Newbie question: Model railroad jackpot?

- G
- Gun
  
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posted
20 years ago

Fri, Feb 27, 2004 7:21 AM

Greetings all,

My neighbor's son was recently introduced to model railroads by one of his Boy Scout leaders and wants to get started, so I'm looking to put a nice 'starter set' together for him for his birthday next month. Unfortunately I don't have much $$$ to do it with. After searching through Ebay and other sites, I found this model train auction:

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There are more items in this one "real" auction than I was able to find on Ebay. Admittedly, I know very little about model railroads, but some of these lots look pretty nice as far as I can tell. Has anyone here had success in finding good, quality model railroad cars and accessories at auction; or should I stick to the local expertise at a hobby shop? This auction looks like a great way to get him some pieces he might not be able to otherwise afford or find, but I'm somewhat worried about the quality and condition of used vs. new. Any experience?

-- Gun

- D
- Doug
  
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posted
20 years ago

Fri, Feb 27, 2004 1:15 PM

Gun, You may not know much about model railroading, but you have the art of spamming down to a science.

- K
- Ken Rice
  
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posted
20 years ago

Fri, Feb 27, 2004 4:27 PM

Where were you looking on ebay? The above auction has about 500 lots listed. The Model RR, Trains section of eBay has 65,635 lots listed.

The best thing to do for your neightbor's son is give him a gift certificate to the local hobby store, or take him there, so he can pick out the trains, and scale, that interest him. That is the best way to keep someone's interest in the hobby.

- B
- Barney Rubble
  
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posted
20 years ago

Sat, Feb 28, 2004 2:05 AM

Is this auction a reserve auction? Is there proxy bidding, or is it a blind auction where you pay whatever you bid even if no one bids anywhere near you?

Assuming you're not a spammer promoting this auction, I think you'll do better on ebay. On ebay there's a lot more selection and constant rotation of inventory.