LHS said that the best part was the box!

I keep all my empty boxes in several large safe deposit boxes at my bank.  (kidding)

If you use white/"Elmer's" glue, it'll hold without permanently bonding, and will soak off with water.

The boxes are a bit more difficult to come by, just weren't well cared for.  Should stay together fine without glue unless it has been assembled / disassembled many times.

I have a hospital that I bought many years ago and it came glued.  I proudly display it and nobody says a word.

The important part is enjoy the hobby the way you want.

Collectors prefer unglued Plasticville in a pristine box. I am not a collector, and most of my stuff is glued, much of which I bought that way. I use my Plasticville on the layout. No one from the PCA has filed a complaint yet! 

Original Plasticville (some of it, anyway) is collectible and the original box raises the price considerably. Bachmann (or their predecessor company) produced the original Plasticville and some of the kits are still in production. The signal bridge is one of them, but the original might be viewed as a sought-after collectible.

A lot of modelers make them operable by putting 5mm LED's in the signal heads instead of the plastic inserts; others have cut the heads to change them from two two-light heads to a single three-light head.

It makes no matter if it is glued or not. It cost you $12 and most likely 50 years from now it will be worth $15 Box or not. Enjoy it and don't worry what it maybe worth in the future. 

I won a sealed PW 736 some years ago from an auction site and the first thing I did was to open it, lube it and then run it to the horror of some friends. Who cares what it is worth in the future. The only thing I care about is how much fun I'm going to have. Btw I like pristine locomotives in new condition and yes they all will run. 

A number of the recent production Plasticville Buildings were altered from the older ones. The change that jumps out at me was the elimination of the cast-on, raised lettering on at least some pieces. I think Plasticville was providing stickers to replace the missing lettering. IMHO, the raised lettering looked a lot better.
It has been a good while since I purchased any Plasticville. I don't know what they are currently doing.

Hi Mike:

First, it goes without saying that it’s your item to do whatever you want with it. 

Now is it post-war as opposed to a modern Bachman product?  If it’s post-war, then he’s right about the box as they were quite fragile.  If it’s not post-war, I don’t think there’s market for modern Plasticville boxes, yet. 

If it is post-war and if you ever plan to resell it, die-hard Plasticville collectors. even if they want to use a Plasticville structure on a layout, frown on glued Plasticville.  

One further comment on it: I have a lot of Plasticville but I don’t have that bridge and I think the reason I never bought one is because it does not have operating lights.  IMO, the Lionel #450 signal bridge (and its modern Lionel & MTH counterparts) is a much better accessory as it lights up and can be used to simulate a real block signal system.   

Bill

Vintage Plasticville is still very cheap on eBay.  Less expensive than the new stuff which is considerably thinner and dare I say it, made in China.  And we know what that means. 

I like your thinking David. You can't take 'em with you. Enjoy them now!

Thanks for my first chuckle of the day.  

glue the bridge like you want and sell the box   there is a plasticville collectors society that has a buy sell section if I recall.

The problem with the signal bridge is that it tends to come apart after a while. The vibration from running the trains will do it. I have about 75 Plasticville items, some of them from back when they were called Build a House. Some are old still sealed and some are open glued together and I leave them that way. The only reason some are sealed is because I havent found a use for them on my layout. I have about 20 or so of the cape cods and some of them tend to come apart from vibrations. I didnt want to glue them together but thats only for storage reasons. After putting them together, I wrap a rubber band around the top to hold them together. The rubber band is hidden by the edge of the roof. This year I found that white glue will hold them together from vibration but will come off when I want to disassemble them. So when you assemble your bridge, just brush on a little white glue and it will hold the bridge together. Its not a strong bond as if you were to use a plastic cement but it will hold it together for your use.

I throw the boxes away - I want the building, not the box.  Not interested in any resale value.  Meanwhile, the boxes would just take up room

Don't listen to the local dealer, that box is worth nothing, and that bridge is about the cheapest plasticville item you can get. i have thrown a few of them away in past years because you can't sell them.

There is enough Plasticville on eBay that Alien Archeologists are going to be digging up piles of it 1000 years from now.

I do believe the LHS was having fun kidding around. 

I have never read so much misinformation from lack of knowledge in my life before this post. Might I suggest one to visit the PCA web site and read about Bachmann and Plasticville, it's values, it's collectibility, and its history. 

Gandy

PCA 02-121

Methinks you must live a sheltered life....or, are very young!

There is a whole lot more ignorance than this out in the world.

I wish it were not so.

You seem a little harsh on these boys!

Greg

It's a box.

The stuff I buy is for me to use, not my heirs.

.....

Dennis

Rubber cement will hold it together.

I use my two Plasticville boxes for storage... if I can find something to put in them, that is.

Aaron

No offense, but I think you harbor a misconception that often gets in the way of discussions like these: interperting values differnt than yours as ignorance. 

I have read enough on the PCA website, been to enough shows, reviewed enough offerings on e-bay and at auction houses, and talked to enough friends enthusiastic about their collections, that I know very well that some Plasticville stuff can be very valuable if collected/preserved right.  I'm not ignorant.  I just don't care!  I buy the same buildings you might buy, but for a far different reason and with a different set of values: I want the building for my layout and I could not care less about any collectible value, etc.: the box goes into the recycle bin, and more often than not, Icut up, file, drill, paint or otherwise bash nearly every building I buy, Plasticville being no exception. One thing I do know is that in every case I do glue ti together so its never coming apart.

"No offense, but I think you harbor a misconception that often gets in the way of discussions like these: interperting values differnt than yours as ignorance."

This is called 'The American Way'.  Exhibit A...The so-called daily/nightly news.

But, back to the subject matter...the box. 

Flatten it and put it in the recycling bin for your weekly trash p/u.   (Have someone make a quick video of this horrific box-abuse to show to the fellow at the LHS who suggested otherwise.)   

Glue the bridge together...permanently...if that is your preference.  Glue on extra details...if it's a roadway bridge, add wood road planking and a cool diecast auto.  Be sure to also add a pedestrian walkway along one side...complete with pedestrians and railings to keep them from doing what George Bailey did when he saw Clarence thrashing about in the icy water below.  Slather it with a rusty wash to give it character.  Place it in a prominent position on your layout.   

Smile every time you look at the bridge.

KD

I'm also a member of the PCA, and I have Plasticville from the Build a House era to the Chinese blue box times. I have one piece that is a "rare collectors" item, and I bought it by accident for less than the what the common versions of the piece go for. Most of my Plasticville is common, boxed, and unglued on display (or waiting to be rotated in) on my layout. Some of the pieces I have have been repainted by myself; the cape cods are known for glue stains, and if they are too far stained, they got repainted. I've bought several pieces that were glued by a previous owner (sometimes you miss that detail when buying online)

In my opinion, the problem with gluing them together is that they take up more room when storing or transporting them. I have a box of them that I use for my modules, and there's about a dozen buildings in there that take up about the same amount of space as the three that are glued together. I have had a building collapse a time or two though , but that's often a highlight for the 10 or so year old boy that's standing there (things always seem to magically happen when there's an unattended 10 year old boy nearby).

If you haven't heard of the PCA, please take a look at the website:

http://www.plasticvilleusa.org/

I think for the $12 a year (I think) they charge, the newsletter is very well done. The website has a ton of info on it too. (end shameless plug)

J White

Shameless plug maybe, but will meant.  I like the plasticvilleusa website, and the only reason I don't join the group is I just am not into collecting them at all.  I'm glad there are people who are, and get pleasure from that - seems to me better than collecting Hummel figures, etc.  It's just not what I do but I love talking to people who have big collections - its fun and itneresting.

Bottom line is that its Michaels box and he can do whatever he wants to with it. But as train collectors or operators(I call myself a collectorator because I do both)we all know the value of trains and the things associated with them, like original boxes. Im sure the people back in the early days of model trains, if they knew that their trains and boxes would be worth so much money that they would have taken better care and kept the boxes. I think its silly to pay for a box only to throw it away, thats just like throwing money away. You can just as easily buy the same item for less without the box. I keep all boxes and paper work because I know some day chances are they will be worth money. I have over 500 trains but I dont consider myself a collector in that I buy trains for their value. I buy trains that I like with the intention to operate and run them, although I have some that I have never run, YET. Two of the three sets I ran on this years Christmas layout have never been run before, one of them is from 1991 and the other is from about 2000. The third set is the original Polar Express set and this is only the second time it has been operated. Trains were orriginally made to be played with as a toy. Today they are made to be collected just as much as they are made to be played with.

Take the box back to the hobby shop and ask the owner how much he will pay you for it.  That will determine the real value and test the validity of his thesis. 

Facetiousness ... or brain flatulence?

I use clear silicone sealer to assemble every Christmas and easily removable after, then store back in original box until next year or plastic bag if no box. Non staining, doesn't damage plastic, and just pull apart and peel off.