Is this really happening?

[weekendrailroader]

I've been playing with HO scale since age 7 (I'm 19 now). All this time, I believed that Tyco and early Life-Like trains were only really usable if you modified them to have body-mounted couplers and were suitably re-painted or weathered to blend in with "scale" equipment.

Now I'm seeing a resurgence in Tyco trains, and they're starting to be viewed as collectibles. Is this the same thing that happened with old Toy Trains (Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, etc.)? They weren't all very well detailed, and I imagine that some of those old couplers did not facilitate prototypical reversing moves, but yet they're viewed as antiques/ collectibles, and are highly prized by a certain crowd. Is the same thing happening to Tyco trains now? Was I indoctrinated by issue after issue of Model Railroader that prototypicality was primary?

I know some Tyco trains were poorly made, but often those issues can be corrected. Are those of us who have modified Tyco equipment over the years going to be viewed as those unthinking types who destroy antique equipment? Will it be better to refit those cars that I haven't modified yet with parts as close to the original as possible? Maybe we shouldn't trash all of those horn-hook couplers?

And finally, will the HO scale be divided into "Toy" collectors and "scale" operators? Or will the HO platform offer a chance to showcase both at the same time, (something that O scale can't do, due to the difference in number of rails).

Whaddya think?

 

[hamltnblue]

HO will remain scale only. The tyco trend is basically people collecting some of the equipment they had as a kid. It's basically trash compared to todays standards but I have to admit, I have a few from when I was a teen.

 

[trailrider]

The only Tyco equipment that I "collected" was when they temporarily bought Mantua, and were selling steam locomotives. These made excellent kit-bashed locos I couldn't find elsewhere at a price I could afford at the time. As from that I either converted a few truck-mounted cars to body-mounted couplers, or sold or traded the cars off.

You will find, if you live long enough, that almost anything no longer being produced can wind up as a "collectors'" item if enough people want them. Or if even one person wants them. Don't throw away yesterday's margarine wrappers. Next week they could become collector's pieces!

 

[Trucula]

Yes it's all in the eyes of the holder. As said above, alot collect what they had as a kid. (Just to have or say its theirs or same as they had).
All makers have developed and grew and the details became more advanced for the serious collector or rivet counter. Tyco was pumping out train sets, and at the time were doing the best with details on mass produced rail cars that mold injection could allow. Very little detail was added after mold release.
These sets were made with knowing 80% of the sets made were going to children.
Years later when the demand was for more detail and flawless operation, other companies stepped up to the plate to provide what the serious collector was looking for.
One thing you have to remember is alot of Tyco stuff out there is already @ 25 years old..which in the auto world it's now concidered an antique.

Decision is yours on what you want to do to it. Place on a shelf and say, 'That was mine when I was small"..or update a favorite so it can live on flawlessly on your world.
To a non train buff, he won't reconize the Tyco is 30 years old any more than he understands the upgrade you had to do to make it rail worthy. I think if I had a favorite railcar say my late dad bought me then it's "that car" I would want to upgrade and use, but if it's a car I like because of the line name, I might place on a shelf and buy a better rolling stock in same name, just a better maker.
(And yes I do have my first passenger Tyco my step-dad got me that I just can't part with..means more to me than the face value)

A receint thread spoke of older building kits: Are they worth more in box or put together?...Its all in the buyer/collector. ...I struggle with this too, I think its cool to have a 1960 kit still in the box unopened but at the same time I think "it" has feelings and is sad because it was never build and used like it was intended. *(just me)

You'll find a very mixed batch of answers on this but a great question!

 

[SABRR]

I would like to present a different viewpoint to this question:

Hard times. Whereas the detail of today's models pale into comparison to the Tyco's, the COST of today's "museum" pieces are driving folks back to simplicity and kit bashing. The problem is that it is too late. All the major kit bashing folks have discontinued their lines or gone out of business. So for the economics of the hobby, Tyco, while a division of Mantua, is sought out for its quality compared to price. (Tyco separated from Mantua is junk!) I use Mantua drives for kit bashes. Prices for these locomotives and detail parts have steadily increased and in some cases become stupidly ridiculous.

So I believe you will see a trend flowing towards yesteryear stuff and the modern models will have harder times selling.

 

[Gary B]

There is a Tyco Forum on the internet I occasionally visit. Over there they get excited about a bi-centennial box car that I believe most our here would scoff at. There is also a Plasticville Collectors Association. It appears that despite their short comings there are people that have a fondness for things perhaps they had when younger. (I do for Plasticville) Different people are into this hobby for different reasons and attracted to different things. Like someone said - It's your railroad, do it your way.

 

[granite]

And finally, will the HO scale be divided into "Toy" collectors and "scale" operators? Or will the HO platform offer a chance to showcase both at the same time...

Whaddya think?

I guess I fall into a third category, “toy operator”. Over the last ten years or so, I have reacquired most of the same equipment I had as a kid, and have shied away from the newer super-detailed stuff due to its cost and fragility. I like to run a lot of different road names and eras on the same layout (one day might be Western Pacific, the next Colorado & Southern), so my pieces get handled a lot with boxing/reboxing and moving it on and off the layout. So really, I would rather have the thick stirrup steps and molded-on grab irons of the old AHM, Tyco, and Athearn Blue Box locos and cars rather than always be crawling around on the floor trying to locate some microscopic detail part that I accidentally knocked off of a newer super-detailed model. I bought a few of the new super-detailed pieces when they first started coming out, and actually broke several just trying to get them out of the box!

Of course, since I grew up with the “old school” equipment, there is a lot of sentimentality in it for me, too. But I am happy that the newer super-detailed equipment is so readily available now for those who desire it, because it represents a positive growth for the model railroad industry. I guess its popularity is a market driven change, but for relics like me, the down side is that there are a lot fewer choices these days for buying new cars and locos that are still made in the older style.

 

[NYW&B]

There are niche collectors for everything under the Sun and among them is the small group of folks who collect Tyco HO, many if not most just for nostalgia reasons. There is not now, nor ever has been, any organized collecting movement among HO hobbyists in general and there never will be in the future because scale model railroading is moving toward an ever increasing degree of realism and accuracy in its models. Relatively crude, often poorly operating (without considerable fiddling), Tyco equipment is the antipode of what today's serious hobbyists want.

Likewise, the collectible aspect of most items results from their rarity in the marketplace. Among eBay listings Tyco trains of all description are as common as dirt and can never hope rise to be of any significant value because of this, except perhaps among certain vintage toy collectors for highly individual reasons.

To address your opening statement regarding a resurgence of interest in Tyco, I personally have seen nothing in evidence that the tiny Tyco collecting faction has grown in size in recent years. In fact, it probably saw its actual peak many years ago, when Tyco/Mantua was still in business. Today the pursuit can be viewed as little more than a mild eccentricity in the general hobby. What may be perceived as increased interest is just that Tyco enthusiasts now have the Internet to make themselves more visible, in spite of their small numbers.

As to the possibility of the hobby actually dividing itself up into HO toy train collectors and serious model railroaders in the future, that is exceedingly unlikely. With the current average age of model railroaders already around 60, this represents the main body of those in the hobby today who might have begun with either Lionel/Flyer/Marx toy trains, or the cheap Tyco HO sets and equipment and have retained an interest in them. As these folks pass on, most of the younger hobbyists will be representative of those whose first HO trains were quality models, not toys. Our hobby is growing more sophisticated daily and in the future vintage HO toy trains will likely have little, or no place.

NYW&B