought, and they all easily fit in plastic bins under my layout. Everything I own is on my layout, nothing sitting in boxes or on shelves. I concentrate on Santa Fe and Southern Pacific motive power in the 1946-1951 time frame, and scale sized to boot. So I guess I collect stuff, even though I run everything I own. If I spend several hundred dollars on an item it better do something other than sit silently on a shelf. 

Now I'm confused if I'm a collector or not. 

Bob Severin posted:

I never had much as a kid, and perhaps this is a reason for my unreasonable behavior.

I've heard other people say that.

I just like having stuff. I need another house just to attempt to display all these wonderful things. But, I cannot afford to collect houses. I may have outmatched myself.

LOLOL

Anyway, I'm definitely not a collector. I'm kind of a minimalist. But, that does not mean I don't have small stables of locomotives and such. It's just that they all have a purpose on the layout.

It's all good.

  

 

Unless you just buy everything willy-nilly (nothing wrong with that ), you have to have a plan. At least that's what worked for me. An era, road name, postwar, modern, tinplate, whatever.

A long time ago I was buying stuff like a drunken sailor and realized one day I was not happy. Or maybe unsatisfied is a better word. Just the thought of the stacks of boxes of plain vanilla, disconnected and blah rolling stock I had was soul crushing.  

Took a break, came back, and decided to go postwar with a toy train layout emphasis. Focus. In the model train world, that's what speaks to me. And I love it!

No sermons about how for the price of Lionel's top big ticket item in the latest catalog I can get 5 or 6 PW locos in really nice shape. But ain't it the truth.

"I'm trying to "limit" purchases to Chevys, Caddies, actually all GM's, Fords and Mercs from 1950 to 1966."

So - you're skipping the good stuff.

I know it sounds silly.  My original intention was to collect Chevys from '55 to '66.  The search led to so many more great looking models.  So in a sense I had to set certain limits.  It is fun to be out there again looking for the ever elusive model.  Really having difficulty finding a '63 Chevy at a decent price.  So, definitely a collector when it comes to this category.  RICH 

I always thought of myself as an operator and not a collector and then one day I stopped and looked around me and realized I was just as much a collector as an operator.  Well not a true collector because just about everything I have ever purchased has been essentially operator class stuff, with just a few notable exceptions.  Bottom line - I make every effort to run everything I have so I guess I'm kind of a hybrid operator/collector. 

I know I have more trains than I ever dreamed of owning and yes storage space is at a premium but I certainly don't feel I have to apologize for it because some armchair psycho-analyst might classify me as a hoarder.  Every person who collects trains charts their own course, carries their own burdens  and pays their own freight.  For those who are inclined to criticize that life style my advice would be to "STAY IN YOUR LANE BRO' ".

I just want one 😇 of everything 🤒

For modern stuff I only buy PRR locomotives. More than could ever get on the layout or run.  For PW I buy what I like and put them in a display case. I have hundreds of die cast using the excuse they are for they layout I am building. I have several 1/24, 1/32 vehicles that I collected mostly Ford and Harley Davidson a bunch of “B” model Mack trucks IMHO the best looking heavy truck every made in several scales including 1/64 and the Winross Ford Collectable  Series all on display at least some still looking for some after the move into the new house. I like Ford and Harley diecast trucks mostly. I guess that makes me a collector or pack rat or hoarder what ever toy want to call it. I also have the bumper sticker “He who dies with the most toys WINS” and the one that says “If I buy one more train my wife will leave me. Gee I will miss her” she still her after 36 years.