# Union Pacific Decal Issue



## eosGreen (Jan 7, 2011)

Hey guys im the son of a father whos selling his american flyer trains and ive been asked to help out.

one of the sets im going to be selling is a union pacific and im told that the fading issue on the engines is a common issue. could someone explain to me what/why this is?


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

eosGreen, welcome to the forum: I'm sorry to hear your father has to part with his trains. I'm not familiar with any fading issue on engines, and from your heading, I assume the decals are what faded. Sunlight would seem to be the obvious culprit, if that is the case.
Replacement decals are most likely available, but to be honest, I would recommend you not touch the decals: leave that for the buyer to decide. Assume that you are attempting to market a set of antiques: the last thing you want to do is reduce the value to a collector by altering it in any way. Dust it off well with something like a small paint brush with long, soft bristles and stop. If he has any of the original boxes and packaging, protect those from damage and include them in your offering: collectors value stuff like that.

Finally, you have several basic ways of selling the stuff.

1. Take it to your local train shop and ask what they'll give you for it. Definitely the worst choice. The same goes for antique shops: both will low-ball you because they want to make as much as they can from it. I'm not criticizing them---it's the nature of the business they are in.
2. Newspaper ad/Craigs list.....not much better.
3. Auction house: unless it's one that does internet auctions and specializes in trains, you may as well give it away.
4. Ebay the stuff in a large offering with lots of miscellaneous cars, track, engines, etc.
This is slightly better than the previous choices, but not the best.
5. Methodically feed it into Ebay, piece by piece, over time. Give your buyers a chance to get another paycheck between your offerings, and take very, very good photos of what you are selling. This is the way you will get the most for what he is selling. To get ain idea of what they are selling for, watch what the same item is currently going for on Ebay.

Best wishes to you and your father,
Reckers.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Great info, Reck ... well stated!

TJ


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

Thank you, Teej! Anyone who ran American Flyer trains deserves the best!


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

OR... you can donate them to me, and I'll take great care of them as if they were my own children. Aside from that, contact some of the members here in the s gauge forum for a shot at them.. From my short time being here, I can't think of a better bunch of guys who wouldn't do you wrong.. And I sincerely mean that.


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

Since Flyernut said it, I'll second the suggestion. I run Flyer and didn't want to give the impression of wanting to take advantage of you, but it's a very good suggestion. The folks on this site are ethical---those who show up and aren't are encouraged to move on.


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

Sointenly! I never look a gift locomotive in the steamchest!


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Timboy said:


> Or, you can set up an eBay store and part them out; piece by piece. That will give you the greatest return - for the parts and the extra buck from shipping and the nefarious "handling". But it is also time consuming and you will get hate mail from guys who think that is not in the best interest of the hobby. Hey guys; I'm not sayin'. I'm just sayin'...





Reckers said:


> Sointenly! I never look a gift locomotive in the steamchest!



What! 
No comment to Tim's remark about PARTING them out?

How dare he makes a comment like that! What are you sleeping Len?


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## imatt88 (Jan 31, 2010)

:laugh::laugh:


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