Model Railroading > Detail parts: Obsolete?

I have amassed a large collection of brass and white metal detail parts over the years. These are the little envelopes of such things as various steam and diesel loco appliances such as horns, handrail stanchions, side frames, MU stands, headlight castings and such.
The last I looked these are still available at the remaining larger train stores.
I have several hundred of these in unopened original bags and decided to put them on Ebay....in random lots of 50 at less than a dollar a bag...you guessed it, no interest with several relistings.

So my question is: With all the popularity of ready-to-run does no one do any of this type pf modeling anymore? And all that stock still on shelves, will that remain forever. Just would like some opinions.

Thanks,
Auburnrail



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/12 07:08 by Auburnrail.

I seem to be in the same boat. Although I went a step further in the 90's and bought a small parts organizing cabinet from the hardware store (the type for screws, nuts & washers.) Opened all of my parts bags and put them into the little drawers. Made it wonderful at the time, all airhorns were in one place etc. With all of the RTR i dont go to that organizer anymore............thankfully i still have about 40 Blue Box Athearn locos that need to be completed so I hope they will come into play. It sure does seem like the majority of new locomotives come right out of the box and are hauling trains 5 min later.

I can only tell you that I have been in the hobby since the 1950's, have a large three deck layout, a lot of the newer diesels and I still use detail parts. Even with the many well detailed units out there, I still run into needs for parts that are needed on a particular diesel I bought ready to run that still lacks some things for it that are sold in the parts sections, and do not come with the loco RTR or kit.

I recently finished 6 Atlas Trainline GP39-2 units for Santa Fe. Guess how many detail parts I had to add to these RTR diesels? Parts are harder to find in many cases but I do keep a stock of addons such has antenna planes, gumball lights and so on for the diesel I buy that doesn't have them, or doesn't have the correct one for that particular unit.

So I think as long as there are folks who (1) add detail to a barren Trainline, or (2) correct details to substitute for the wrong ones on the RTR diesels, (3) grabirons that don't come with the unit, etal, there will still be a need for parts.
Bob

Bob Miller
Kansas City, KS



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/12 07:41 by atsfmodeler.

Try advertising them in smaller lots. People are more likely to buy 10 parts to get the one they want, than to buy 50. Take a look at your groupings to be sure they are related, like enough bits to detail one car or locomotive.

> Ebay....in random lots of 50 at less than a dollar
> a bag...you guessed it, no interest with several
> relistings.


I'd never bid on a random lot at $50.
Who needs steam parts?
Just diesel, thank you.

That random lot of fifty needs to be detailed so I'd be able to buy the diesel parts I really need. In other words, in that fifty bags I need to get enough usable parts that the entire bunch would still be $$ ahead of retail after I discarded the unusable stuff.

I still detail my stuff. Thats why I am a model railroader.

Thanks for the comments. Didn't think of some of those things. Will try a different approach....like keeping them.

Your lots are too big, about two years back I went through my detail parts and sold the stuff that was obsolete(better parts available) I grouped them in about 5-6 items, and tried to group similar stuff together. I had no problem getting rid of the stuff on ebay.

Not to beat a dead horse, but here goes anyways.

If you grouped the parts, such as everything you need for an
SD40T-2, or items unique to PRR and start the bid at $19.99,
or less. I think this approach would do better.

We are in the same boat, sort of. A kind person donated
thousands of dollars worth of detail parts to the club I belong too.
We got first pick, but there's a huge pile still to go...

By the way, did you know some of those parts you bought
not too many years ago now retail for two or three times as
much?

Larry

Larry020 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not to beat a dead horse, but here goes anyways.
>
> If you grouped the parts, such as everything you
> need for an
> SD40T-2, or items unique to PRR and start the bid
> at $19.99,
> or less. I think this approach would do better.
>
> We are in the same boat, sort of. A kind person
> donated
> thousands of dollars worth of detail parts to the
> club I belong too.
> We got first pick, but there's a huge pile still
> to go...
>
> By the way, did you know some of those parts you
> bought
> not too many years ago now retail for two or three
> times as
> much?
>
> Larry


Yah..I still see the same parts available for 3 to 4 times my asking price. I guess that's why the parts business is nickel and dime to the retailer...folks buy just a few here and there..nobody stocks up.

Auburnrail

Any MV Products lenses you're looking to get rid of?

Posted from Opera Mini

Doug Wetherhold
Macungie, PA

Sell them individually starting at about half retail, you will get some interest and more desirable items will often end up going for more than retail. When selling on E-bay, it's almost always better to sell individually than in lots. You are almost guaranteed to make more money selling individually.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Auburnrail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So my question is: With all the popularity of
> ready-to-run does no one do any of this type pf
> modeling anymore? And all that stock still on
> shelves, will that remain forever. Just would like
> some opinions.
>
> Thanks,
> Auburnrail

Answer: Yes, people still do modeling which requires detail parts. I just bought some Details West spark arrestors at the last Timonium show for D&RGW F units for 1970's. I will still need to add signal gyralights to D&RGW HO diesels: 7 GP30's, 2 GP35's, 9 GP40's and 3 SD50's. Fortunately my 8 Athearn D&RGW SD45's and 15 D&RGW SD40T-2's have many correct details, but I could still add things like drop steps, correct snow plows in some cases, and even things like - re-railers etc. and MU receptacles.

With more RTR loco's on the market with parts added at the factory, there is less demand than before. But, there are still alot of loco's around which are missing details, so parts are still needed. There is still a lot of need for detail parts IMO.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/12 15:48 by SPDRGWfan.