About 15 years ago, my father relayed to me that he worked with a
fellow who collects Lionel trains, who told him that he owned a pre-war
Lionel engine in a sealed box.  The train has never been seen since the
day it was sealed up in the box over half of a century ago.  The fellow
claimed that the collector value would be diminished if he broke the
seal.

So his prime motive for not breaking the seal was resale value, but he
will never have the pleasure of seeing, feeling and hearing that engine
run, which I presume would be a hardship for any Lionel collector.

I remember that I asked my father if he knew whether there was a train
or a rock in that box.  We laughed over the very idea.

Larry Toto