Hello Marklin friends,

An interesting auction brings yet again many lessons on the importance of having a careful eye. At first sight, we have a fantastic "mint in box" MS 800 locomotive:

http://rover.ebay.com/ro....de%2Fitm%2F233393932365

As this lot was heavily discussed in a German forum, I present for our English readers a summary of the findings. First a collector noticed the box is too thin in width, and is for the later 3023/3024 model. Looking also at the date stamp on the box W 6-8 (dating to 1958) this is much too late for this version of the MS 800 from the early 1950s (probably 1953). Likely someone has taken an MS 800 label and added it to the box or modified the model number. Next we have a look at the "Gepruft" tag stamped "MS" which is in my opinion not correct. I'll leave it to the reader to compare differences between this and an original. The wheels also appear to have been modified or are replicas - you can see they are very shiny and were likely "buffed" with a wire wheel to make them have this appearance. Whether the instruction sheet is original or a replica is also hard to say from the photos. I would also want a closer look at the paint of the loco...

For comparison here is a mint MS 800 from my collection:

https://marketplace.mark...-lokomotive-in-okt-1953/

Because I purchased the loco from the son of the original owner I know mine was all original and not tampered with. Looking back now I only question whether the pick-up shoe was possibly replaced with a later style version.

All the best,

Paul

Far from being an expert, however; the box is 100% a replica, can be bought in the free market. I can't say if the label is original or not but assume that it is also a replica, only due to its condition, just too good. All the rest is hard to say, however, the paint looks to be in a very good condition so either is a respray or the model has never went around the tracks (as the wheels are also very shiny).