Boxes, boxes and more boxes! To keep or not to keep!

I feel your pain... but I was able to remove the boxes to the attic and display my trains on the wall with some simple shelving kits... I removed the traction tires and other assorted items before the boxes where sentenced to the hot - hot climate.

I dump most new boxes now. No more storage room. I keep set boxes and those I feel might be rarer pieces someday. I may dump more boxes pretty soon to clear up some of the mess. I don't think not having the box for newer production makes things harder to sell.

Probably would disassemble them and store them under the layout.

I understand that John does not plan to ever sell his trains. But things change. There is a thread running today about someone who is trying to help an uncle whose health took a turn for the worse, and now has to downsize. Then there is estate planning.
Look at items for sale here and on EBay. The items with original boxes command better prices. Having the paperwork is even better.
At the local train shows in my area, boxed items sell easier than unboxed ones.

I wouldn't bother with boxes for track, switches, and the like. But I would keep boxes for rolling stock, locomotives and accessories.

KEEP KEEP KEEP!!!!!!!!!  I would never buy any trains unless they came in a box.  I have bought some trains that came with pretty abused boxes but still a box.   I just think if you keep the box it says that that person cares enough about their trains to have the box for them too.

Rick

Keep the boxes.  It makes sense for at least two reasons.  If you ever sell anything the box makes a difference and if you ever relocate it is easier to pack them in cartons.

you may think you will not sell anything now, but that may change in the future.....with todays detailed locos and rolling stock  its more important  now than ever before to keep the styrofoam packing/boxes....even moving your trains to a new home..you want to protect them during transit

I have them all.......

Peter

I have the outer 'master' cartons from all my 1990-and-later locomotives.  Do they add significantly to resale value?

     Hoppy

HOPPY posted:

I have the outer 'master' cartons from all my 1990-and-later locomotives.  Do they add significantly to resale value?

I wouldn't think so. But I do like having the outer cartons, partly because they protect the inner box, but also because the shipping labels or other notations found on them give the piece inside a little history, a little 'character.'

I have started flattening all my boxes which do not have Styrofoam inserts, which is most of them. I store them in a polyethylene bin under the layout. I just do not have room otherwise. I do have a small number of unusually nice postwar boxes, which I have not flattened, but for most of my stuff a 'reconstituted' box is not going to be big problem if I ever sell. At least it should be better than no box.

With the modest prices some of the cars are bringing, it does not make much sense to keep them. Engines yes, the rest is questionable.  You may be taking some out of the market for a 20 car but so what if space becomes problematic.

John C...     I sent my boxes back to be recycled years ago. its all up to you if you think you might sell items sometime then keep them. the only boxes I still have are for engines under warranty.

J DADDY.... I had saved all of mine until I realized cardboard in attic and high southwestern desert heat equals fuel for fire somehow my home replacement cost far exceeds any price a box will bring in resale value! 

plus my children will be dealing with all my train items after I'm gone but I do have a inventory list of all train items and what I paid for them.

I keep my boxes, but I am not opposed to buying something without the original box.. Depends on the item..

keep the boxes, you never know when your tastes will change and you want to sell the old to make room for the new.  Trains are worth a lot more with their original boxes.

I sold off a bunch of stuff last Fall in an effort to clear some space.

As far as boxes go, I pitched all of the boxes from track components (turnouts, uncoupler and operating tracks, bumpers, etc.)

However, I've still got all of the boxes for:

locos

rolling stock

operating accessories

I ALWAYS keep boxes for engines, cabooses,passenger car sets,  and buildings. All others get tossed unless they are highly detailed and fragile, then I keep the boxes for it. 

   My garage attic held many, and this was unknown to me for decades as they hid well in the large black garbage bags.

   I kept some that I needed, sold some cheap, and offered the "lesser valued" ones free to anyone willing to pay the shipping.

   Nobody wanted anything MPC or newer, even for "free". (come to think of it, if anyone wants an empty DT&I Yardmaster set box for the cost of shipping it, e-mail me, and soon too)

    I kept some new ones, just for some of the more delicate locos (even after I'm gone, it will help family)

The rest I pulled the plastic & foam out of the box, and used them for kindling.

Keep, Keep.

I may be another odd one, but if it's engines or rolling stock and  not in it's original box, I don't buy it.

Larry

I only keep the boxes for brass cars and engines that actually have boxes.  Everything else goes in 4x4x12 or longer boxes from ULine.  Some engines go into wood boxes that I make.

If you are OK with the best way for your heirs to dispose of your collection by calling 1-800-GOT-JUNK and disposing of it that way, then it makes no difference if you have the boxes.

If there may be some effort to sell for any amount of money, you will be better off having the box for most items most likely.  For some piece that may be more rare or sought after, you will likely find someone who would like it and will take it even without a box, but those will probably be the exception, not the rule.  (Lionel GE EVO, Milwaukee Rd 263, etc).

-Dave

Save the boxes, I never buy a train without its original box

Speaking of boxes. 

I still have the box that H.L. Childs and sons packed my Burlington set from 1980 in.  The carton still has their mailing label  

They were located on State ST. in Northampton, MA.

I have contractor garbage bags FULL of boxes stuffed in the crawl space. The alternate challenge is storage of the cars sans boxes. The upside is overall they take up less space.

I swim against the current here, but when you have no storage space left and don't want to have to pay $100 a month to rent space, you have two choices: dump the boxes or stop buying trains.

I sell trains on Ebay and do not have a problem selling them w/o boxes. I might knock $5 of a car or such, but that is all.  I had someone say they wouldn't buy something from me recently because it didn't have a box but that's the first time I've had that happen in just about forever. I mean, if you want an item, how much does having the box improve your having the item?

I would recommend saving engine boxes and anything you think will become rare. Plus always save Postwar boxes. Other than that, for all my newer purchases, I dump the box.

Also, some have said to collapse the boxes. For the last twenty years or so, the trains come in fitted plastic inner containers and so collapsing the box is impossible. I really wish you could collapse them like you used to be able to to.

John C. posted:

 I'm keeping this stuff until I drop.  Then its someone else's problem.

 

Don't you think leaving a problem your created for someone else to deal with is selfish, unless the someone else is an ardent model railroader inheriting your collection?

What, me worry?

Alfred E Neuman posted:

John C. posted:

 I'm keeping this stuff until I drop.  Then its someone else's problem.

 

Don't you think leaving a problem your created for someone else to deal with is selfish, unless the someone else is an ardent model railroader inheriting your collection?

 

What, me worry?

Actually, you might be doing the heirs a favor because repacking all that stuff in boxes is a pain and takes a lot of time. 

I toss all of the boxes.  Less clutter and I collect trains and not boxes.  

I love shopping for items without boxes.  Most turn their noses up and miss out.  

I keep some, but most get tossed.  

Keep the boxes. Anything without the box is junk. 

I've kept all of my boxes from my trains and my diecast collection, so I have a lot of boxes. A friend of mine just gave me an 8' x 10' shed, so I figure that will be the perfect spot for Jeep parts, Christmas blow molds and empty boxes. We'll see if it all fits.

I still have all mine and have even made custom sized boxes for those cars I bought without a box. Since still without a layout, I find cars and engines in boxes are easier to store and less prone to accidental damage than storing them loose.

But alas, I'm running low on storage space and need to either cull and sell what I currently have or stop buying more OR BOTH.

Btw, I have strengthened my willpower to avoid impulse purchases and by doing so have sigificantly cut back on purchases recently.

I keep my boxes.  In addition, I have plastic storage bins for everything.  If some car is running on the layout, it's empty box is in the storage bin.  A spreadsheet tells me where everything is.

George

I throw out the shippers immediately as they make getting the trains out an additional pain and they make the shelves look sloppy. I also throw out the bags for the sloppy factor. I fully intend to keep all the locomotive boxes and the passenger car boxes. Once I go thru the collection and pull all the cars I don't want any more  and box them back up for sale all the freight car boxes are going in the trash. They take up too much space and im sick of moving them around. I dont run boxes and the freight cars wont go back into the boxes so the boxes must go.

They're behind one of these doors.

It depends on how many boxes you have. I built a fairly large city comprised of > 40 structures - and that's a LOT of boxes and clam shell buckets. About 1/3 of the buildings I kit-bashed and will no longer fit in the original boxes. Most of my structures are weathered with figures and details added and am not sure having the original box would affect the value anyway. The plastic clam shell packages are junk - hate to throw out non-recyclable plastic - but they take up too much room. Cardboard boxes are recycled. I only kept as many boxes as I could fit under my basement steps - where they're out of the way for good.

Try to get good money on a sale without the box and that will give you your answer.  

Marty makes the best and simplest point. I dont usually buy without the box.

I agree with guys on dumping track and switch boxes.  I want the box when I buy  engines and cars.  Are they a pain to store, that is a big YES.

i own somewhere around 400 freight cars, most of them on the layout or on display.  After moving around their boxes for years and finally finding no more room for them, I also decided that i bought my cars because I wanted those cars;  not the boxes.  So I tossed away virtually all of my regular freight car boxes from all companies.  Now, I still have all the boxes for my locomotives as well as my passenger cars, and even these take up a lot of space, under the layout, in the closet, in the garage and in the shed, but at least the mountain of freight car boxes is gone and I can move around again.  Same for the huge boxes that some of my buildings and accessories came in:  Out with them!

Paul Fischer