Yeah, we've got a local gaming store. I used to pop in now and again when I played D&D. I was thinking about leaving some flyers for our club and show.

If there is a local game store or hobby shop that those guys frequent, show up and recruit them. If you see them on any other websites, especially sci fi modeling, contact them. Be assertive and let them know that they are wanted and welcome. 

Good ideas! 

As VA Spartan brought it up our entire club is a bunch of Boomers and a handful of Gen-Xers like me. Our youngest member is 47 or so. 

Only issue is there are only about three members including myself that build anything SF related and we're all of the Trek/Wars type. I'll bring it up at our next business meeting at the end of the month. 

You want those guys in your club? Have a mecha themed show or meeting and get the word out about it. Start with a meeting and let the word of mouth build up, until the numbers needed for a show are there. Some of the early Gundam even has some armor and wheeled vehicle kits as well. So the modelers who prefer those genres can stay in their lane and still partake. 

Real G

 

 

Gamera

Thanks G, I'd been tossing around the terms 'Mechs' and 'Mecha.' I looked up 'Gunpla' and it gives me a much better idea of what we're talking about. 

And seems the Bandai 'Pacific Rim' Jaegers are considered sorta quasi-Gundam even though they aren't in the series. So I already have a few of them already and didn't know it! 

 

 

 

Gamera, it's really whatever you want to call it since Gunpla is Gundam-specific, but has become sort of a generic term like Xerox and Kleenex.  The Pacific Rim mechs have a more Japanese influence in their designs, especially the ones from the second movie.  I think the first movie designs were more "Super Robot", i.e. the 1970s Japanese cartoons like Mazinger Z and Raideen.  I live in fear that one day Gundam will hit the big screen in a dumb Power Rangers type format versus a more serious take on the genre.  But Bandai could be sitting on a gold mine if they could pull it off like Marvel's supehero flicks.

At the end of the day they are plastic models like any other, including the scale stuff like airplanes.  Only with arms and legs.    It's all good - I'm a scale guy that went Gunpla, and I know several Gunpla guys that went scale.  It will all balance out and the kids will continue modeling, maybe not as we know it, but continue it nonetheless.

 

 

Lol, I guess just to be fair I'll stick with the more generic term 'Mech'. 

We should try to work to bring some of these guys into our IPMS club, just not sure how. We don't have any younger members and most of the ones we have at our show tend to be car modelers.

Gamera

Thanks G, I'd been tossing around the terms 'Mechs' and 'Mecha.' I looked up 'Gunpla' and it gives me a much better idea of what we're talking about. 

And seems the Bandai 'Pacific Rim' Jaegers are considered sorta quasi-Gundam even though they aren't in the series. So I already have a few of them already and didn't know it! 

Gamera, it's really whatever you want to call it since Gunpla is Gundam-specific, but has become sort of a generic term like Xerox and Kleenex.  The Pacific Rim mechs have a more Japanese influence in their designs, especially the ones from the second movie.  I think the first movie designs were more "Super Robot", i.e. the 1970s Japanese cartoons like Mazinger Z and Raideen.  I live in fear that one day Gundam will hit the big screen in a dumb Power Rangers type format versus a more serious take on the genre.  But Bandai could be sitting on a gold mine if they could pull it off like Marvel's supehero flicks.

At the end of the day they are plastic models like any other, including the scale stuff like airplanes.  Only with arms and legs.    It's all good - I'm a scale guy that went Gunpla, and I know several Gunpla guys that went scale.  It will all balance out and the kids will continue modeling, maybe not as we know it, but continue it nonetheless.

Thanks G, I'd been tossing around the terms 'Mechs' and 'Mecha.' I looked up 'Gunpla' and it gives me a much better idea of what we're talking about. 

And seems the Bandai 'Pacific Rim' Jaegers are considered sorta quasi-Gundam even though they aren't in the series. So I already have a few of them already and didn't know it! 

It is a trend that I have also observed over the last 15 years or so.  What was once a shunned and little understood genre has become almost mainstream.  And yes, most of the builders are young.  I suppose all those shows on Cartoon Network are paying off.

I have been a “Gunpla” builder for about 35 years now, so my introduction and exposure was quite different.  (In my best grandpa voice) Back in the day, there were no shows airing in the US, so we had to scrape what little we could get from Japan.  And there were no dubs or subtitles.  And we had to walk to Japan Video - uphill, BOTH ways! 

As much as I am an old school fan, I have to admit it‘s the kids that are carrying the Gunpla torch today.  And they have carried it further and higher than us old timers were ever able to.

Take heart scale curmudgeons, other stuff that are drawing kids into modeling are more in your comfort zone, like World of Tanks.  Again, I found myself tsking when I heard about the game, but it is producing kids highly knowledgeable about even obscure armor.  I had a fun talk with a kid who must have been 10 years old, about prototype postwar tanks.  Yeah yeah, all tech, no deep history, but it will eventually seep in.

So I think it’s safe to say that the kids will continue to keep the hobby alive after we are gone.

stikpusher

 

 

Gamera

Sorry about dredging up a zombie post, it went dead less than a month ago so hopefully it's not too stinky.....

At our IPMS club meeting last week a couple guys were talking about the IPMS Richmond, Virginia show (I didn't go, sprained ankle). Seemed they had 99 Gundam kits show up! They had to clear a couple tables and split a bunch of catagories just to fit all of them in. And most of the entries were from from the younger crowd. Makes me want to pick up a Gundam kit now too!!! 

 

 

 

 

Yup, there is a Gundam Club here that has an annual contest, aside from there standard meetings. There are literally hundreds of entries in their contest. And the vast majority of these builders are millennials. The Gundam and other similar anime subjects are the domain of the younger builders.

 

Lol, as a couple of people already pointed it out I was aware of the thriving Gundam community. Our show normally gets a half-dozen or so of them in the SF robots & combat suits catagory.

But no one expected 99 Gundam kits to show up!!! 

Ted4321

Subscribe to the "latest acquisitions" thread.  You'll see this hobby ain't dyin'.

 

T e d

 

Ted

I agree that the unbelievable stashes hoarded by those who love this hobby is a strong driver for this industry. 

Ages ago, I used to have a horrendous stash too, which I gave away when I took a break from the hobby. So, I do understand this. Now that I’m back at the hobby, I’m practising tons of restraint holding back from making purchases of kits I will probably never build. 

Which brings me to the crux of this discussion. After this generation of styrene besotted folks pass, there may not be that many to hold up this hobby. 

Unless something changes to bring back the popularity of this hobby, like it once had back in the ’60s to ’90s, I don’t think the industry held up by stash hoarders is sustainable. 

Where I’m at, this hobby is about as vibrant as a dead horse.  Anyway, let’s just keep enjoying the hobby and recognise there are things we can change and others we can’t. 

I was borne in 1987 so technically I am a millennial I guess? 

I was always interested in aviation and armored vehicles so naturally I built some models badly ws a kid and now I am back to it.

It does seem like people my age are too busy with their kids, loans, early careers to have any time consuming hobbies. But I am noticing a resurgence in crafts like woodworking, metal working etc...Who knows, maybe more people my age will pick up modeling again? 

Gamera

Sorry about dredging up a zombie post, it went dead less than a month ago so hopefully it's not too stinky.....

At our IPMS club meeting last week a couple guys were talking about the IPMS Richmond, Virginia show (I didn't go, sprained ankle). Seemed they had 99 Gundam kits show up! They had to clear a couple tables and split a bunch of catagories just to fit all of them in. And most of the entries were from from the younger crowd. Makes me want to pick up a Gundam kit now too!!! 

 

Yup, there is a Gundam Club here that has an annual contest, aside from there standard meetings. There are literally hundreds of entries in their contest. And the vast majority of these builders are millennials. The Gundam and other similar anime subjects are the domain of the younger builders.

Bish

Nino, if you look on the Average Age of modellers thread, you will see a lot of us in the 40-50 bracket, the Gen X. From what i have seen on here and at shows, we seem to make up a big chunk of model builders. I would say we were the last of those who built models as kids before the age of video games and so on, 70's 80's. And we are now in the position that we arestill working but kids have grown up so we have the time and money to build models.

I think for many of us, our Grandparents fought in WW2 and our parents were children during it. And coming from east Anglia and with a dad interested in history, i grew up with stories of aircraft filling the skies going out to Europe. And we also had all those movies from the 60's and 70's. So we were still close enough to WW2 that it was not that long ago, but we didn't experiance the aftermath such as bombed out cities or rationing or family still being away from home and that may have made us more curious.

 

Sorry about dredging up a zombie post, it went dead less than a month ago so hopefully it's not too stinky.....

At our IPMS club meeting last week a couple guys were talking about the IPMS Richmond, Virginia show (I didn't go, sprained ankle). Seemed they had 99 Gundam kits show up! They had to clear a couple tables and split a bunch of catagories just to fit all of them in. And most of the entries were from from the younger crowd. Makes me want to pick up a Gundam kit now too!!! 

I was born in '78, and I love it!  I built aircraft in my younger years, got away from the hobby for a while, and when I came back the first time, I was into building cars (working in a bodyshop made painting the bodies easy, with access to industrial grade spray equipment....).  Then I got away from the hobby for a bit as I started a family.  

One day my little brother and I were reminiscing, and he told me how he used to love watching me building those planes, watching them come together....so I bought another airplane kit....and I've been back ever since.

I am working towards becoming assistant Scout Master in my kids' cub scout pack, and I hosted a model group build.  I (the pack, with money earned by selling popcorn) bought 25 snap tite A10 warthog models and 25 sprue nippers, and one Saturday afternoon, we met and built our kits together!  I've heard so much positive feedback, that I will be starting the Pack 17 model Club, where we will meet once a month to discuss our builds, show off what we have finished, and just chat about things.  I am even thinking we can show off our work at the monthly pack Meetings!

I am hopeful that I can introduce some new blood into the hobby through my scouts!

German Armour

Hi, yes. In my area we have no hobby shops, except for one that is 3 1/2 hrs away. The price is a major factor in my purchase decisions. Dragon kits are too expensive and I am 18, so the older Tamiya shake & bake kits are my usual buys. Also at Regina in Saskatchewan where the hobby shop is located there are a Gundam club and a model club but too far for me to go for meetings. If model companies where to create reasonable kits under $40 like older tamiya then there would maybe be more interest. Bandai must be really smart to do what there doing. :)

 

Check out DragonUSA.com, they usually have some pretty good sales, sometimes 60% off. I picked up the 1/72 Hellcat and Sea Venom kits, didn't pay over $15 for either with their Black Friday Sale. 

Indeed, yesterday I was looking over some various YouTube videos on painting, etc - and found some from this young guy. 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8k6eLGwL0j-W9pK65QlXCg/videos

Kinda made me smile and think of our discussion here. Good to know it's still an interest. 

Subscribe to the "latest acquisitions" thread.  You'll see this hobby ain't dyin'.

T e d

redraider56

 

 

GreySnake

 

I think another problem is there are just so many different things competing for everyone’s attention right now. Between video games, streaming services, social media, work and family it seems life is more chaotic then even twenty years ago.

  

 

 

 

 

My thoughts in a nutshell.  Looking at all the technological advances in the last 30 years in terms of computers, video games, smart phones, etc, I think unless you had friends or parents or something that were modeling, your probably weren't exposed much to it.  At least not as much as someone say 30-40 years ago was. 

 

For me, if it weren't for a Christmas gift from my uncle one years (1/48 Revell Memphis Belle) O'm not sure Iwould've gotten into this hobby.  But since building that with my Dad when I was 7 or 8, it sunk it's teeth into me.  I'm in the same boat as some other people.  I'm 28 and its been several years since I've done anything model related.  It's been almost 6 years since I graduated college and starting out life took priority but I feel like I've finally gotten the time to get back into it.  My thought is there's probably more people out there that put it on hold for awhile but just havn't gotten the opportunity to start it up again.

 

Yep, that's probably right. I'm just about to turn 47 - and I've just gotten back into it. Heck, I wasn't even aware that 'IPMS' existed. Yesterday I looked into it shortly but wasn't sure I wanted to pay a membership fee. Although from what I'm reading - it sounds like it might be worth looking into. 

But over the weekend both of my 'millenial' kids stopped to see what I was doing and positively commented on it. 

When I went to a hobby store with a co-worker (Who's maybe GenY, I supppose) - there seemed like an age mix there. Most of the older guys were mulling around near me in the plastic ship/plane/car model areas, but man of the younger ones were over by the fantasy miniatures (what my co-worker does) and the RC area. A lot of RC stuff is similar in many ways to our hobby.

GreySnake

 

I think another problem is there are just so many different things competing for everyone’s attention right now. Between video games, streaming services, social media, work and family it seems life is more chaotic then even twenty years ago.

  

My thoughts in a nutshell.  Looking at all the technological advances in the last 30 years in terms of computers, video games, smart phones, etc, I think unless you had friends or parents or something that were modeling, your probably weren't exposed much to it.  At least not as much as someone say 30-40 years ago was. 

For me, if it weren't for a Christmas gift from my uncle one years (1/48 Revell Memphis Belle) O'm not sure Iwould've gotten into this hobby.  But since building that with my Dad when I was 7 or 8, it sunk it's teeth into me.  I'm in the same boat as some other people.  I'm 28 and its been several years since I've done anything model related.  It's been almost 6 years since I graduated college and starting out life took priority but I feel like I've finally gotten the time to get back into it.  My thought is there's probably more people out there that put it on hold for awhile but just havn't gotten the opportunity to start it up again.

I’m in the coin collecting industry, and the hobby has had similar concerns about getting younger people participating. I think coin collecting has some greater challenges due to the fact that the business tends to revolve around the highest value rarities. It’s definitely a hobby dominated by, let’s face it, the older white male of means. A millennial is going to have a tough time justifying the cost of a nice rare coin worth a couple of thousand dollars, let alone a more higher end rarity worth tens of thousands of dollars... and just forget about the ultra rarities worth millions.

 More attention needs to be paid to the low end of the hobby if it is to grow, and I see that low end millennial collector is very active on social media, particularly Instagram. I’ve urged my bosses to capitalize on it.

 I’ve seen similar social media activity, if not more active activity, when it comes to modeling. There’s lots of popular modeling accounts on Instagram, and some great YouTube channels by younger people giving tutorials, and I think that’s great. I’m not sure what the best approach is to grow the hobby from this “seed” but there’s definitely something enthusiastic there.

There’s also modeling and coin forums on Reddit that are very active, but that place scares me and I avoid it.

TankerEasy

 

 

Bish

 

 

Wilbur Wright

As far as age demographics I believe the hobby is much healthier in Europe and Japan. This is how MIG, AK,  Takom, Meng can make their margins.

I'm 58, and I don't know a single millenial that models outside of the occasional kid that goes to MIT.

You have 3 years olds that have iPads, that have to make a "date" to play.  It's a differnet world.

You want to talk about a hobby in trouble, try stamp collecting.  I'm considered one of the babies at 58.  No one is coming to replenish when the old guard die off.  Most of my friends in that hobby are well into their 80's, if not 90's.

 

 

 

 

It does seem very healthy over here judging by the numbers who attend the shows. And from what i have seen, the ages range from 20's all the way up. Even in the model club i belong to where we get between 10 and 20 attending each meeting, there are a couple of guys in their early 30's. I think the hobby is safe for a few years to come, my copncern would be in 20 to 30 years, will there be enough people still doing it to make it viable.

 

 

 

 

 

It does appear the in the UK and Europe theres alot more people still enjoying the hobby.  Its certainly died way down in the U.S., BUT i do feel its coming back around and more people are getting back into it.  My step is almost 5, and he seems really inetrested in what im doing when im at the bench, so hopefully when he gets a bit older i can get him into building with me, but who knows.....

 

I only joined a club and started going to shows in 2014, so i can't really say if the hobby slowed down over here. I am not one of those who built in my teens then stopped for 20 or 30 years, i have been modelling almost none stop since i was 9. I notice a lot of new members here are coming back into it after a long break, but i have not noticed that so much in the UK. A lot of the people i know seem to be similar to me. So that may well explain the growth of it in the US. But lets home we can bring more youngsters into it.

Bish

 

 

Wilbur Wright

As far as age demographics I believe the hobby is much healthier in Europe and Japan. This is how MIG, AK,  Takom, Meng can make their margins.

I'm 58, and I don't know a single millenial that models outside of the occasional kid that goes to MIT.

You have 3 years olds that have iPads, that have to make a "date" to play.  It's a differnet world.

You want to talk about a hobby in trouble, try stamp collecting.  I'm considered one of the babies at 58.  No one is coming to replenish when the old guard die off.  Most of my friends in that hobby are well into their 80's, if not 90's.

 

 

 

 

It does seem very healthy over here judging by the numbers who attend the shows. And from what i have seen, the ages range from 20's all the way up. Even in the model club i belong to where we get between 10 and 20 attending each meeting, there are a couple of guys in their early 30's. I think the hobby is safe for a few years to come, my copncern would be in 20 to 30 years, will there be enough people still doing it to make it viable.

 

It does appear the in the UK and Europe theres alot more people still enjoying the hobby.  Its certainly died way down in the U.S., BUT i do feel its coming back around and more people are getting back into it.  My step is almost 5, and he seems really inetrested in what im doing when im at the bench, so hopefully when he gets a bit older i can get him into building with me, but who knows.....

Hi,

This thread has gotten me thinking.  I seem to recal that when I was in high school (or there abouts (1977-1981) I think I could buy a 1/48 scale Revell or Monogram plane for about $5.25 at my local hobby store.  The only reason that I recall that was that I used to categorize models as whether they were $3-3.50 models or whether they were the $5.25 ones.

Anyway, if I did the math right, $5.25 inflated to today's money assuming about 3.5% increase per year would equal about $ 18.75 to 21.50 or so.

Looking at eBay I see several 1/48 scale Revell SBD Dauntless modles going for about $18.90 to about $22.00, so that seems not unreasonable to me .

PF

I hear all the time how high prices are today compared years ago. How gas, homes, cars were so much less etc. I was only making $3 an hour in the late 70's so it's all realitive.

German Armour

Hi, yes. In my area we have no hobby shops, except for one that is 3 1/2 hrs away. The price is a major factor in my purchase decisions. Dragon kits are too expensive and I am 18, so the older Tamiya shake & bake kits are my usual buys. Also at Regina in Saskatchewan where the hobby shop is located there are a Gundam club and a model club but too far for me to go for meetings. If model companies where to create reasonable kits under $40 like older tamiya then there would maybe be more interest. Bandai must be really smart to do what there doing. :)

 

Well, back in the late '80s - early '90s when I was in high school and college and working a series of krappy jobs I had to scrimp and save to pick up Tamiya and Dragon kits too. It hasn't changed all that much.