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Interviews and "State of the Hobby" Articles

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  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Fort Knox
Posted by Rob Gronovius on Friday, March 2, 2007 1:25 PM

Just in my 30 something years in the hobby, I have seen it grow tremendously. Particularly in the detail oriented arena within the past 15-20 years. Once upon a time we were happy to have a new Sherman/Tiger/Panther/Modern MBT. Today, we need a kit of that tank that was used on this day of this battle between the hours of 7 AM and noon.

The manufacturers and aftermarket manufacturers have listened and given us new kits that include photo etch, aluminum barrels, AM quality individual tracks, high quality decals and some even toss in some resin. Everything you need to build a show quality kit.

But what do we say? We come up with comments wishing that some items represented in PE were included as plastic options. We ask if there are cast metal tracks to replace the plastic indy tracks. And we announce the need to replace the aluminum kit barrel with the aftermarket aluminum kit barrel because someone says it is "better." Adding the high quality PE sets has become almost mandatory.

The hobby is run by businesses who need to make a profit in order to continue to produce items for the hobby. We're just beginning to see the time when we readily accept the fact that the latest uber-kit will cost $40-50. It makes sense since the older kit would cost $25 with $20 worth of PE and $20 tracks and $10 barrel.

Pass the older kit on to a youngster and when he posts asking about AM, reviews, etc. for the older kit and the FIRST thing everyone does is tell the youngster he needs to buy the latest $40-50 uber kit that has all those items. Yes, this happened last month.

  • Member since
    January 2007
Posted by IYAAYAS on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 8:40 AM
awesome idea...get some info into how the stuff is manufactured!
  • Member since
    February 2007
  • From: Arlington, VA
Interviews and "State of the Hobby" Articles
Posted by flynavy1958 on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 7:32 AM

For what it's worth, I'd like to see more articles on where people see this hobby going, as opposed to the skill development articles.

For instance, an interview with one of the more popular AM decal manufacturers (e.g. TwoBobs or Zotz) or with some of the folks who sit in the boardrooms of Revell of Hasegawa might be very interesting for model builders to hear from.

Being concerned about the hobby's future, I'd love to see something on how different clubs are "marketing" themselves to attract new people to the hobby.

Flynavy1958

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