modeling nostalgia

Most likely. But here in western New York whicle we've lost the Mom 'n' Pops (except for a model railroad shop that's my source for diorama supplies). However, the former owner of the local Hobbytown USA retired (to work at another craft shop) and sold his franchise. The new owner immediately lowered all the prices to MSRP - 10% (down from the MSRP +

Where in NY? What's he called? Maybe I need a vacation again ;)

Hobbytown USA, Amherst NY. Think of it the next time you want to see Niagara Falls and the Niagara Frontier Aerospace Museum (okay, mostly Bell Aircraft stuff, but worth the looksee).

Two good excuses to let the wife drag me to Niagara Falls. :)

Used to be a half dozen of those hereabouts. Now the closest we have is Michael's or the shop that appropriated the name of one of the golden oldies. I was just there this week seeking paint and have come to the conclusion that it would have been better to have ordered it from Squadron and wait for it to arrive.

I found what I went for, more or less, and went to the register to pay for it. I found two 'kids' there, y'know the kind, tattooed, wearing their ball caps the wrong way 'round. One's playing with the wiring and the the one waiting on me can't get the computer to come on line. Time passed as I waited for them to either straighten out the computer or break down and write out a ticket. By now even I had figured the total in my head.

Eventually Tattoo gave up and wrote down the stock numbers and prices, getting the tax & total with the help of a calculator. Then he had to jimmy the cash drawer open to give me my change.

As I was leaving I checked out the magazine rack and found NO modelling mags, just comic books. An enquiry gave me the results I feared: they quit selling them as no one was buying. Knowing the owner slightly, I think what that meant was they weren't selling fast enough for him. I've been there whilst he espoused the Walmart philosophy so I expect no rational decisions there.

Perhaps if he lowered his prices on some of the stuff in back that was part of the original stock it would have turned over by now. No, it's not that old or rare as they've only been in business about 6 years.

I just don't see any reason to waste the gas to drive up there for the experience. The selection of car kits is better at Michael's and they're within walking distance.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

Slowly I turned...

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

It's not all Happy Days. There's a shop south of me that I once refered a friend (who has his own shop) to. Now sometimes we ask if the other has been back down there; the canned reply is "Whadda you kids want!?" It's a camera/ train/model store with an emphasis on the formers. The models are stacked on the shelf as they come in about 20 high, and you need to be Daniel Plainview to find the older stock, the real reason to go down there. And god forbid you ask the guy if he's got something in back, or upstairs. Or if you dig too deep. He's also got a rack of paperbacks in the back that look like they haven't been restocked since 1965--wonderfully lurid covers promising weird sex and violence. Hey, I think I'll get back down there . . .

My father got me started on models. He built everything, especially antique cars. He had owned some of the classics such as a Cord, Stanley Steamer, and first started building what he had owned. Eventually he did all of the Gowland & Gowland and many others. He also got into the original Disney space stuff (Oh, to have one each of those today), the horse-drawn stuff including the fire equipment and much more. I still have his wood train, the one with an engine with no cab, a baggage car and two stagecoach style passenger cars.

I started with the old Revell Jeep/Trailer/Gun, which I assembled (sort of) with rubber cement. It didn't take long to narrow down to custom cars and airplanes. I started doing just 1/72 aircraft and the occasional vehicle after high school and have stuck with it for forty years. The only time I deviate is for a customer. I'll build anything in any scale for the right $.

We are very fortunate in the San Francisco Bay Area. In Marin when I was a kid we had two well stocked hobby shops in the little town of San Anselmo. One still exists, bigger and with far more stock, but with an owner wh occasionally cops an attitude. There have been a dozen other shops in Marin County over the years, they come and go. In the greater Bay Area we have had a lot over the years. San Antonio was the biggest, but with a horrible attitude towards their suspects, er, I mean customers. We had a Squadron Shop which moved to different locations before disolving. Talk about attitude problems! Franciscan Hobbies remains a family shop after maybe fifty years and is well worth an afternoon. The Hobby Company in SF is another good stop, if small. By far the best for well over fifty years is Berkeley Ace Hardware with their basement hobby shop. Bill stocks stuff from all over the world as well as buying collections. If he can find it he'll order it as well. A good portion of my paycheck is reserved for him for magazines, models and after-market stuff.

All in all my favorite memories are of sitting at the kitchen table watching my father build models and occasionally being honored with placing a part or painting a part and listening to his stories of this car or that spacecraft.

Tom

see if he has an april, 1967 copy of d-cup girls. i know a collector who needs it for a complete set.