Wow.. very nice collection up for grabs..

muddy.... please tell tully i would like dibs on gold thomas!

[Super]

Very strange.....this was posted as Sold in the original Listing and now its back at a $3000 less price. But what is missing is the reference to the

As I said, there is another entire room of trains and carts not pictured, my guess is probably another 150-200 trains, 200-300 cars/trucks and some of those are new and unopened

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MASSIVE-TRACKMA...SwWLBZ7n~b

Technically it is not sold until the money has exchanged hands
Could be a real transaction or not...

AHEM!!

Very strange.....this was posted as Sold in the original Listing and now its back at a $3000 less price. But what is missing is the reference to the
https://www.ebay.com/itm/MASSIVE-TRACKMA...SwWLBZ7n~b

perhaps the buyer had a change of heart. I am not going to gamble with 6000 bucks. Heck with that money, I can buy a decent used car.

Heck no!! I would never sell even a single piece of rolling stock! Lol

---

I have seen this happen many times before...this guy was serious about the "collect them all" idea! He made a great run at it, but eventually you can't find an Alfie, a Monty, then a Thumper...all the while your child is out growing them. The light at the end of the tunnel begins to dim as the length of the tunnel seems to grow longer..,at some point it seems unjustifiable to continue, and in the end the collection no matter how large is still left incomplete. The dream dies and the lot is placed on eBay. This guy gave it a real go though!!

I honestly think "collecting them all" is a very personal statement, because it could mean collect all the characters from the Classic Series, all the characters ever, all items ever released in one specific range like MR&R, and so on.

And also Monty is a bit hard to find, you just have to be patient and browse polish auctioning sites. Thumper though is probably the rarest plarail non rail vehicle ever made, but frankly the model isn't even good, its too small and the wheels don't even move; I personally think the Wind up version is far superior. And as for Alfie - he's a one time lucky lottery prize, he's so rare any model of him is probably a prototype still from a factory, hence his rarity and the absurd price put on him. Though from what I know anyone's best shot is kijiji in Canada or eBay.ca or any other Canadian auctioning sites.

Thumper is actually the easiest of the 3 to find and comes up on the Japanese auctions quite often...I have personally seen 10 sell in just the last 2 years. We have 2 of them (1 is still bnib), and Bkvir208 now has 3.
Monty was very difficult to find at first, but now seems to come up on eBay a couple times every year...I have seen a least 15 sell at auction. We have 2 bnib and 2 used, Bkvir208 has 1 bnib and 2 used.
Alfie used to come up eBay with the same frequency that Monty does now, but not a single one has surfaced for over 3 years...
The last used Alfie sold on eBay went for $425 to an unknown buyer. We have 1 bnib and 3 used...Bkvir208 has 1 used and another very rare factory paint proof as well.

Thank you for the information Muddy! I am grateful.

I didn't know Thumper was common in Japan? When I browse Jauce I can never find an autction for the Boulder Mountain destination, its such a great set too! If you ever find one sealed new in box please let me know! Thank you.

Hmm, if Bkvir208 has already 1 new and 2 used why need a third one? I think the Monty should go to someone who has none of him yet honestly, that would be more fair.

And oh the factory paint one do you mean the prototype model that sold for £150? I saw it on eBay! Also, Muddy if you have one new, could you please do the honours of posting some pictures of it - it would be great to have the photos put up on the trackmaster wikia for everyone to see.

That's wierd...I could have sworn that there was already a bnib image of Alife on the Internet, but after scouring images I couldn't seem to find a single one or his packaging?
...so here you go!

---

@ B'Station Also, yes Thumper wasn't sold in the U.S. so the only place to find one is from Japan..
Monty is a collectors dream, and scooping them up and hoarding them as long term investments seems like the only natural thing for a collector to do!?!? Lol
Yes, that paint proof image on the Internet is the one Bkvir208 just recently acquired, and is the last TM Alfie to have surfaced to date.

That's wierd...I could have sworn that there was already a bnib image of Alife on the Internet, but after scouring images I couldn't seem to find a single one or his packaging?
...so here you go!

---

@ B'Station Also, yes Thumper wasn't sold in the U.S. so the only place to find one is from Japan..
Monty is a collectors dream, and scooping them up and hoarding them as long term investments seems like the only natural thing for a collector to do!?!? Lol
Yes, that paint proof image on the Internet is the one Bkvir208 just recently acquired, and is the last TM Alfie to have surfaced to date.

Wow thank you for the images Muddy!! Alfie looks amazing! I have a suspicion Alfie had the same story as Monty - as in both of them were only ever sold in one country - in Alfie's case it was only Canada, probably specifically Quebec, since the NEW sticker is in French, suggesting it would be an international translation release and since Alfie was only released in Canada - he definitely was only released in Quebec! Should help narrow down the search haha!

In my opinion hoarding isn't a good thing to get into. If a person buys multiple engines new and just stores them, I honestly don't see a point in buying them - if they're not going to be sold or taken out of the box. I personally don't agree with long term investments in the sense of hoarding items, its a waste of time and space.

Anyways, yes, Thumper was only released in J-28 destination released in 1999 for Plarail, Asia only.

Wow lucky! There is probably only two - three in the world of the prototype Alfie since its a pre-production model!!

How much did you get your Alfie for by the way Muddy? I hope its not something like $400?!

Also, my NIB TrackMaster HiT Toys Company Bert just arrived. Is he rare? I can't find any images of him in his box on the internet.

Time is but a fleeting moment, and space is simply what we are able to fit into that moment.
Accumulating a hoard of valuable commotities that have consistently and steadily proven to increase in value every year, seems like the very definition of an investment?
It's called building an estate.
Also, $400 couldn't even buy a used Alfie either...lol