Train Show Finds

[RS18U]

Not sure if there is already a thread for something like this (I found some for new stuff, but not used/bargains), if there is Admin please feel free to move and let me know.

 

I found these 3 Tomix kits at the local train show today (Nanaimo, BC), purchased for $30 CDN for all three.  No. 4002 Wooden Station; 4008 Town Stores with Pavement; and 4015 Corner Stores with Pavement.  They seem complete from what I can tell, including decals/stickers.  They are all marked Mokei Imports with original marked prices of $39 for 1 and $50 each for the other 2.  Being new to the Japanese aspect of model railroading I have no clue if these are decent kits, and if I overpaid.  These were the only Japanese prototype items at the show.

[Tony Galiani]

Well, someone on eBay is offering the wooden station for US$110 ....

Actually, I think you got a very good deal.  That particular eBay posting is way high and not the norm but a search will show that you paid much less than the going rate for these.

Cheers,

Tony

[railsquid]

11 hours ago, RS18U said:

  Being new to the Japanese aspect of model railroading I have no clue if these are decent kits, and if I overpaid.  These were the only Japanese prototype items at the show.

 

They're part of the Tomix core range of buildings and have been around since forever (probably the 1980s). The station building is a bit of a classic, and is a pretty solid model especially bearing in mind its age and is popular for modifying/kitbashing. This is mine:

 

lower-station-2021-10-09_02 by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

The shop buildings are a bit simpler, but still in production and are also an excellent base for kitbashing.

 

$30 CDN for the lot sounds pretty reasonable.

[RS18U]

Thanks @cteno4 for moving it to the right place.

 

And thanks @Tony Galiani and @railsquid for your comments.  I have been noticing that some vendors at the couple of shows I go to each year are asking rather high prices these last 5 years or so (starting pre COVID) in my opinion.  These 3 kits were being offered by an N scale specialist who only deals with North American items so he, like me, was not sure what these were worth.  So we ended up at $10 each.  I think he was just happy to get rid of them.

[cteno4]

That was a reasonable price for new old stock, they were not super detailed building and I think like $8-10 way back a decade or more when I purchased those new.

 

Btw hobby search’s web site is an excellent reference for products as they put most everything up from major producers and leave it on the site even when way out of production/stock.

 

we have our three times a year big train show in Baltimore coming up in 2 weeks and usually do a quick spin to see if any deals on interesting bits. We get a fair amount of Japanese stuff in the used sellers here. Trains are rarely great prices. I use to be able to find a box of loose detail structure parts (ie the pile of parts at the bottom of their transport boxes that had dallen off of structures) at descent prices (like $2-5) that was great for detailing structures with, but alas hardly ever find them anyone and if I do it’s not priced not worth it…

 

our train shows here have had a great vendor resurgence the last year or so. So much so they have kicked all the smaller layouts which use to be spread through one vendor hall over into the big layout hall and have 2 vendor halls and a growing edge of the layout hall. These halls are giant warehouses that are for the fairgrounds cow barns. Nice to see the vendors are doing well and show attendance is up. But it’s a bummer as not as many folks get to the big layout hall and when they do they tend to go into higher gears (they tend to slow down in the vendor halls) as big layouts require you to walk a lot. At least we get put up front now.

 

jeff

[Taxman]

I missed the Nanaimo show 🙁.  It is rare to find Japanese N scale in the wild here.  I got a few good Japanese kits at the Victoria show a few years ago when one of the stores was liquidating.

[RS18U]

On 4/27/2024 at 5:54 PM, Taxman said:

I missed the Nanaimo show 🙁.  It is rare to find Japanese N scale in the wild here.  I got a few good Japanese kits at the Victoria show a few years ago when one of the stores was liquidating.

I will be going to the Victoria (Sidney) show in September so will be keeping my eyes open for anything I can find.