special edition train set

[jadagli]

i have a special edition train set that was made for Foley's Department Store in Houston Texas in 1987.  Original box in bad shape, but train never out of box.  Foley's was bought by the May Comapny the sold and sold again and finally wound up under the Macy's label and the name was changed to Macy's.  I was wondering if there was any value to this train set.  If so who would I contact to possibly sell this item.  Thanks anyone and everyone.

[ABC]

If it is HO scale, it likely would not fetch any more than $10-15 or so. If you really need $10 that bad then I'd guess you could sell it.

[Doneldon]

jadagli -

By and large, old train sets have very low value.  The components of sets tend to be the very lowest quality a manufacturer makes.  Consequently, these items are not wanted by modelers who run their trains, or by collectors who are looking for rare and quality items.  Valuable items are those in new condition with pristine packaging which doesn't seem to be the case for your set.  There are exceptions to these guidelines, of course, but not really for old HO sets.

You can try to sell your set on ebay but you'll have to test it to be sure that it runs.  (It might not after many years and that will turn it into junk.)  I doubt if you'll get much for it after you pay listing, selling and Paypal fees.  And you'll still have the matter of packaging and mailing.

A better alternative if you want to sell is to try Craig's List, assuming you have one in your area.  Even better would be to either find a needy child who would like a train or give it to Goodwill Industries who will sell it cheaply, earning some money for themselves and helping a parent to give a nice birthday present or something like that.  Whatever you choose to do, good luck.
                                                                                                -- D

[Joe323]

jadagli -

By and large, old train sets have very low value.  The components of sets tend to be the very lowest quality a manufacturer makes.  Consequently, these items are not wanted by modelers who run their trains, or by collectors who are looking for rare and quality items.  Valuable items are those in new condition with pristine packaging which doesn't seem to be the case for your set.  There are exceptions to these guidelines, of course, but not really for old HO sets.

You can try to sell your set on ebay but you'll have to test it to be sure that it runs.  (It might not after many years and that will turn it into junk.)  I doubt if you'll get much for it after you pay listing, selling and Paypal fees.  And you'll still have the matter of packaging and mailing.

A better alternative if you want to sell is to try Craig's List, assuming you have one in your area.  Even better would be to either find a needy child who would like a train or give it to Goodwill Industries who will sell it cheaply, earning some money for themselves and helping a parent to give a nice birthday present or something like that.  Whatever you choose to do, good luck.
                                                                                                -- D

Personally I gave all my toy like trains to the church rummage sale just to get them out of my house.  It was not a set but has sufficient stuff to make up a set, All someone needs to buy is track.