Bought one a few years back, had the fencing and missing the horses, for $25. Rather liked the looks, but haven't seen one since, either at train shows or eBay. Is this a common car or a rare one? I was told that it was common in the shape I had it (dull wheels, no horses), but the fact that I haven't seen ANY in 5 years has me wondering as to whether I have a rare item on my hands.
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They are not terribly common but I saw at least two of them at the April York meet in the $40 range. They were used and did not have all of the fences or all of the horses. The one I have came in a really nice box like a modern day shipping carton with the only the number stamped on the end. I don't know if they came with a box originally, but I am glad mine did. It is brand new with the fences and all the horses. I think two horses of each color.
$40 missing some fencing and horses at York? Did either of them sell?
they usually don't come up for sale individually. being part of a specialized set makes them prone to be sold with the set. so looking for individual sales will be harder.
The original 1887 flat is from the Halloween General set. Six horses and yellow fencing. The LCCA did a remake of the set a few years back. The repro fence and horses are available. Hard to find with the original fence - the plastic was different back then and due to aging, there is a noticeable difference in the shade between the original fence and the new . You don't see them separate sale too much since they are more valuable when selling the set.
I am inclined to say that the flatcar is original. I will examine the fencing later. Pulled the trigger on buying some horses for it today.
They were issued only in 1959, as part of Set 9666 (for Sears). They did have a perforated box, as with the rest of the components of that set, with the exception being the Frontier Set #963, which was a Classic Glossy box. It would have had 2 black horse, two brown/tan, and two white horses. As only listed from Doyle's Catalog, as the car by itself, it has a rarity of 6, and not very common, but not super rare either. Typically the car would be sold with the Set 9666, and hard to find by itself, as a separate item. Collectors would rather keep it with a set. The 9666 set came in a generic two tiered box, and included boxes for each component. Many confuse this set with the "General Halloween Set", but only two items were common to both; 1866 mail/baggage car, and the Frontier set and the number 963-100 unique to just the "Halloween Set".
Correction:: Got dyslexic with the numbers with 1877 and 1887. The 1887 was part of the Halloween General set, whereas the 1877 was part of the Sears 9666 set. Doyle got it wrong again!! The 1887 still holds the rarity of 6.
The 1877-1887 flatcar was unpainted plastic and unlettered versions were used in a number of sets, some of them cheap and numerous sets. I got one with a 1961 X-600 Quaker Oats set, with arch-bar trucks, missing the original load. I have another one of unknown origin in a light gray color. The flatcars themselves aren't particularly interesting; Lionel made them to be cheap and simple.
Thanks for the information, y'all. Nice to know that, for once, I have something that isn't run of the mill.
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