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I think it's important to remember that any item is 'worth' what somebody is willing to pay for it. I am a relative newcomer to the hobby but it's very easy to do research now with the wide availability of the Internet. My particular interest is in HST nameplates and it's very easy to find a history of those that have sold in the past.
I think buying as an investment is a very dangerous game - I buy because of a love of the type of train. I'm not really bothered if prices drop in the future as I would be very very reluctant to ever part with those plates that I have but it would be nice to recover my expenditure if ever I sold my plates - nobody likes to lose money do they?!
I wonder if the high prices paid a few years ago are stiffling the hobby a little at the moment - for example: 12 months ago a vendor
at Quorn had the nameplate 'Worshipful Company of Carmen' on his stall. On enquiring he wanted £2700. A price miles above the average price for such a nameplate (I'd have considered £1500 a reasonable price). This nameplate has since appeared twice at Solent Auctions and failed to meet the reserve. The only conclusion I can draw from this is that the vendor paid over the top prices for it and is now in a position where he cannot sell it to break even. If this is the case are items going to be put away until the market regains previous levels or are dealers / collectors willing to take a loss on their items?
Regards to all,
Steve
Well, I have only looked at the web site, and was quite surprised at how
prices in general seem to have dropped.
Interestingly, there was a plate I sold there last year for 1000 pounds,
that only made 750...Someone will be pissed off !
Re, the interest side of things, I have mainly collected smaller items, like
builders plates and whistles, from locos I have been associated with, i.e..
Industrial / Army ( W.D.) locomotives, and Beyer Garratts.
I would love a Bulleid nameplate, but I can't afford one. Interestingly, I
could not afford one when they were first being sold off in the 1960's for
15 pounds either !
It is all relative to how much you are earning at the time...5 pounds a week
as an apprentice then......
Ah well, back to polishing the brass....
Cheers.
Andy.
New Zealand
>I found the results interesting - shed plates seem to have halted the
> ever upward moves and wagon plates didn't shine - the ROF Woolwich was
> cheap, and so many early steam builders plates at bargain prices, but
> totems seemed firm, as did nameplates. Interesting that ex BR diesel
> builders plates generally seem to command more than steam plates -
> unless with a positive rarity value.
> There still seems to be money out there, but I must admit that the
> catalogue seems to contain a little more hype than before and
> certainly contained some significant errors.
> So where are we going? We need new blood coming into the hobby, but I
> would be wary of splashing big money on things when I had no real idea
> of their rarity or collectability.
> How do we help newcomers understand that aspect? For example I am no
> expert on single line tokens so I have no idea of the relative rarity
> of say a Cambrian main line section versus say one from the Cruckmeol
> branch (I could imagine from my professional knowledge that there were
> many more of the former than the latter - but that is only a guess)
> But if one were offered how does the newcomer gauge the relative value
> and how much to spend, (I have seen people buying big into common
> stamps only to find that a dealer will offer them 20% of face 5 years
> on, whereas if they had invested the same into the top value stamps
> they might have turned a dollar), and if a newcomer experiences the
> same in railwayana will he want to continue, after all we expect to
> recover our investments - don't we?
> Comments welcomed!
> Malcolm
>
>
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>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
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> No virus found in this incoming message.
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prices in general seem to have dropped.
Interestingly, there was a plate I sold there last year for 1000 pounds,
that only made 750...Someone will be pissed off !
Re, the interest side of things, I have mainly collected smaller items, like
builders plates and whistles, from locos I have been associated with, i.e..
Industrial / Army ( W.D.) locomotives, and Beyer Garratts.
I would love a Bulleid nameplate, but I can't afford one. Interestingly, I
could not afford one when they were first being sold off in the 1960's for
15 pounds either !
It is all relative to how much you are earning at the time...5 pounds a week
as an apprentice then......
Ah well, back to polishing the brass....
Cheers.
Andy.
New Zealand
>I found the results interesting - shed plates seem to have halted the
> ever upward moves and wagon plates didn't shine - the ROF Woolwich was
> cheap, and so many early steam builders plates at bargain prices, but
> totems seemed firm, as did nameplates. Interesting that ex BR diesel
> builders plates generally seem to command more than steam plates -
> unless with a positive rarity value.
> There still seems to be money out there, but I must admit that the
> catalogue seems to contain a little more hype than before and
> certainly contained some significant errors.
> So where are we going? We need new blood coming into the hobby, but I
> would be wary of splashing big money on things when I had no real idea
> of their rarity or collectability.
> How do we help newcomers understand that aspect? For example I am no
> expert on single line tokens so I have no idea of the relative rarity
> of say a Cambrian main line section versus say one from the Cruckmeol
> branch (I could imagine from my professional knowledge that there were
> many more of the former than the latter - but that is only a guess)
> But if one were offered how does the newcomer gauge the relative value
> and how much to spend, (I have seen people buying big into common
> stamps only to find that a dealer will offer them 20% of face 5 years
> on, whereas if they had invested the same into the top value stamps
> they might have turned a dollar), and if a newcomer experiences the
> same in railwayana will he want to continue, after all we expect to
> recover our investments - don't we?
> Comments welcomed!
> Malcolm
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.2.4/283 - Release Date: 16/03/2006
>
>
Yahoo! Photos – NEW, now offering a quality print service from just 8p a photo.
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