Vision Line

Gotta agree 1,000% with the advice given by Berkshire President.  You can certainly sell your goods to members at York if you feel the need to sell face to face.  But that means being tied to your table for the duration of the meet, unless you have a friend or family member you ca take turns with holding down the fort.

Best route to sell V/L stuff is right here.  That way you can avoid eBay fees.

Greenberg's printed guides were an iffy proposition back in the 80's and 90's, and they're absolutely useless nowadays 'cause the market dynamics change so quickly.  Don't waste your money.  With auctions and eBay results often available for the checking, you can do your research and it will be much more accurate.

Best of luck with your sales!!!  You should have no trouble selling V/L items in this market.  Just be realistic with your asking prices... And hopefully you're not trying to sell any Centipedes!!!

David

With the possible exception of the UP flavor. Those seemed to have disappeared overnight.

Thats cuz the UP Centipedes were the AWESOMEST ones made even though they were only ordered and never actually delivered

Yes... there's no denying the UP color scheme is a winner all around.  And aside from the eye-catching UP yellow with crisp lettering, the silver trucks REALLY emphasize the details down under.  Whereas all the other Centipedes were done up in a lackluster black, which may have been prototypical -- but just doesn't show off the details in that long series of centipede wheels like the UP silver does.

David

I don't think there's a soul here who can predict which products will become one of the "hot" ones, like the GEVO and CP Hybrids did.  Certainly there's no rational rhyme or reason to it... and I would argue it doesn't even DIRECTLY correlate to supply and demand, because there's plenty out there.  And if there aren't any for sale at the moment, all someone needs to do is express an interest with a WTB and voilla... a seller will quickly surface to cash in on the "perceived rarity".    Very predictable.

The "hot ones" list of items that were "hot at one point in time but now can't even be given away" is a long list indeed... and includes MPC/LTI passenger sets, F3 B-units, diner cars, vista dome cars, one-off pieces of rolling stock like the Lionel 5712 reefer, and even occasionally a locomotive or two.

As far as the V/L Big Boy goes... hang in there and see what happens.  None of us here knows for sure.  We can only offer a "hunch" which is only as good as the next person's hunch.  So I'll go on record with my hunch, and say that I doubt the Big Boy is going to sky-rocket like the Hybrids and some of the diecast ES44's (which have already showed signs of capping off).  The next Legacy advanced feature -- whether incremental or enormous -- will seal its eventual fate, and the Big Boy will lose its "hot one" status.

The only way these gems will have any degree of long-term "hot one" status would be if new production of trains ceased altogether.  But given the size of the catalogs published these days, that doesn't seem likely anytime soon. 

David

Whether you like it or not, technology is now intertwined with our hobby.  Some may actually say driving the hobby to some degree.  (TMCC, Legacy, PS1-3, etc.)

But here's what some people fail to grasp:  Technology is ALWAYS changing and moving along.  It doesn't stop evolving.

As a result, I think the days of buying something and keeping it in the box so that it appreciates are all but done.....at least in the long term.  Why?  B/C as the technology changes or the models get more/better features, there will be LESS demand for "old" products....b/c the demand will, for the most part, be for the newer, more advanced (although not necessarily more reliable) technology.

Let's just look at the most recent Legacy Berkshires.  They are very nice locomotives and currently hard to find, for the most part.  But, within the next five years or so, Lionel will release another round of Berkshires with some new features.  Then, within five year after that, yet another round of Berkshires with new technology/features will be issued.  It won't end....unless new models are no longer being made.

What's my point?  Don't plan on retiring or paying your mortgage via model train appreciation.  Instead, run them.  Often.  When properly maintained (which is very easy to do), today's models can last a long time...and are tremendously fun to operate.  (Side note:  It seems a sin to add/develop all of these features just to leave a model sit in a box.  They were made/designed to run.  Let them fulfill their destiny!!!)

>>>The only way these gems will have any degree of long-term "hot one" status would be if new production of trains ceased altogether.  But given the size of the catalogs published these days, that doesn't seem likely anytime soon.  <<

Buying and selling trains for fun and or personal enjoyment is both good and rewarding. However buying trains with any intent of future investment profit is totally ridiculous and frankly a waste of time. Lionel is really no different from any of the other major toy manufacturer or importer in that their major concern has always been making money on a continuing basis - year after year. Promoting new and or unique 'features' on their engines on a continuing basis (i.e. 5 year business cycle) is just one example of how they distinguishing themselves from the rest of the pack. Obviously nothing wrong with Lionel or MTH adding new 'goodies' to their product line, however, purchasing new toy trains is certainly not a wise investment for any collector who thinks they're going to make a financial killing in the future.