Stop Light/Traffic Signal Value?

[Super Sport]

I ran across this vintage art deco style stop light at a local pawn shop. From what I've found online, it appears to be a Crouse Hinds from the 30s-50s. The paint is in fair condition and the lens visors are a little beat up. It's good enough to hang on my wall for now and restore "some day."

They're asking $120. What does the GJ wisdom say about the price?

 

[Mustang1167]

I see most for 200-250 on Craigslist. Id probably pick that up for 120.

 

[gungatim]

I've bought them for $60-$120 before, they can sell for more sometimes but for that price on one that old, I'd jump on it. the one I have and the one I sold were yellow metal, so not worth as much as that one. the newer plastic ones are worth even less...

btw I started building an electric motor powered timer for mine from plans off the nuts and volts magazine, let me know if you are ambitious enough to build one and i'll forward what I've got (their drawings are incorrect)...

 

[LXCam]

Oh heck ya I spend that for it.

 

[GMCGarage]

you can buy 5 on Govdeals. Right now bid is 135

https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=416&acctid=1054

 

[aka Larry]

If anyone has one of these fixtures and would like to convert it to LED, send me a PM. I think I have all three lamp assemblies (they are AC BTW) for one of these. They are big (about 12" diameter IIRC) so keep that in mind. If you are interested I'll measure them and we can make a deal.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

$120 is a great price!

But DO NOT restore it- then it's only worth $35. It's truly amazing how much money people "loose" when they restore things. An item like that has been through no telling what kind of weather- it's expected to be "weathered".

 

[1966chevelle]

I bought 60 led plastic shell lights and sold everyone for $75 each. It took me less then a month to sell them all at that price.

 

[chrispyny]

Never understood the fascination with these. Sure they are cool, but the problem is, from 18' in the air, they don't look so big. Standing in front of one, they are huge. Rarely does anyone have a place for one of them in a mancave or bar. Huge waste of space.
Not peeing in your cherios, just saying.

 

[Matt M PA]

I restored one from the 40s. I did it in the authentic green, wired it to function and hung it on my garage wall. I get lots of compliments on it and really enjoyed restoring it. It doesn't matter to me if it's valuable...I just like it. Mine is a Eaglelux.

To the OP...buy it!!! I'd be all over that if it were local...

 

[Richard Cranium]

I have had one for years, got tired of it and it sits out in the pile. Some day I may pull It out again and chase the bee's out of it. May put it in my B.I.L's man cave.

 

[SILVERPLATE]

I have bought and sold many. It's a very good deal. You can purchase the correct yellow if needed in a spray can and easy to convert to work properly in sequence.

 

[D rock]

Just an FYI...I'm just sharing info not trying to kill anybody's vibe here...I have a stoplight I picked up on Craigslist for 100 bucks, I went to a traffic light company here in town to see if they would put a plug on it for me. They told me they couldn't because they are all contract work. Then they asked me how much I paid for it, I told them and they chuckled and told me they would have give it to me...dammit!!!

 

[jclem40c]

fair price and if you need a timer to sequence the lights you can get a electronic timer on ebay for it for less than $30. That is what runs mine and they are adjustable. Neat thingie to hang on the side of the garage.

 

[rlitman]

Never understood the fascination with these. Sure they are cool, but the problem is, from 18' in the air, they don't look so big. Standing in front of one, they are huge. Rarely does anyone have a place for one of them in a mancave or bar. Huge waste of space.
Not peeing in your cherios, just saying.

I have one in the kid's play/study room. It's not overwhelming in a corner.
I got mine at a flea market. It has an aluminum body, but LED lights. Unfortunately, it was also painfully bright. I tried running it on a dimmer, but that burned out the power supplies. The good news was that I was able to use an old 18V laptop power supply to power up the LEDs, and the LED boards themselves dim nicely with a PWM dimmer, so I put a dimming knob in the bottom to make it more eye friendly,

 

[gungatim]

well mine hangs outside the shop, and I've got a walk/don't walk one as well. it doesn't look large or out of place IMO. the other one I had I sold to a bud who mounted his on a pole. right now I have regular bulbs in it and just a plug but am making a timer I can set to run a sequence or stop with a single light to let the wife know it's time to come out to the shop and party...it's not hard to simply wire a plug to the 3 bulbs to run all the time if that's what you want.

around here nobody gives them away, but they show up at auctions regularly. like I said, average price is around $100 or so, but usually they are newer plastic ones. metal ones and older styles are worth more to lots of people who use them in bars, restaurants, game rooms, etc...if you've got original glass lenses in them, they are worth a few bucks alone and are with swapping to plastic if you have kids with bb guns...just sayin'...

 

[Mike.VA]

I am setting one up in my garage that I have had for years waiting to have a garage to go into.
Now that I have that garage, I just purchased the AC Traffic Light Controller / Sequencer - 120VAC up to 400W per channel by Galak Electronics on Amazon, for $29.99
Nice, small and came with great instructions.

 

[Rewind97]

I am setting one up in my garage that I have had for years waiting to have a garage to go into.
Now that I have that garage, I just purchased the AC Traffic Light Controller / Sequencer - 120VAC up to 400W per channel by Galak Electronics on Amazon, for $29.99
Nice, small and came with great instructions.

I've used these also and they're great. I've got 4 signals in my shop now, one I set up for me and one for a friend.

 

[Technologyteacher]

I paid less than $50 for one, but have seen them at swap meets for much more.

 

[bgarrett]

$120 is a great price!

But DO NOT restore it- then it's only worth $35. It's truly amazing how much money people "loose" when they restore things. An item like that has been through no telling what kind of weather- it's expected to be "weathered".

Do not restore it. haha Many that I have seen started out one color but the city painted another color and the second color faded enough so that you could tell the original color.

 

[77thor]

Around here, they go for $250...

$120 is a bargain IMO.

 

[John Deere 5425]

I have 5 of them. They all have led's in them. One hangs on the front of my shop. I would love to sell the others for $120 each. My son is an electrician and got them all for free. He brought them to my place because I have more room to store them.

 

[R6 Racer]

I bought mine about 3 or 4 years ago.for $75 Canadian. So like $50 US


Steve

 

[rburke65]

I'm questioning what leads you to believe it's from the 30s-50s? I'm betting it's not....

 

[Rewind97]

Do you have a picture to share?

None right now, but I'll be glad to get some!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[86turbodsl]

I have one i paid $45 or so for at a swap meet. I am planning to hang on the front of the shop and use the lights as security indications. All i could figure out what to do with it.

 

[RedBKM]

I agree with rburke65, its not 30s-50s...

The things to look for are metal bodies, glass lenses and scalloped visors. Those demand the highest price around here. I paid $75 for mine but paid another $20 for glass lenses. The plastic lenses are almost always cracked or sun baked.

Don't forget the bottom lens is usually blue. The yellowish light bulb color then turns it green. If you use an LED bulb then be sure to get the warm white color.

 

[dinoperson]

I got this from a neighbor who is moving and it's already been partially taken apart. Reading what I can find on the web I think it's a late DT model. I'm torn between selling it, just putting it back together or restoring it. It looks like the orginal color was yellow. No visors. A few of the smiley lenses. 4 or 5 broken thumb latches. Are parts available other than eBay, I need rubber gaskets, large acorn bolt? Also there is significant paint loss on the glass reflectors, does someone know how to best tackle that? I was thinking chrome spray paint.

 

[brownbagg]

my city sell old use ones for $50 donation to couple city charities

 

[Matt M PA]

I got this from a neighbor who is moving and it's already been partially taken apart. Reading what I can find on the web I think it's a late DT model. I'm torn between selling it, just putting it back together or restoring it. It looks like the orginal color was yellow. No visors. A few of the smiley lenses. 4 or 5 broken thumb latches. Are parts available other than eBay, I need rubber gaskets, large acorn bolt? Also there is significant paint loss on the glass reflectors, does someone know how to best tackle that? I was thinking chrome spray paint.

I did find some parts for mine on eBay. That's a great light you have there...be a great restoration project. Love it!

 

[slip knot]

My brother developed quite a collection of these when he was hauling oversized loads. I've put a few of them together and sold them on CL for $75-$100 each. The LED ones are way brighter than you would expect. I have a 3 ball in the shop and its almost blinding at ground level.