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Originally Posted by Celtic
Sounds like there will be an eventual reduction in the ranks of manufacturers, and maybe vendors. When there get to be too many of any species, nature (and business realities) has a tendency to eliminate the excess.
Why do you think there are fewer collectors? Is it because the initial enthusiasm has passed, or have the layoffs and increasing job insecurities of the past few years taken a toll? (I myself lost three jobs in the last 13 years due to staff cuts, the last cut forcing me into early retirement. For me, there is nowhere near as much money now to maintain this hobby as there might have been back when!).
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The models are expensive and there are a lot of them to chose from each month. Production may have out stripped demand. That is why the guys like Andrew Klein react so violently to the new kids on the block. The likes of Blue Balls and Nutz Models, as I call them. Not to say they have no right to compete, because they do, but to say they are jumping into an already crowded pool.
It is my opinion that, other than Herpa, that the bulk of the manufacturers do not do enough marketing to promote the product to find the new collectors. They are basicly counting on the existing base to step up to the plate month after month.
You can argue that you see the ads in the Airliners mags each month. I will ask you, what is the circulation of those mags and how many of those readers are model collectors? I hear the knock but, in my opinion, if it were not for Ebay there would be even less opportunity for these models to sell. Ebay appeals to the "occasional collector" in a big way. My most consitant and most popular seller? Hands down, I have sold cases of them. The Gemini Jets Alaska Airlines 737 with Micky Mouse livery. Nothing can touch it for units sold. Why? It has a broad apeal. Alaska employees, collectors, Micky Mouse collectors, women buy them...etc.
I have hooked several new collectors this month. One guy bought his first model. A AC TGA 707. He loved it. I got an email telling me so. Since he as ordered three more. We need more like this guy for the hobby to grow.
Goldy