This week's super cool estate sale discovery!

[Thumper]

Man-o-man, today was a good'un! I attended two sales this morning and scored some cool things at both of them. I should be able to flip the stuff for some pretty respectable coinage. But, the coolest find IMHO was at the second sale I attended. The guy was an avid railroad buff and had tons of railroad related items. There were a few items that really piqued my curiosity and I kept returning to fondle them. They were tagged at $95.00 but I asked if they'd consider $60.00. ($20 each) BANG! They accepted my offer!

I brought 'em home, admired them, then the problem crept in. I had no frigging clue what persactly I had. (the people at the sale didn't either) A few minutes on the internet and I figured it out. Looks like I may be sittin' on at least $1500.00 ... probably more.

Here's one I found on eBay ... almost PERSACTLY what I have TWO of. It sold a month ago for $500.00! A bit more research and I found these are extremely rare AND extremely collectible by railroad buffs. These plates are the equivalent of "locomotive birth certificates". Here's the one that just sold on "The Bay" for $500:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SPOKANE-PORTLAND-SEATTLE-RY-FB-1-202-LOCOMOTIVE-BUILDERS-PLATE-/131142640610?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e88b5e3e2&nma=true&si=MXhJnGG41pXxq8m0002m6%252BT08Fk%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

2943


And I have TWO of 'em just like that! These puppies weigh close to 4 lbs. (cast iron)

2944 2945

And then I also have this big ol' honkin' MF'r! It may be quite rare (hopefully) as I haven't been able to find another one on the net. This one weighs just under 6 lbs!

2946

[BarryBobPosthole]

Jim, I have a friend who is a dyed in the wool railroad collector. I'll put you in direct touch with him if you'd like.

BKB

[Thumper]

Sure Mr. P-hole. I'll be going back tomorrow morning for half-price day. Not sure what'll be left as things were flying out the door at a pretty good clip. I sure wish I knew more about stuff ... I'm learning, but it's a slow process. With these things today, I used the advice of ol' Mike & Frank on American Pickers. They always say, if you stumble across something you've never seen before ... BUY IT! I guess it worked out pretty well for me today. :D

[BarryBobPosthole]

That's awesome!

BKB

[Captain]

Yep that is some pretty cool stuff.
I'd be a broke man if I ever started attending those sales.

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[Thumper]

Ha ha! Yep, you probably would be Cappy ... 'cause you have a tendency to KEEP stuff! I used to be the same way and "collected" all sorts of things ... then I found out how much fun (and profitable) it is to "flip" 'em instead. :D

In fact, I'm getting ready right now to head back out to the trenches this morning and do a little more digging.

[Arty]

I don't know chit about locomotives or railroad stuff but those right there are cool!

[Thumper]

Well cool beans. I just found one like the larger one I have. It just sold on "The Bay" for $531.00.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMERICAN-LOCOMOTIVE-COMPANY-ALCO-1943-SCHENECTADY-WORKS-BUILDERS-PLATE-70361-/390788743279?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5afcd3006f&nma=true&si=MXhJnGG41pXxq8m0002m6%252BT08Fk%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Here's a pic of that one on the left ... and mine on the right. Cool!

2947 http://www.goodhunting.info/attachment.php?attachmentid=2946&d=1398471079&thumb=1

[Arty]

And yours is a year older. Which id think means more $$$

[Thumper]

Just listed the January 1952 plate as a 7-day auction tonight. We'll see where it stands this time next week!

[HideHunter]

Very cool.. Good luck. I belong to a Facebook cast iron cooking site. Lot of people collecting "anything" older made of cast. "Railroad" stuff should go great for you. I have a couple railroad switch lanterns I found. I guess they are fairly collectible. Oh and I probably have a couple dozen cast "date nails".

[Thumper]

Arrrgghhhh! I talked to the guy who ran that particular sale when I went back yesterday. He said he'd originally had EIGHT of those plates but a lady had bought five of them for her husband. He's into electric trains and she thought they'd look neat hanging on the wall in his "train room". After she got home, they looked on eBay to see what they were worth. She ran back to the sale to get the three she left behind and found them gone. He told me she showed up about an hour after I left. DANG! I'd be in heaven if I'd have nailed all eight of these things. I have the first one listed at $575 starting auction with a $755 BIN. I didn't list it until 1:15 am and in 7 hours, it was on 14 watch lists already. The cool thing is, another collector sent me all the info on this particular plate:

Your builders plate is from a C&NW #1614 RS-3 roadswitcher built in Jul 1952 with serial number 80132. In 1971, this RS-3 started to be converted to road slug BU-42, but the work was not completed. As a result, #1614 was scrapped by C&NW during 1971.

[quercus alba]

some people have more money than sense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKtlK7sn0JQ

[Thumper]

Ha ha! There's a lot of truth to that Q/A ... as long as I sell and don't buy ... I'm okay with it! The silly thing is, many, MANY times ... I'll buy something on eBay this week and sell it on eBay next week for 3-times what I paid for it. Figure THAT one out! ;)

Many times it depends on the seller's skills with listing. NOBODY is going to find a listing that is titled: "Old Razor"

I spend a LOT of time searching obscure areas to find this stuff and resell it. I may buy that "old razor" listed with a blurry photo or two, for $2.50 ... then re-list it as what it really is "Vintage F-3 1960 Nickle-Plated Gillette Toggle w/Case and Period Correct Blade Pack" ... then sell it for $2500.00!

Then you have the guys who can't spell and they'll list their "Old Razer" ... even if someone searches for "Old Razor" ... chances are, they STILL won't find it ... in fact NOBODY will! Since many start an auction at "99-cents" figuring the market will establish the rate, I'll be the only bidder and get it for 99 cents! ;)

Here are a few examples ... I just did a quick search for "razers" ... I found 'em ... maybe nobody else will and I'll get 'em for a minimum bid! (IF I want them) ;)

"Authentic Gillette Mach3 Razer Blades (pack of 4x8)"

"Panasonic WES9020PC Combo Replacement Razer Shaver Quality Foil and Blade Set"

"Gillete Fushion Proglide Razer 1 Set 4x Razer Blade Refill Cartridges"

"BRAND NEW REMINGTON KING OF SHAVES Handle Azor 5 Razor Blade Shaver Razer Handle"

"Single Blade Razer With Handle, Color Orange BULK 1000 per case"

"GILLETTE MACH 3 RAZER BLADE CARTRIDGES X 20 NEW SEALED"

Heck, I could keep this up all night long ... but you get the idea. I'll search for certain items and think about how someone might misspell them. Spellcheck automatically kicks in while listing, but as you can see, some people STILL don't get it right. :D

[Captain]

I don't know Jeff Clark had so many razors.... :D

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