BLACK SHARPIE on a CLEAR PLASTIC JEWEL CASE

All ,
Who here besides me Dislikes having someone use a BLACK SHARPIE on a CLEAR PLASTIC Model railroad JEWEL CASE? Whether the JEWEL CASE is ATLAS, KATO, MT or Bachmann, I find that it deters from the resale, collectability of the item . Though I can understand why they do it.

Tom

 

A cloth damp with alcohol will remove the sharpie...so I don't see an issue with it. All the ones I've see with sharpie have been price tags.

 

Magic Erasers work too.

 

Have to admit, there are times I would prefer the Sharpie over some of the price stickers I've removed as it is easier to clean off than some of that sticker goo.

Have never tried the magic eraser but sounds like a good idea.

 

All good tips for sharpie ink removal, however that wasn’t what I was initially thinking of.

Tom

 

Nope. Not one bit. Chances are if I am buying a 2nd hand freight car I am going to strip and re-paint it anyway.

 

Dislikes is too light. I’m OCD beyond belief. I’ve ordered replacement jewel boxes to replace cracked boxes. Count me in the club and nominate me for office.

Don’t even get me started on those who brag about tossing the jewel boxes but later try to sell them as “no original box, but WILL be carefully packed.....”. LOL.

 

I buy stuff (not trains) from thrift stores all the time. They seem to like using a marker to price everything. I found I can clean most plastic, glass, ceramics and metals with common charcoal lighter fluid (naptha) as long as it is used quickly it never damages the item. Unless they use it on wood I can clean off the marker so you never know it was there.

If it bothers you pass up the item. Some one like me who is not OCD about cleaning it will buy it.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

Since I have nice foam lined boxes for a lot of my locos and cars have never been to concerned about whether something had a box or not when I bought it. And I certainly don't care if a box was marked with a Sharpie. Easier to get the Sharpie writing off than some of those sticky labels that time seemed to have fused to the box with time.

 

I guess I should have started my post with "I don't like it, but" instead of "I have to admit"

I get what you are saying JTOMSTAR.

 

I still don't get how a sharpie mark on a jewel case "deters from the resale, collectability of the item"

All of my jewel cases with sharpie on it came from shops as that is how they priced them.

 

I don't know much about "collectability." I think our scale is just about over that. I'm sure there are still some diehards buying every item Micro-trains releases and immediately storing them in their dark, humidity controlled vault; but I think that is a vanishing breed. With respect to resale, it likely has a minor effect. I would pay a buck or two more for an item with a pristine jewel box than one that is marked up or cracked. I'm likely in the minority though.

 

Never bought an MT car because of collectability and I only bought to fit my era and roads modeled. I bought my share of undecs when they released something I wanted. Now there are certain locos I covet and if one came available, and it ran without having to reverse engineer the thing I would buy it, box or no box, cracked or not, and marked up with a sharpie or not. I don't look at any of my hobby stuff as an investment to be parlayed later into cash, and other than when I downsized back a few years ago that has been the only time I have sold anything, most of the time I have given stuff away and trashed some. Oh no blasphemy he trashed some. Yup some stuff suffered some damage during the move, even with bubble wrap and peanuts. In the old days I would have tried fixing it but with my reduced dexterity now just a P.I.A.

 

Well, here is what I do to the plastic case for a locomotive. Don't care about the collectability, nor future monetary value or anything else. This just helps me with the cab number and in the lower right corner the DCC address. Someday, my wife will be able to identify the DCC units and price accordingly. BTW, the black marker comes off with a little alky. Oh, the shame of it!

Carl

 

Scotch or Bourbon? If Scotch, does it need to be a single malt, or will a 12 year old blend do just as well?

 

I agree about the MTL collectors. As for the paying a buck or two more, all I need is a quick wipe with an alcohol pad and that sharpie price tag is gone.

 

Wow, this is such a non-item (and 100% reversible item) to get worked up about. Cracked and broken cases I can see, but marker... really?

 

I had a case with black Sharpie on it once. One gin and it was gone.



Doug

 

Who's getting worked up?? We appear to be down to debating Scotch versus Bourbon versus Gin. Did I miss something??

Bartender, another Black Label so that I can remove the sharpie from this white label MT jewel case! The MT yellow label case is newer, so Red Label may work just fine for that one. It costs a bit less, but so does a yellow label MT, so it all balances out, right? Wait a minute, what was your question again jpwisc??