Wednesday, January 11, 2006

McCoy Carousel

The rare McCoy Carousel..... Arno sent me this pic. This makes the carousel's other manufacturers turn out look like... Well.... Not as nice.

This thing is the only carousel I have ever seen that I would actually want on my layout. I know they must have been really difficult to build. I like the circus and the circus theme around trains. However I haven't seen it done well by anybody with the exception of this particular product and one or two others.

I wonder what kind of motor Bob McCoy used in these things? What do they look like when they are working on a layout or even off a layout. If anyone has further info on these, please don't hesitate to send it in!

M

PS Thanks Arno for sending this. I know what I'll be looking for at the next York!

6 comments:

Standard Gauge Blogger said...

Well, my guess would be in the $5k to $9k range. People are nuts with McCoy gear right now and this piece is exceptionally rare and well made. Sooo... It's subjective.

If you have some insane guy in the room that has a huge budget and thinks he wants it....
Marc

Standard Gauge Blogger said...

Yes, I do have an idea:

You should join the TCA, TTOS, and LCCA. I would recommend putting advertisements in all of the newsletters and bulletins in the "wanted" areas. I would also recommend you go to a place like York, my guess one or two will turn up there because of the high prices.

I would also call some of the key auction houses that deal in items like this: Noel Barret, New England Toy Train Exchange, Maurer and let them know that you are looking for this item.

You have some fairly strong competition looking for this item. There are some very die hard McCoy collectors looking for this one piece, it's quality and sheer rarity make it quite expensive. The fact that these were difficult to make and had very low production numbers doesn't help.

I don't want to discourage you, I never would. Just keep in mind that this isn't a short term search and it absolutely won't be inexpensive.

Marc

Standard Gauge Blogger said...

I would pick this up. It's just too valuable. I wouldn't assume that everything is on the East Coast. McCoy is all over the place, remember where it started (in Washington).

Standard Gauge Blogger said...

Drop me an email at

mrkuffler@aol.com

I know someone that will buy it from you almost immediately. Don't worry about shipping.

Marc

Anonymous said...

I am helping a friend of mine who has one of these try to fix it. It is in good shape but the lights stopped working, the motor makes a lot of noise and the 8 track powers on but doesn't produce any sound. Anyone know of anyone who specializes in fixing them or have any tips? Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Re: lights & power. I own one of Bob's carrousels. I've had it for 40 years, bought it at the chicken coop. Mine had the same lighting/power/gear grinding noise. hipilot@rocketmail.com