If you love collecting model trains, you can join a long lineage of collectors from the late 1800s to early 1900s who also share this passion. For some collectors, part of the fun is the “hunt” and discovery of model train treasures whether it’s in thrift stores, online shops, or through organizations like the Train Collectors Association.
Fortunately, right now train collectors don’t have to hunt all over. We have an online auction that is chock FULL of model trains and train sets. A lifelong collection is available in our latest Combined Assets Gallery Estate Sale auction that starts closing on September 29, 2020. This is actually part 2 of the sale.
Some of the brands that are included in this sale include MTH Electric Trains, Lionel Trains, Aristocraft Trains, Rail King, Weaver, Williams Electric Trains, Tinplate Traditions, and more.
In this article, we’re providing tips and guides that we’ve found across the web. This may help you find valuable trains to add to your collection…
The Train Collectors Association has an article that offers many collecting tips, plus resources for determining value. Their first tip says that “scarcity determines value”, which is a tip that can apply to any other type of collection. Other auction sites such as eBay can give you an idea of what prices are being paid for toy train collectibles. In our last Combined Assets auction, you can get an idea of what the model trains sold for.
In an article over at Classic Toy Trains, the author gives us insight on knowing what to collect when collecting toy trains and electric trains. He offers this general rule of collecting: “Well-preserved examples of items that were produced for a legitimate purpose – general circulation coins and stamps, for instance, and trains intended as playthings – are most likely to increase in worth.”
If you’re into collecting Lionel Trains (we have many of these trains in our current auction), the Invaluable website has an informative guide on the values of various types of Lionel trains from four different eras of production.
Whether you’re just starting out your model train collection, you’ve been collecting for years, or you collect as an investment, as long as you enjoy the journey is all that matters. Some may believe that train collecting is a bygone hobby, but if trains were to become extinct, then wouldn’t that make these collections be more valuable in the future?
