There is a HUGE market out there for reselling trains. In order to buy trains and get the best possible deal there are some basics you must understand and to understand the trains you must also understand the different types of track.

There are four basic Thomas trains.

1) wood w/ magnet connections

2) metal w/magnetic connections

3) metal w/plastic connections

3) plastic connections

The reference above refers to the base of the train. The reason this is important is because they run on different size tracks and their wheel axis are different sizes and therefore are not compatible with each other.. Also the quality of the trains are different too...

Lets begin with "1) wood w/ magnet connections". The most identifiable feature for this type of Thomas and compatible train/car is the large ROUND magnet in front back or both. This train runs on wooden track and in some cases plastic as well. The body itself can also be made of metal or plastic if it runs on batteries but the magnet will always be round!  Brio & Lionel trains that are compatible with these tracks are generally plastic or metal.  Lionel makes a grey /brown plastic track that will work too.

This catagory of trains retain the highest resale value. Usually for used trains you are looking to pay $2-$50 per train. The price is figured by adding the shipping to the item price and dividing by the number of units.The bigger the lot the better deal you will usually get. The actual value of the unit like many collectables depends on weather it is retired and how "hard to find"(HTF) or "Rare" is the unit. The other  factor but strangely NOT the key factor is the condition of the unit. I have found I actually get more $ for single USED trains then NIB "New In Box" trains. The only logical explanation I have for this is that the public will shy away from looking at the NEW trains thinking they will automatically be more $. The exception to this is large lots of NIB trains.. They will usually go for $3-$6 unit depending on the seller and time of year.

There are also some very desired and "RARE" trains that the condition will dictate a greater amount like the 3pc Flying scotsman that sells for $19-$99 but even in its worst conditon it will still fetch a large return. There are also a set of 3 Blue Plastic body passenger trains, ADA,JANE,MABEL and individually they go for $25-$60

There are other brands besides Brio and Lionel that are compatible with Thomas wooden trains. Some of the better and more popular are Plan Toys (set of 3 cars or train NEW $15-$25 USED $2-$4), a Thailand based company that uses a soy based dye and solid wood. Very high quality that they back up with a guarentee. One toll free phone call will replace any defected product. Thomas Tank Engine(Learning curve) use to do the same thing but now you have to bring it back to the supplier with receipt and return with-in 90 days. Doesn't help us ebay buyers very much! The really great thing about this brand is they make combination sets that connect single train wood track to double sided track made for other vehicles. They call them "Road & Rail sets". My boys love it because they can use their Hotwheels with the set too and the cars have room to pass each other and just like the real world the cars mee tup with the train at the railroad crossings.  This brand is my personal favorite because of its high quality and low price. My children love the buildings the garage and airport are two if their favorites.

Some other Popular compatible wood trains are KidKraft, Melissa & Doug & Ikea... Ikea uses a high grade plastic connector between their wood tracks. The nice think about this is all their tracks have female connectors so you don't have to worry about which side is male and which is female. All these tracks work together and the wood quality varies but usually does not make too much of a difference. On some of these brands the wood color varies. For true train purest, the creme de la creme is the retired Thomas "Clickety Clack track"  It is easily identifiable by the horizontal lines that produce a "click clack" as the train wheels role over the lines..Thomas makes many different tracks but the most common is the "printed wood track". Prices vary by track size, uniqueness and brand. The most expensive being Clickety clack followed by Thomas and then for Brio purest Brio track. The only visible difference for brio and the other wood brands is the word "brio" sometimes written on the track.  The other difference is sometimes you will see a "ball" connector wood or plastic versus a solid wood flat connector. Some of the less expensive brands may be a tighter fit because quality control is not as high.

The next catagory is "2) metal w/magnetic connections". The most identifiable feature for this type of Thomas  train/car is the small rectangular magnet front, back or both. I am not aware of any other compatible brands although I have seen some "ABC" trains that fit this wheels axel. One name that Thomas uses is "take along". The axel is smaller then the wood catagory and the train bodies are almost always metal but occassionally you can find some plastic body.  There are some very nice units that come in this catagory but as they age and chip unlike wood trains they can not be repaired and as a result the resale is MUCH lower than wood trains but if the quality is good can still fetch several $'s per train. These trains run on the "blue" plastic tracks.

The third catagory is "3) metal w/plastic connections". The most identifiable feature for this type of Thomas train/car is the plastic connections.  This connector breaks frequently and cannot easily be fixed and as a result the resale on these trains are usually under $1. The older ones have red plastic connectors and the more recent are black.

The final catagory is"4) plastic connections". These trains all have some sort of plastic connector and the bodies are also plastic... Some of the nicer ones run on the wood tracks, they usually are battery operated and come in sets. One common brand is TOMY. Thomas also has a plastic line that the wheels have that connects the wheels as well. The axels can run from larger then the wood to smaller and go by many different names. One of the more popular is the "lego" Thomas trains. You actually build the train out of large lego (DUPLO) type pieces. The resale can be very good especially for toddlers. If you are looking at USED plastic trains condition is VERY important. Ask a lot of questions!

Some last advise from one mother to another that I want to leave you with is this...  If you are like me and you are purchasing for your young children, then realize when buying Thomas products they are going to end up chipped/scratched almost immediately. Most kids don't care about the condition so since you can pick up USED trains for a fraction of NEW price don't worry about the condition! As long as you can see more paint than train and the wheels are not broken your kids won't mind you saving a few dollars in fact most kids would rather have multiple used trains then 1 new..  If you don't like chips and still want wood then check out Plan Toys. The paint will only chip if you actually chip the wood. And if you like quality and don't mind plastic Brio makes a Quality Product and it has a very good resale value.

If you have any more questions or require any recommendations or clarifications feel free to email me and to see examples of the trains and compatible items you can go to my ebay store

-Jillian