It has been some
time since our last update. Over the past months we have been
fortunate to acquire a number of significant and unique collections,
and as a result we have spent a good deal of time preparing the
models for sale. Many of the higher value O Scale models have been
professionally serviced to ensure their optimal
appearance and operation.
We are continuing to process the
O Scale collections of Mike Hill and Phil Marcus. We will be introducing
models from the Joe Foehrkolb collection and other O and HO Scale
collections over the next several months. We also will be listing high
quality S Scale brass models from multiple collections. As always, we want to thank our
customers for their continued support.
Please feel
free to contact us anytime.
Jack and Cheryl McGarry
Allegheny Scale Models |
Changes to the Allegheny Scale Models Website
We are in
the process of making a number
of changes to the ASM website. The goal is to better accommodate
a larger number of listings from new collections in multiple scales, and to simplify
finding required information within the website. We are making
the changes incrementally and you will see changes to the website
over the next several months.
Market Trends
Over the past few years we have noticed a number of changes in the
secondary model railroad market. This is often seen in the
reduced number of high quality models available for resale.
There are several reasons for this, including a reduction
in the number of new models being produced, fewer active brass importers, and an increase in the number of
pre-owned models changing hands. As a result, the cost of
higher end models in excellent or better condition has been
increasing, and many more models require some work to prepare them
for sale. Many of the models that we list are professionally
serviced and upgraded to present best value to our
customers. The work that we do includes repairs and upgrades,
and in some cases restorations. We believe that good models should be
carefully preserved for future enjoyment. Additional detail can be found here:
Professional model
servicing.
Why We Buy Brass Models
Unfortunately over the past few years we lost a number of
modelers who contributed significantly to our hobby. John
Glabb was one of those people. He was one of the most
knowledgeable collectors of HO Scale brass models and freely shared
his knowledge within the community. He held that there are two
fundamental
reasons we search out and purchase brass models: 1) "For what the
model is", and 2) "For what the model represents". What John
was telling us was that a model does not need to be a perfect
representation of the prototype to be of value to us.
The overall quality of construction, the scarcity of the model, and
the model's heritage may be meaningful to us, even if it is not a
perfect representation of the intended prototype. Conversely, the closer the model represents the prototype
that we are interested in, in terms of scale dimensions, proper
detailing, and other characteristics, the more we may value it. I suspect we all
purchase brass models for both reasons.
Train Shows
We continuously look at how we can best spend our time at ASM to
prepare and market the models and related items that we have for
sale. In our experience different types of models are best
marketed using different methods. Our higher value models seem
to sell best when listed on the ASM website or in our ASM magazine
ads, while our lower value items do well at the scale
oriented train shows. Our current
show schedule can be found at "ASM Show Schedule". |