Bill, I figured you were, but the truth of what is going on is kind of sad.



The vast majority of us that model are now "older" (at least than we care to
think), and part of a group growing smaller by the day. I am 52, and find
that most of the model builders I know are either in that age group or older.
I know that some people, particularly those in the industry, find this
frightening, yet we continue to see new products, and of higher quality, with
each passing day. I am astounded and happy that we have so much to choose
from. It sure was not like this when I was a young model railroader. I hope
it can continue.



Tim is right; it is not in the interest of those under 40. My son, who is
11, likes models, but will not take the time (even though I keep trying to
show him) to build anything. He is addicted to video, and loves to build
worlds (like in Empire Builder), that produce nothing real. I find that
disheartening, but I can't be mad at him. The video world is shiny, easy,
requires no investment of skills, and to them, is much more interesting than
something like model railroading.



Unfortunately, my son (and his friends) has nothing except a few school
projects, that he has built himself. He has little to no interest in
developing building skills. This also, unfortunately, extends into his
entire generation (I know his friends well, having also coached them in
Little League), and also into anything else useful like auto mechanics, home
repair, etc. He and his friends were also introduced to these kind of things
in Cub Scouts (I was also there), and pursued none of it. I do not know what
the solution to this is, as the world is not just computers.



My local hobby shop folks tell me that they can't sell kits on a rapid enough
basis to pay for them to keep them on the shelves, and sell RTR at a "10 to
1" ratio. I guess that is what dictates your current business model.



But Bill, what you said is also very true, the guys that work at the LHS, and
all the guys I talk to, are all upset about the "demise of the kit". I
stocked up on a whole batch of your Blueline kits before they all go RTR!



Elden Gatwood



________________________________

From: STMFC@... [mailto:STMFC@...] On Behalf Of
timboconnor@...
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2008 9:33 AM
To: STMFC@...
Subject: [STMFC] Re: IRC 1958 cuft hoppers




I have to order kits through dealers now. Many of them loaded up their
shelves with foobie kits, and then the inventory sat collecting dust for
years and they don't want to repeat that and I find that understandable.

I work with a bunch of 20 to 40-somethings and ALL of them are into
video games -- most of them are married with children, and yet they
waste hours playing video games and even growse about what a waste
of time it is. Most of them have more than one game system -- PS/2,
XBox, Wii, etc. As far as I know none of them has ever built a model
of anything... It's not in their DNA.

Tim