Woe!!! I have one on the shelf. Must be made of gold! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kato-11-604...967514?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item5d37abd89a
According to Kato's website, Mikado traction tires are going to be restocked in February. Whoever winds up "winning" this auction is going to feel awfully foolish if that turns out to be true. -Mark
I was thinking the same thing, especially after experimenting with a H-4 and bachman light mountain with the stuff.
Noticed that it now states sold. Heck that is more than I paid for my Kato Mike new that is still in it's original pbox and packing although the factory air did escape when I had it out. Didn't that kit originally sell for about $8-10?
HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE A year or two ago, KATO had 'em in stock and I bought 20 sets. Maybe I should sell a couple............... $75.00 each or 3 for $300.00..............NAH I'll hold on to them and use them when needed. Still a $100 per axle. Somebody has a lot more money than sense!!!
Is stockpiling these things really worth it? I cannot see Kato restocking these things indefinitely but if these traction tires are made of the same material as traction tires in the past then age is not really kind to them. Anyone know for sure what the composition is?
Dont fret ! If ya missed that one there is at least one more listed ... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kato-11-604-N-Scale-Mikado-4-Driver-Traction-Tire-/181049192388?_trksid=p2047675.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D13904%26meid%3D4338301303611498105%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D1095%26rk%3D5%26sd%3D400365967514%26 Just one of the 101 reasons I DONT run steam...LMFAO !!
Yeah, I think they originally sold $7.95. The last re-release was $8.95. The real funny thing is before they announced the first re-release about a year ago, they were selling in the neighborhood of 60-70. Now they are going to release another batch and they are selling for even more.
You got's to wonder what are they thinking? With e-pay it's all about winning. Just don't expect me to take part or get caught up, in the frenzy. Buy now at $101.-- something change. Hell, no I won't go. There's no way I'ma going to pay that much for those confounded, frustrating, dreaded TRACTION TIRES aka TT's.. No one in their right mind should be expected to pay that much for those cursed tires. I have a number of locomotives sitting on the workbench that need TT's replaced. they all managed to walk out of their shoes. I won't be ordering out any new TT's. I won't be buying any new locomotives with TT's. A bottle of Bull Frog Snot is waiting to be applied. Having done so with great succes over the last four or five years. Works great for me! I just checked, I may need to order out another bottle of BFS. In my not so humble opinion, TT's are a poor man's excuse for a good running locomotive. They aren't needed...period...end of discussion. Heads up guys and gals of TB land. I just got a call from my bank. Someone tried using my ATM card in the UK and France. Watch your bank reports. My bank managed to block it, closed down the card. Just thought you might want to know. I suspect someone that handled my computer security...when I paid for it, lifted the card numbers and is using it. Whomever, won't be able to do that again...for now.
Unflippinbelievable! and to think I got four from two very kind members of this group for my 2-10-2 projects; two for the cost of shipping and two for free...) No I'm not selling them, just saying... Otto
I went back and looked at one that sold for 100.99 and noticed that 15% of the final price went for [h=3]Marine Toys for Tots Foundation[/h] That's not a bad deal then and might explain some of the reason for such a high price.
But 15% of $100.99 is only $15.15. That still leaves $85.84 for an item that has a regular price of about $10.00.
Wow! You can do math as well. The point that I'm making is the seller is giving 15% of whatever the item sells for. Whether it's $0.15 or $15, he's not trying to pocket the whole amount for himself. Unlike the other seller who has one listed for $101.57 - Buy It Now, which is the price that one of the others sold for earlier. Not that there is anything wrong with this, it's their choice. Either way you look at it, it's as someone else said "Unflippinbelievable!" But then again, it's that time of year where you find random acts of kindness. I doubt the seller had expected the cost to sore to this amount which leads me to believe that it got pushed that high by the buyer. Maybe they are willing to give that much for it and to help out with the donations. Who knows...
Even if the rubber tires themselves dry rotted, it would still be worth it. The grooved driver is the real prize here, much moreso than the rubber tire.
Still In Good Shape After 4-5 Years I've still got 7-8 pairs of Kato Traction Tired Axles from the 20 set order I made and they all are OK. Been sealed in plastic zip-lock bags and kept in darkness so the traction tire bands haven't become brittle or fell apart. I've had one traction tire break apart on an engine and I replaced the tire with Bull Frog Snot. The BFS went right into the groove where the tire was and seems to really work even better than the stock Kato traction tire. But you know how it is, there will ALWAYS be some PERSON that will pay ANY price to have a certain item. Now I've got some FINE Reader's Digest engines and cars...............$50.00 each? Just need to find the RIGHT buyer.
