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Offline kweekalot  
#1 Posted : 03 January 2015 21:31:11(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
Hi,

In 2013 Faller released a remake of the classic plastic #318 pine trees, that were in the Faller program from 1955 till the 80s.

I like these old 318 trees a lot, they were also used on the Marklin factory layouts.

I bought two boxes of these “new” pine trees that now have No 181604, to see whether they still look good on a (classic) layout.
And yes, the new pine trees are almost identical to the old 318 trees, I think the old molds were used because the sprues still have the old ‘317’ and ‘318’ numbers casted in them.
The green plastic is now harder and not as flexible as the old trees and the set has no bent trunks as the old trees had (so you could place them on a hillside).
But the new trees still have the same classic look and appeal of the old trees, which had BTW also several different versions back in the day.

The first series of these plastic trees from 1955 had a marbled multiple color effect and are therefore the most sought after by the diehard fanatic Faller collector. These first trees from the 50s also had smooth trunks without the tiny side branches that the later pine trees had. In the 1960s the marbled appearance was abandoned and from that time the trees came in plain green just as these new pine trees.
I think that no layout can do without these lovely pine trees. Cool

Marco


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Edited by user 18 August 2022 16:14:26(UTC)  | Reason: Changed subject titel a bit.

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Offline kweekalot  
#2 Posted : 03 January 2015 21:35:17(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
And to make the story complete are here some additional photos ...



Marklin factory show layout (Brochure 1967) with in the left corner the old 318 pine trees.

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Faller new items brochure 1955 with on page 3 the introduction of the plastic 318 pine trees.

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Edited by user 16 August 2022 16:37:50(UTC)  | Reason: typo

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Offline hennabm  
#3 Posted : 03 January 2015 22:51:30(UTC)
hennabm

Scotland   
Joined: 22/09/2009(UTC)
Posts: 2,038
Location: Edinburgh,
Hi Marco

Thanks for the info.ThumpUp

I see you get far fewer in the box these days than when originally releasedThumbDown

Are these for your old layout?

For my layout I found a pack of 50 similar looking trees in Gaugemaster for about £20. They came ready assembled but in a variety of sizes.

Mike
1957 - 1985 era
What's digital?
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Offline kweekalot  
#4 Posted : 04 January 2015 00:06:34(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
Hi MIke,

Yes, 6 firs in a 181604 box for € 9,95
And yes, they are for my vintage layout and for my next project, I guess I need 'hundreds' of these trees in the near future.
You can also find the old 318 pine trees on (German) ebay, sometimes real cheap, but I like to support my local mrr store too.
Thanks for the tip about the Gaugemaster trees but I'm a Faller devotee so I think I'll stick with Faller. BigGrin

Marco
Offline cookee_nz  
#5 Posted : 05 January 2015 06:28:57(UTC)
cookee_nz

New Zealand   
Joined: 31/12/2010(UTC)
Posts: 3,946
Location: Paremata, Wellington
Originally Posted by: kweekalot Go to Quoted Post
Hi MIke,

Yes, 6 firs in a 181604 box for € 9,95
And yes, they are for my vintage layout and for my next project, I guess I need 'hundreds' of these trees in the near future.
You can also find the old 318 pine trees on (German) ebay, sometimes real cheap, but I like to support my local mrr store too.
Thanks for the tip about the Gaugemaster trees but I'm a Faller devotee so I think I'll stick with Faller. BigGrin

Marco


I too am a fan of these trees, infact, when I cannot see them I do quite Pine for them (sorry) Blushing

My oldest ones originate from my Dad's train days and the 0923 factory layout has two clumps of them

Whenever any of them come my way I just have to buy them and I have a few boxes now.

Sure, compared to modern hand-made ones they are a bit cheesy, but that just adds to all the appeal of them.

Re the bent trunks, in one of Faller books it was written that you could easily bend your own to whatever shape you liked so perhaps they just decided to simplify the moulds, apart from which I cant say I see many trunks bent half-way up like that, tress on a hill still grow angled from the base, I think you would have to specifically force a trunk to change direction?

Doesn't bother me in the slightest anyway.

Thanks Marco for another diversion ThumpUp
Cookee
Wellington
NZ image
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Offline Maulwoof  
#6 Posted : 16 April 2015 19:26:29(UTC)
Maulwoof

United States   
Joined: 16/04/2015(UTC)
Posts: 1
Location: Nevada, Reno
New to this forum, as I inherited 100's of faller, Volmer(?), ect, from my father who passed last year. He owned a toy/hobby shop from 1950 to 1963, on the coast of California. He was mostly a Lionel guy, but i found boxes & boxes of HO scale gear. Some of the electrical stuff, I'm not sure what the heck it is. I have successfully moved about 25 Marklin trains on ebay. The Faller stuff is much more demanding in regards to research and understanding "correct listing data". I was searching for data on the #318/317 pine trees when I came across these beautiful pix of the new vs old and all the marvelous info you guys have.
My question for you awesome, sharp collectors out there w/great knowledge (the type you can just spout out, w/o having to research it) is....What is the right price to list these at, I don't want to look like a $ grubbin seller, yet Dad would surely have preferred I didn't give it away either.
If anyone could help, I would be very greatful. I have dozens of catalogs from the 50's & many boxes of buildings, storage tanks, train station stuff, little men, piers, viaducts, switch track w/wires/control knobs, ect....... My life is consumed w/too many 'honey-do's', a 60 tree fruit orchard, two small pouches that get the best of me, and renovating my house, so my time is somewhat limited. I posted an email in the profile I just made to post here. Cherck that almost every day :-) Thanks in advance for any directional info !

Bryan

Originally Posted by: cookee_nz Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: kweekalot Go to Quoted Post
Hi MIke,

Yes, 6 firs in a 181604 box for € 9,95
And yes, they are for my vintage layout and for my next project, I guess I need 'hundreds' of these trees in the near future.
You can also find the old 318 pine trees on (German) ebay, sometimes real cheap, but I like to support my local mrr store too.
Thanks for the tip about the Gaugemaster trees but I'm a Faller devotee so I think I'll stick with Faller. BigGrin

Marco


I too am a fan of these trees, infact, when I cannot see them I do quite Pine for them (sorry) Blushing

My oldest ones originate from my Dad's train days and the 0923 factory layout has two clumps of them

Whenever any of them come my way I just have to buy them and I have a few boxes now.

Sure, compared to modern hand-made ones they are a bit cheesy, but that just adds to all the appeal of them.

Re the bent trunks, in one of Faller books it was written that you could easily bend your own to whatever shape you liked so perhaps they just decided to simplify the moulds, apart from which I cant say I see many trunks bent half-way up like that, tress on a hill still grow angled from the base, I think you would have to specifically force a trunk to change direction?

Doesn't bother me in the slightest anyway.

Thanks Marco for another diversion ThumpUp


Offline kweekalot  
#7 Posted : 16 April 2015 20:16:12(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
Hi Brian,

Welcome to the forum.
If you post a picture of the Faller items, we or I can help you with information (listing data).

Marco
Offline Mark5  
#8 Posted : 08 November 2015 06:04:22(UTC)
Mark5

Canada   
Joined: 29/01/2012(UTC)
Posts: 1,420
Location: Montreal, Canada
MB-landscape-web-image.jpg

In honour of Marco's love for Faller trees and this somewhat photoshopped photo of the portable mountain layout of the Mädchenbahn.
We made this for a series of blank greeting cards with scenes of our layout and trains.

Let's make that an earlier "Merry Christmas"!

- Mark

ps. BTW You can order a set of greeting cards from Mädchenbahn girls and help them (us) defray our running costs.
DB DR FS NS SNCF c. 1950-65, fan of station architecture esp. from 1920-70.
In single point perspective, where do track lines meet?
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Offline kweekalot  
#9 Posted : 08 November 2015 17:17:47(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
Wow, this is great. ThumpUp
Well done Mark, looks like a genuine drawing from a vintage Faller magazine.

Marco

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Offline Mark5  
#10 Posted : 09 November 2015 18:55:40(UTC)
Mark5

Canada   
Joined: 29/01/2012(UTC)
Posts: 1,420
Location: Montreal, Canada
Thanks Marco,

I was thinking a bit about the Faller catalogues from the 50s and 60s.

The great thing about these trees for our portable set is that they are robust and stay on during the train show and its transportation there and back in our mini-van.
We just came back from the Laval Quebec show yesterday and got many Wow comments about out 3'x5' set... another 1'x3' for the control panel.
There is always a lot more to do though! The girls did sell some of the greeting cards, but selling locos gives a better return! Wink
Unfortunately a lot of the sellers were complaining about the low numbers of visitors to the show this year.
(More on that another time and place.)

Cheers,
Mark

Originally Posted by: kweekalot Go to Quoted Post
Wow, this is great. ThumpUp
Well done Mark, looks like a genuine drawing from a vintage Faller magazine.

Marco

DB DR FS NS SNCF c. 1950-65, fan of station architecture esp. from 1920-70.
In single point perspective, where do track lines meet?
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Offline lmedberry  
#11 Posted : 16 January 2016 06:21:18(UTC)
lmedberry

United States   
Joined: 14/01/2015(UTC)
Posts: 55
Marco,

I have a few boxes of those marbled tree's as well and they are far my favorite!

You have made me a Faller die hard.

Lance
Offline kweekalot  
#12 Posted : 16 January 2016 13:23:20(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
Hello Lance,

Yes these old 318 marbled tree's are great and maybe look a bit better than the new ones.
Welcome to the Faller family. BigGrin ThumpUp

Marco
Offline cookee_nz  
#13 Posted : 02 April 2016 11:27:49(UTC)
cookee_nz

New Zealand   
Joined: 31/12/2010(UTC)
Posts: 3,946
Location: Paremata, Wellington
Originally Posted by: kweekalot Go to Quoted Post
Hi MIke,

Yes, 6 firs in a 181604 box for € 9,95
And yes, they are for my vintage layout and for my next project, I guess I need 'hundreds' of these trees in the near future.
You can also find the old 318 pine trees on (German) ebay, sometimes real cheap, but I like to support my local mrr store too.
Thanks for the tip about the Gaugemaster trees but I'm a Faller devotee so I think I'll stick with Faller. BigGrin

Marco


Hi Marco, all

We had some 'goodies' available through our club last night in a special goods for sale evening, lots of bargains to be had and some interesting items.

My lovely wide Nadine (bless her heart) for some reason took a shine to a Faller Coaling station - wasn't quite my cup of tea but she is inspired and I'm all for that!!

Anyways.... among the items on offer was something that really caught my eye. It was a box of kit Pine Trees remarkably Faller-esque in style and for $2?, well I just had to now didn't I!!

So the thing is, if these are not a knock-off I don't know what is. They are made in Russia by a company called "Zvezda" who it seems are into Military, Wargaming etc.

Don't bother trying their English site, it does not have all the range of the Russian version but if Russian is not your thing, just use Google Chrome and let the automatic translation take care of it, Russian appears to translate quite well.

Here are some images of the kit which I thought might be of interest. This pack 8222 seems no longer available from them but might still be in various shops around.

The plastic is quite different, nowhere near as flexible as Faller, the green is much brighter (have placed some Faller ones either side to compare) and very plastic looking, and there is no detail on the tree trunks but all that aside, they are actually quite close, certainly at first glance and could easily be weathered or just scattered among original ones to give some tone variation.

Regards

Cookee

8222-1.jpg
8222-2.jpg8222-3.jpg

Edited by user 19 August 2022 12:21:02(UTC)  | Reason: Add images

Cookee
Wellington
NZ image
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Offline NZMarklinist  
#14 Posted : 17 May 2016 16:02:29(UTC)
NZMarklinist

New Zealand   
Joined: 15/03/2011(UTC)
Posts: 1,757
Location: Auckland NZ
Woot
Originally Posted by: cookee_nz Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: kweekalot Go to Quoted Post
Hi MIke,

Yes, 6 firs in a 181604 box for € 9,95
And yes, they are for my vintage layout and for my next project, I guess I need 'hundreds' of these trees in the near future.
You can also find the old 318 pine trees on (German) ebay, sometimes real cheap, but I like to support my local mrr store too.
Thanks for the tip about the Gaugemaster trees but I'm a Faller devotee so I think I'll stick with Faller. BigGrin

Marco


Hi Marco, all

We had some 'goodies' available through our club last night in a special goods for sale evening, lots of bargains to be had and some interesting items.

My lovely wide Nadine (bless her heart) for some reason took a shine to a Faller Coaling station - wasn't quite my cup of tea but she is inspired and I'm all for that!!

Anyways.... among the items on offer was something that really caught my eye. It was a box of kit Pine Trees remarkably Faller-esque in style and for $2?, well I just had to now didn't I!!

So the thing is, if there are not a knock-off I don't know what is. They are made in Russia by a company called "Zvezda" who it seems are into Military, Wargaming etc.

Don't bother trying their English site, it does not have all the range of the Russian version but if Russian is not your thing, just use Google Chrome and let the automatic translation take care of it, Russian appears to translate quite well.

Here are some images of the kit which I thought might be of interest. This pack 8222 seems no longer available from them but might still be in various shops around.

The plastic is quite different, nowhere near as flexible as Faller, the green is much brighter (have placed some Faller ones either side to compare) and very plastic looking, and there is no detail on the tree trunks but all that aside, they are actually quite close, certainly at first glance and could easily be weathered or just scattered among original ones to give some tone variation.

Regards

Cookee

8222-1.jpg
8222-2.jpg8222-3.jpg


Hi Steve,
Yes a Faller knock off for sure.
The pieces on the spruces look exactly like the Faller ones I had as a kid in the mid 60's and bought from Model Crafts & Hobbies in Wellington !! I had lots of them, or so it seemed on my layout, IIRCC Wink
In the Faller instructions it showed you how to "plant them" on a mountain, "warm the tree trunks with a match and bend them "so the tree "grew" vertically !
Glen
Auckland NZ

" Every Marklin layout needs a V200, a Railbus and a Banana car", not to mention a few Black and red Steamers, oh and the odd Elok !

CS1 Reloaded, Touch Cab, C Track Modules, K track layout all under construction. Currently Insider
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Offline kweekalot  
#15 Posted : 16 August 2022 17:25:38(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
I know this is an old thread, but sometimes it's better to continue an old one, than start a new.

I have 'collected' some Faller 1320 blisterpacks with the old type Faller pine trees.
These are the 1960s ready made '320' pine trees that were assembled by Faller homeworkers.
In 1976 the number 1 was added, 320 became 1320, and from now on the trees came in a blisterpack.

The trees in my blisters are the marbled green plastic type, but I have also seen 1320 packs on Ebay with non-marbled plain green plastic trees, I avoid those, the marbled ones look much nicer and have the 1960s Faller charm a little bit more than the newer ones.

On the bottom right side of the blisterpacks that I have, is a (very) small code printed.
The white blisters have the code '7605 br' and the red blisterpacks '78 br'.
Probably meaning (in my opinion) produced in May 1976 and in 1978, in Faller Austria, in the Braunau facilicity (the former Hoffmann Austria company that was taken over by Faller in 1963).
But maybe could also mean that just the blisterpack was made there, not the trees and maybe 'Br' does not refer to Braunau at all.

Marco

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Offline JohnjeanB  
#16 Posted : 16 August 2022 20:21:45(UTC)
JohnjeanB

France   
Joined: 04/02/2011(UTC)
Posts: 3,078
Location: Paris, France
Hi Marco
Thanks for this information.
These "Tannen" were just great in those days and very easy to mount, bend the trunk for slopes, etc (plug and play of the 50sLOL )
They bring back very nice memories of our childhood (at least for me)
I suspect that for more realism, Hecki trees could be more prototycal
Thank again for your infos
Jean
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Offline kweekalot  
#17 Posted : 18 August 2022 15:35:47(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
Thanks Jean ! ThumpUp
You're right about the Heki trees. The Faller pine trees may look a bit too plastic for some.
But I'm looking for 1960 nostalgia, and not after achieving realism on my layouts.
(Achieving realism is impossible for me anyway, as I run my trains on pre-war TE bakelite track)


I took some pictures to show the differences ...
Left the unmarbled 181604 plain green trees and right the old marbled (1)320 trees.
The base is also different.

UserPostedImage

UserPostedImage

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Offline rmsailor  
#18 Posted : 18 August 2022 17:57:05(UTC)
rmsailor

Scotland   
Joined: 20/01/2006(UTC)
Posts: 569
Location: Kirkcaldy, Fife

The British firm of Merit, not to be confused with Merten, made a similar style of trees many years ago.

Bob M.
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Offline kweekalot  
#19 Posted : 18 August 2022 20:52:05(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
Thanks Bob, I've never heard of Merit, so I learned something. ThumpUp

The Hoffmann pine trees from Hoffman kit B 803 (with inspection sheet stambed "1963") are also the same as the Faller trees.
Not an exact copy, the leaves are slightly different and the base is bigger (which is good, less likely to tip over).
The Hoffmann's are not marbled and the color is slightly lighter green than the Faller trees.

I assembled one. The last photo shows 1 Hoffmann tree on the left side of 5 Faller (1)320 trees.

Marco

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Offline rmsailor  
#20 Posted : 19 August 2022 09:36:57(UTC)
rmsailor

Scotland   
Joined: 20/01/2006(UTC)
Posts: 569
Location: Kirkcaldy, Fife

Merit were a producer of an extensive range of British OO figures, human and animal, moulded in plastic, along with various scenic items, barrels, milk churns and fences etc. They were produced during the 1960's. Items can be found on E-bay and other second hand markets. During the 1950's there was another wxtensive range called Mastermodels but they were produced in metal.

Bob M.
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Offline kiwiAlan  
#21 Posted : 19 August 2022 15:28:53(UTC)
kiwiAlan

United Kingdom   
Joined: 23/07/2014(UTC)
Posts: 8,067
Location: ENGLAND, Didcot
Originally Posted by: rmsailor Go to Quoted Post

The British firm of Merit, not to be confused with Merten, made a similar style of trees many years ago.

Bob M.


Did they actually make them themselves, or did they market repackaged Faller, or someone elses, product?

I wouldn't be surprised to find it was the latter.
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Offline rmsailor  
#22 Posted : 19 August 2022 17:20:19(UTC)
rmsailor

Scotland   
Joined: 20/01/2006(UTC)
Posts: 569
Location: Kirkcaldy, Fife
Originally Posted by: kiwiAlan Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: rmsailor Go to Quoted Post

The British firm of Merit, not to be confused with Merten, made a similar style of trees many years ago.

Bob M.


Did they actually make them themselves, or did they market repackaged Faller, or someone elses, product?

I wouldn't be surprised to find it was the latter.


I would guess they made them themselves though possibly inspired by Faller. They produced otrher types of trees that went together in a similar fashion. Remember this is pre-EEC days when such cooperation would be very much the exception and they were producing a wide range of accessories.
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