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"collecting" model kits?

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  • Member since
    January 2015
"collecting" model kits?
Posted by CaptainJack on Wednesday, February 24, 2016 8:05 AM

I'm just curious how many people on here actually buy a hard to find model kit and then store the thing in their stash without any intention to build it?

I was on Ebay looking for a 1/25 model kit for an old late 80's/early 90's Chevy C1500 Silverado pickup to build for my dad for his bday and was astounded to see them going for upwards of $100!? It appears that they are hard to find (well probably not so much since there are over 30 available on Ebay right now), but it got me to thinking. Do people actually buy model kits with the intent to collect them and keep them unopened? 

Personally, my stash currently consists of a little over 40 unbuilt kits (yes I know thats not a lot by somes standards, but I don't just store them and not build them either). I probably build somewhere between 3 to 5 kits per year now. Right now I've slowed down quite a bit since I've been building the DeAgostini Millennium Falcon model, but I fully intend to build each and every kit I have at some point in my life. 

I understand if it's a vintage kit from back in the 50's or 60's or something that might have sentimental value (I know someone who bought a 55' Chevy kit with their Dad back in the mid-90's that was intended to be a father-son build, but never got built because their Dad died suddenly and ever since they keep the kit, still in the cellophane wrapper), but this is a kit manafactured in the early 1990's of a fairly common pickup truck. It hardly should be considered a "collectors item" imo. 

Oh well, guess I'm just ranting now...lol.

Currently Working On - DeAgostini Millennium Falcon, 1/16 MPC General Lee, Moebius Bride of Frankenstein

Next Up - Hobby Boss 1/350 USS Arizona, 1/24 Aoshima BTTF DeLorean, 1/25 Polar Lights BTTF part III DeLorean Mark IV

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Western North Carolina
Posted by Tojo72 on Wednesday, February 24, 2016 8:08 AM

No that's not for me,I have a limited stash 30-40 kits that I probably will build.No collecting for me.I probably do a max of 6 kits a year also.

  • Member since
    October 2006
  • From: Tucson, AZ
Posted by Archangel Shooter on Wednesday, February 24, 2016 8:27 AM

I have every intentions of building the kits I purchased. Only problem is that they're piling up faster than I can build them. At my current build/completion rate I will have to live to about 175 to finish what I got now. And just the other day I added the Kitty Hawk OV-10A/C to the stash.

 Your image is loading...

 On the bench: So many hanger queens.

 

 

  • Member since
    November 2003
  • From: Naples, FL
Posted by tempestjohnny on Wednesday, February 24, 2016 8:31 AM
I'm a builder not a collector. I dud know a guy back in the 90's that would buy two of everything. His stash was over 4000

 

  • Member since
    August 2013
Posted by Jay Jay on Wednesday, February 24, 2016 8:35 AM

I never intended to be a "collector" but I ran across 5 rare and valuable kits for cheap that will be in my limited stash of 20 or so kits probably for posterity.  I still don't know why I don't just go ahead and build them . I bought them because I liked them, later to find out that they where collector's items.

 

 

 

 

 

 I'm finally retired. Now time I got, money I don't.

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Wednesday, February 24, 2016 9:01 AM

I do know several collectors.  I am not one myself, but I appreciate their viewpoint.  If you look at books about collecting, it turns out people collect everything under the sun- why not model kits?  They go about their hobby just like other collectors- buying, trading, selling, organizing their collection, etc.  I don't know if there are clubs just about kit collecting.  I belong to three model clubs, and I know a few members of a couple of them are collectors, not builders.

I am aware of tensions between collectors and builders.   Builders believe collectors bid up prices, and make kits more expensive.  Some collectors feel builders take too many kits out of circulation, reducing the number available, which raises prices.  I think both views are probably correct.  Niether group is right or wrong, just two different hobbies.

 Oh, I do have one kit that is my one-kit collection.  Just after WW2 I discovered a kit, a balsa wood kit, of a midget race car.  Since my dad was a midget driver, I was really interested in that kind of racing, and built a number of those kits- they were by far the best kits of race cars.  A few years ago, after putting out my desires in a number of forums, a fellow replied and sold me one of those old kits.  Now, these kits consisted of various size blocks of balsa wood, wheels, some fittings, and plans.  I was able to buy and saw up balsa wood to match the kit ones, make molds of the wheels and cast them in resin, and reproduce the fittings from raw stock, so I still have my kit, and built the model too!  But one collector kit does not make me a collector.

 

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

  • Member since
    January 2013
Posted by BlackSheepTwoOneFour on Wednesday, February 24, 2016 9:17 AM

Hey, now wait a second here! There's no such thing as a collector or hoarder in this hobby. LOL! I don't collect either but I will buy a kit to add to the stash with intention to build.

  • Member since
    June 2015
Posted by OldGoat on Wednesday, February 24, 2016 10:07 AM

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

Hey, now wait a second here! There's no such thing as a collector or hoarder in this hobby. LOL! I don't collect either but I will buy a kit to add to the stash with intention to build.

 

What he said.

LOL

  • Member since
    January 2016
  • From: Salt Lake City, Utah
Posted by Sailor Steve on Wednesday, February 24, 2016 10:18 AM

Back in the '80s there was something of a "war" between collectors and builders. The collectors couldn't believe that someone would open a rare kit and put it together. The builders couldn't figure out why anyone would hoard a model obviously meant for building just so they could make some money off it.

I haven't seen or heard any arguements of this type since then. Maybe everyone has mellowed, or maybe I'm just out of the loop. I'm sure if I came across something extremely rare I would set it aside for preservation. That said, as far as I'm concerned models are for building, and I normally only buy kits with that in mind.

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: hamburg michigan
Posted by fermis on Wednesday, February 24, 2016 10:41 AM

Sailor Steve

....models are for building...

 

Everything is bought with the intetion of building. If I completely lose interest in it, I'll sell it so someone else can build it.

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Wednesday, February 24, 2016 10:46 AM

Most of the time, for building. If I don't build it, it will sit around. I've given away a lot of kits, but I'm not a seller.

Now, with the recent passing of George Barris, did pick up a small pile of Monogram kits of his designs. I like them, I probably will build some of them, and I don't know when they'll no longer be around, or so expensive that I cannot afford them.

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

fox
  • Member since
    January 2007
  • From: Narvon, Pa.
Posted by fox on Wednesday, February 24, 2016 11:42 AM

I buy with the intention to build, but, at the rate I build I'll have to stay aound till I'm at least 300 years old. 

Jim  Captain

 Main WIP: 

   On the Bench: Artesania Latina  (aka) Artists in the Latrine 1/75 Bluenose II

I keep hitting "escape", but I'm still here.

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Bethlehem PA
Posted by the Baron on Wednesday, February 24, 2016 11:44 AM

CaptainJack

...I was on Ebay looking for a 1/25 model kit for an old late 80's/early 90's Chevy C1500 Silverado pickup to build for my dad for his bday and was astounded to see them going for upwards of $100!? It appears that they are hard to find (well probably not so much since there are over 30 available on Ebay right now), but it got me to thinking. Do people actually buy model kits with the intent to collect them and keep them unopened? 

Yes, there are kit collectors out there, in the literal sense-folks who buy an old kit and care about the condition of the box, the box art, how many examples of a particular kit were issued, in short, all of the things that collectors of any item think about, as they accumulate a collection.

But for most of us, or all of us, perhaps, collecting kits is not intentional, that is, we fully expect in some corner of our minds to build them, even if it's physically not possible.  The other posters' responses indicate that.  Some of us die and leave our stash to our family to worry about, others look at the stash at some point and say to ourselves, "I'll never build all of these kits", still others, "I've got a lot of money tied up in my stash--is this what I really want to do?"  I'm in that boat-I'm starting to think I'll never build all of the kits I've accumulated, and that I should start getting rid of them, preferably to modelers who will build them.  No PM's, please--I haven't decided to do that yet, just thinking about it.

Without more details about the auction you saw, I'd say that, it that was the opening price, then the seller must think he's going to get $100 for it, either because he's done some research, or he has no clue, and will learn through trial and error; or, if there are bids up to that price, you got some people who let that e-adrenaline start flowing and bid it up, or they really wanted the kit.  Or maybe something else entirely.

Best regards,

Brad

Without

 

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

 

 

  • Member since
    January 2013
Posted by BlackSheepTwoOneFour on Wednesday, February 24, 2016 1:17 PM

So these so-called "model kit collectors" don't build them for the sake of building?

  • Member since
    May 2013
  • From: From the Mit, but live in Mason, O high ho
Posted by hogfanfs on Wednesday, February 24, 2016 1:41 PM

There are some true collectors out there. They purchse a kit with the intent to collect it, but not build it. But, with the advent of eBay, you find more investors. People who will do their research, then buy a kit with the expectation to sell it at a higher price to make a profit. A good reason why you'll see high prices on some kits.

I have a stash for the sole purpose of spending the next 30 years building them. If i don't last that long, hopefully some of my kids will enjoy building them!

Edit: I also have a stash/collection because I have this incredibly childish notion that I enjoy having my very own hobby store in my basement!

 Bruce

 

 On the bench:  1/48 Eduard MiG-21MF

                        1/35 Takom Merkava Mk.I

 

  • Member since
    January 2007
Posted by oldsalty on Wednesday, February 24, 2016 2:48 PM

I buy to build. I have ideas for them all but you know what happens...160, if I buy one kit this year it will be a good one and on the list..lol Collecting is part of it just like any collector but we can build what we collect:-)

OldSalty

  • Member since
    July 2014
Posted by modelcrazy on Wednesday, February 24, 2016 2:53 PM

fermis
Everything is bought with the intetion of building. If I completely lose interest in it, I'll sell it so someone else can build it.

Ditto

Steve

Building a kit from your stash is like cutting a head off a Hydra, two more take it's place.

 

 

http://www.spamodeler.com/forum/

  • Member since
    November 2003
  • From: Naples, FL
Posted by tempestjohnny on Wednesday, February 24, 2016 5:06 PM

Just think of all those poor kids who can't play with Hot Wheels because they're on my garage wall

 

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Rain USA, Vancouver WA
Posted by tigerman on Thursday, February 25, 2016 12:21 AM

I don't understand the collector. I buy with all the intentions of building them. I also don't quite understand the guy who buys multiples of the same kit. To me there are way to many seperate subjects to build that I can't see the need to build the same kit over and over. Just me i guess.

   http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/wing_nut_5o/PANZERJAGERGB.jpg

 Eric 

  • Member since
    February 2007
Posted by mitsdude on Thursday, February 25, 2016 12:53 AM
I don't consider myself a collector but I can understand those that do. I believe it reminds them of an earlier time in their life (childhood) which is looked upon with fond memories. It's kind of a way of going back in time to when things were simplier. There are also those who collect as an investment. However, from what I have seen model collecting value is nowhere near other related collectibles like comics and baseball cards where items can go for tens of thousands to millions of $$$
  • Member since
    January 2013
Posted by BlackSheepTwoOneFour on Thursday, February 25, 2016 8:56 AM

In all honesty, baseball card collecting as an investment isn't strong as it used to be any more. The hobby is too saturated with so many baseball card companies pushing so many variation of baseball card brands (ie: Topps, Topps Stadium Club, Fleer, Fleer Ultra, well you get the idea). That hobby has gotten so bad it's no fun anymore. Greed from these baseball card companies is what caused it to be no fun. Only the "chase cards" are worth anything - never mind a regular card or rookie card. I should know for I used to collect baseball cards years ago until I got out of it back in the mid-90s.

  • Member since
    September 2011
  • From: Milaca, Minnesota
Posted by falconmod on Thursday, February 25, 2016 9:22 AM

hogfanfs

There are some true collectors out there. They purchse a kit with the intent to collect it, but not build it. But, with the advent of eBay, you find more investors. People who will do their research, then buy a kit with the expectation to sell it at a higher price to make a profit. A good reason why you'll see high prices on some kits.

I have a stash for the sole purpose of spending the next 30 years building them. If i don't last that long, hopefully some of my kids will enjoy building them!

Edit: I also have a stash/collection because I have this incredibly childish notion that I enjoy having my very own hobby store in my basement!

 

So just out of curiosity how many kits does it take to make your own hobby store?  I might have to open a brick and mortar!

On the Bench: 1/72 Ki-67, 1/48 T-38

1/144 AC-130, 1/72 AV-8A Harrier

  • Member since
    May 2013
  • From: From the Mit, but live in Mason, O high ho
Posted by hogfanfs on Thursday, February 25, 2016 9:54 AM

falconmod

 

 So just out of curiosity how many kits does it take to make your own hobby store?  I might have to open a brick and mortar!

  

 

Falconmod,

Here is the store front:

And here is the back stock:

The rack with my armor kits was last counted at 125. I will guess about 400 kits in total. 

This stash will not grow very much more. 

 Bruce

 

 On the bench:  1/48 Eduard MiG-21MF

                        1/35 Takom Merkava Mk.I

 

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Fort Knox
Posted by Rob Gronovius on Thursday, February 25, 2016 10:18 AM

.

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Fox Lake, Il., USA
Posted by spiralcity on Thursday, February 25, 2016 10:57 AM

I have a large collection, but I do not collect model kits. They have built up over the years and sometimes I am forced to sell off many kits due to limited space. I always buy kits (as others) with the intention to build them, but time is limited and many kits end up in the "kit crypt'.

 

 

  • Member since
    July 2013
Posted by DURR on Thursday, February 25, 2016 12:11 PM

tigerman

 I also don't quite understand the guy who buys multiples of the same kit. To me there are way to many seperate subjects to build that I can't see the need to build the same kit over and over. Just me i guess.

 

there r many times to buy dup.kits  .a few good examples are

the mpc dukes o hazzard police car

the amt 1970 ford police

and the 1968 johan fury police i got 4 each and each will be make into a diff city car with diff decal/paint

 

  • Member since
    June 2015
Posted by OldGoat on Thursday, February 25, 2016 12:23 PM

DURR

 

 
tigerman

 I also don't quite understand the guy who buys multiples of the same kit. To me there are way to many seperate subjects to build that I can't see the need to build the same kit over and over. Just me i guess.

 

 

 

there r many times to buy dup.kits  .a few good examples are

the mpc dukes o hazzard police car

the amt 1970 ford police

and the 1968 johan fury police i got 4 each and each will be make into a diff city car with diff decal/paint

 

 

I have a case of the Revell Police cars, plus several Impala SS models. All can be built with different departments in mind. Same same with the above listed kits. Heck I could model a car from every district in my old department and need another case of Chevys.

The Pz III was used in North Africa in almost every variant. I have a kit of each. 

You can't ever have too many Shermans. 

Big Smile

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Rain USA, Vancouver WA
Posted by tigerman on Thursday, February 25, 2016 12:34 PM

OldGoat

 

 
DURR

 

 
tigerman

 I also don't quite understand the guy who buys multiples of the same kit. To me there are way to many seperate subjects to build that I can't see the need to build the same kit over and over. Just me i guess.

 

 

 

there r many times to buy dup.kits  .a few good examples are

the mpc dukes o hazzard police car

the amt 1970 ford police

and the 1968 johan fury police i got 4 each and each will be make into a diff city car with diff decal/paint

 

 

 

 

I have a case of the Revell Police cars, plus several Impala SS models. All can be built with different departments in mind. Same same with the above listed kits. Heck I could model a car from every district in my old department and need another case of Chevys.

The Pz III was used in North Africa in almost every variant. I have a kit of each. 

You can't ever have too many Shermans. 

Big Smile

 

I understand the variant thing, and I too love PzIII's, I'm only referring to the exact same kit. I've seen pictures of some guys stashes with 6 of one kit and say 4 of another. What are the odds he'll finish them all? I'd be bored building even 5 Pz IV variants, when there are so many other Russian, American, British and so on subjects out there. My modest 30ish stash may outlive me due to a lack of time to build.

   http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/wing_nut_5o/PANZERJAGERGB.jpg

 Eric 

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Thursday, February 25, 2016 12:40 PM

I knew a guy who wargamed at 1/35. He bought every single Tamiya M4A3E8 he could get his hands on; the 1970's one!. He could slap the things together 12 at a time in an evening.

 

(shutters)

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    January 2015
Posted by CaptainJack on Thursday, February 25, 2016 12:50 PM

Don Stauffer

Oh, I do have one kit that is my one-kit collection.  Just after WW2 I discovered a kit, a balsa wood kit, of a midget race car.  Since my dad was a midget driver, I was really interested in that kind of racing, and built a number of those kits- they were by far the best kits of race cars.  A few years ago, after putting out my desires in a number of forums, a fellow replied and sold me one of those old kits.  Now, these kits consisted of various size blocks of balsa wood, wheels, some fittings, and plans.  I was able to buy and saw up balsa wood to match the kit ones, make molds of the wheels and cast them in resin, and reproduce the fittings from raw stock, so I still have my kit, and built the model too!  But one collector kit does not make me a collector.

 

 

 

I can definitely understand that because the kit has sentimental value. I get that.

What I don't get is buying a kit because you like the box art and store it away because you hope it'll become valuable at some point. To each their own I guess, but I am of the mind that you collect baseball cards, you read comic books, you spend coins, you mail stamps, and you build models.

Currently Working On - DeAgostini Millennium Falcon, 1/16 MPC General Lee, Moebius Bride of Frankenstein

Next Up - Hobby Boss 1/350 USS Arizona, 1/24 Aoshima BTTF DeLorean, 1/25 Polar Lights BTTF part III DeLorean Mark IV

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