Buying ahead of time or when a product is announced (to me at least) was
a good way for the most part, but that depends on spendable cash. For
awhile I did that like a politician with your money! Sure was fun
though--till I found out it was my money!
I think with the advancing age, when a good portion are on fix incomes
(or variable incomes near the bottom), that often isn't practical
anymore. At one time when a brass Mikado was in the middle 4's it
wasn't a problem, but at 2K things change. I'm not putting the blame on
anyone, but most have felt a pinch in the wallet for the last 10+ years.
Many will remember when Southwind produced a pilot model of the USRA
0-6-0. It was received warmly but never enough interest to go into
production, now 20 years later it happened with a fairly large money
spread. Of course, I'm not going to say the Southwind model would be
equal in quality to the more modern Boo Rim/RR model with it's factory
paint/lettering, specific details and lights, but I could afford the
former and not the latter. The same thing happened to several Overland,
Sunset, RR and additional Southwind projects over the years.
I guess to sum things up; as the hobby slowly changes our priorities had
to change so our manufacturers have to run a maze to finally end up with
a great model, happy customers and a few bucks to put in their
pockets--that maze has become more complicated.
Bob Werre
PhotoTraxx
> Billy W. or Ed L. will relate the story of approaching some guys
about advertising in 3/16's--their reply was that...if they advertised
they would sell more stuff, so they would have to go through the
'trouble' of making more! So in their mind they were happy just the
way things were.
> Bob Werre
Even SHS and ACGilbert disappeared from the S scene along with their
products. Not to mention Overland Models, ALCO Models, Sunset Models,
SouthWind Models, Omnicon Scale Models and so forth. Learn from
history and plan ahead -- way ahead. If you end up buying too much
stuff or change your theme later, just sell the stuff off or use it
for trade bait.
Waiting until the precise weekend when you really need an item is
frequently too late for acquiring it. Heed the olde tymers -- we have
been there and done that.
Cheers....Ed Loizeaux
