$4000! What Are The Most Valuable Lionel Postwar Locomotives in 2025?

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  • Опубликовано: 26 янв 2025

Комментарии • 57

  • @asdfdsa45
    @asdfdsa45 20 часов назад +5

    These guides are best for use in discerning an items rarity, not a price. My dad used to say "it's only worth what the next man will give for it."

    • @ToyTrainTipsAndTricks
      @ToyTrainTipsAndTricks  13 минут назад

      That's always true, as I stated in the video. The guide, at least, gives one a ballpark figure from which to begin.

  • @johnknippenberg-LandmarkYards
    @johnknippenberg-LandmarkYards 7 часов назад +1

    In addition to old trains, I collect pocket knives. On a forum I frequent, we get one and done posters often asking how much a knife they found is worth. I always tell them to do an eBay "Completed Listings" search to get a ballpark. Someone's definition of "Mint" varies from seller to buyer. Lots of counterfeiting in the pocket knife market too. Great video, thanks!

  • @Eyrrll
    @Eyrrll День назад +11

    I’m glad you posted those older values, as they show how terrible these old trains are as investments.

    • @wayneantoniazzi2706
      @wayneantoniazzi2706 23 часа назад +2

      NEVER buy trains, antiques, sports memorabilia, whatever, as investments!
      Buy it because you LIKE it, and for no other reason. If the value goes up then all well and good but remember, there's NO guarantees.

    • @stevenpeaketrainsandstuff3682
      @stevenpeaketrainsandstuff3682 23 часа назад

      ​@wayneantoniazzi2706 Good advice mate.

    • @Eyrrll
      @Eyrrll 22 часа назад +1

      I owned a comic book shop for a number of years and that was the general advice I would give to customers (although I would never say “never” to a customer).
      Truth is, you can make decent money at investing in collectible things like that, but it almost always comes down more to luck than skill… which is why I never pushed things as investments.

  • @gszookeeper77
    @gszookeeper77 10 часов назад +1

    In my opinion, a lot of today's postwar collectors are also still operators interested in finding premium items, but at a price that seems reasonable. They are not as driven by ownership as they once were, except in those cases where items are truly and incredibly rare, or where its perfect condition outweighs any price guide reflection.
    Interestingly, it seems that real vintage paper continues to hold value. Just yesterday a single foldover 1958 Lionel dealer-only premium advertising campaign folder sold on eBay for $230. A number of pre-1920 catalogs have topped $500 in the last several months as well, with Some over a thousand. Again, as far as I can see, however, these examples are truly rare and almost unavailable except on unique occasions.
    Thanks for the research done on this video.

    • @ToyTrainTipsAndTricks
      @ToyTrainTipsAndTricks  13 минут назад +1

      I agree. Paper and truly MINT items are always rising in price because there are fewer and fewer surviving examples every year.

  • @wayneantoniazzi2706
    @wayneantoniazzi2706 23 часа назад +2

    Fine video Mike! Very informative!
    One way to get ideas of the worth of vintage toy trains (and I'm speaking of all makes and models) is visit the train shows and as the saying goes "Get your eye in." Some may be priced high, some priced low, but a good estimate of an average price can be gotten that way. Major on-line sellers like trainz are a good gauge as well when you consider they're in business to move stock and make money.

    • @ToyTrainTipsAndTricks
      @ToyTrainTipsAndTricks  21 час назад +1

      Great tip!

    • @gszookeeper77
      @gszookeeper77 11 часов назад +1

      Agreed. The real TRAINZ price seen on eBay sold listing is an excellent barometer of current value.

  • @RABSTRAINS
    @RABSTRAINS 10 часов назад +1

    Awesome Video. Great Information! Thanks Mike🙏🙏👍❤️💪🇺🇸

  • @axxeminister
    @axxeminister 19 часов назад +1

    As a general rule of thumb, the prices in the Greenberg guide reflects what you would PAY for the engine, not what you would receive if selling.
    Expect to get about half that price or a little more.
    Many people forget this and when selling their trains expect to get the price in the guide. That's not how it works.

  • @mdeange3
    @mdeange3 День назад +1

    Hi Mike, I enjoyed your presentation on Postwar Lionel Trains. The video was enlightening and enjoyable. Thank you very much for sharing with us.👍🙂

  • @TitanicKid
    @TitanicKid День назад +3

    My personal top ten (keep in mind this is coming from someone who values oddballs and reliability):
    10. The diecast 1001 - A factory error item created during production of the 1101, in which some 1101 locomotives were stamped with the 1001 number. I own one of these things, and it's both a good runner and a good conversation piece.
    9. The 2321 Trainmaster, maroon roof version - All the features that could possibly be packed into a postwar diesel, plus a stylish paint job to boot.
    8. The 671R, 1949 production - I've only seen one of these, a 671R with a full set of sintered iron drivers. The one I found proved to be my most frustrating eBay experience ever - I won and was told to pay, only for it to suddenly say I lost when I tried to pay.
    7. The 1666 - Easily the smoothest running and most easily maintained Lionel locomotive I've ever encountered. The collector market may not place a particularly high price on them, but they're worth their weight in gold for operations.
    6. The 682 - The king of the postwar turbines, highly desirable and a great runner.
    5. The 2343 F3 - The most iconic of the postwar F3s. "Growler" motors, MagneTraction, classic warbonnet paint job, there's nothing more you could want out of a postwar F3.
    4. The 746, short stripe tender - The 746 is a postwar icon for many reasons, not the least of which being the pulling power, but the short stripe tender has always been interesting to me. For some strange reason it looks better than the long stripe.
    3. The 726 - The first top-of-the-line loco of the postwar era, with more than enough weight to make up for the lack of MagneTraction. Baldwin disc drivers, shiny nickel rims, and the large 2426W tender give this thing a look that none of the other berks of the era could compete with.
    2. The 2330 - The first GG1 to have twin motors and MagneTraction, which would become the standard from that point on.
    1. The 1950 773 - To likely nobody's surprise. Everything that made the 763E great, plus smoke, MagneTraction, and the ability to run on O-31 curves. Easily the best version of the scale hudson Lionel has released (barring the 700E of course).

  • @MatthewJoseph-td5qc
    @MatthewJoseph-td5qc 23 часа назад +1

    Well Mike you just opened up a whole can of worms on this edition now you are going to have to put out a video on Postwar Lionel's 6464 boxcars. I like the ones with the very realistic Timken style freight trucks.I.E.: the Dante Fe, the Minneapolis & St. Louis, the NYC jade green, the black New Haven, and the green and orange Great Northern. I just love Lionel boxcars with those Timken style freight trucks!!!❤❤ Thank You for sharing this video,keep them coming and as always Happy Railroading!!! Sincerely, MPC Matt.

  • @billintex001
    @billintex001 День назад +4

    Price guides are nice, but a train's value is whatever you can get for it today. My rule of thumb is simply, what are eBayers willing to pay? That's its value. I can list a train at 15 hundred but if no one buys it, then it's not worth that much, regardless of how much I may have put into it. But the open market auction is very telling. On the other hand, however, there's sentimental value. I don't sell those lol. Those can be sold after I've moved on.

    • @Eyrrll
      @Eyrrll День назад

      @@billintex001 I generally use eBay sales as a starting point for values but even then, there are still a lot of factors to consider.
      Things like how reputable the seller is and how good the photos and description are will matter a lot… poor examples of either can cause something to sell much lower than it normally would.
      But still, yeah, searching eBay under the “sold” category is a fantastic tool.

  • @Frank-e9p
    @Frank-e9p День назад +5

    I find that the listed values are ridiculously expensive. That encourages production of fake models.

  • @Jimgress
    @Jimgress 23 часа назад +2

    I wish more people would post videos like this. The number of people in this hobby who treat it as a speculator's market is what makes model railroading simply unapproachable for the majority of younger hobbyists. The number of channels that keep calling trains a great "investment" is frankly myopic and delusional since collecting to this degree artificially constrains the market to the point that it prices out new hobbyists and thus reduces the value over time as fewer people remain interested as each generation passes away. Couldn't tell you how many "collections" I see ending end up in the dump because collectors hoarded their trains and kept them out of reach of younger hands to the point that nobody in the family ever developed interest. Seeing that en masse really tells a broader tale about the future of the hobby.

    • @ToyTrainTipsAndTricks
      @ToyTrainTipsAndTricks  20 часов назад +1

      There was a time when Lionel prices outperformed the stock market, but that is certainly not true of today's market.

    • @joeokelly6404
      @joeokelly6404 32 минуты назад +1

      Most operating grade Lionel or common pieces in nice condition are selling for pennies on the dollar. A younger hobbyist doesn't need a gray nose 2023, and could get a nice example of the more common yellow noise version for a fraction of the cost. Building a collection of the meat and potatoes classics has never been more affordable, and prices are coming down. If one ventures into items from the 90s (which some of it is better than postwar) they're practically giving it away if you know where to look.
      The actual rare items are still expensive, and the Greenberg price guide is laughably low on what I see some stuff selling for. As a more advanced collector I wish prices would come down on some of it as I'll get blown away at auctions, but still, certain items don't belong in the hands of newbies.
      If you're looking at the new Lionel catalogues and modern great then that's a different ball game.

    • @gszookeeper77
      @gszookeeper77 4 минуты назад

      ​Decades ago, Elliott Weltz took a nice set of 2023s I bought in high school and he redid them for me... complete with gray noses. No one can mistake them for originals as they look much better than the factory ones ever did!

  • @mikemiura7740
    @mikemiura7740 День назад +1

    Hey Mr Mike! Watch you all the time. Can you research the values of the market flooded 027 semi scaled Lionel items?

  • @Burmn
    @Burmn День назад +1

    Maybe do one on operating accessories? Perhaps the most rare

  • @johnandrus3901
    @johnandrus3901 День назад +1

    Nice! I actually look at inflation as what keeps the prices down. A little less money in people's pockets, means less to spend on things like trains. As far as the Picker's being fooled, I saw the problems right away and I'm not a pre-war expert or collector. Different paint colors and missing parts were quite noticeable. I doubt that the guy who sold the State Set to them was unaware, as the condition was obvious. I knew that Danielle wouldn't be able to get anywhere close to what the guy's expected. I have a couple of the items you listed, but not in C8 or better, but still fairly nice. An excellent video, as always.

  • @richardsobieck9660
    @richardsobieck9660 23 часа назад +1

    Nice job!

  • @keithlewis4250
    @keithlewis4250 17 часов назад

    I bought the Union Pacific 2023 at a train show in 2023 for $170. Runs really good, the letters are a little faded. Cab is yellow. i aslo have a 210 Texas Special 1958. My dad bought it when my oldest brother was born. I bought another 210 in 2020 for $145 like new.

  • @markattardo
    @markattardo День назад

    Interesting! Not sure I'd be able to tell how something was stamped but as I am not a collector I'll learn if something potentially special falls in my lap.

    • @ToyTrainTipsAndTricks
      @ToyTrainTipsAndTricks  День назад +1

      Heat stamping to leaves an imprint that can be felt and seen. If you inspect a 6262 gondola, for example, you can feel the indentation of the heat stamped lettering.

  • @joew389
    @joew389 23 часа назад

    So, as I understand your description of valuation, these values are based on recent average sales prices for C7 Excellent condition Lionel locomotives. The TCA Condition/Grading Standards provide a pretty clear description of the appearance and external condition of the model. But nowhere is the operating condition of the locomotive mentioned. Is there some implicit assumption for each grade about its running condition? It seems to me that excellent should include very good running operation. But you could also have a model in excellent C7 external condition that simply doesn’t run. How does that affect the value?

    • @ToyTrainTipsAndTricks
      @ToyTrainTipsAndTricks  20 часов назад

      There is an assumption that Good or better items are functional. Obviously, a nonfunctioning item would reduce the price substantially. The guide is a guide, not a rulebook.

  • @JerryTheTankYank1776
    @JerryTheTankYank1776 День назад

    Video suggestion: Have tips for how to make an e unit lock switch for Williams locomotives?
    My Williams fp45 is a spectacular runner for 75 dollars, but I wonder if there’s a way I can install an e unit lock

    • @ToyTrainTipsAndTricks
      @ToyTrainTipsAndTricks  23 часа назад +1

      The problem, especially with early Williams, is that they used different boards from different suppliers with different circuits. The instructions for one would not necessarily work for another.

    • @JerryTheTankYank1776
      @JerryTheTankYank1776 22 часа назад

      @ ah, that’s a shame, but I appreciate this information

  • @stevenbills217
    @stevenbills217 19 часов назад

    Although the o gauge postwar or even prewar trains are not so much of an investment i still enjoy them for what they are and always will. I am happy for the prices to come down but you can no longer say it’s an investment. You will be luckily to get some of your money back but definitely not all of it. Just enjoy running, collecting and playing with trains.

  • @mikemiura7740
    @mikemiura7740 День назад

    Mr Mike, do you think that these current Lionel trains that sell for $2000 and above with all the foreign tech installed, would increase their value in the 50 years? Many collectors think so

    • @ToyTrainTipsAndTricks
      @ToyTrainTipsAndTricks  День назад +1

      My personal thought is that today's tech in 50 years will be looked at like Sound Of Steam today.

  • @allinaxford
    @allinaxford День назад

    The Boys Train Set there are only 3 of, all proto types, and in collections. At least that is what I read.

    • @ToyTrainTipsAndTricks
      @ToyTrainTipsAndTricks  День назад +1

      With so few made, it's not considered a regular production item and so is not listed in the guide.

  • @NoahDutkewycz
    @NoahDutkewycz День назад

    Would anyone be able to help identify the price of a pre war s gauge Hudson condition is between c8 and c9

  • @OgaugeTrainsplusslotCars
    @OgaugeTrainsplusslotCars День назад

    Can’t afford any.I have 13 Trains.And iam good.I like post Trains however I can do with out

  • @plunkervillerr1529
    @plunkervillerr1529 17 часов назад

    Them that there aint true, zee prewar tin to me be of big bucks, maybe. Anyway, I likem me Marx tin the most. Aaa?