Very often precious vintage collectibles are around us and we simply never notice them. It happened to me a few times that I found interesting items in the storage of my own apartment or somewhere in the basement of my work. The same story happened with this beautiful Märklin set.
I found it when we've changed a studio. Left behind and unneeded. Some details are lost, but everything that is in box is in great condition.
For those ones who don't know Märklin is a legendary German company that produces model railways and technical toys. It was founded in 1859 by Theodor Friedrich Wilhelm Märklin.
For German and in Swedish kids, the company's name is almost synonymous with model railroads. No wonder! Because exactly Märklin noticed that railroad toys had the potential. Though I must admit company started from producing dolls and dolls houses.
Märklin's older trains are considered highly collectible today, the price for model Crocodile (first picture) will be at least 300 euro on eBay. Both old and new models enjoy premium status among hobbyists. And some models are so precious that in January 2005, the Märklin museum in Göppingen, Germany, was burgled and more than 100 pieces, the estimated value of all stolen items was more than 1 million Euros.
Today, Märklin still manufactures and markets trains and accessories. For example in 2010 Märklin released sixth model of the Russian Railways, the Russian Velaro SAPSAN high speed train.
So what I am trying to say is that beautiful old things are all around us. You just need to have a good eye. 😉 However, I bet I would never sell such a Märklin model if it was my childhood toy!