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Hudson

What's going on with vintage NIB prices

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On 3/21/2019 at 9:58 PM, OCD said:

And of course there's the not-so-small fact that the Porsche collector's economy is the poster child for a bubble that's about to burst. Expensive sports cars are either a middle-aged guy's financial aspiration, or a plaything for the rich. Nostalgia for RC is really neither of those.

That's exactly the point. In a way, one of those, you could call it the first, Porsche bubbles did already burst a while ago. Average cars for way above average prices simply aren't selling anymore, not like they did 5 years ago. Yet that doesn't seem to affect the true top end of the market, see SVD.

Yes, it's not exactly a 1:1 re-re, true, but I didn't take a better pic of the green car :D. No seriously, basic idea is the same: Relive your childhood dreams. And that is pretty much a new idea, still unexplored to a huge extent.

Lastly, there is no difference between a $1.8 Singer Porsche and a $5000 NIB Tamiya Porsche. Both are way beyond the financing abilities of the majority of your average enthusiast. 

I'd say it's always the same, cars, toys, bitcoins, tulips... whatever people think is fashionable at their particular point in time or life... sort of a human logarithm. 

Yes, tulips. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania

Something, somewhere, sets off a random hype (like a $1.8 m Porsche), people become interested, start buying whatever comes close and is within their financial reach, prices go up across the board making items of random desire seem even more desirable, even more people want in, junk starts selling, people get wise, prices for average stuff start dropping... bubble bursts, people move on to the next thing. 

Afterwards, the real collectables are still real collectables, and usually their prices have gone UP, as every hype will inevitably bring at least a few serious new buyers into the market. 

Just like re-re brought ME into THIS, and trust me, I'm just waiting for a certain NIB opportunity, $$$ in hand. 

Prices, temporarily, might be going up or down, but overall, the tendency is up. Until this particular generation reaches 70 and starts getting out of the market.

Right now, generation post-Frog is turning forty, first mainstream RC generation in history. It's not a hardcore-pioneering-electronics-enthusiast-from-way-back thing anymore. It's former mainstream kids reliving mainstream dreams now. Who knows if they'll ever spend $5000 on a NIB kit, but there is a LOT of them. This is going to stay interesting for some time to come. 

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6 hours ago, S-PCS said:

Right now, generation post-Frog is turning forty, first mainstream RC generation in history. It's not a hardcore-pioneering-electronics-enthusiast-from-way-back thing anymore. It's former mainstream kids reliving mainstream dreams now. Who knows if they'll ever spend $5000 on a NIB kit, but there is a LOT of them. This is going to stay interesting for some time to come. 

Excellent observation. It somewhat parallels the muscle car boom of '07. Prior to that, I bought an old car or two per year, fixed it up, had fun and sold it on in a year or two. Then suddenly, muscle cars went through the roof again like they did in the 80's. This time however, the boomers that remembered these cars from their youth wanted in because they had become empty-nesters with expendable income. Since they couldn't afford high end muscle like a Boss 429 Mustang or an SS396 Camaro, they scooped up what was in their price range. So all the normal, rough-but-solid/drivable  $3000 Mustangs and $5000 Camaros became $8000-$15000 cars as the bubble grew (similar to the Singer/standard 911 analogy). All this priced me out of the hobby I loved my whole life forcing me to disappear down the aircooled VW hole for 5 years until things leveled out. I snagged my Nova after the bubble popped and got a very solid, good running ride for $5000. It was a tough wait though, watching absolute 4-door garbage cars with prices 10 times that of years prior. Every idiot with a 4 door Valiant rusting away in their backyard saw Barrett Jackson on TV and thought they were sitting on a gold mine.

Muscle cars aren't too far off the post-Frog era RC cars, the earlier antiques (Model T, A, etc.) being more akin to the first RC cars. 

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2 hours ago, Saito2 said:

Excellent observation. It somewhat parallels the muscle car boom of '07. Prior to that, I bought an old car or two per year, fixed it up, had fun and sold it on in a year or two. Then suddenly, muscle cars went through the roof again like they did in the 80's. This time however, the boomers that remembered these cars from their youth wanted in because they had become empty-nesters with expendable income. Since they couldn't afford high end muscle like a Boss 429 Mustang or an SS396 Camaro, they scooped up what was in their price range. So all the normal, rough-but-solid/drivable  $3000 Mustangs and $5000 Camaros became $8000-$15000 cars as the bubble grew (similar to the Singer/standard 911 analogy). All this priced me out of the hobby I loved my whole life forcing me to disappear down the aircooled VW hole for 5 years until things leveled out. I snagged my Nova after the bubble popped and got a very solid, good running ride for $5000. It was a tough wait though, watching absolute 4-door garbage cars with prices 10 times that of years prior. Every idiot with a 4 door Valiant rusting away in their backyard saw Barrett Jackson on TV and thought they were sitting on a gold mine.

Muscle cars aren't too far off the post-Frog era RC cars, the earlier antiques (Model T, A, etc.) being more akin to the first RC cars. 

"No lowballers; I know what I have." Sure you do...

In general, discussions of the "value" of collectibles at best bore me, at worst make me seethe. The whole point of finding, buying, and having something like an old car or an RC kit or a Beanie Baby is that you appreciate and enjoy the object on its own merits. You just want to have the thing and enjoy it; the money transaction is just a necessary evil.

But when a category of collectible reaches a level of interest that drives up the price, and therefore perceived value, of those things, it becomes harder to enjoy those things for what they are. You can't hop in your perfect orange GTO Judge and drive it to the store for groceries just to hear the engine; you have to worry about it getting damaged or stolen or just plain used up. Because other people have turned "classic muscle cars" into a commodity, your individual muscle car gets tangled up in the middle of that market, even if you have no plans to sell it. Anything that might diminish its "value" has to be taken into consideration. So you leave the GTO in the garage, safe and protected, and go to the store in the Toyota appliance-mobile instead. And a little part of your enthusiasm for something you love dies, and not because of anything you did.

And that's the most infuriating part of bubbles like that. The real enthusiasts are priced out of their hobbies, even if they already have what they want.  You almost have to choose your collectibles in some part hoping they they don't become popular enough to attract the speculators. Which works out fine for me: my MGB is nice, and has some monetary value, but it won't ever really be a hot collectible. Two of my five vintage RC cars are badge-engineered oddities with little or no follwing, and the other three have been re-released, so they're "safe." My static model car collection consists of some nice pieces, and some real rarities, but nothing that would make a wealthy collector drool. I'm fortunate in that the things I like tend to be either common-but-old, or too weird for most people.

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1 hour ago, markbt73 said:

it becomes harder to enjoy those things for what they are. You can't hop in your perfect orange GTO Judge and drive it to the store for groceries just to hear the engine; you have to worry about it getting damaged or stolen or just plain used up. Because other people have turned "classic muscle cars" into a commodity, your individual muscle car gets tangled up in the middle of that market, even if you have no plans to sell it. Anything that might diminish its "value" has to be taken into consideration. So you leave the GTO in the garage, safe and protected, and go to the store in the Toyota appliance-mobile instead. And a little part of your enthusiasm for something you love dies, and not because of anything you did.

 

1 hour ago, markbt73 said:

And that's the most infuriating part of bubbles like that. The real enthusiasts are priced out of their hobbies, even if they already have what they want. 

You hit the nail on the head Mark. That's exactly the position I find myself in. I used to tool around everywhere in an old Nova. I loved every minute of it. Not being perfectly restored, the average person sneered at it and long haired "motorhead" behind the wheel. You did get the nod and respect of fellow gearheads which was kinda a cool little group of dedicated folks. Nowadays, everybody and their grandma gives me thumbs up, stares, takes pictures and tries to get me to do burnouts (yes, me and my car are here just to perform for you people) on a simple trip to the hardware store. Ridiculous. Its just a car. Having an object doesn't make me any better or important. Now it sits in the garage most of the time. Its value has tripled. People drive more like idiots than ever and honestly, I just want to be left alone. I don't want some guy telling me what a great '65 Chevelle I have (Its a '73 Nova). Yes, that actually happened and he seemed unsure when I corrected him. My '66 MG is nice because most folks around here are too muscle-driven to care. Its almost like the old days when you get the nod from a fellow British car enthusiast.

Perhaps, under it all, that's one of the reasons I like the re-releases. It takes the fear out of enjoying an RC car. Guilt free running as it was meant to be. As far as de-valuing the originals, well I see two sides. I do feel very badly for the fellow that spent time, money and patience piecing together an original car only to have Tamiya re-release it two months later. On the other hand I take glee in the fact there are a select, elite few who lord their possessions over others, but now have to cope with plummeting values of certain models thanks to re-res. So, let the vintage prices go up, I'll be happy with what I have, even if some are "inferior" re-releases. It may all be worthless, in a broad sense, someday anyway, but not to me.

 

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Good time to remind you boys that within the Church of Safety Fast there's a further pecking order when you encounter fellow brethren on the road.

Younger cars wave first to older cars. 

On the slim chance we'd ever meet (different continents & all, plus you drive wrong side of road) ... I'll be watching you unibody youngsters lift that driving glove earlier when I'm out exercising my '55 squarerigger. :P

 

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36 minutes ago, WillyChang said:

Good time to remind you boys that within the Church of Safety Fast there's a further pecking order when you encounter fellow brethren on the road.

Younger cars wave first to older cars. 

On the slim chance we'd ever meet (different continents & all, plus you drive wrong side of road) ... I'll be watching you unibody youngsters lift that driving glove earlier when I'm out exercising my '55 squarerigger. :P

 

I too drive on the 'correct' side of the road so if I ever cross continent's I'll be sure to wave at you first in my 95 cossie 😉

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2 minutes ago, svenb said:

I too drive on the 'correct' side of the road so if I ever cross continent's I'll be sure to wave at you first in my 95 cossie 😉

sorry bud, seems it's only an MG drivers thing ^_^

Doesn't seem to exist equivalent camaderie amongst Morgan (too rare?) or Triumph (quite a few Stags & Spits still going around) or old German or American droptops. Definitely never in anything with a metal roof. 

And it's not a full on Mexican wave nor like a hyper kid off his ADHD meds... no that's not uncommon common from people on the footpath... split second before they try to take a cellphone selfie. 

Usual MG wave is lifting up 2 sometimes 3 fingers of hand closest to drivers door side... keeping 4th finger still gripping the wheel. (Gotta hang on! Just in case you hit a slight bump & fall out the suicide door.)

You don't even need to consciously shake those raised fingers, the scuttle shake animates your digits for you more than enough. :P 

 

 

 

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Cosworth owners give each other a single finger wave😉

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36 minutes ago, svenb said:

Cosworth owners give each other a single finger wave😉

As a fellow Furd custodian I admire the Escort Cosworth design. 

My 17yo Furd factory fuel pump just quit 3wks ago on a 40+ degC afternoon. Was stuck blocking single traffic lane & a route bus at peak hour... and the dark green paint baking under that cloudless sunny day got WAY TOO HOT to for human hands to touch/push.

We could've so used a big plastic pramhandle on the tailgate :wub:

 

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17 hours ago, WillyChang said:

sorry bud, seems it's only an MG drivers thing ^_^

Doesn't seem to exist equivalent camaderie amongst Morgan (too rare?) or Triumph (quite a few Stags & Spits still going around) or old German or American droptops. Definitely never in anything with a metal roof. 

And it's not a full on Mexican wave nor like a hyper kid off his ADHD meds... no that's not uncommon common from people on the footpath... split second before they try to take a cellphone selfie. 

Usual MG wave is lifting up 2 sometimes 3 fingers of hand closest to drivers door side... keeping 4th finger still gripping the wheel. (Gotta hang on! Just in case you hit a slight bump & fall out the suicide door.)

You don't even need to consciously shake those raised fingers, the scuttle shake animates your digits for you more than enough. :P 

 

 

 

I am aware of this custom. It's kind of like saluting a superior officer. I always wave to the guy in my neighborhood with the silver MGA when I see him (even when I'm driving one of the other cars; it's habit now). The owner of the green RB B does not. I need to have a word with his commanding officer.

I do need to point out a bit of needless prejudice in your post, however: my MG does, in fact, have a metal roof...

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On 3/18/2019 at 2:45 AM, Hudson said:

Hello all, as a modest collector of vintage Tamiya NIB's I've noticed that prices are a bit crazy at the moment.  Does anyone agree with me? I mean, in the 5 years or so that I've been following NIB prices things have moved steadily up but in the last year or so they've jumped!  Let's take the Hotshot for example which is surely one of Tamiyas best kits, though there's a lot of them circulating.  A few years ago you could pick one of these up NIB for £350 ish, it then steadily crept up to £450 ish and then all of a sudden a couple went on eBay for £700 and in one foul swoop this has established the new price.  

When I scan eBay globally I'm just generally very surprised at the prices.   With the exception of my earlier Hotshot observation - on the rare occasion that a nice NIB turns up on an 'auction' format I don't feel that it gets close to the 'Buy it now' prices I'm seeing.  There's a discrepancy between the price sellers are asking and the price people are prepared to pay, at least that's my view, but maybe I'm wrong, I mean - are people buying these kits at these prices?  I guess they must be to some extent.  

I'm pretty sure a Hotshot 2 NIB has recently appeared on eBay for 1300USD!!!

For those of you that have been in this game longer than me are these price jumps the norm?  perhaps my observations are all wrong!

For starters, every year that passes by, there are less and less of these NIB's. As they are being bought and some of them built. So the Vintage supply is going down.

 

Imagine what the very last Hotshot's will be worth? The market generally dictates what something is worth, so if you see something for example the HS2 for $1300USD, and it hasn't sold for months and months, well it's safe to assume it's not really worth that.

But again this heavily depends on the condition of the kit, I mean if its the world's best HS2 kit and its immaculate then it may very well go for that price, or if someone really wants one they may fork out more than the usual market price.

 

I've noticed prices fluctuating and varying all over the place the last 5 years. Some sellers price higher and try to get some sucker to purchase the kit.  There was a guy here in Australia recently selling a whole bunch of NIB's, but I'll give you an example, he had a sealed grasshopper for $3000AUD!! That's maybe 2400usd. And with the price tag came some nostalgic story about how the kit was bought in person in 1987 just to add to the value, but it ended up being bull**** as I actually recognised one of my old kits a HS2 that he was selling with the same story, so people lie just to add value to kits.

 

As the years go by there will be less and less vintage NIB's out there, and eventually only a few left of each type of car/truck, which then should translate to big values, but I think there is a limit to what someone will be willing to pay for a kit.

 

Time will tell.

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It’s not just vintage kits, look at NIB prices of some re-re’s like Fighting Buggy or AE RC10 classic for example

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5 hours ago, kasparov said:

For starters, every year that passes by, there are less and less of these NIB's. As they are being bought and some of them built. So the Vintage supply is going down.

 

Imagine what the very last Hotshot's will be worth? The market generally dictates what something is worth, so if you see something for example the HS2 for $1300USD, and it hasn't sold for months and months, well it's safe to assume it's not really worth that.

But again this heavily depends on the condition of the kit, I mean if its the world's best HS2 kit and its immaculate then it may very well go for that price, or if someone really wants one they may fork out more than the usual market price.

 

I've noticed prices fluctuating and varying all over the place the last 5 years. Some sellers price higher and try to get some sucker to purchase the kit.  There was a guy here in Australia recently selling a whole bunch of NIB's, but I'll give you an example, he had a sealed grasshopper for $3000AUD!! That's maybe 2400usd. And with the price tag came some nostalgic story about how the kit was bought in person in 1987 just to add to the value, but it ended up being bull**** as I actually recognised one of my old kits a HS2 that he was selling with the same story, so people lie just to add value to kits.

 

As the years go by there will be less and less vintage NIB's out there, and eventually only a few left of each type of car/truck, which then should translate to big values, but I think there is a limit to what someone will be willing to pay for a kit.

 

Time will tell.

As time marches on the number of NIB kits dwindles therefore value goes up.  Is it that simple though??  I don't reckon that many vintage kits get built these days - though I guess some do - but surely not the very nice condition very collectable ones??

I mean what happens in another 20/30 years time when us 70's 80's kids are getting old or worse?  Will the demand continue once we're gone or will it drop off a cliff?

I don't mind admitting that the financial side of things plays a part for me.  It's pretty cool knowing that something I love and have a passion for is also a decent investment.  Continuing that theme, any predictions on which kits will see the biggest price increases over the next 20 years??  There's already been chat on this thread about how SRB's have dropped away after re-re's.  What about the very early kits before Tamiya RC really hit the big time (the first twenty for example).  I don't buy these ones but generally I'm surprised at how inexpensive they are, I mean relatively speaking.  I could be wrong here but I think a Porsche Rothmans or Avante or Top Force Evo would eclipse most of the first 10 kits in terms of price.  For me personally, I feel that the very early kits, once built, look very dated, although I still absolutely love the boxes and presentation of the kits and I really appreciate them as collectable vintage items.  

Personally I love the golden era stuff, which partly reflects my age, I feel that a lot of the designs from this period still hold up amazingly well today and still look really fresh.  Does this increase their value in todays market? but then is this offset by the fact that there's many more NIB kits circulating from this era as the hobby became more mainstream.

 

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19 hours ago, Hudson said:

As time marches on the number of NIB kits dwindles therefore value goes up.  Is it that simple though??  I don't reckon that many vintage kits get built these days - though I guess some do - but surely not the very nice condition very collectable ones??

I mean what happens in another 20/30 years time when us 70's 80's kids are getting old or worse?  Will the demand continue once we're gone or will it drop off a cliff?

I don't mind admitting that the financial side of things plays a part for me.  It's pretty cool knowing that something I love and have a passion for is also a decent investment.  Continuing that theme, any predictions on which kits will see the biggest price increases over the next 20 years??  There's already been chat on this thread about how SRB's have dropped away after re-re's.  What about the very early kits before Tamiya RC really hit the big time (the first twenty for example).  I don't buy these ones but generally I'm surprised at how inexpensive they are, I mean relatively speaking.  I could be wrong here but I think a Porsche Rothmans or Avante or Top Force Evo would eclipse most of the first 10 kits in terms of price.  For me personally, I feel that the very early kits, once built, look very dated, although I still absolutely love the boxes and presentation of the kits and I really appreciate them as collectable vintage items.  

Personally I love the golden era stuff, which partly reflects my age, I feel that a lot of the designs from this period still hold up amazingly well today and still look really fresh.  Does this increase their value in todays market? but then is this offset by the fact that there's many more NIB kits circulating from this era as the hobby became more mainstream.

 

Not that simple, but the value is very likely to increase. There will never ever be those vintage kits again with the old msc's. And they are a collectors dream. I'm a bit of a collector but have sold my kits in recent years and only have 4 NIB's left.

 

One of which is the ultra rare MK1 Hotshot NIB, which was released by Tamiya in 1985 for a month before the Mk2 with the more traditional front bumper took over. You think those Hotshot prices were crazy? You should see what I paid for this thing 4 years ago, almost 8 times that original hotshot price you mentioned. :)  There are not too many left, possibly less than 15.

So there are collectors out there willing to pay big $$$ for specific kits, maybe they are drawn to the nostalgia or just want a whole collection or something. 

 

Good question regarding when we get old, and I had this exact conversation on here a few months ago, and basically there is a good chance that if you have children, and you play around with them with Tamiya cars/trucks vintage or not, they will remember when they get older and feel the same Nostalgia that you did. This may or may not happen, but I'm willing to bet that it will. Certainly in my case when I have kids, they will be flooded with Tamiya on a daily basis lol. And I'm planning on passing on that Mk1 Hotshot kit to my son if I have one.

 

Hmmm interesting regarding price increases over next 20 years. I guess as the years go by, the ones that appear more and more rare. For example if you don't see a Toyota Hilux NIB 58028 on ebay for 10 years and then one suddenly pops up, you can bet that person will be commanding big $$$ for it. Probably over $10,000usd. Which reminds me, now that you mention the first 10, the Black Porsche 58001 NIB I have been told has exchanged hands for over $10,000usd.

It remains to be seen how prices and values are going to change. The next 5-10 years will be interesting.

Are you looking to buy any NIB's?

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19 hours ago, Hudson said:

As time marches on the number of NIB kits dwindles therefore value goes up.  Is it that simple though??  I don't reckon that many vintage kits get built these days - though I guess some do - but surely not the very nice condition very collectable ones??

I mean what happens in another 20/30 years time when us 70's 80's kids are getting old or worse?  Will the demand continue once we're gone or will it drop off a cliff?

I don't mind admitting that the financial side of things plays a part for me.  It's pretty cool knowing that something I love and have a passion for is also a decent investment.  Continuing that theme, any predictions on which kits will see the biggest price increases over the next 20 years??  There's already been chat on this thread about how SRB's have dropped away after re-re's.  What about the very early kits before Tamiya RC really hit the big time (the first twenty for example).  I don't buy these ones but generally I'm surprised at how inexpensive they are, I mean relatively speaking.  I could be wrong here but I think a Porsche Rothmans or Avante or Top Force Evo would eclipse most of the first 10 kits in terms of price.  For me personally, I feel that the very early kits, once built, look very dated, although I still absolutely love the boxes and presentation of the kits and I really appreciate them as collectable vintage items.  

Personally I love the golden era stuff, which partly reflects my age, I feel that a lot of the designs from this period still hold up amazingly well today and still look really fresh.  Does this increase their value in todays market? but then is this offset by the fact that there's many more NIB kits circulating from this era as the hobby became more mainstream.

 

I tried editing previous message but it wouldn't let me, what I forgot to say was that I've actually just finished a Vintage Hotshot NIB build, and I have sold many NIB's over the years and when I asked the buyer what they were going to do with it they said 'build it'. So the Vintage supply is going down all the time. There are a fixed limited number of each type of kit remaining, the scarcity should drive the prices up over the years.

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I'll just throw this in here. There are so many variables when it comes to the nature of rarity and collectibles. As far as the value, in question, dropping over the long haul as enthusiast literally die off, is it possible to look at other previously popular hobbies to gauge the health and longevity of our own? How about model trains? I haven't extracted any hard core data so I can't say. It certainly seems to be dying from my little observation. Prices, locally, seem through-the-roof to compensate for the reduced demand. But again, without thorough research, I can't say for sure and perhaps the data gathered isn't directly relate-able to our hobby. Futhermore, hobbies, in general, at this time are in a state of decline which skews data across the board. 

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9 hours ago, kasparov said:

There are a fixed limited number of each type of kit remaining, the scarcity should drive the prices up over the years.

There are many more kits remaining than regularly change hands. What's going to be interesting to watch is when the large collections start to get broken up due to the collectors' heirs not having any interest in them. If five of one kit and six of another are suddenly up for grabs, will there be enough buyers willing to pay the inflated prices?

1 hour ago, Saito2 said:

Futhermore, hobbies, in general, at this time are in a state of decline which skews data across the board. 

Which is really sad in itself, but may keep prices down for "poor" collectors like me...

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Agree with @Saito2

If hobbies decline, Tamiya (and others) either die or reinvent themselves. 

But as long as Tamiya is around, there will be a renewable core of newly passionate, devotees who will always value their history - regardless of the generational bubbles older collectors create then pop. 

And, if that’s true, the rest of opinion above re. dwindling numbers of kits - whether NIB, NOS or vintage boxed built - will broadly support price escalation. 

I’m ever an optimist at heart - and my hope is that the hobby embraces apps, UX and drone camera streaming - so Tamiya give us the AR / VR chance to drive our cherished kit first person ... 

And let’s be honest, if they combine that with emerging, space age materials in new models - coupled with ongoing re re and vintage hop ups - our kids and grand kids will be having the kind of fun we could only dream of 😃

Which may well turn the 76 - 96 kits from vintage to antique - with price tags to match ...

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Owner of the LHS told me the other day that model trains are making a comeback, mostly due to grandfathers getting their grandchildren into... train modeling? Model training? Whatever they call it. I know nothing about model trains, but I see a clear analogy. 

Old guys getting kids into the stuff they enjoyed when they were kids themselves. You don't have to look further than this forum to realize that a lot of you RC granddads are doing the same thing, too. 

Goes further than that I guess, lots of you have kids, kids that grow up with RC enthusiast fathers. I think it's safe to say that hardly anyone from  back in the Tamiya boom era had parents who were into RC. Supportive maybe, into it themselves before their kids were, probably not. 

That, at the very least, has changed, and I'm pretty sure it will be a factor in the future development of RC as a whole.

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1 hour ago, S-PCS said:

Goes further than that I guess, lots of you have kids, kids that grow up with RC enthusiasts fathers. I think it's safe to say that hardly anyone from  back in the Tamiya boom era had parents who were into RC. Supportive maybe, into it themselves before their kids were, probably not. 

True. My parents begrudgingly allowed me to get into RC but, for the most part, it was with my money (which meant months or a year of saving). Even then, they tried to limit the number of cars I had and browbeat me when I asked for RC stuff for Christmas, etc. My mother still acts "weirded out" by my hobby. Some parents couldn't afford RC for their kids or simply said "NO". Yet here we all are, still doing the Tamiya thing.

On the other hand, we have the issue of things competing for our kids attention nowadays which supposedly is one of the factors killing hobbies. I have my reservations about that claim. In the 80's, there was a boom of toys (with cartoons to go with them) and video games that had yet to be seen by that time. Still, RC sold well, despite being just one corner of the toy market back then. No, I'm concerned that smart devices, social media and having everything at our fingertips has made children's imaginations lax. The lack of imagination and the desire to create has left my large housing development full of kids that are shut-ins. My daughter and I walk almost everyday during the spring/summer/autumn and rarely see any kids at play (in the 5 years we've lived here). I know we have kids living here because several school buses full of them make the rounds.

Grandparents can be "cool" to grandkids. I know my grandfather (an avid hobbyist) was. He exposed me to a hobby shop the first time. So perhaps there is hope that while this generation stays glued to their devices, the next will buck-the-trend and get back to hobbies. I know I'm nothing like my boomer parents.

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Then again, how did the second generation Dodge Charger rise to become one of most expensive American classic cars ever, desite being next to meaningless in actual 60s historical context? 

Massive 80s Dukes-of-Hazzard TV exposure is how, I'd say. Same TV that was killing kids' imagination and creativity, according to many 80s parents. Seems what it really did was create desire for the real thing. 

Trust the kids, or at least trust human adaptability and evolution, I'd say, whatever comes out of whatever it is they're doing nowadays will certainly be different, but not necessarily worse. 

 

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@S-PCS wasn’t the 68 Charger a bad guys ride vs the 68 Mustang Steve McQueen drove in Bullit ?

Either way, I remember it being iconic long before Daisy Duke’s hot pants caught my eye 😂

And worth re-reading this gents:

 

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1 hour ago, SuperChamp82 said:

@S-PCS wasn’t the 68 Charger a bad guys ride vs the 68 Mustang Steve McQueen drove in Bullit ?

Either way, I remember it being iconic long before Daisy Duke’s hot pants caught my eye 😂

And worth re-reading this gents:

 

Yeah, exactly my thoughts. This calls for an otherwise unrelated late-eighties punk rock quote containing a late 1700s natural science quote:

"there's no vestige of a beginning,
no prospect of an end, 
when we all disintegrate it will all happen again."

As for the Charger... I don't think "Bullit" had that much of an impact. Steve McQueen yes, so the Mustang to a certain degree too, but the Charger was quickly forgotten, like that other car from that other, much better chase movie from around the same era... If you think "Eleanor" was the name of a silver '67 fastback, then you, too, don't remember. :D

 

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Great thread guys

Honestly wonder if there’s an obvious question here ?

Why do people buy NIB in the first place ? 

If, for some, it’s purely about speculating with cash to burn, then pure law of averages - more of us than them - means they die off quicker / we (ultimately) win the math.

And if it’s more subjective - then why ? @Hudson have you ever bought NIB ? @S-PCS @Saito2 @markbt73 @WillyChang @NWarty you too ? 

I never had - and thought I ever would tbh - but, here’s the thing, I just did ...

It was admittedly a cheap-ish, bargain - but, with some fun finding vintage hop ups + radio gear, I’ll soon build (then run) a piece of my childhood with my kids :) 

And - having broken that taboo, I’m now wondering about more ? 

Or - if @Hudson question was re- framed - which (and how many) NIB kits would I really build with my kids to keep our hobby alive ?  

Its admittedly a bit off the  wall - but surely that’s the long term (and non-commercial) answer to this question ?

Because, if you set aside opportunistic bubbles - which we all control btw - whatever value we instil now dictates whether there’s a hobby gf

And what it’s worth. 

SC

 

 

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