Happy Hobby in Milwaukee?

Was it an auction (still extreme) or is that what they want because it's OOP?

Randy

I called them to make sure. She said they had a few old Estes kits, verified the $85 price for the 1284, but she also said she has some old Centuri kits in stock as well. Anybody close to Beerburg? Might be worth the trip...

The 1284 Space Shuttle kit was discontinued several years ago. $80 is actually a fairly reasonable price for this kit, and I have seen copies sell for $100-120 on eBay.

James ___________________ James Duffy snipped-for-privacy@mac.com

Hi Pete.

There's three Happy Hobbies in Milwaukee, and I don't know if they're family owned, or franchised. They are all pretty run-down places, and I don't know about their business traffic, but but they're all chock-full-of-OOP stuff. I don't recall seeing anything Centauri, but I have seen a lot of OOP Estes & NCR kits at these stores. Their prices on current production kits are reasonable[I paid $32 or so for an Aerotech Mustang/ $52 aprox. for a LOC Hi-Tech 45 & $30ish for a LOC Onyx], but prices on OOP kits tend to be "collectable" prices. I found an Estes "Sizzler" at one store for $30-------got one on eBay for under $10. Then again $18 for an Estes Black Brant II seemed reasonable when you factor in S&H on an auction. I don't like to buy as a collector, so I avoid collector prices unless it's a must-have.

I gguess so, I just want to build another one... Mine is getting a little old.

Fair price? If you don't know any better, I suppose. I donated one in mint condition to the SEARS 572 TARC auction last month and it went for $50 just

2 weeks ago.

Does it have to be the Estes kit? Dr. Zooch has a nice version of the full stack shuttle ($27.95) and you could get 3 for not much more than $80. Heck, build the whole fleet!

Check it out:

Wes is great guy to do business with and he won't RIP you off.

Randy

1284 on ebay now for $60. Sheesh! I have put in for a ZOOCH full stack from Mrs. Claus. I saw them at NARAM, kinda small. Thinking about doing an upscale full stack with the foam Columbia E2X. Any takers on helping me with tube sizes for the ET and SRB's?

Hello Pete,

Well welcome to the world of O-O-P kit prices :/

Some out of production kits are WORTH the costs as the plastic molds that were used to make KEY parts are no longer in existence. Estes isn't going to sink $100,000+ into a new mold, just to make 300 - 400 rocketeers from coast-to-coast happy. Those kinds of kits as well as old (30+ or so) can fetch hundreds, even at or over $1000.00.

There is a good site that used to keep up with pricing until 2000 or so, here is the url:

As for the Estes Space Shuttle: If its in mint condition, unopened, $80.00 isn't a bad asking price. If you plan to just keep it as a collectible for the next 15 - 20 years, inflation alone will net you a greater amount than the $80.00 you paid. If you are looking just for something to fly, keep an eye out on ebay/rol and try to get an open, complete, good condition or better kit for as little as you can.

First off, the Estes Shuttle flies like crap. The orbitor doesn't really glide; it just pushes the air out of the way. The total weight of the kit, means that you are not going to get any real altitude ... might be a good thing if you fly in small fields. Too bad the NCR Shuttle is OOP and sells for over $500+, as there you could add radio control gear. You can do the same with the Gillow's Space Shuttle and roll your own tubes for ET and SRB. With the sub-micro or selenoid servo/receiver (sub-sub micro) and poly-litho battery packs, the weight incurred would just be a few 10s of grams. Gillow Shuttles sell in the $10 - $20 range. Note that after Challenger, and Columbia the Gillow Shuttles peaked at $150+ ... but now that the interest and excitement of dead Astronauts has passed, the prices are back down to the $10 - $20 range.

I also called and spoke to a woman at the hobby shop you mentioned. The prices for the Centuri kits were as follows:

Javelin 1980's version - $45 Thunderhawk - $60 Astro 1 1980s - $50 Starfire - $45 Moonraker - $35

I told her I would think about it and wished her a good day ... she is definately using ebay as a guide to price her old stock.