Another Brute Convert...

My friend and train colleague Mike V. just received his new Brute. He purchased the Buddy L flavor of the Brute. Apparently there were fewer pre-orders for this flavor thus it is officially going on the "rare" or "medium rare" list. Whatever the case may be, it looks pretty damn good on Mike's mantle. This engine was a work of art when JLC commissioned it from Italy and it still looks great in 2010. The fact that some dealers have sold out of both versions says volumes.

Marc

Some Very Rare McCoy

There's been a substantial amount of talk as of late about McCoy trains. What's rare, what's not rare and so on.

I like the McCoy family and admire their many accomplishments. Craftsmanship, tradition and a good attitude always gain my admiration.

I would bet that the car to the left is one of the rarer McCoy cars. The guy on the left is the Great Roy Rogers. My favorite Roy Rogers quote: "I did pretty good for a guy who never finished high school and used to yodel at square dances. "

The story of this car is as follows (from the 1970's era TTOS bulletin):

Rick Hacker had two of these cars autographed by Roy at the Roy Rogers Museum in Victorville, CA.. Roy personally autographed both cars and gave them to Rick for his collection. Pretty darned amazing at face value. Since he didn't need two in his collection, he donated one to TTOS to be auctioned off on August 5, 1978. Almost 30 years ago next year.

First, I have to say that I like Roy Rogers. I've missed him since he passed away in 1998; he was just a plain old neat guy. He was one of Cincinnati's and America's finest.

I also have tremendous respect for Rick Hacker because he gave up something of value both sentimental and monetary for TTOS. If you send me an email I'll be glad to send a PDF of the entire article or post elsewhere for download.

I think this is probably one of the rarer McCoy's. Not because of the particular car but because there are only two with Roy's signature and because one is floating around in the free market somewhere. What makes it valuable? Well, the fact that Roy signed it and that a great collector gave it up so his fellow collectors could enhance their club and have a shot at owning a nice McCoy car signed by a legend. That makes it priceless and scarce. The only thing I'm curious about is "where is it now"?

Cheers,

Marc

eBay Items that are rare and expensive

I am always curious - who drops $15k for an engine on eBay? For this kind of money, I'd get on a plane and fly out to check this out. I have to ponder this out loud though - are these high prices really good for the hobby? I know there are people willing to pay this kind of cash for a rare antique. But is a 400e in a master carton that rare or even worth it? Has anyone out there paid this kind of cash for this kind of item? Just curious - not a condemnation of the seller or the buyer. Just seems like the hobby is so much more than making a profit....

Marc