To answer the original question posted here. The mindset that everything unusual is a collectors item and I'm willing to pay more then it's intrinsic value to purchase it. Or I must "Win" therefore I will out bid the others. Ebayitis! Does that really make sense?
Rick - ya, I think that makes sense but that nostalgia and patriotism seem to play a part in it as well. I'm willing to bet that the non-US market for the state and presidential cars is a lot smaller percentage wise than it is here. Regionalism also plays a part. I have a few of the New England cars and hope to some day have a NJ, MD, and TX, (states I have lived in), car but I won't overpay for them. Then there is the "uniqueness" factor that even a store might involve itself in. What if a manufacturer (like Kato), did a series modern locos in very special, (and attractive), "heritage" paint schemes. What if a store went out of its way to get at least 10 complete sets beyond what its customers ordered and then listed them at full retail / no discount? If you ask me that is speculating on a collectors market. If: You had the disposable income You really loved the locos and You bought them Never ran them Hoped to sell them at a profit some day Are you: A collector? An investor? What if: You ran them Didn't care if you sold them at a profit some day Are you: A collector? A ru(i)nner A fool for ruining them?
Hey Steve..... Is this one of them... If a train leaves Detroit at 10 PM EST headed west toward Chicago at 70 miles per hour and a train left Chicago (250 miles away) at 9 PM CST headed east at 60 miles per hour, where would they meet...in terms of miles away from Detroit? ...type questions?:tb-wacky: J/K...LOL:tb-biggrin::thumbs_up:
George, the real question is "Which way does the smoke blow?". < bemused grin > Er, um, it's my 3rd glass of Cabernet, what's your point.
You must not have been there when my cousin's Bac-person 4-8-4 went up in flames. It had smoke and fire in the firebox, too.
If these Pepsi cars were never made prototypically, then why would a quality company like Micro-Trains produce them?
Hansel, nearly every manufacturer and marketer has made cars that are what are called everything from "collector interest" to "wastes of time and plastic." This has included licensed (and sometimes unlicensed!) offerings with numerous trademarks and marketing art, such as the MTL Pepsi series. The short answer to "Why?" is "Because they can sell." I've long since given up arguing with people who would prefer that model railroading be different... life is too short. To each his own. BTW, the two Pepsi trailers in the set are reasonably prototypical. I photographed the first one of these myself (the blue one with the old "Pepsi-Cola" trademark) and gave the photos to MTL.
