So I came across this auction today from Dan's Train Depot. He has a bunch of these "built up" buildings for sale. When I seen the First Interstate Bank building at the bottom of the pictures, my first thought was "John Coots had one of those on his layout". Now I don't know if these buildings were produced by a company or if John had customized this one. But going from the pictures of John's layout (April 1990 MR), there are a few other buildings that Dan's is selling that were on John's Layout. Could be a coincidence or could be John's stuff. Don't know, but it's kinda sad if it was his stuff. RIP mr. Coots. http://cgi.ebay.com/N-SCALE-LOT-5-BUILT-UP-BUILDINGS-STRUCTURES_W0QQitemZ220432259775QQcmdZViewItemQQptZModel_RR_Trains?hash=item3352c95abf&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1205|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50 Edit: I'm guessing that it is, cause who would have 600 N scale of Nevada overlays for MT autoracks that were never sold? Hmmm... http://cgi.ebay.com/N-SCALE-LOT-600...66:2|39:1|72:1205|240:1318|301:0|293:2|294:50 -Mike
Seems like he's going through an awful lot, and so far the biding is pretty low. Unless he's just doing it for fun. I think that's the kind of thing that unfortunately isn't very well suited for ebay. Maybe it would have been years ago, but not now. Most people are just looking for a good deal on existing stuff. They don't appreciate custom things. I put up a non train custom item related to my biz once, that was worth $150 new and sells all the time for that price... and it got a bid of $1 by some joker. That's when I realized eBay doesn't work on a lot of stuff. But that said, I was actually surprised to get a good amount for a collection of cars the other day. Better than I thought I would. It only had one bidder for most of the auction, then some guy swooped in at the end and jacked it way up.
Yes, you are right. Dan is clearly selling John's collection. I didn't want to call attention to auctions I was considering bidding on, but since you've let the cat out of the bag...and since I shouldn't be spending more money on trains... N SCALE of NEVADA PRODUCTION PARTS & DECALS - HUGE LOT - eBay (item 380130663363 end time Jun-18-09 19:50:00 PDT) It is kind of sad, in a way. I hope that most of the stuff goes to good homes. I'm a little surprised Dan isn't touting the provenance of this stuff, I'd think it make it more valuable. If my assumption is correct that Dan has been working through John's collection for the last few weeks, I have the following comments... 1) Man John had a lot of stuff! What a busy guy he must have been. 2) I hope John would be glad to know that most of those Sunrise signals he was hoarding will end up on the GSMRMs club layout, being run by a state of the art Panel Pro based system. 3) Thanks for all the Sunrise Sinclair Antennas.
Risk = reward My experience, too. Stuff won't likely sell if you price it at your minimum. You have to have the courage to price it all at 99 cents, or maybe $5.99 or $9.99 for valuable stuff. This starts a frenzy, and people get drawn into a thing of "I have to have this," or "I didn't realize how much I need this," or perhaps "I'll beat them all," or something! I don't understand it, but it exists! --Bryan
How do you think so much good stuff ends up on ebay? The only way to get most of this stuff out of their owners hands is natural attrition. Get what you can whil you can and appreciate that you have a little piece of so-and-so and you remember when they were hot!!
while not on ebay. there is a place in marietta, ohio, where every weekend there is a giant yard sale thingy in an old department store. I found a booth with models in it and poked around. the guy wanted $15 for the athearn BlueBox kits, $75 for a Blue box SD40-2. $250 for a blueline AC6600, and over $150+ for some athearn genesis CSX SD70 somthing. needless to say i was slowly edging my way to the door out. He kept offering me engines and cars at lower prices (last one was a model power F unit in CSX colors, he broke off a truck sideframe and a few pieces getting it out of the box. he still wanted $20 for it.) I just said "I'm sorry but i just can't afford anything right now" and left.
It is sad about John Coots. He was one of the pioneers and inovators of N-scale. But whoever got the overlays could make a small fortune just selling the FEC overlays seperately because they really do work great and I wish someone would do the overlays again. Its one of those great ideas that should catch on.
Vintage Ore Car? Or cheap coal hopper with the middle cut out? Kind of a cool idea though! He's got at least 4 listed and they're all pretty poorly spliced, but it would make a very interesting little train.
You could cut the the guy a bit of slack if he's not a model railroader, but describing it as Mint-Brand new and "in new condition" is stretching the truth a little.
How about this ZEPPELIN? I guess they are dumping old stock of a propeller-powered 'train' since Kato will be releasing their jet-powered RDC soon! N-Ga. KATO HOBBYTRAIN GERMAN "ZEPPELIN" RAILCAR (MIB) - eBay (item 110412863628 end time Aug-02-09 15:56:21 PDT)
I wouldn't exactly say dumping, if I do my currency conversion right that's about US$400 more than I paid for mine in a Stuttgart hobby shop last year! And I got a DVD with mine.
Now here is a REALLY good deal!!! Glad I got a couple of them before the price explosion! LOL MTL 111010 89’ Tri-Level Auto Rack ATSF r/n 700276 - eBay (item 140365269533 end time Dec-13-09 17:45:57 PST)
That's got to be a typo, his other stuff is reasonably priced. eBay Seller: leonard1842: Toys Hobbies items on eBay.com
Yes, it was a decimal error. I really need a bigger monitor. The listing has been corrected. For those of you who didn't see the early listing, it read $900.00!
David...I woulda left it at 900.00 !! 1) You get to star on TB's Ebay Humor thread. 2) There is always at least one crazy person out there somewhere who woulda thought 900.00 was a steal ;-) .
there is a riverossi bigboy listed for $300. nib mib http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190354974108&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
