Will Lionel sell shipping boxes for Legacy and Vision Line engines?

You do realize the "VALUE" of an outer original shipping box is a "percieved value" . A value established by collectors. I.E. ....us.

IF someday the outer shipping box is no longer is "valued"   it might as well be a beanie baby.

To be of current "value" a replacement "box" will need to have printed Lionel on it  the items mfg# 6-?????, all the size info , "made in China" printing as well as shipped to: and shipped from: information.

WE place an unrealistic value on cardboard that is intended to protect the value of the contents of the box.

Perfect packaging is NOT going to make up for "only test run", or "hardly used".

It will not offset zinc rot ,  paint fade, rubs and scratches incurred by original packaging, broken or defective electronics, or missing parts.

DOES IT RUN AND WORK AS MANUFACTURED, is what's really important and in the long run is where the real value lies.

Many here can attest to receiving brand new product that fails to perform "right out of the box"

Buy it, run it, enjoy it.....that's the value

Take care of it, keep the "black, purple, or orange " box in decent condition, if you can.  If you decide to resell it, forget about the "old brown box".

Make a new secure shipping box. Get it to the new owner so they can enjoy the real value.

.

I LIKE ENCHILADAS!!! And beanie babies 

Mmmmm enchiladas 

With beans !!

ALL value is "perceived" value.

You don’t eat beans with enchiladas, you eat em with rice

Matt Makens posted:

You don’t eat beans with enchiladas, you eat em with rice

But what do you eat the Beanie Babies with?

As to the topic, I'm in favor of having the shipper if an item came with one.  Obviously for many items that come multiples to a case it's not a realistic goal.  I don't count an item out with no shipper, but it's a positive thing.  No inner box may (probably would) be a deal breaker, since I then need to fabricate something for storage.  So I don't anticipate ever buying many trains from the guys who gleefully have bonfires to burn their boxes.

As to the comments about cat pee, mold, etc, those are problems that have nothing to do with the shipping box itself. I'm not sure I want the train itself either if that's been going on!  I don't care how carefully you try to clean the cat pee off an engine, I don't want it once that's happened!  (and people with cats that pee in places other than the litter-box are probably nose blind to it enough that there is no way they would be able to tell when they've done a good enough job to push such an item off on someone who doesn't have a cat)

Maybe I should clarify that for me the shipping box is important to protect the inner box for storage purposes("shelf wear").  I'm actually hoping the shipper hasn't actually been used a lot as the actual outer container to ship an item, though obviously once or twice could be normal.  Obviously these things don't survive intact if they've been through USPS/UPS/FedEx 20 times for resales.

As to Lionel having these, I'm really surprised someone ever told the OP that Lionel might actually do this.  Probably just telling him what they thought he wanted to hear?  I recall back in Century Club 2 days, I received one of the items from Lionel with a damaged shipping box (corner actually got torn off, probably something like close to an inch or so on each of the 3 directions from the corner).  Lionel had no external shippers to replace that then, though they did at that time have a spare inner box to try to exchange (but the one they exchanged with me was probably not noticeably better, it just had "different" flaws than the one where the corner was damaged).  Train itself was OK.

-Dave

old shipping boxes can become a source of mildew.

Here's a link to an old thread

https://ogrforum.com/...ep-your-layout-clean

I have bought a few pieces on E!@# recently and the inner boxes and outer shippers reeked of mildew. (Tossed all the packaging and spent time cleaning the "new in the box" cars of the smell)

(Passenger cars smell like the facilities need to be serviced)

justakid posted:

old shipping boxes can become a source of mildew.

Here's a link to an old thread

https://ogrforum.com/...ep-your-layout-clean

I have bought a few pieces on E!@# recently and the inner boxes and outer shippers reeked of mildew. (Tossed all the packaging and spent time cleaning the "new in the box" cars of the smell)

(Passenger cars smell like the facilities need to be serviced)

I think you mean they can absorb moisture (perhaps leading to mildew), if kept in a humid environment.

Once one has it, it could propagate, but a shipping box alone is not the SOURCE.

That argument could apply to the regular boxes as well, of course.  Though possibly a little less absorbent from just the ambient air since they have a different outer surface than a shipping box, the same mildew concern could apply.

As stated in that thread, dehumidifiers are key if you have significant humidity in your basement or other train storage area.

-Dave

Dave45681

As RICHTHROW POSTED on the afore mentioned  thread 

"Sometime last spring, I brought a box of supplies in from the garage and placed it under the layout. Apparently that box (now referred to as "patient zero" ) had some mildew on it and within a few months, it was everywhere "

I would be concerned buying an item and paying a premium for the original outer shipper and receiving a "contaminated" outer shipper. As I posted myself earlier, that is exactly what happened to me recently.

Some people get used to the smell of mildew or mold. To me it smells , just as does cigarette smoke , and is just as difficult to eliminate.

An item purchased at a train show might not "stink" until you've got it home.

An item purchased at auction or through eb!@# wont reveal till you get it delivered to you.

There may soon be collections from California entering the market place that will have "smoke damage" to the outer box. Perhaps perspective buyers will NEED replacement boxes and Lionel and MTH Should make an attempt to stock some generic sizes.

(The size and capacity are printed on the original boxes and probably in their data base, from when their orders were first processed.)