Building Old Kits??

[Malcolm Leonard]

I used to run a small home based business building scale models for people
who liked to display them as works of art....so to speak.
A ship that a sailor had served on or a 1950's automobile that you had
courted your wife in way back when,or if you happen to be ex-US
Airforce,maybe the jet you had flown in Korea,etc. were the kinds of things
people comissioned me to build.
Usually ,I would use a commercially available plastic model kit as my
starting point and the painting and markings would duplicate the actual
vehicle the client had owned,etc.
But,many requests could not be filled because the collector market had
effectively removed certain model kits from the market by driving prices up
as high as several hundred dollars for an item that had originally sold for
$5.00 or so.
Now,I don't want to say anything that might cause this post to be bounced by
the moderator,and I don't have a degree in psychology,but I invite all
thinking human beings to give a moment's thought to the hidden motivations
that most likely underly overblown collecting mania.
Do words like"insecurity","selfishness," "hoarder,"and "greed" come to
mind,my friends?
The desire to own things is not wrong as it is a part of being human,of
course,but anything can be carried to extremes.
Malcolm Leonard
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Campbell" <clcampbl at TRAVERSE.COM>
To: <HEATH at LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV>
Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2003 8:06 PM
Subject: Re: Building Old Kits??


> This reminds me of the tool collector problem.  Lots of great
> woodworking tools are snagged by collectors who worship them, making
> them too expensive for those of us who want to use them.  It's always
> sad when things become Investments and lose their fun and usefulness.
>
> Chris Campbell
>
> Jerry Forwood, K0EJF wrote:
>
> >AMEN!
> >Unbuilt they are worth ten times and often more of their original value,
> >original parts that may be bad make no difference.
> >If you assemble them, they become just another old radio with
> >questionable value, built by some unknown of unknown abilities.
> >All you get is the fun of building the kit and loosing any return on your
> >investment.
> >73 de Jerry, KØEJF
> >
> >
>
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