Hi Alberto,
This is an easy way to tell, if it comes in the old red box it is version one, if it has a blue box it is version 2.

That is really a beauty, Alberto! Congratulations!

Many thanks Friends,
John your comparations pics are great , at last I understand all.
My 3025 comes in a red box with an ink stamp "S 58", but the roof bar measure 10 mm.
Case A) the seller had two versions and mistaked the boxes [V]
Case B) my model was produced in the transition era and got the old box [^].
However both the version have the same value, so I can have calm sleep

John,

could you please explain about this ?? For normally Koll does not distinguish versions by the make of the box, with the exception of only one or two locos I know, and with of course the assembly kit locos of the sixties and seventies ....

Maybe the version numbers you are referring to are not those from Koll, but from other collector catalogs ???

Regards,

Hans

Hi Adrian again,

I think that maybe watching the market from far away gives a different view. My experience was that rarely are Koll prices reached on Ebay. Especially the valued, old items like the ST 800, DL 800 and so on have such a limited collector base right now (which is polite speak for: this generation is in the process of dying ....). They are simply not bought by experienced collectors because those people want to see the items in reality. So a ST 800 is picked up on Ebay by people with average interest (I for instance might be interested in a decent, but not mint item). This is why prices generally have gone down.

Which explains that practically no CCS 800 (I'm talking about those middle priced ones from the mid-fifties) fetches more than around 50 % of the Koll price. This also explains that practically no item with a buy-it-now price that has been taken from Koll's will ever be sold.

Of course this changes drastically when real gems, real rarities or items in absolutely 'never out of the box' conditions are offered ....

Koll, funnily enough regarding your observation and comment, has over the years been regarded by German collectors as listing way too high prices, the expression used in the fourums being 'Fantasie Preise'. It was high time for the Koll prices to come down to something more realistic. Which may of course change again in the next years, and which of course may be completely different in other parts of the world !!!

Your last comment: go and have a look into some German MRR forums, you'll find that German is also quite challenging for a big percentage of German participants there .... Sorry, couldn't resist that ....

I do not understand the reference to the USA keyboard, but if you are talking about the ä, ü, and ö letters: these are, and it is quite common, substituted by ae, ue and oe respectively (Maerklin for instance) and will therefore not pose a problem. Apartr from that we do not seem to have other problem cases in our spelling ???

Many regards,

Hans

ot: Hans (Munich 1860), can you check your users.net email address? I sent you a couple of messages without answer.
bye

That settles that. Okt is Original Karton, or original box, meaning version one was red box and version two the blue and cram one! I should probabally buy one of these Mikados, much easier than trying to figure it out myself!

Good point, as I can only see those items offered to the whole world - from down here they nearly always seem to be higher than the Koll's guide..



Yep - I was referring to the ä, ü, and ö letters.. The only way that I can use them is with copy and paste - even then it is unreliable... I was trying to use babel to translate the word "Dachlüfterring", but could only use Dachlufterring.. This results in the original word tranlsated as "Roof ventilator ring", but the other word translated as "Roof-air-achieve".. Amazing the difference two dots can make!

Oh yes - now that I have the word translated correctly - the roof ventilator ring is 2mm thick on .1 and 1mm thick on .2...

Thanks Hans...

I can't remember the numbers... Someone showed me how to do the euro sign (may have even been you) - I wrote it down and then lost it - tried unsuccessfully to find it again using the search function on this forum (the original post not the piece of paper) .

The other problem is that the keyboard thing on the babel fish site is not working for me..

While the topic is swaying towards Kolls etc.. I thought I would put in my 2 cents... In my opinion there are a few reasons the trend is going towards 60's models and 50's pieces don't reach Koll's prices:
1: Kolls prices on the old stuff is based on Mint pieces with inspection tags etc..., usually at Christies type auctions, not ebay level. These places do get this kind of money- and rightfully so as they simply don't represent anything less than the best. A good example of this is to see what a high grade Lionel 700E Hudson (their equivalent of a CCS800 forsay)will sell for on ebay vs. at a Stout Auction- the difference can be several thousand dollars!
2: Bringing plain economics into this: There is always a seller if you want to pay full price. (in this case Kolls) You have to discount a bit if you really want to motivate a buyer for the thing!
3: The trend towards 60's pieces- I'm surprised this hasn't always been the case! They run better, there is more variety and most importantly - NO ZINC PEST!
Anyways, this tends to be what I have noticed

Thanks Ira.. I printed it out and I have stuck it to the monitor... [^]

Another 3025 on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MA...Z487QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Post to UK only.[xx(]

How was Rose Monday?
Ira

Ok, done.
bye