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Forums - News / General |
For General modelling or hobby-related topics that are not covered by any other specific forum. Please keep to topics concerning the hobby. |
| Topics | 2915 |
| Messages | 21256 |
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| Subject: | Well.... |  |
| Date: | May 22, 2002 |
| From: | Peter Ong | |
I think the greatest fear is the hobby might die in North America. Let's
face it, the Japanese/ Asians and Europeans can pretty well take care of
themselves in terms of models and their references.
If you ever saw the TRAVEL Channel, Hong Kong and Japan have lots of little
shops that sell all sorts of trinkets from toys to books to models. I can
even say San Francisco's Chinatown, the largest Asian community outside
Aisa, DOES NOT sell DML, Tamiya, Trumpeter, LEE, Zhengdufu, S DML, and
Hasewaga kits! You'd think these are Asian/ Chinese imports and so they are
sold in Chinatown. NO! (Well, a lot has to do with the people living in
Chinatown...they are poor). Anyway, only a few stores sell Gundams in SF
Chinatown and those are at retail prices---$45-$120 USD so the idea of "poor
customers" goes out the window. What does this tell you when Asian kits and
references are not even sold in Chinatown? Even SF's JAPANtown (one of the
largest outside Japan) only sells Gundams. Not even Tamiya or Hasewaga
kits. Not even resin anime figures. Again, what does this tell you? This
generally means these Ma&Pa stores carries the kits Junior built. Jr. built
Gundams and some R/C cars so we'll sell Gundams and some R/C cars. Jr.
likes dolls so we'll stock dolls. Jr. never built AFVs or planes or
figures...so I don't know where to get those. (It's been like this as long
as I can remember...way back in the 1980s. SF's Japantown and Chinatown DO
NOT sell most of their country's model kits. Furthermore, one will never
find a Korean Academy kit or any other nation's model kit (Italeri) in these
places).
As such, one can see why GreatModels and online stores really boomed. The
phrase, "Support your local hobby store" is a matter of,
"Uhhh....yeah...let's see now. Gundams....and...Gundams!
Hmmm....all....GUNDAMS!"
So in N. America, we might be in trouble. Revell/ Monogram is our only main
plastic model maker with some belief towards accuracy now that ERTL/ AMT was
bought over and stopped making kits. N. America cannot really take care of
itself in terms of the model world. R/M is lucky in that chain drug stores
still carry their kits in N. America.
It's all marketing and distribution. Stores do not have to be on the
internet to survive, but stores SHOULD BE aware of what's ON the internet.
Leaving a store's stock to some contract guy to manage is crazy. With such
movies as "BHD, Thin Red Line, SPR, Pearl Harbor," if the contract guy
didn't know such kits exist out there, the store lost the chance to sell
other kits if all it carried were Gundams and the contract guy just brings
in more Gundams.
Most often, store employees don't know much about the stock that's out
there. They just work there.
Again, it's not all and always the consumer's fault that we don't buy. Go
to Chinatown and Japantown for a plane or AFV kit? I think not. I have to
go to GMWS instead....or 50 miles to a hobby store I know carries the whole
line of AFV kits.
It's amazing how America can be so backward in items sometimes (even in
Chinatown and Japantown). I say it and sometimes people still don't believe
me. They think America has and sells everything easily and conveniently.
Pete |
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 | Declining Hobby, I think not... - MSW - May 22, 2002 |
| . . . Re: Declining Hobby, I think not... - Tim Streeter - May 22, 2002 |
| . . . . . . Intimidating? - Bob Lessels - May 22, 2002 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Intimidating? - Alex Hodges - May 22, 2002 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Intimidating? - Tim Streeter - May 22, 2002 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Intimidating? - Alex Hodges - May 22, 2002 |
| . . . Well.... - Peter Ong - May 22, 2002 |
| . . . . . . Re: Well.... - Yuchung Wang - May 23, 2002 |
| . . . . . . Re: situation is different in different countries. - Christophe Jacquemont - May 23, 2002 |
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