Re: Kit Collecting...was....Local Effects of takeover of Athearn by Horizon

Interesting response.

Did you read all of the thread? Note I didn't say ALL, I said MOST. Those who collect are a completely different matter. Those who buy the kits to build only want to have them built. That's why they buy them. Unbuilt kits have no value added as far as I am concerned. They are only worth something less than the original MSRP. It is only a "collectable" if you are a collector. Only then is it worth anything as an unbuilt kit.

Personally, I don't have any FSM kits, nor do I plan to get any. I would rather buy a Campbell or AMB Kit, for my wooden structures and modify it. For the brick structures, I would grab a DPM kit and bash it.

I am looking for structures that people can not say "That is a BrandX Kit#, I got one of those. I would much rather have someone say, where did you get that building? Was it a kit or did you scratch it?

I am sorry this thread has concentrated on FSM. It really is not about FSM, it is about collecting VS building/using. There are other kits that are collected as well, just as there is brass and lots of other things.

..................F>

Sometimes Collector, GA.

Yes, that is the point I tried to make previously. Modelers put a value on unbuilt FSM kit (or other craftsman-type kits) because part of the "value" of the kit comes from the enjoyment of a person building it themselves. After it's built, that part is gone.

The basic assumption behind the statement: "Unbuilt kits have no value added as far as I am concerned" is debatable. Not in your right to the opinion, which you certainly have, but as a general statement. A "built" kit may have value ADDED in some eyes, as you imply, or value SUBTRACTED, depending on your point of view.

And that difference in outlook accounts for a BIG part of the confusion over relative value of 'built' and 'unbuilt' kits. This difference in position is among 'modelers', too, and does NOT even consider the 'kit collectors', who have a whole different outlook again.

Dan Mitchell ==========

Mark Mathu wrote: