IS IT JUST ME!

[Dann Tier]

37 minutes ago, disabled modeler said:

Dann...LOL... I have actually taken a couple of hand fulls of extra parts and made stuff from them to stay busy before..LOL...   Id rather do that than be bored beyond what my mind can handle...LOL...

dude, you're killing me!!!!….LMAO

What kind of kits/ cars do you like to build, bud?

Do you mind some kits that might be missing a part or two?......or parts upgraded?

Edited August 9, 2018 by Dann Tier

[Ben]

Supply and demand

[Bugatti Fan]

Peter, I hear what you say about the guy selling well made up models on ebay for thousands of dollars. But does he actually get the asking price above any reserve he puts on them?

Were they built from straight plastic kits? Or were they well made from multi medium resin kits or white metal, as those appear to have more intrinsic value to collectors? I can only go by my own experience a few years ago when I approached two world famous London auction houses about selling some of my models who actually told me to avoid models made from plastic kits altogether. As far as the old classic Pochers go, I have seen what prices they fetch at auction and have been disappointed to see what they fetched, considering the amount of work involved to build them to a high standard.

Is it me? Another thing is, have you ever been asked by people to build a Model for them from a plastic kit? I have on a number of occasions and wait for the incredulous look when I quote  them a fair price for the number of hours costed at a skilled rate to make a Model for them! Most people outside model making simply do not appreciate how long it takes to build a kit up to a high standard, and I wait for the sharp intake of breath when I tell them what I would expect to be paid!

[peteski]

5 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

Peter, I hear what you say about the guy selling well made up models on ebay for thousands of dollars. But does he actually get the asking price above any reserve he puts on them?

Were they built from straight plastic kits? Or were they well made from multi medium resin kits or white metal, as those appear to have more intrinsic value to collectors? I can only go by my own experience a few years ago when I approached two world famous London auction houses about selling some of my models who actually told me to avoid models made from plastic kits altogether. As far as the old classic Pochers go, I have seen what prices they fetch at auction and have been disappointed to see what they fetched, considering the amount of work involved to build them to a high standard.

Is it me? Another thing is, have you ever been asked by people to build a Model for them from a plastic kit? I have on a number of occasions and wait for the incredulous look when I quote  them a fair price for the number of hours costed at a skilled rate to make a Model for them! Most people outside model making simply do not appreciate how long it takes to build a kit up to a high standard, and I wait for the sharp intake of breath when I tell them what I would expect to be paid!

There was a lengthy thread about him, his models, and the eBay listings. I don't recall, but I think some are resin and some plastic kit build-ups.  Those built-ups are selling, so they must go over the reserve price.  I agree that even at those seemingly high prices, with the amount of time he spent on building,he is not getting rich, but he is enjoying his hobby and is generating some extra income which he can easily use to buy more kits.  Some people might just enjoy building models and they have no need to keep them.  So, they sell them as  complete models.  If their build quality is good, the will get decent price for their models.

The point I was simply making (in response to your post) was that there is a market for build models (resin and plastic) where the selling price is more than a price of the unbuilt kit. I know it is an exception rather than a rule, but it is real.

[Bugatti Fan]

Peter, thanks for your further reply. You have added some more interesting observations to this thread.

I see you live in New England. What a lovely part of the US. Visited Boston, Bar Harbor, Portland  and Kennebunkport from a cruise a few years ago. Very impressed with what little of New England I saw.

All the best Noel

[stavanzer]

Carl, Re Goodwill.

Go to "shopgoodwill.com" and use Advanced Search to open the Crafts & Hobbies tab. Then select the Model Kits sub-Tab.

That will show you how many kits make it to Goodwill. At ant given time there are between 150-300 listings. About 25% IMHO, are for decent kits. So GW is getting 35-70 kits a day that are donated. Some times really rare stuff shows up. It will bid very high. Most is recent stuff (last 20 years) so goes for mostly reasonable prices. Watch out for shipping costs as some GW's are really bad about shipping. (Over Size Boxes, Expensive Shipping) I've had auction wins where the shipping was twice what I paid for the kits.  

Pro Tip. The 1/72 Scale Revell/Monogram SR-71 is the most Unbuilt kit in the USA. In a year of browsing GW Auction Listings, I've NEVER seen the kits section with fewer than 2 SR-71's listed for sale. I've seen as many as six at one time. They are everywhere. R/M NASCAR kits are next most popular. They usually sell for just about what you'd expect.

[peteski]

15 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

Peter, thanks for your further reply. You have added some more interesting observations to this thread.

I see you live in New England. What a lovely part of the US. Visited Boston, Bar Harbor, Portland  and Kennebunkport from a cruise a few years ago. Very impressed with what little of New England I saw.

All the best Noel

Yes, this is  a lovely part of the U.S. My favorite season is Autumn where the leaves on trees turn all sorts of wonderful colors.

But the Summers and Winters have been getting more and more unbearable in the last several years.  We are currently going through a lengthy bout of tropical heat and humidity.  Not pleasant at all.  And winters have also been weird.  I wouldn't mind cold temperatures and lots of fluffy snow which is easy to clean up, but for a while now the snow storms are usually a mixtures of rain,, sleet, heavy snow, and freezing rain which crusts up on top of the snow.   Really difficult to deal with, and also very destructive (broken trees and power lines, collapsed roofs, deep potholes in roads and many other unpleasant things to deal with).   But regardless, I'm sticking around.

[High octane]

On 8/5/2018 at 7:04 AM, OldTrucker said:

Just after they shut USA down a guy was in Hobby Lobby buying up the Revell kits.

Almost got into it because he took exception when I picked a kit off the shelf before he could get to it.

Have no doubt that those kits would be on eBay at inflated prices soon!

 

That's what you call "supply & demand."

[Bugatti Fan]

Hi Peter, we have just been experiencing a prolonged heatwave here in the UK. 31 c and humid with it, I guess similar t o what you describe for your neck of the woods! ,Due to the Gulf Stream our UK winters although cold generally are not as severe as you get on the Eastern Seaboard of the USA. Maybe someday I will get over the water again. I missed seeing the Constitution in Boston Harbour last time around! Have you visited the UK in the past?

[Mike999]

On ‎8‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 12:02 PM, alexis said:

Pro Tip. The 1/72 Scale Revell/Monogram SR-71 is the most Unbuilt kit in the USA. In a year of browsing GW Auction Listings, I've NEVER seen the kits section with fewer than 2 SR-71's listed for sale. I've seen as many as six at one time. They are everywhere. R/M NASCAR kits are next most popular. They usually sell for just about what you'd expect.

I also browse the Goodwill website.  Everything you said about it is true.  Prices escalate rapidly on the good stuff.

Interesting about the SR-71.  A few months ago at a local swap meet, I found its ugly kid sister:  the Testors SR-75 Penetrator, still shrink-wrapped.  The seller was asking $3.  Decided I didn't want to build it, partly just because of the size.  Those things are huge, even in 1/72 scale. Put it on eBay with a starting bid of $9.99.  It got 16 bids and eventually sold for $51.  I couldn't believe that. The buyer was 3000 miles away from me, so shipping was another $47.   

Edited August 11, 2018 by Mike999
omit

[stavanzer]

That SR-75 is a Rare, Rare kit. Not surprised you did so well on it.

[peteski]

2 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

Hi Peter, we have just been experiencing a prolonged heatwave here in the UK. 31 c and humid with it, I guess similar t o what you describe for your neck of the woods! ,Due to the Gulf Stream our UK winters although cold generally are not as severe as you get on the Eastern Seaboard of the USA. Maybe someday I will get over the water again. I missed seeing the Constitution in Boston Harbour last time around! Have you visited the UK in the past?

Getting way OT. Taking this offline. PM sent.