I saw this at Hobby Lobby yesterday: Been alotta years since I bought any models, and WOW have they gotten pricey! I've got 40 unbuilts stored in my den, but no wagons, and a few of them are collectors items.
Playing with models Me too. Can't remember when I bought or built a model car. Last time I was in a hobby shop was when second son had his model RR. I think "N". The track was around 1" wide but very detailed cars. Now a model car kit probably cost what I've paid for real cars in the 50's and 60's.
If it was 1" wide, it would've been "HO"; "N" scale is designated so because the track gauge is nine millimeters between the rails. "HO" is the scale I model in. And yeah, model kits are expensive across the spectrum due to the high price of crude oil. Thirth years ago, I could buy railcars from Athearn and Model Die Casting for $2.50 to $10 apiece unassembled (called 'shake the box' kits for their ease of assembly); now, about 85% of all new railcars are pre-built and 'ready to run,' and the prices go from $15 all the way up into the $50 range, plus, most of them are made overseas.
Nice kit, but @$25.00 smackers, I think I'll pass. Model kits have gotten quite expensive... I do have a closet full of un-built model kits as well.
Just like me and my model trains. You spend lots of money, but you spend some time and begin to get bored. I hate that.
Everything is more expensive these days. And income has mostly moved up to cover it so the price of a model kit really is a wash compared to 1966. What was the weekly income in 1966.... $80 bucks? I made $300.00 a week in 1982 and thought I was in fat city... but the cost of a model car kit then had just crossed the $12 buck barrier and still seemed high. Try buying a Tamiya or Fujimi model kit. A Trumpeter 1/24th model aircraft kit is over $100 easy! I am currently building a model kit of a Revell of Germany London Bus and that one was quite a bit more than a hundred! But boy the details are amazing and it's fun building something other than a street rod or muscle car.
The most expensive kit I've ever bought was a Hasegawa 1/72nd kit of one of the Carrier Wing 14 F/A-18 'CAG' planes that was aboard USS Constellation during the late '80s, when I served aboard her; I bought it back in 1990, and it was some twenty-some-odd dollars. I'd hate to see what they are now. HO scale locomotives have gone up considerably also. I have a couple Atlas locos I bought new in '89 for $70 each; They now can be upwards of $200 or more if they're equipped with computer controls.
===================== You was ..........when I went into the USAF in 78, I was married with an expectin Wife, and my base pay was $319 month. I remember when my folks bought our 2nd house after my baby brother was born 7/21/66, and Dad sayin the house payment was $50 month & he was afraid of not bein able to afford the payment. YES, things have changed! LOL
In 1966 I was an E-4 in the U.S.Navy and making $121 a month. When I got out in 67 and went to work in a bearing factory I was making about $100 a week without overtime. Don't remember what models were then as I hadn't built any in awhile. I remember complaining when the AMT 3-in-1 kits went to $2.00! My first house(a town house in a 29 unit affair) cost us $27,500 in 1978 and we had to scrape to come up with the down payment. That unit sold several years ago(a friend of mine bought it)for $279,000! Times have indeed changed. There is a great hobby shop in our town(J-Bar Hobbies of Tecumseh,Michigan;they sell on line)that has a HUGE selection of models of all types including vintage ones. They are NOT cheap but they can supply you with just about anything. It is hard sometimes to go in there and pick a vintage model off the shelf and see a $300 price tag on it.