Kitmaster Collectors Club

How Rare Is My Kit

P3 - Rarest of the Rare?

Kitmaster P3 - Royal Scot Set. Rarest of the rare?

The Club Secretary - Steve Knight - gives you his guidance on how to value your kit. So, you might have a couple of old Kitmaster kits in the loft. What should you do? Sell them and book a Caribbean holiday? Or perhaps just hope that they fetch enough to lay your hands on that Bachmann shunter you've always wanted. This is where you find out if your personal stash of plastic is a pile of junk, or a pile of cash-in-waiting. The table below is arranged firstly in order of scarcity and then by value. The research for this has come from detailed records of transactions among Kitmaster Collectors Club members world-wide over the last eight years. The scarcity index reflects not the total number of kits in circulation, but the difficulty of finding them in mint condition. There are many Pullman power cars around, for example, which have been started. The value index groups kits into broad bands for valuation purposes. You can say that if a kit is offered at a price above this band, it would need to be in exceptional condition and probable still in the acetate wrapper. The broad bands indicated here encompass the majority of transactions logged, but in any set of data such as this, some transactions will fall outside the range shown. That, however, does not invalidate the list as a means of establishing a median price for each kit. This list is therefore a guideline, not a definitive reference. To General Guidelines for Valuation. (below)

Kit No.
Scale Colour Name of Kit
Scarcity index
Value Index
Key
P2
 OO   Battle of Britain Set
1
1
 Value Index 1= up to £200
2= £100-£200
3=£70-£100
4=£50-£70
5=£35-£50
6=£25-£35
7=£15-£25
8=£10-£15
9=£5-£10
10=£0-£5 Scarcity 10 = Common
through to
1 = Scarce
P3
 TT   TT3 Royal Scot Set
1
1
-
 1:100   Fireball XL5
1
1
28
 OO Green Standard Restaurant First
2
6
31
 OO   Midland Pullman Power
2
5
60
 1:16   Ariel Arrow Motorcycle
2
4
3
 HO   Early American General
3
5
8
 OO   Italian Tank
3
5
16
 TT   Rebuilt Royal Scot
3
5
34
 HO   NYC Hudson
3
3
25
 OO   Beyer-Garratt
4
3
9
 OO   Stirling 8ft Single
4
5
P1
 OO   100 Years of British Steam
5
2
26
 OO   J94 0-6-0ST
5
7
1
 OO   Rocket
5
7
2
 OO   Diesel Electric
6
7
28
 OO Maroon Standard Restaurant 1st
6
7
4
 OO   Coronation Class
6
5
10
 OO   Deltic Diesel
6
5
19
 OO   Baureihe 23 (German)
6
5
23
 OO   241P Mountain (French)
6
5
32
 OO   Midland Pullman Kitchen
6
5
33
 OO   Midland Pullman Parlour
6
6
KM1
 OO   Motor Bogie
6
8
KM2
 OO   Motor Box Van
6
8
12
 OO   Swiss Crocodile
7
6
30
 OO   BR3MT Mogul Class 76000
7
6
13
 OO Green Standard Corridor Composite
8
7
14
 OO Green Standard Corridor 2nd
8
7
15
 OO Green Standard Corridor Brake 2nd
8
7
27
 HO   DB 84yge Coach
8
9
29
 HO   SNCF A9 myfi Coach
8
9
17
 TT Maroon Standard Corridor Brake 2nd
9
9
17
 TT Green Standard Corridor Brake 2nd
9
9
18
 TT Maroon Standard Corridor Brake Composite
9
9
18
 TT Green Standard Corridor Brake Composite
9
9
20
 TT Maroon Standard Corridor 2nd
9
9
20
 TT Green Standard Corridor 2nd
9
9
21
 TT Maroon Standard Restaurant 1st
9
9
21
 TT Green Standard Restaurant 1st
9
9
11
 OO   Battle of Britain Class
10
7
13
 OO Maroon Standard Corridor Composite
10
7
14
 OO Maroon Standard Corridor 2nd
10
7
15
 OO Maroon Standard Corridor Brake 2nd
10
7
22
 OO   Class 92000
10
7
24
 OO   City of Truro
10
7
5
 OO   Schools Class
10
9
6
 OO   Saddle Tank
10
10
7
 OO   Prairie Tank
10
10

General Guidelines on valuation

It is self evident that mint, boxed kits in the original cellophane are going to command a premium price, whilst a badly-painted assembled kit with no box may seem to be "going cheap". As a general rule, the larger and later the kit was issued, the more it is going to fetch. When assessing kits, these are the questions to ask. For example, if it is still in the cellophane wrapper, a premium might reasonably be expected over a similar kit which had been opened.
Abshunt.gif (170 bytes) Is the box in good condition? After 1960 all kits were shrink-wrapped in cellophane, whilst earlier boxes will show signs of sellotape damage.
Abshunt.gif (170 bytes) Is the kit still on the sprues? A good clean kit with the majority of parts still on their sprues indicates a kit that has been properly stored. It also makes checking for completeness a lot easier.
Abshunt.gif (170 bytes) Is the instruction sheet in good condition? Kitmaster's larger instruction sheets were multi-lingual affairs and are often found with the bottom chopped off. This seriously affects their value, as does over-enthusiastic checking off of the parts.
Abshunt.gif (170 bytes) Are the decals present? A cut or missing decal sheet always detracts from value.
Abshunt.gif (170 bytes) Is the original catalogue present? The 1959 issues were all packed with a small catalogue showing that year's releases. Whilst a missing catalogue is not serious, a premium may apply if a catalogue is included. This would certainly include the rarer overseas issues of that catalogue.
Abshunt.gif (170 bytes) Is the glue present? Small gelatine capsules of glue were included with each kit. This can be a double-edged sword, as leaking glue reduces value, but some collectors like the capsule to be present. If it is one of the rare Kitmaster 1/2oz tubes of Humbrol glue, or an early branded glue by Airfix, Revell or Frog, these are now collectable in themselves.
Abshunt.gif (170 bytes) Is the Peco insert present? All 1959 UK kits were packed with a small blue/white Peco leaflet advertising the Railway Modeller. Nice to have, but not essential.
Abshunt.gif (170 bytes) Are the wire parts present? Three of the kits, Rocket, The General and the Hudson, were supplied with metal handrail wire. This is often missing because it fell out of the boxes easily.