10 replies to this topic

[hiltzy]

Hello there! I am new here and know nothing about slot cars, so please forgive me in advance if this is an annoying post. LOL! I have a slot car set in it's orignal box (opened and used), some slot cars and misc. track pieces along with booklets, etc. and am interested in selling it. My problem is I don't know how much this stuff is worth. I have a friend who's husband is into slot cars, races them, makes models, etc. and wants to buy some of it, but I would like to know what I have before I sell to him. I don't want to get taken advantage of, if you know what I mean. I think he is interested in the cars that come in the boxed set and if I sell those to him, wouldn't that ruin the value of the boxed set if the cars are gone?!!

I am going to try to post the pictures here for you to see what I am referring to. The boxed set is a "1/32 Scale Parkway International Grand Prix - Banked Curve Home Raceway by Strombecker". Inside the box was a ton of pieces which I don't know is original to the set or which cars came with the set. I will upload various photos of the set and the cars once I figure out how to do that, LOL. I do realize that the box is definitely not mint condition esp. with the tape on the side, but it is not ripped and still have the plastic handle on the top.

One of the cars that I have is pictured in a booklet and it says "Monocoque Construction BRM Cox" and it is a green Ferrari with the #82 on it which I think was driven by Jim Clark?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

[Cheater]

Anita,

I'm going to suggest that pictures of your set are going to be necessary to give you an accurate value. The types of cars and their condition will have an effect on value and the best way to communicate those factors is with pics, as will the overall "completeness" of the set and the condition of the box.

I've PM'd you with a link to Slotblog's pic posting tutorial. Alternatively, you are welcome to email the pictures to me at greg@slotblog.net and I'll post them here for you.

[hiltzy]

OK, I am going to try to post some pictures. Here are some pictures of the boxed Grand Prix set. I will post a picture of the front, the back and one of the insides with lots of parts. Hope it works, LOL.

[hiltzy]

So glad the photos worked! OK, so now I am going to be posting some pictures of the various cars. I didn't clean the cars, I just pulled them out and took photos so there will be some dust bunnies on these. I did read on the box which two cars came with the boxed set: LeMans Ford J (white) and the American GT Coupe (dark red/burgundy).

LeMans Ford J


American GT Coupe:


I don't know what kind of car this is, but it does say Ford on the hood. Is it a Ford Mustang Fastback?


Cox Formula I BRM - Ferrari (Cat. No. 9200 1:24 Monocoque Construction):


The back wheels are wider than the front wheels. It is missing the driver.


I do have a couple of these Cox controllers in the box besides the Strombecker ones. Would these have been additional controls my couisn would have bought?


Booklets, catalog from Cox ("First From Cox" - store's copy?), Strombecker Road Racing Manual, and some decorative stickers never used:


The Cox catalog is where I found the picture and description of the green Ferrari car. Would that car have been in a previous racing set or would my cousin have bought that as a single car kit? I am wondering what the value of the set would be around as well as the cars. I would think keeping the 2 cars with the set would make sense, unless they are worth more broken up into groupings. I just have no idea what the other cars are worth. I did see on another message board where a guy had a car similar to my green Ferrari and he referred to it as the "holy grail" of slot cars. Could this be true?

There was also the body of another Indy style car along with two motors (there was some things magnatized to it in the photo that I didn't realize at the time, LOL) and half of a white car (bottom section):


Any help on this would be greatly appreciated! Would the local library be a source for information by chance? I have some Aurora Thunder Jets cars from my cousin too that I will post about in the 1/24 vintage cars board.

[TSR]

Anita,

I can give you some guidelines of current market value.

Strombecker racing set with the white Ford "J" and maroon Chaparral 2D cars: in this condition, about $100.00 (basically the value of both cars as the set itself is basically worthless to collectors).

The green Cox BRM F1 car in this condition: $75.00 to $85.00

The blue and white Strombecker Lotus bits: $35.00 to $45.00.

The Cox catalog: $35.00 to $45.00

The red AMT Mustang in this condition (missing windows): $55.00

I hope that this will help.

Regards,

[hiltzy]

Thanks so much for your help!

I am disappointed that the set would be worthless to collectors. Is it because they use newer, better kind of tracks? You always hear about how having the original box to toys makes something twice as valuable to collectors and this set is from 1967 (marked on the box), LOL. The set was really very heavy and I was afraid how much shipping would cost if I sold it as a set, so I guess it would be OK to sell just the two cars then from the set. Should I even try to sell the track pieces and controllers, etc., from it?

[Cheater]

Anita,

I'd spend some time on eBay, looking for listings for the same cars and for sets and track. That'll give you some ideas on how you want to market the stuff.

In your case, the original box's condition would be a problem even if set boxes of this type were desirable.

The Cox controllers were made in such numbers that they generally have low value. Same with the Strombecker sectional track: so much of it was made that the supply far exceeds the low demand for it today.

[don.siegel]

Anita,

First, follow Cheater's advice, and look at eBay listings for a rough idea of value. He's also right about box condition....

What you say is true for the box if it's a car alone, especially in mint condition - it can double to value, or at least add 50%. But complete slot car sets are another matter: very few of them have any real value beyond the cars, for reasons of most people lacking the required space to collect them, how common a lot of them are, the generally used condition, etc. (there are very particular exceptions, like the Scalextric or Gilbert James Bond sets, the Eldon Dragster set, etc.).

I also think that TSR's estimates of your cars' values are a bit optimistic, but they are in the ballpark. On the green Cox BRM, it will also depend if it has all the bits underneath, like the chrome exhaust section, back and front body pans, etc. It also looks like the white Strombecker Ford J in the first car photo has had its rear wheel wells trimmed, which would basically remove any possible value.

As you guessed, it is probably still a better idea to sell this stuff separately, unless you can sell it all as a lot to somebody near you - it still makes a nice package for a beginning collector who wants to work on stuff...

Good luck,

Don

[Gary Bluestone]

I think you should sell it to your friends husband for less than $250. Otherwise you will spend countless hours listing, describing, packing, shipping, paying eBay fees, etc., and if you make a few dollars more, it will be at $1 per hour of your labour and both you friend and her husband will be disappointed.

There is nothing rare here, no gold mine, or holy grail, the white "J" is toast, and there may be other damage we can't see, that devalues these from the $250.

[hiltzy]

Thanks for all the advice. I really do appreciate it an it's been a great help to me.

[odcics2]

Thanks for all the advice. I really do appreciate it an it's been a great help to me.

So, what did you end up doing??