Revel Monogram? The Hobby?

Think about the size of the Boomer gen. There are a lot of us that will be retiring soon (I just did), and may want to pick up the hobby. I think there may be salvation from resin vendors, and 3D printing as well, at least in the near term. There are also offerings from Tamiya and some of the other overseas kit manufacturers. We may just have to change what, and how we build. In the end there is always how it was done in the beginning...scratchbuilding.

I was at my local (only) Hobby Town last week. They had about 20, 1/25 scale model cars in stock. It's like they are not ordering kits any more.

I was in Hobby Lobby yeserday and their shelves are still pretty well stocked.  Last time I went into Michael's they had only a handful of older Revell kits.  I asked the store manager if they were going to quit stocking models.  She told me they (corporate) were trying to "get a new vendor" and would be restocking soon.

If you have a local hobby shop please buy all you can at their store or through their store. I do have to drive a ways to get to my local shop but this is one of the only ways to keep the hobby alive. I would rather pay a little extra at my local dealer just to help keep their doors open.

I too try to support my local hobby store and in my area there are but only two i know of that have more than a handful of kits  One place is a genuine hobby store that emphasizes on rc planes and their car model kits are outrageously priced. The second place is hobby town and we bought two traxxas cars there and i try to buy plastic kits there when i can get time to visit (i have two cars on display there). As much as these kits cost its hard to buy from them when i can get a 40% off coupon from hobby lobby. I like to buy older out of production kits off ebay and such  as i feel the quality of materials are superior to new reissued kits in stores. Case in point i built the early 2000s revell vw beetle in 2016 and the tires are all split in several places and the glue is literally eating thru the roof where the windows are secured   But in the case of finding clearance items as the chevells i would have bought at least one and im not into chevys. 

I'm with you MY327 as I have a Hobby Lobby 1/2 mile from the house, yet I drive 10 miles to the hobby shop to support them. I would really be bummed out if the hobby shop ever closes.

I get the impression that in the USA you have various hobby/model shops on the streets. 

We in the UK have very few, as I have to buy my kits/paints etc through the internet and wait for delivery. There are some distributors who have shop fronts on the warehouses but only open them on selected Saturdays only about 3 or 4 times a year, so the internet here is the only way for the masses. RC and Railway shops are open most days even Sundays but don't sell vehicle kits.

We are fortunate to have 2 chains, Hobby Lobby and Hobby Town, in our small city of 250,000. We have only one independent hobby shop of over 40 years and we try to support it. On my most recent UK visit to the Bexhill on Sea in 2002, a casual search of the area and West Sussex came up empty handed.

Patrick,

We used to have three LHS in town but now all but the RC flyer shop are closed. The USA chain called Hobby Lobby moved into town. They are an overall craft / hobby store. Much of thier inventory includes stuff like cross stitch, candles, interior accents, pictures and framing, holiday accents and decor, fake floral, pine wood craft, etc. Only about two isles are dedicated to plastic modeling. They stock Testors MM and Vallejo paints. The inventory is a good split between auto and military armor and aircraft with about 30-50 kits of each. There is also a small area for very basic die-cast kits (good for young beginners). They have a couple isles dedicated to painting (oils, acrylics, watercolor, pastels, etc.) as well. They also carry Iwata products in a small glass case, to include spare or replacement parts for Iwata brushes. 

I guess , when looking back over the last 20 years in the hobby, I should consider myself lucky to have the stores I have locally. It is so easy and tempting to go straight to the web and order it cheaper then have it delivered to your door. But, I really like going local where you can see in person they kit before buying, check out the paint before purchase,  etc.

What I do miss is the comradrie; sitting around and asking questions together or viewing friends builds in person, discussing future builds, etc.. Connecting locally is another dimension all in itself. My local IPMS club is an hour away and are 99% armor and aircraft (no figures, cars, sci-fi, etc.)  

So to answer the question, "where is the hobby going?", only time will tell. But I do believe we have a say in it as long as we still participate and foster it along.

Ben

 

Thanks to All replies! 

As i live in Ontario Canada we used to at least 6 LHS, unfortunately only 2 remain. 

At those 2 stores 1 is in a mall & is a small chain of 4 stores in diferent cities, the other is a stand alone Hobby shop catering to all varieties of hobbies.

Befor Revell went under both stores had a large variety of kits from US model kit makers but now very little of anything from any maker!

As for me its the Web, Online retailers & lastly swap meets & shows!

Like most i prefer to shop local & see the shelfs etc, i hope the hobby returns to some what like it was! Thanks