What's current state of plastic modeling hobby?

It's both in a decline and better than ever. By this I mean that the pool of model builders is graying and dying, but as the builders age, so do their tastes and their discretionary incomes get larger. Most of us started building cheap kits as kids with pocket money. Today, most current state of the art kits are $30-50 and people stull buy them til they are out of stock.

One could also look at modeling as a "fad" that has come and gone.

i.e. slot cars, playing cowboys and Indians, yoyo's, hula hoops, kites, paint by number, Estes rockets, Beanie Babies.

Kinda related to modeling was the "ceramic arts" that was real popular among women in the mid 70's to early 80's. Seems like there was a new ceramic shop opening every week, groups buying their own Kiln's and molds!   Now ..........nothing!!!

I don't really think it's in decline.....it's better than ever! More companies, more variety, better engineering.....pretty much...if you want it, you can get it (if money is no object!  

As we start dying off, I'm sure all the model companies will follow......but who cares????? We'll be dead and not know about it anyway!

This question rolls around periodically. My answer is the same: It is in a state of decline.

Thanks for your responses.  Around 1970, when I was building lots of models, I think kits were approx $2-3, a small jar of Testors paint 15 cents, and I could afford a model every 2wks on my allowance.  I remember lots of "3 in 1" cars that provided fun build options, and resulted in lots of spare engines, tires and other parts lined up in boxes in my Lab.  As time went by and my skill improved, I started pulling early efforts off the shelf and back to the Lab for reincarnation with lots of mods and customization using the spare parts.  That was lots of fun and saved some allowance!

I haven't read a response that changed my impression that, unfortunately, modeling is on a steep decline caused by rising cost of the hobby and by a change in culture.  A perspective was offered that adult modelers will continue in strong enough numbers to sustain the hobby.  I suspect that for nearly all adult modelers, the "seed" was planted in their youth and they are continuing or returning to the modeling hobby as a result of that.  Today's youth don't build models, and therefore won't as adults either IMHO. 

Every generation generally considers their "good old days" as superior to "improved" modern times, and I suppose that for me this topic is another example.  The argument can be made that the gaming and computer technology-driven hobbies of today's youth make them quick-thinking tremendous multitaskers. I can only speak from my own experience.  The valuable skills and traits that I acquired building models helped define who I became as an adult.  As we know, models never lie.  If you did a rushed, slipshod job then your final product clearly reflected that.  If you worked carefully, with proper planning and attention to detail, the result was a model you were very proud of and landed in the Place Of Honor on your display shelf.

I assume many of you also see this correlation between modeling and a successful career and adult life?  Modeling taught me to be a meticulous planner, and that skill has served me very well in my career and making big life decisions.  Modeling taught me the joy of using your imagination to visualize a final product, and the excitement of working toward that goal.  Modeling taught me the importance of attention to detail, which has also defined me at work and minimized mistakes in general.  Modeling taught me problem-solving.  The many challenges provided by modeling, as well as the many ways a model can be botched by both a novice and a veteran, provided many opportunities to learn the value of maintaining calm and thinking outside the box to find a way to accomplish a goal.  Modeling taught me that if you take pride in your work and put in time and effort, the result will give you pride and satisfaction.  Modeling taught me to work with my hands.  Modeling  gave me perspective and patience.  I remember receiving about 5 models for my birthday once.  Instead of taking the time to build each one properly, in my rush of excitement I attacked them and some beautiful kits ended up sloppy junk that I was ashamed of.  Never happened again.

Maybe some new hobbies provide a lot of these lessons, but I'd have to be convinced.  I've done a lot of successful large renovations to my home with little previous experience, and restored a vintage snowmobile with no previous experience.  Much of the ability to study, learn, plan, and accomplish these things was acquired from modeling.  It seems that far fewer youth interested in working with their hands and therefore unable to accomplish stuff like this and enjoy the satisfaction of doing so.  The focus now is more instant gratification than long-term projects.  I'm not bashing on today's youth, and I know there remain brilliant young minds out there. It just seems unfortunate to me that a unique tool like modeling, which develops those minds and shows them what they are capable of, is apparently being lost. 

Regarding today's youth:  Attention Deficit Disorder is often discussed.  Most youth now spend countless hours on video games, computers, iPhones, etc, and become accustomed to the rapid pace turn on/turn off control of their world.  This does not appear to create students who can focus and absorb material presented by a teacher over a 40" class period.  A young person involved in modeling is more likely to develop the ability to stay focused and therefore more likely to be productive in the classroom.

I'm not by any means brilliant or a huge success story, but do know that modeling played a large role providing the foundation for many positive things I've accomplished in my career and life.

I hope that companies depending on the modeling hobby find a way to salvage or renew interest by youth.  As discussed in many of the replies, the first hurdle is to make modeling affordable for a parent who wants to share modeling by introducing the hobby to their child.  If the modeling manufacturers and retailers recognize that their future possibly depends on meeting this challenge, they need to address this now before the next generation of parents are not interested.

Sorry for the long post, but I guess that covers my perspective.

The good news: The home of the future has arrived.

The bad news: It’s a flat-pack.

GreySnake

 Maybe I’ve just grown out of the hobby but it seems like model companies are pricing their selves out of the business. And I can't see how kids can afford the price of models. But they do manage to buy video games somehow. 

I must confess you bring up a point about the cost of certain models.  35-40 years ago when I was young and building, the cost wasn't a big issue for me.  But I don't remember kits being that expensive or having such a huge selection of "super" detailed kits (and thats certainly added to the cost).  At that time just getting it put together with some paint on it and having it resemble a Mustang was good enough for me (I.e., my buddies and I weren't exactly R/C's in those days).  And yes, no question kids will spend money on what they consider important, I suspect many won't on a $50 model.  There are many reasonably priced kits out there to be had which can be built into good little models and it can take up a fair amount of quality time.

I’ll chime in with my two cents on the health of the hobby. I’m twenty three years old right now and I’ve been modeling since I was five. But I’ve stopped because of the cost and not enough time. The cost for the hobby is in all honesty ludicrous. Recently I considered building 1/35 armor again the new Tamiya T-55 Enigma caught my eye till I looked at the cost $70+ with shipping add on the paint I needed and glue and I was already looking at spending over a hundred dollars.

 I remember when I was nine years old with a small allowance and was able to buy three or four tanks a month for forty dollars or so. Try doing that today good luck! Heck just a few years ago the new Dragon 1/35 armor kits were running $30 a pop which was a good value for all you got. Now looking through the latest Squadron flyer the latest Dragon kits are pushing $60. I would really love to start modeling again but when one model can buy me two weeks of food I have a hard time justifying the cost.

 Maybe I’ve just grown out of the hobby but it seems like model companies are pricing their selves out of the business. And I can't see how kids can afford the price of models. But they do manage to buy video games somehow. I’ll just go back to playing my guitar now. 

I believe kids today have so many other activities to choose from that provide more instant gratification than building a model that takes extended time to build and even more time (and skill) to make it look really cool.

Console/computer gaming can eat up a huge chunk of a kids time and money. This includes playing the game itself as well as web sites  and chat rooms related to the gaming. It can be very exciting to play a game on the Internet with people from all over the world. With model building you are pretty much in your room all alone.

Organized sports is also a big time and money eater. Back in my day the only organized sports outside of school was baseball and football. Now most communities also have soccer, basketball, tennis, volleyball, swimming, golf, ice hockey etc. I realize these sports were always out there but they were mainly in larger cities that had a related pro sport team. Others, like ice hockey were pretty much regional. In addition when I was a kid you pretty much headed for home when the sun went down. Now we have indoor facilities that can be used at any time of day.

Another thought is that todays "toys" can look pretty darn good to the kid wanting a figure or a vehicle representing their favorite character. Look at some of the figures put out by Todd MacFarland's company, totally awesome. Just look at any of the stuff put out when a new movie is released. True a model looks better but they are close enough.

If I were a kid today I seriously doubt I would put out the time and effort of building a model.

I think availability plays a part too. As a kid, I bought kits at the local pharmacy, hardware store, Toys-r-Us, PX, Shopette, K-mart, Kaybee toys and even dedicated hobby shops. Now, it pretty much has to be a Hobby Shop (aside from Hobby Lobby and Michaels awesome selections!!!), and since all the LHS' seem to be going the way of the Dodo......there's no real presence like there was 20+ years ago. So, model companies are marketing more toward those kids that grew up.....same thing with comic books, geared more towards adults. When was the last time you saw a baseball card shop???

There's just way too many options out there to occupy kids time, that don't involve any amount of work and minimal thinking......and they're all on dope!

Old Yeller

I have two Q's:

It appears there aren't many young people involved now, therefore what's the consensus on the future for modeling?  Am I wrong and there are actually still many young modelers?  Is it less interest, less patience to complete a kit, less interest in cars, high cost, less time for parents to share the hobby, or a combination of things?  Are there websites/forums etc that promote modeling for young people?

To buy online, what are the best websites for selection, price and service?

That's more like 5 questions.

At any rate, I agree with Bob and Stik (and also have a similar story) returning to the hobby after a 35year hiatus (yeah, it's a midlife crisis thing).  Future? who knows there is something about making things with your hands but I must say many of us RETURNED to modeling, whereas our kids may have never been into it to begin with (of course we never had the amazing games systems to get hooked on either).  Not sure about promoting the hobby aside from the parent.  As far as buying online, wow that is almost limitless, SprueBros, Ebay, Bonanza etc.

I'm not too worried about modeling today not appealing as much to youth.  Two stalwarts of the hobby have always been primarily adult genres- ships and model railroad.  These are expensive genres (especially MR) and yet have maintained their health for a long time.  So modeling will continue even if youth participation drops further.  Yeah, the youth buyers are more numerous as they explore possible hobbies, but the adults are the ones that buy the more expensive kits, and buy most of the aftermarket stuff that helps define the state of the hobby.

I got started as a kid, but never dropped out, and even as a young adult the aftermarket was glue and paint!  It was so nice to see folks begin offering resin detailing sets and the advent of photo-etch.  Then, this drove kit mfgs to offer resin and PE in the kits themselves!  When I began plastic modeling the planes didn't even have any cockpit detail, they mounted a pilot figure to a bulkhead to help obscure there were no cockpit details.  So every time I think modeling is in a golden age, things keep appearing to make it even better.

We are sure paying for it, though.  The price of kits this year is going up far faster than general inflation rate!

To take the first question second, for online shopping Sprue Brothers is hard to beat, although I do prefer Scale Hobbyist's website for browsing, and they often have slightly lower prices, albeit with a (I believe) smaller selection (minimal aftermarket, notably). Go with whatever suits you, I've never been disappointed with either.

For the second question, as a younger modeler (a few days short of 18), it's hard to say about the future of the hobby. I got into modeling seriously in 9th grade, through my school's Plastic Modeling Club, of which I have been president for 2 years. (I don't mean to misrepresent, because the very existence of such a club is a rarity, and its continued existence is in question next year) The club was founded in 1982 with around 50 members, and now we have around 5-6 regular attendees, so if you want to see modeling in decline you only have to check the yearbooks.

I have become involved with my local club, which I am told is blessed with being one of the only clubs in the region who's annual show is successful.  Modeling is definitely on the whole an old man's game now.  This is not necessarily bad, except it is impossible to tell if today's young'ins will become modelers with age. Most of the older members of the community started when they were young, a tradition that kids today don't have. For myself, I know that my modeling was blessed with an apathetic social life and a lack of interest in video games (although I do find it cheaper to start modeling that start gaming, a starter model will set you back $30 if you go nuts, an Xbox game will run you $60, not counting the console itself! A beginner's paint and tools still won't run up that big a total, at least not at first.) It's certainly harder now to buy supplies when I want to take my girlfriend out!

I really don't know how one would get my peers interested in the hobby.  Most teenagers I know think it's cool, but admiring a well built armor piece is much different from sitting down and painting road wheels! Building a model is a study in delayed rewards, and the rising cost of kits means that covering one with glue and strapping it to a firework isn't the best use of an allowance.

My expereinces are very much similar to Rob's. Building roughly the same amount of years and having four kids of my own. I have built models with all four, and of my kids only my two youngest still show any real interest. But now my youngest daughter has hit her teen years and no longer going to IPMS meetings or building kits with me. My 16 year old son still dabbles in the ocasional Gundam, but has no other model building interests. Between all his other activities, school, track, Boy Scouts, he would rather spend his free time in areas that pique his interest more such as his games, anime, and manga. Since the Gundams overlap with those areas, model building still has some appeal. My two adult daughters, who I built some kits with when they were little, have not touched a kit in many many years and neither show any interest in the hobby. But the younger of the two does like my tools for some of her art projects, or glues to use there too. Since I moved into a new home last year and all my model stuff is in the garage now a few neighborhood boys have stopped by to watch my work or look at the collection. I have given some kits from the stash that I know I will never get around to building.

As far as websites go, I still have some great Hobby Shops around here where I get my supplies and prefer to buy my kits from, even if I have to pay a bit more. I beleive in supporting the local businesses as best I can.

I started building at an early age, around 5-6 yrs old over 40 something years ago. I've raised six children who are now between the ages of 26 and 7 (26, 23, 22, 18, 15, 7). Only my two daughters, now 23 and 18 had any patience for it, although all of them have given it a try.

My 7 yr old is hot into Star Wars the Clone Wars and we build those kits together, but he plays rather rough with them and usually they suffer catastrophic damage. To be honest, he want to play with them not really build them and he loves Legos, so we end up getting him virtually indestructable Lego versions of the Star Wars ships.

Since I have a lot of kids, I come into contact with a lot of their friends, none of them build. I have given Italeri HMMWV kits and an Academy M1A1 Abrams to next door neighbors and an AMTRAC to my nephew who wanted to join the Marines. He did join and got out (or kicked out), but I don't know if he ever built the kit or what.

Bottom line, my older kids have their faces buried in their smart phones texting away. My younger boys are on the DS, DSi, 3DS, PS3 or Wii and not interested.

Only my 18 yr old daughter used to go to club meetings and shows with me when she was 11. She won several awards and was pretty good, but then she got into cheer leading and boyfriends and never looked back.

It's also a matter of cost; a $30 game lasts all my game playing kids ages, a $30 kit ends up partially built in the stash. I remember when kits cost pocket change at the five and dime. Even old kits from when I was a kid reboxed and sold in stores today are pushing $20.