ANOTHER OVERPRICED ALFIE LISTING

TrainsRawesome

All right, you all probably saw the last Alfie that came up for auction on eBay and sold for $625. That same seller now has a buy-it-now listing for a lot with Alfie, Ned, Terence, and Jack at a price of $950!

From what I’ve seen and read here, I’d say Jack is worth around $40 and Terence and Ned around $75. Alfie is, of course, a very polarizing subject, but I would say it’s worth no more than $150 in good used condition (which this one isn’t as you can see by the photos). Although I definitely respect Thara and aj’s research into the history of Alfie, I disagree with the “only around 300 made” statement.

We’ve seen quite a few come up for sale recently, and the probability of several people having multiple copies shows that Alfie really isn’t that unobtainable. It’s definitely rare, don’t get me wrong, but surely more than 300 were produced. I think this situation is eerily similar to the WR White Face Troublesome Truck fiasco. A mysterious and very rare item appears for sale every now and then, more and more people begin getting their hands on it and come up with theories as to why it’s so rare, an official from the toy company at the time shares the extremely limited quantities it was produced in, some people accept this as fact and some deny it, and (in the case of the WFTT) the official who made that claim recants it and says that way more were actually made. Roy Wilson (the creator of TWR) originally said only 150 of these trucks were made, but he later said that was an error and that the minimum quantity allowed for a model to be produced was 2500, meaning that the WFTT was actually way more common than originally thought. I suspect this is the case with Alfie, as surely the HiT director could’ve been misremembering the numbers and, hey, maybe it was actually 3000!

*Sorry for the rant, it just makes me angry that they’re still being listed for such atrocious prices even in poor condition, and this one wasn’t even an auction.

MuddyPoppins

“No more than $150” ?
Really?
How do you come to that price number and what do you base it on?

TrainsRawesome

Based on the number of them that have been seen in total. We have to remember that many of them have shown up on Facebook Marketplace in Canada, and even though they may be inaccessible to many of the fandom members who live outside of Canada, they still exist.

There are countless users with 2 or more Alfies, including you (of course), BradyLikesTrains, confusedanddelayed, ajtrain944, the eBay seller mentioned above, etc. Personally, I base the value of something on how many have been seen (well over 20 in this case) and how often they are available. Alfie shows up for sale somewhere at least once every few months, but it’s usually undetected because it’s mostly Canadian locals on FB. I’ve come across 2 Alfies in lots recently on FB and tried to negotiate for them but the sellers refused to ship. The number of Alfies that have been seen by now indicate he was produced in much higher numbers than 100 each time. A NIB one is definitely worth way more though, probably over $1000, and I would say a used one with the accessory would be worth over $200. But, even when factoring in the price of the other road vehicles in this listing, $700 for a used Alfie with a badly worn shovel and no accessory is pretty unreasonable.

Of course this is just my opinion, you are the expert here, Muddy, so I would be happy to hear your take.

leylandvictory2

The seller has the right to sell at any price point he or she thinks it is appropriate. At the end of the day, it is the customer that decides whether the asking price is reasonable or not.

chrisjo

They are, as was always the case, worth exactly what people are prepared to pay for them. No more, no less. Same in all walks of life. The fact that other people have got more money and less sense than you think they should have, does not dictate an items value.

Super

Just like Beauty, Value is in the eye of the beholder. Because I don't value an Alfie, I think he is worth $10...to me 😃

Its just like the old argument about professional sports where many say that a person isn't worth being paid tens of millions of dollars to play a game. But if there is someone willing to pay that much...then he is worth it to them.

Or...if you earned $50,000 a year picking up trash and I came up to you an offered you one Million a year to do the same thing, would you turn me down just because you don't think the job is worth it? 😃

I have always found a good discussion on worth very interesting and love to hear different angles and views.

Tharazero1

If I ever had to sell my Alfie (which I'd never) I would never let it go for less than $1000 AUD, because thats what I think it's worth, because I know all the effort and time wasted I spent trying to look for one, and not to mention the couple times I missed out on one and the heartache I had to endure. Now in the case of the Buy it Now Auction listing a couple weeks ago. It sold for just under $700 USD. Now I consider that to be around the right price I'd expect an Alfie to go for, even without his cargo. Now I think this listing is just a tad overpriced, but only due to Alfie's damaged bucket. Even though some others disagree, I run by the principle that an item is worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it, and if someone is willing to pay around $700 for an Alfie then that's what he's worth

Tons of Trackmasters

They seem to just come and go these days. I will wait until I can snap one up for a more decent price in my opinion. I would have been interested in this listing but it is missing 2 crucial things to be in my collection. First is: an accessory. Second is him being in good condition. I would prefer him with an accessory like my other vehicles and good condition is without saying.

It's funny how if somebody had no clue what an Alfie should go for sells him on Facebook marketplace for $15 but people who are aware of his TrackMaster status sell him for as you know... more.

I won't argue over what is a decent price. If people want to pay that then I'm not stopping them.

MuddyPoppins

There are many reasons as to why Alfie is priced as high as he is.

Wether there were only 300 or 3000 made, there is still not enough to go around globally in a world full of millions of Thomas collectors.
Alfie was relatively exclusive for sale in only Canada AND with it being locked away mostly for internet sale only within Canada, it will always be snatched up at any chance when offered outside of its borders.
His general true “auction” price on eBay in the last decade has gone from around $125 in 2011, to $425 in 2016, to $650+ in 2021. (Seems reasonable?)
These prices are being driven by a very strong demographic of 18-25 year old collectors who were recently kids that always wanted one, but have now grown up enough to have jobs, money, the access, and the freedom to buy the things that their parents wouldn’t buy them when they were 12.
This last one with the janky bucket is actually the very first damaged one that I’ve ever seen.
It was a shame to see it damaged like that, and I didn’t really know what to think about it, seeing it in that condition, but its seeming that in the world today with everything from gas to lumber prices skyrocketing through the roof, the cost of everything (INCLUDING ALFIE) is going up Up UP!

MyGoodThomasFriend74

Well typically that is also the case with other Trackmaster Generation 1 stuff in 2006/7 with small quantities.

MuddyPoppins

Yes MGTF74, most especially something like Flip-face Toby because it was limited to released only in the United States, though it’s more easily accessible on the internet to find and to have shipped from the US than an Alfie from Canada, both never had global distribution, so there will never be enough to go around and they will always fetch a premium.
Also any Target, TRUs, Walmart, and Kohl’s exclusive with production numbers set to only accommodate the shelves of how ever many stores of a single particular chain.