ID 9V track color

[Scoops]

Does anyone know if there is a way to identify the color of 9V track in an unopened box without opening it? I have a couple dozen unopened boxes of 9V track I would like to sell, but I would like to keep the Bley track and part with the old grey track. I have both the boxes labeled "World City" and the older ones. I'm talking about 4515 and 4520, if you want the set numbers. Thanks!

[ScotNick]

I assume the world city ones are bley/dark bluish grey and the other older ones are old dark grey. I think the change of the colour palette was sometime around 2002-2004, so all world city items should have the new colours (as far as I know).

[zephyr1934]

I think there were several different iterations of the box art. If you have this box,

it is old gray inside.

If you have this box,

it could be either old or new gray. I do not think there is a way to tell from the outside. Even for this latest box design I believe very few of the boxes had new gray, though most of the NIB left were probably from folks buying up the clearance lots at S@H so those have a higher probability of being new gray.

If you are selling, there are four types of buyers: "I want a mint box", "I want old gray", "I want new gray", and "I want cheapest possible". I think the first three are all about the same price point and the latter does not care about which gray.

If you are thinking for yourself and you do not want one flavor of gray, I bet you could find someone who would be happy to swap one for the other because they have the opposite problem.

[detjensrobert]

At least in my collection of 9v track, all the straights are old grey, but the curves are a mix between the old grey and new bley.

It makes sense that the World City sets are the new "bley", although I have no box to check from.

.

[Rail Co]

Yeah there is no way to ID the color without opening the box. In 2002-04 I believe were the years of transition between the two colors so it's a gamble on what you get for the World City boxes.

-RailCo