I'm thinking that the small numbers or even the absence of younger modellers in clubs, meets, or competitions may give the impression that the hobby is dying. What I've seen of late are various modelling groups on sites such as in Facebook actively participating, sharing, discussing builds, tips, etc. Could it be that the social aspect of modelling as most are familiar with has simply evolved, similar to what online marketing did to the brick-and-mortar shops?

Hobby Lobby might be doing well, but generally their selection is anemic at best. Nothing close to what is available on line. The kits are stocked to what I recall Walgreens, Woolworth, W.T. Grants, Walmart, et al, use to have on their shelves...just enough to get you to look. Those first 3 are gone and Walmart, for the most part, don't stock plastic any longer, and haven't for years. Sad state of affairs when the joy of visiting the LHS is dwindling, and one I use to enjoy.

Lost two stores in OK over the years,one really good one left ,but he has raised his prices to make up for lost revenue.
But he does stock most paints and kits.I never see a young kid there, or at the show I go to.
Also model railroading ,another well hobby with a lack of younger kids.
But my stash will live forever, way past my life on this planet.



Jeff

I figured there would be some interesting replies to the notion that model building is in decline, and there were.

All these new companies making products far in advance of what was available even a couple of decades ago certainly points to a thriving hobby. The question is whether the demand is being driven by one or two generations or will be sustained over time. I've participated in industries which boomed for awhile and then went flat as conditions changed, e.g. hi-fi audio or paintball which are both still around but have seen better days. Companies can vanish as fast as they appeared when the public's tastes shift.

It's good to hear that some youngsters are still getting into model building even if they are not much seen at local model club meetings or competitions. However I'm doubtful that kids routinely build models as much as they did when I was a youngster, or at least that's what I've heard from younger parents who insist their kids are epoxied to their game consoles and just aren't interested in old-school hobbies. But who knows, soap box derby racing still exists, and that's as old-school as it gets.

It's a good point that model building can take forms which escape many older folks, e.g. kits based on characters from anime entertainment. I'm not sure what I'm looking at when I see one of those fighting robot thingies on a table at a model competition, but if it's built from a kit by a kid who is as absorbed by that world as my buddies were by cars and tanks and airplanes back in the day, okay, it's still model building to me.

Now if you'll excuse me I have to go wave my cane at some kids and yell at them to keep off my lawn. First I have to swap out my computer glasses for my walking around glasses....

Hate to say it but that's how I feel.

This thread is really interesting...thanks for starting it! When I was little, making models was my absolute favorite thing! I can't recall at all what got my interest, and I have absolutely no idea what my first models were, but I recall that I made a lot of 1/32 scale WWII airplanes, and when I ended up having surgery when I was 12, and was laid up in bed for a year, I remember getting a box of models before the surgery, to have something to play with, but I don't remember building any of them during my recovery. In any event, my perspective was that models were really for kids. Even when I went to a local hobby shop, where they had truly amazing looking tank models (in particular) in display cases, and I recall feeling absolutely overwhelmed at how AMAZING those models looked, I never really put it together that those wonderful models were built by older people who loved models as much as I did.

I was truly amazed, when, about 6 years ago, (after buying an occasional FineScale Modeler magazine off a magazine rack, when I saw a particular model that caught my eye) and I realized how much modeling had come along in the 40 or so years that I hadn't been involved in it. And then realized that the hobby, as it is now, is anything but a small child's thing to do. Sure, I'm certain that young people, after achieving some level of dexterity, can begin to master the incredible intricacies of photo etch, and some of the amazingly small plastic parts in today's models, but I know I could never have managed to build models like that when I was 7 or 8 years old. What I'm getting at is that the level of precision in many of today's models sort of requires the patience and abilities of someone who has a bit of maturity. Not in every case, but as a general rule. However, it's sad to think that one day, when all of us old folks (I'm almost 59) are no longer around, will there be enough younger kids who have an interest in building models to keep the model companies (and the aftermarket, plus all the accessories) in business. I don't suppose it will matter much to me when I'm gone, but it does seems a shame if it's true that the younger generations don't appreciate the wonders of modeling. Too much emphasis on electronics and immediate 'action' toys and games today. Modeling takes imagination, and patience and the ability to delay your gratification as you SLOWLY see the results of your hard work pay off in the vehicle that you are creating emerges from unpainted plastic into camouflaged 'metal'. I hope I'm wrong, though.

Too many cool models and pieces/parts out there to make!

"What I'm getting at is that the level of precision in many of today's models sort of requires the patience and abilities of someone who has a bit of maturity."

Not to mention many of today's kits are not exactly cheap, and when you add the cost of PE sets and other upgrades, plus airbrushes and compressors and 197 bottles of paint and so on--well how many kids could afford to put a couple of hundred bucks into one model? IMO it's a good thing many older and simpler kits are still available so kids who save their paper route money can afford them. Assuming kids still have paper routes, perhaps that's something else which has disappeared in the digital age.

Hi guys

Yup, an interesting subject and one that might say a bit about our stage in life as well as the state of the model industry.

In twenty years time it probably won't exist as we know it. I bet modellers will be downloading kits to print in 3D printers. You'll choose the scale, refine the details and maybe even add the basic colours before there's even anything to touch. Maybe you'll pop on a pair of 3D googles and manipulate the plans. Figures will be infinitely posable and their uniforms and equipment changeable at the swipe of a finger. You'll change expressions on faces or engineer in battle damage to vehicles all in virtual reality. Then hit 'print' et voila!

Im not so worried about the hobby dying. Im more worried about dying myself before I see what the future holds :-)

Very true-good take on things.

Agreed.

I am not surprised nor worried about the lack of young ones in hobby shops or contests. I think this is no longer a hobby for kids, both because of the investment required (kit, aftermarkets, paints, weathering products, compressor, airbrush...) and the difficulty it has added.

Without this investment and learning process you can not get the results you see in internet or magazines, and this may be discouraging.

On the other hand it is not that rare to see people starting modelling on their late 20's so I firmly believe the hobby is going to survive.

True that on the long term it may/will evolve, as it has done in the past. Maybe we will print 3D parts, or just model in the computer, or Virtual Reality... who knows. But I bet it will continue somehow!

My original post was really a lament to the scarcity of (plastic model kit) hobby stores in Montreal, and to inform other local modellers to the closing of Montreal's largest real hobby store (ie; no toys, games, puzzles, etc. Just real hobbies - plastic models, resin figures, model RR, RC everything, wood ships, rocketry, and even...stamp collecting!).

I saw two of the greatest hobby stores in Silicon Valley change/close. It was sad to know I couldn't spend time browsing the shelves. But, I have moved out of Silicon Valley and there is only a Model RR store and a newly opened Hobby Lobby. So I browse online instead at Squadron, Sprue Brothers, Lucky Model, and Hobby Link Japan. With them, I don't have to dress or worry about closing times!

What I miss is making an impulse buy (something I don't really need, but looks neat ), taking it home, opening it, and smelling the fresh plastic! Plus having the new kit immediately instead of ordering it and waiting a month, or more, for delivery!

[/quote] Hobby Lobby might be doing well, but generally their selection is anemic at best. Nothing close to what is available on line. The kits are stocked to what I recall Walgreens, Woolworth, W.T. Grants, Walmart, et al, use to have on their shelves...just enough to get you to look. Those first 3 are gone and Walmart, for the most part, don't stock plastic any longer, and haven't for years. Sad state of affairs when the joy of visiting the LHS is dwindling, and one I use to enjoy. [/quote]

I agree with John the days of picking up a kit at the drug store or local department store is gone. Granted they wouldn't be up to today's standard, but it was a way of getting the younger ones interested. From the time my mom would take me to a shop on a Saturday to the time I made it through high school we had lost 2 of the 3 LHS and now we don't have a LHS at all. Even the once present HobbyTown USA closed... Models have evolved, prices have increased and now the builders are starting to dwindle because they don't understand the joy of just building a kit and painting it. That was the fun of it you didn't have to be perfect, but it was your ability to build a miniature model of something real that you could hold in your hand. That's what I always thought was cool.

Been there, done that.

San Antonio Hobbies was within walking distance of where I worked for a time. My stash grew a lot at that time. I have since pared it down, as I realized I didn't so much own the kits as they owned me. Now I have a rule to finish a kit in order to buy one.

I've always liked these nostalgic pictures

Something remarkable about first one is that there are two kits recently re-released with that exact box art as in the picture! Monogram M3A1 halftrack and Revell Sherman. At least one of the car kits and the ships are still around as 'Round 2" items.

I think you are exactly right, and that must have been the reason I first started making models when I was little. For me, it's the same today. I have to agree with several of the posters on this thread that not having an actual store to go to is sad. Even fairly recently, there is just something about being able to read (most often on the internet, now) and then going to the store and actually seeing the thing that you read about 'in the flesh', so to speak. That was/is the magic of the store. There is a similar feeling when ordering things on line and opening the box with those items once the are delivered, but not quite the same.

I know I'm as much to blame as anyone, in that I do the vast majority of my modeling related purchases from on-line places. But I would still rather, if the cost and relative convenience (meaning, being close to the store, geographically) were close to the same, get my model things at a brick and mortar store. I suppose it's inevitable, though, that on-line purchasing is the current wave. It has gotten to the point, now with being able to buy not just prepared food, but ingredients, by delivery, that one could, if one chose to, never leave the house.

I love that picture of the young boy in front of the wall of models. That image had to have been taken sometime in the 1960s. There was nothing quite like that experience, looking at all those boxes of things to build...sliding out one that looks interesting, reading everything on the box, and if everything lined up right, taking it to the check out line so you could take it home. The most recent experience I have had in that vein was at the local Hobby Town (which, the last time I was there, had less than 50% of it's shelves stocked), when I bought a Meng D9R bulldozer. It really felt wonderful to see it and buy it and have the immediate pleasure of having it right then! But the world changes. In many ways, to me, unfortunately....

When I was a kid in the '50s we had an LHS about a 15 min walk from my place, called l'Oiseau Bleu (Blue Bird). It was a very big hobby store - two store fronts with the intervening wall knocked out. They had EVERTHING - plastic kits of all kinds; gasoline engine planes and boats; battery powered boats; science sets; magic sets; coin collecting, and stamp collecting sets; etc... You could get an Airfix 1/72 armor kit in a plastic bag for .39 cents! By the '60's they had moved to a much smaller location and were only arts'n'crafts. Sometime in the '70's they completely disappeared.
Guess that was a taste of what was to come.

I had two modeling superstores in my area that reflected that picture

Dicks Hobbyland in Cranford,he retired maybe around 2000,ehat a gentleman and what a store,two young guys tried to keep it going,but they closed maybe around 2005.

Avenel Hobbies,they were awesome,they only closed 2 years ago,but I did well during their going out of business sale,but it was sad.

Over here, there were a couple of shops that closed down in the last five years, but these were branches / outlets of the LHS. To date there are four LHS operating, each with at least two outlets. Well- stocked, they're updated with the latest from the major brands such as Tamiya, Dragon, Trumpeter, Hobby Boss. Meng, Takom too. If not available on the shelf, one LHS can order for you from Hannants, Hobby Easy, and HLJ and you just pay for the price displayed on these online sites, converted to local currency. This option sure beats the headache and hassle of importing on your own.

I am a hobby shop in Eastern Canada.

My biggest advantage really is that there are no other shops around. Next 2 closest ones to me is about a 4hr drive south, or a 6hr drive north.

As well, I operate out of the basement of my house, so rent is cheap, which is one of the biggest expenses for any shop. Unless you own the building, you are looking at a fair chunk off the top every month.

Before I opened my shop, I looked at retail locations around town. To get something in the downtown core that would have decent walk in traffic, I was looking at $2 sq ft. One place I looked at was a paltry 900 sq ft, so I would be in the hole every month about $2000 off the top before making any profit. I am sure had I gone that direction, I would have closed up long ago.

So I chose my basement. House is about 1km outside the city limits on a busy road, so walk in traffic is still good (not like it would be in the down town core, but still OK), but I also have an online presence as well that I sell through.

Any brick and mortar shop today you need to have an online presence to give you a 2nd way to sell.

I have been in business for a bit over 10yrs, and when I started out, my walk in sales were much bigger than my website sales.

Now they are roughly 50/50 give or take. My walk in hasn't gone down in sales, but my online sales have come up to meet them.

As far as pricing goes, because I don't have the added overhead of a monthly rent, I can keep my prices down some, I don't want to say my prices are the best in Canada, but they are among the best, but again, I understand that most brick and mortar shops have that rental overhead they have to account for, which I think is the biggest difference.

Plus, when you compare prices from places like Lucky Model or Hobby Easy. They can offer a lower cost on the kit, because most of the manufacturers are either in the same city, or fairly close by, and they are able to buy factory direct.

Meanwhile I buy from 1 Canadian supplier and 3-4 US suppliers, which their product needs to be shipping half way around the world and goes through sometimes as much as 3 hands before it gets to me (importers, distributors, etc), each one of those adds their pound of flesh to the price, so by the time it gets to me and I put a mark up on it that I can live with, the end price is almost always more than the online shops in HK.

As one of the posters above mentioned, he got the Meng Leopard 2A7 for $75 plus customs. Lucky Model has it for $64.65 US shipped (via air). My price is $89CDN. More yes, but lets break it down.

$64.65 US works out to about $83.40CDN shipped (and only so cheap because the US to CDN exchange rate is somewhat palatable these days, 3 months ago it was about 45+%, now days it is around 29-30%). If it happens to get nabbed by customs, they add the taxes, which in my province is 15%, so tack on another $12.51, for a total of $95.91, plus for the pleasure of Canada Customs doing the paper work for the taxes, they tack on another $9.95 processing fee (which goes up to $14.95 if they decide to open the box to inspect it), so now your total with customs taxes and fees comes out to $105.86.

Buying at my price of $89.00CDN, plus the 15% HST comes to $102.35, about $3.50 cheaper.

Now the customs thing is a crap shoot as to whether they catch it or not, so could get it for the $83.40CDN delivered, but that is the chance you take, and usually once it gets over a certain dollar value, it is less inclined to get missed.

The Tiger Models kit....honestly don't blame anyone for going online to get the best price for those. I have one supplier that brings them in, and they are wayyyy overpriced. So much so, that I won't even pay the wholesale prices to buy the kits for my own personal stash. To the point that the retail prices on the Tiger Model kits at LM or Hobby Easy, are actually less then my cost price from my US supplier. I have looked into just buying them from someone like LM or HE, but by the time you tack the shipping on to it from over there (even the cheap, ultra slow surface shipping) and the prices end up being about the same.

I don't blame anyone for trying to find a cheaper price online, I used to be a consumer for a long time before I got into the business myself, and would always look for the best deal....however I have learned that a good deals is sometimes not necessarily as good of a deal as you might think once you factor all of the extras in to the transaction.

Wow, Udisco. Never been in there myself, have only had dealings with them trying to buy product for my own shop. From my experience, they didn't seem to be very kind.

I inquired about buying wholesale from them for my shop, (as they advertise themselves as a wholesaler as well as a retailer), I got 3 different answers back from 3 different people there, but they all had one thing in common which was that they didn't want my business unless I was willing to buy "everything" from them. In other words they weren't interested unless I dropped all of my other suppliers, which I wasn't prepared to do. Turned me off from buying from them.

Never had the opportunity to actually visit the place, I have been told that it is massive, shame that they are closing.

I didn't realise that Udisco was closing. There aren't very many hobby shops around Montreal, let along two story hobby warehouses, so this will have a significant impact. Their selection of kits was huge. I thought kits there (armored kits anyways) were overpriced compared to Hobby Jonction. The staff were somewhere between odd and outright eccentric. I always thought one of them in particular was living in an alternate universe. I wonder if all the construction around there had an impact. I guess I'll have to pay them a visit sometime this fall.