Do a bit of a 'replay' on my earlier comments, at the end of the day, who really cares what's happened to them?

The last couple of weeks has seen this site publish News Reports on many new releases which cover the areas that Verlinden covered. 1/48th scale diorama accessories from a NEW company, AM in a variety of companies' products and Resin figures from a dozen or so manufacturers.

Why then does Verlinden seem to get so much coverage? Considering their (current) impact on the hobby - virtually zero. Their large catalogue (largely supeceded by more modern products) and their seeming inability to 'engage' with the modeling community...

What then makes them a 'Topic'? Nostalgia?

I care. A lot of the 1:35 scale items I grew up using in the 80s and 90s are now available in 1:48 scale. As you know, that scale hasn't fully developed yet and every little bit helps. Some of the nicer items they released were the engines for the Tamiya and Skybow/AFV Club Tigers as well as some of the old school Sherman accessories like the Caliope, dozer and mine roller.

I have fond memories of Verlinden. 10 years ago they were one of the major players, I spent a lot of time thumbing through their catalogue. At the time those figures were excellent and well animated, today they are behind the curve. The local shop has a good stock of VP stuff at discounted prices (13$ for a 120mm figure!) so I occasionally pick up something, but there are a lot of better options nowadays. What was really stupid on their part was their awful instructions and completely inaccurate conversion kits - some conversion sets were made up, and most of the time the instructions are unfathomable without very detailed photo references at hand. I hope they can reorganize and catch up, rather than banking on us folks who remember their early days fondly.

+1 on Shep Paine. He was an inspiration when I was younger, and I had the chance to meet him years ago. I have a signed copy of his diorama book somewhere, I wish I could find it.