O/T Anybody into vintage toy train sets?

[willowbilly3]

I have a 1953 Gilbert Flyer that I found in my brother in laws shed. It even has the book and registration card but not the original box. I am suposed to ebay it for him but thought I would see what you guys have to say about it. I don't know squat about these. I see them on ebay bring from #30 to $1800 and I don't see the difference.

[oldchevyseller]

the difference is 1770 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Nads]

I collect Thomas the Tank Engine stuff.

[desertratrodder]

What gauge is it? O is the big stuff, I dont remember the most common one, and I think N is the itty bitty ones..
I have a O gauge set from my dad, 40-50's vintage. Some of that stuff is worth some bucks. Maybe look for a price book at the library or take it down to a hobby shop. Its gonna be worth 10 times what they offer you.

[HRH]

There are tons of sites dedicated to toy trains as well as toy train collecter forums. I don't remember a company called Gilbert though. I'd check out trains.com or the Lionel website. I've got an entire collection of old trains including stuff that I got when I was a kid, mydad's trains from when he was a kid, my grandfathers and my greatgrandfathers toy trains. I found out a lot about my collection through through these sites. Hope they help

[HRH]

HO is the most common scale which includes most sets that you would get at a toy store today

[Radshit]

Myself and a few others here, are into the HO scale stuff.......I was heavily involved, several years ago before my father passed away........now I have about 5000 pieces of rolling stock in storage....someday I'd love to get back into it...

[____]

Arnold Drummond is into Lionel trains.

[scarylarry]

I dont know a bunch about train stuff, but enough to get by. Gilbert made American Flyer trains. The 3 rail track stuff was standard guage, like the Lionel O gauge and S guage was the 2 rail and was 7/8 scale. As with all collectable stuff, condition is everything. Without the box you may do better piecing it out with VIVID descriptions or the shit WILL come back to you. Train collectors are dicks when it comes to condition. I would reserch American Flyer trains with the same # as on the side of yours on ebay and see what they are bringing in the real world.

[38pickup]

I am into O gauge... Me and my dad have been working on a layout since i was 5 and now i am 21 and it has been moved 5 times http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[50Fraud]

My recollection matches scarylarry's exactly. I suggest Googling "American Flyer" and see what you find. Their trains were never as popular as Lionel's -- they're slightly smaller, and with 2 rails, somewhat fussier to wire -- but I'm sure they have a hobbyist following just the same.

A.C.Gilbert was also the original manufacturer of Erector sets, if I'm not mistaken.

[willowbilly3]

Yeah I guess I should check it out better. I always figure if I put up a good description and let it be known that I am ignorant so people will ask questions that it will bring whatever it's worth right then. I did look up completed sales on American Flyer and that is whaere I got my figures of $30 and $1800, and thanks for the math lesson 60bisquit, is that your offer?. I think I will just piece it out as some of the cars have great detail and I also have the whistle which nobody else had in the 50 or so completed items. It is disguised as a bill board.
I just hate to let anything go without teling you guys about it first.
When I started selling on ebay a couple yeares ago, the first thing I sold was this old guitar we had moved three times already and it was always just out in the shed. Dam thing ended up bringing $1300. It was an old Gibson and it turns out that it was made for USO troops in WW2. I did pry that out of the second bidder after the auction was over. Dam guitar dickheads wouldn't tell me nothin about it while the auction was on tho. The guy also told me it might have brought a couple grand had I marketed it right. Liv'n'learn

[nomobux]

In 1948 my dad gave me a 22 rifle and a Lionel train set. Top of the line, whistle / smoke / lights / etc. I was only 4, so I think it was really for him. Sold the rifle to a friends son in the early 60s to help finance a 27 T I was buildin. Anyway, I still have the train. SHIT -- I just gave away my age.

[oldchevyseller]

this weekend is ahuge old hardware store auction in mankato, hagens hardware, and in the paper is hundreds of trains, going way back ,in the boxs never sold!!! anyhow the people are coming from all over the world for the auction ,

[tinyelvis]

My brother has my dad's American Flyer trains, those are great. I think they were as popular as the Lionel stuff, maybe better I don't know. I do know that it's a lot more rare, and expensive. We had them repaired at a hobby shop about 15 years ago and they work great, he puts them around his tree every year at x-mas.

I can't imagine ever selling them though.. if he does, I'll kill him. Some things you just don't sell, no matter what. Not that this is your case but I digress...

I think they are O gauge, tracks have 2 rails, the Lionel trains had 3 (most of them anyway) from what I remember. I had HO and N scale as a kid, there is even Z scale which is smaller than N... amazing detail.. hmmm man dont make me get back into electric trains.. I love that shit! I still have all my HO trains, none of the buildings though.. oh well.

[Spitfire1776]

I think the 1800 might be one of those rare cases. I bet your looking at between 500-600 range for the most part. But be wary like Larry said, a lot of those train collectors are real sticky wickets to deal with. i have my collection, most of them would scoff at. The trains have scratches and chipped paint, but they have history. Most of those guys I don't think are interested in the history behind the particular train just model.

Hope you do find yourself in one of those lucky rare sale instances.

[Uncle Pancakes]

A little more info if it helps. Gilbert made American Flyer, they also were the makers of Erector Sets too! If you have the track, does it have three rails or only two? 3 rails is pre WWII. If the track is about three inches wide and the cars are tinplate metal it could be worth some serious money. If the track is about two inches wide it is later pre war stuff (mid/late 30s. If the track has two rails and is about 1 1/2 inches wide it is post war S scale. As mentioned above condition is EVERYTHING when it comes to old trains and toys in general. I collect old Flyer stuff up to a point, all post war S scale and I am not all that fussy about overall condition. Some cars and locos are a lot rarer than others. Look at all the cars, check the sides of them for numbers and what color they are, same with locos then make a list. Head to your local library or look on line for Greenbergs Train collecter/value books. An example is I have a flyer car that is an orange Santa Fe box car with the number 456 on the side, it might be worth $5-10 in decent condition, I might find the same car, same color but with a different number that is super rare and it will go for $100! Its like collecting old speed parts, in one swap space you find a manifold for $100 and two spaces over someone has one that looks damn near the same but wants $400 for it all because it has some slight difference or cast number etc... If they have any family history why not just hang on to them? All my old Lionel and Flyer trains I had as a kid were stolen about 15 years ago, I never used at the time but I sure do miss em jst for the memories attached to them....Oh yeah I know a guy who is a serious "train geek" Flyer collecter if you can e-mail me some pics I can try to get some honest values for you plus our library has some Greenbergs books too.

[willowbilly3]

I will get the stuff out and go through it better. The book that is with them is copyright 1954(not 53) so I am assuming it is that vintage. My bother in law didn't even know they had it. I had seen it in 94 when I was out to the old ranch poking around. We were back out there in July and I ask if the old train set was still there. He said there was no train set but I went right to it. He thought it might have been his older half brother's.
Since the stuff is plenty dusty and has been there in that old shed with no door for several decades, I think I wil just clean the stuff up and ebay it. I will post a picture here so anyone who is interested can see what I have.

[colorado51]

You ever hear that Jerky Boys tape of the guy selling trains, thats some funny shit right there!

Anyway, thats what I thought of when I saw the post.

Ok, back to the origional post now.

[THE-SYNDICATE]

Hello willobilly3,

What you have is most definitely an American Flyer S-Gauge train set. The mid 50's vintage is correct but what year exactly I'm not sure. And from the looks of the photo it's in nice condition. I would say that it should bring a fair amount of $$$ but something more in the $400.00~$600.00 dollar region. I can't say for sure but that price range seems about right. It would be higher if the original box was there but I believe you said this is not the case?

My Dad is an expert on this stuff and I could send along a pic to him if you like? He may be able to help? The real way to value on of these things is to have someone take a look at it and give each piece a rating. Once this has been done the items can be priced relative to there condition and the information printed in books like "Greenburg's Guide to American Flyer” These books are extremely good at listing fair market value for antique trains. There are several books but the Greenburg books are always around my Dad's office... His Bibles.... PM me if you wish to discuss this further. One thing for sure is that you will want to place this on E-Bay with some form of a starting bid. Trains can go for some pretty good money on E-Bay but you definitely want to get some pointers before posting it for sale. As with anything cool….. There will always be some asshole that will want it for free…..

Talk to you later,

THE-SYNDICATE

[MBL]

Thats an "S" gauge AC Gilbert American Flyer set. It seems to be a basic kids set for the time. Scan Ebay for values...the #'s on the train will give an indication of the models. I have just Pre-War Lionels myself...never realy got into the American Flyer stuff although they did have chugging mechanisms...kinda cool..
Tim
MBL

[THE-SYNDICATE]

I didn't see the entire post by RATBOY...

What he says is so true!!! Just the damn color of the cars can make that price swing so far! There is a series of Lionel Box cars know as the "6464's". With those it all depends on which railroad markings are on the side. Like the Sothern Pacific Car. is worth 5 times the Pennsivania car and on and on.... It's crazy! I just love listening to the conversations when I go to these train swap meets with my Dad... Same thing as the car deal but much more freaky!

Later,

THE-SYNDICATE

[Smokin Joe]

I don't give much away anymore
People used to want stuff because it was cool. Or because they could use it.
"Wow, that's neat"

I've learned all anyone gives a shit about now is the E-Bay price. "Wow, that's neat." Translates to what they're really thinking. "Man I can make some bucks off this shit, and that stupid dipshit bastard just gave them to me."

I gave a guy a Model A pickup cab last year after he begged me to let him use it on his project. Turns out he never even took it home. He already had a buyer lined up.

I'm beginning to understand those old bastards that would rather let shit rot out back than sell it.

[Zapato]

there's a Gilbert museum in Oregon, believe its in Salem you might check with them for more info.