OUR HOBBIES FUTURE

I believe the reason the hobby is increasing in price is two fold. The first is that the pool is shrinking rapidly as the baby boomers retire out of the hobby. The industry raises prices to match lost revenue and inflation. The second reason is that the baby boomers are wealthy enough and willing to pay these rising prices. When the block of people known as baby boomers are gone, the industry will adapt or go the way of the ham radio hobbyist.

I LIKE THE RESPONSE'S THAT HAVE BEEN COMING IN SO FAR KEEP THEM THEM
COMING I VALUE THE INFORMATION I HAVE BEEN COLLECTING FOR FUTURE REFERENCES THEIR IS A WELATH OF KNOWLAGE OUT THERE TO BE SOUGHT-
AFTER FROM EVERYBODY SO KEEP IT COMEING PLEASE ........

THANK YOU ...........
HILLBILLY70631

ANYONE KNOW HOW A CATAPULT WORKS FIRST WE NEED TO FIND
SOMETHING FIRST ................. HERE KITTY , KITTY , KITTY NICE KITTY THEN
FIRE IN THE HOLE FIRST CAT IN OUTERSPACE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Onr thing a lot of people bring up is the price of kits these days. I remember when I was in high school (81-84) a monogram 1/48 airplane kit averaged around $8 at K-mart. I remember finding ESCI's 1/48 S3 Viking for $13 or $14 at a hobby shop and couldn't believe the price. Then I found out that they had ENGRAVED PANEL LINES. Whooo hooo first time I'd seen that!!

Anyway, that was around a 90% increase in price over a monogram kit for a good kit with decals for a cockpit. Now a Monogram kit runs around $20-$35 depending on the kit and if you want a Tamiya, $40-$60 for an average range. That's about the same difference percentage wise.

Ok, take the overall economic situation. Back in high school I paid around $.60 a gallon for gas, $.50 for a coke at a convience store, $.70 for a can of snuff, and a brand new 4 wheel drive Chevy truck loaded was around $16-$17,000.

Now, gas is $1.45 p/g, a coke is $1.10+, a can of snuff is $3.75 and a new 4 wheel drive Chevy truck is $35,000++++. The point being that for the same quality you bought in a kit back then is about the same when you take inflation into account. There were no detail sets back then, no resin, no photo-etch so no comparison but look what's available if you want it!!

The main thing is compare Tamiya's new P-47 to ESCI's S3 and figure the difference in cost and the Tamiya is a much better deal than the ESCI kit back in the 80's.

And, the others brought up play stations etc. Talk about some money!! I'll stick to building models and encourage my kids to build to try to carry the hobby on.

Eric

This subject has come up from time to time here.

Many of us feel that the steep price of the hobby is driving youngsters away.
Others point out that the standard price of one video game is $50.00.
Thats not including the machine to play it on.

My opinion.
On the one hand I feel that the future of the hobby is grim.
With the pool of future builders getting smaller our options and varietys will become fewer.
Many of the secrets of our hobby passed on from the master to the rookie could be lost forever.

On the other hand.
Companys like panda and trumpeter come charging in to the hobby like bats out of hell with mind blowing products like the1/32 A-10.
Or panda releasing a 1/32 B-17.

Companys just don't do that if they think their will not be a market for their product in ten years or so.
They will not make a profit on it.

So I guess I am 50/50 at this point.

In a general sort of way, I tend to blame the gradual decline of the hobby industry in general on the school systems.

When I was in Elementary school and even later, art was always a huge part of the curriculum. With the loss of funding for most of the school systems in the US, the first programs to go are usually those in the fine arts, such as music, dramatics, and art programs. I remember having a class in Junior High that was nothing but plastic model building. It was a great experience for thise involved, but now it's getting to the point that most kids never even get to use crayons in the classroom. The artistic emphasis is completely gone, or quickly dying.

Just my 2 cents worth...

demono69

Although I must confess that I just got through playing Grand Turismo 3 (for the 5 billionth time), I agree that many kids seem to miss out on the development of modeling and other artistic skills due to the emphasis on only PC games and sports. Nothing wrong with either, in fact they are both passions of mine, it just seems that a wide range of experiences will lead to better balance as human beings. I also agree that the model companies have been coming out with some quality kits, and that takes money. I believe they are trying hard to meet our needs, and that generally we can get very good value for our modeling dollar by shopping carefully and looking for bargains. I rarely buy kits that just come out, but instead wait until they are discounted a bit. After all, I can only build a few kits a year, so in general the choice is buying high now, or buying low later. I hope the ones I buy now because I CAN'T wait support them enough that they keep developing new kits.

I share my hobby with kids in the neighborhood, and some of them build. I think we need to share with the next generation, and hopefully they will learn to appreciate the joy of making a little thing that looks like a big thing they are interested in.

Gerald

Very well written, and I pretty much agree.

I'm 27 so just missed the big explosion in video games and other such past times. Sure, Atari had been around and Nintendo was just making its debut and while I kept pestering my folks for something like that, they held firm and instead I became a modeller. And I'm grateful!!

I think the smaller role modelling is playing in adolecents' process of growing up is a bigger danger to our hobby than price. I still think that compared to many of the past-times out there modelling is a bargain in terms of dollar per hour of enjoyment...

I don't think its all that pricey, especially if you reaslize that model producers are still putting effort into creating good kits for a market that is decreasing with every playstation game sold. They have to be able to get their investments back, otherwise they'll just end up throwing in the towel or pump our sub-standard kits (which I fear Revell Germany is already starting to do). Bear in mind that the age group of modelers is according to the survey held on this very forum is mainly between 35 and 60. These people usually have the better skills and are most probably in a financial situation that they can afford the more pricey kits.

The modeller is a dying breed, unfortunatly. Parents just want their kids to be happy and would rather hand them a video game because 'Billy NextDoor' has one and its so cool oh mum can I have one too.. There aren't many people here who grew up on a steady feed of video games. I know I didn't. They weren't around when I was 10. Stop a random teenager on the street and ask him/her if they know what Monogram is. The parents (I'm hypothsising here) probably only see model kits as what they did as a kid, and have just forgotten about it. Everyone here is to a certain extent a hard-core modeller. Sure, its not as exciting sounding as a hard-core mountain climber, but we will certainly be handing it down to our offspring. Who knows what scandalous prices they'll have to pay for their kits?

I think that not only are kids today (and to be honest, I'm not far from being one. Especially from what my girlfriend tells me) losing out on basic hand-eye coordination, disciplin and training a keen eye for detail, they're also not going to learn as much about history and geography. When we research our kits, we look into its history. What is it, who used them, when were they used, why where they used.. Most important: how can we prevent them being used in the future? No luck, too busy blasting alien creatures into oblivion.. Arguably not right or wrong, but if its different, obliterate it.

I get some weird looks from people when I gaze over what I want to build next. Isn't he too old for that? Whats a guy like that doing with toys? Geek! "Is it a gift?" What they don't know is that by choosing the Stuka, your first, over the P-51, of which you have 6, you will end up finding out a wealth of data rich with history. One mans toy is another mans encyclopedia. Video games can't and won't ever do that. They're pre-thought entertainment. The macdonalds of the brain. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a video game as much as the next guy, but I also followed my history, geography and social study classes at school. At this rate the world is turning the next generations into xenophobes with a goldfish memory. They don't need to go outside, they get all the excersize from their mouse, keyboard and VR goggles.

Again, I think the industry is cateringing to us as best as they can, and doing so with admirable courage, because we all know that they won't be around for too long without getting into serious trouble. I have no trouble in paying what they ask. I do, however, have trouble finding what I want..

I dunno... I think it is "relatively" inexpensive once you get set up (brush, compressor, etc). The only thing you really have to buy are consumables and kits. Go through a $25-$50 kit a month and $10 in paint? Not too bad to me. There is certainly more expensive hobbies out there!

I think as the baby boomers age and people my age (30+) take their place, more people will be re-discovering model building.

My .02

I think he's also saying that we don't need to spend a lot of money on tools and aftermarket accessories if we just use our noodles and improvise with cheaper materials that already may be on hand around the house.
You know, making fenders for your Tiger I out of beer cans, that kinda thing.

Not quite sure I understand all that you are saying Hillbilly. Are you saying kits are overpriced and that leaves little room for aftermarket parts? I do agree that some of the kits are getting out of hand such as Tamiya's latest Panther with p/e parts for $70. Manufacturers need to realize what a modeler is willing to pay and adjust prices acccordingly. If the price is right, they will sell many more and profits will rise.