Howard Cohen

This Saturday, October 24, 2015, from 10AM - 3PM...this is an IPMS event with multiple classes including automotive...more detail at the link with classes, sponsors, and much more... J. Clarke Richardson Collegiate 1355 Harwood Avenue, Ajax, Ontario (east of Toronto about 20 minutes) http://www.ajaxscalemodelcontest.com/

I took a few hundred photos as well. The traditional hot rods out-numbered almost all other categories http://public.fotki.com/howardcohen/nnl-nationals-2015-/

I hope they recognize you Bill I hope I recognize you....let me see...4 foot 4 inches tall...am I close You build a lot of snap kits

I may be able to bring 1 or 2 See you Saturday. Tradition? What is this, 'Fiddler on the Roof' already

I am now carrying the 'Historic Racing Miniatures', 'Pro Tech' and 'Scale Motorsport' lines of aftermarket detail parts in Canada for distribution in Canada only. I have started by bringing in small detail parts from each company to show and vend at local shows and I will do mail order in Canada only. I am based in Toronto, Ontario. The costs are the U.S. pricing plus dollar exchange (varying between 30-35%), postage ($5-10) and taxes. I am not yet bringing in full kits but I will special order items. If you would like more information, please send me a private message along with your email address and I will send you my current inventory lists. Thank you

I haven't sold any magazines successfully for a few years. Even then they were cheap but I moved about 100 mags from the 60s. Last year I sold a pile of mags, about 400, for $40. I was just glad to get rid of them. I was given about 50 Corvette magazines this weekend and I plan to give them away after I scan through them. See if the local Boy Scouts or Girl Guides want some free magazines or some other local charity group, maybe the library. As a last resort, paper your garage walls

Mindless chatter? You mean, like a club meeting? Oh, you posted at 5:51PM. I was finished unpacking my car, went home, had a shower and was getting ready to go out for dinner.

She is a darn lot prettier than you

Some of the best kits I have ever seen and built are: JoHan Chrysler Turbine Car, full kit. With all of the working features, amazing detail and flawless molding, this kits is a treasure! I built one in the 60s and now have a fresh kit to build. However, having seen the build by Mr. Obsession, I may leave mine in the box IMC Chaparral 2E. I have built 4 of these over the years and still have one of my original builds from 1966, plus another few parts kits Another kit with many working features, great detail and it's a 2E Monogram Orange Hauler. For a simple custom kit, this is well detailed, the parts fit together with no problem, it's very well molded in colour and it is a great representation of 60s show cars. I once showed Darryl Starbird two of my builds and they are now in his collection AMT 57 Chevy. This kits has more custom parts than modern kits have parts in total Custom front and rear ends, multiple choices, engine options, interior options, great box art, great instructions, more fun than a barrel of monkeys (typical 60s expression) Monogram 1955 Chevy. Build it stock. Built is custom. Build it as a futuristic bubble top. Molded in red or teal. Excellent fit of all parts.

There are a few...very few...usually someone's wife or girlfriend or sister or shrink

In this part of the continent, young modellers are few and far between. At the local model car contests the past few years, there were less entries in junior and senior/teen. We have tried to encourage younger builders by making sure they always received a prize. Strangely enough, they liked it But the numbers have been dropping the past 5 years and we seldom see more than a handful. One of my friends used to have a model car building class at his school but that was stopped (no, I don't know why). I hope Revell doesn't drop the make&take as I am in the process of working with a local museum to have a Christmas make&take activity. This museum does activities every month for kids from 5-20 and they get a good response. The model car idea was well received. I hope to be chatting to Revell and Round2 at Toledo next month and I'll ask them about the program.

Okay, you hold him down...then that pretty girl can cut his hair

Mohawk? Boy, Doug should get one

Several years ago I asked Revell about releasing a kit/assortment of figures from the various kits they had, such as American Graffiti, Ed Roth, Mickey Thompson, Linda Vaughan, etc. Their answer was that the distributors did not think it was a good idea and they would not place an order. The idea was dropped. I believe the same result happened when Revell asked about the 'Parts Pack' kits Last year, a friend worked on getting the old Ulrich Mini-Men released. They did release them but the sales were very poor and I have not heard anything since. In the end, although all of you would buy some, that is not enough to go into production, with a minimum being 500 pieces

Many American kits in the 60s had luggage racks and luggage as accessory items. It should not be that hard to make your own.

New toy? You better get there early to make sure you can find a parking spot (or two or three) for that boat

Gee Peter, now you can sleep in to 6AM

For those who have not been to this new location...the toy show and NNL are in the same building, in the same large room, but are separate shows with separate admissions Shopping is different than looking If you want to go to both, you have to pay 2 admissions. Don't be shocked when you get there

Last year I barely spent $200 and that included an 18th scale Chaparral 2C and a Chaparral slot car The number of model vendors is still good but it depends on what you need.

There has not been a flashlight sale for at least 5 years There used to be guys with stuff in their motel rooms on the Friday evening and that is down to just a few. I will probably have my motel room open for a couple of hours Friday evening at the Red Roof Inn on Reynolds, just to show some stuff and chat. Remember, the number of people buying and displaying at the toy show/NNL has dropped from 5000 attendees 20 years to about 500; the vendors have dropped from 500 to about 100. I think this is more of an aging crowd than anything else. There are fewer collections for sale as the crowd dies off and there is no one left to buy the stuff

There is NO competition The NNL is a non-competitive event Bring your models The only awards are voted on by the entrants

Depending on where you live, you may find that Revell and Round2 attend shows, talk to modellers and make serious notes about what is wanted. Both of these companies have been to NNL East and NNL Toledo in the past few years and will attend again. They are not there for the food When you see them at a show, go and talk to them. Don't rant and rave and ask for a '1968 Whatchamacallit molded in the same colour as yours was. Ask about what is feasible to release. No, we are not getting a Tucker kit or every year of every car and truck and motorcycle but we may get what is popular with serious modellers like us and not so serious modellers who buy the bulk of the kits Now I know, you are going to say, 'I'll buy a dozen Tuckers'. You and a hundred others will each buy a dozen and a thousand will buy 1 each. That adds up to 2200 kits and a minimum run of a new tool is several thousand kits, and they haven't paid for the tool yet When I am vending at a show, one of the questions I get asked is 'Why don't they make a pack of figures?' There are about a dozen assorted figures available and they might be a great seller. Any other ideas?

Had you come to the February show, you would have seen the new facility, which is better, 2 rooms, more vendors (me included ) and a separate room for the contest, oh, and food

For those who like old cars, hot rods, muscle cars, race cars and more, here are some photos I took this past weekend at the Concours. In only it's 3rd year, this show has become a major event on the Concours circuit as cars come from all over North America to be shown. Saturday many of the cars take a 100 Kilometer (63 miles) tour around the Bruce Peninsula starting at a local park and heading north to a great ice cream stop. The countryside makes for some great photos, especially when you consider some of the cars are 100 point restorations. You will notice some groups of photos that are almost the same. These are shot in burst mode which takes 10 shots in 1 second and makes it look like the car is moving Enjoy... http://public.fotki.com/howardcohen/cobble-beach-concou1/

A few years ago I bough an old 'NFL Dallas Cheerleaders' va. It wasn't anything special but it was a celebrity van. I was vending at a toy show and put it out for $30 and the first person to look at it, bought it, no questions, never even cared about what was in the box. He was a NFL collector. If putting a different logo or face on a box helps keep Round2 or Revell or any model company in the profit column, I say go for it Which of you over 40 guys bought the old 'Laurel & Hardy' car when it first came out? Was it because you wanted another stock antique Ford? Or did the box art grab your eye? How about any movie or television car? Same theory, different execution