Tom Geiger

That looks great! Your work looks straight and true. Is your rear door going to be fixed? Or will you have access to inside the box? And what was your source for the wheels and tires? They're perfect.

Sorry for your loss Steve, but as you said, she is in a better place now. And you can be proud that you stood by her and devoted yourself to her care. You should have no regrets. Sadly, I have a lot of experience in this area. I lost both my parents to long term illness. My father in law, the nicest man I ever knew, died last fall after 10 years of suffering. My mother in law is in the final stages of Alzheimer's. I know what it's like to see elders, people we love, suffer in pain and pray that they will pass to end that agony. People who haven't experienced this are lucky indeed. So get your life back on track, have some enjoyment and move forward. You will always miss your mother, and hopefully you can focus on the happy times you had together. I have found that an hour a day at the work bench does wonders for the mind. Try it!

Thanks for the info on the Valiant, I think I'll be fixing two bodies this evening.

Who says PJ's customers are suckers? Look through his feedback. It's not zero feedback newbies, but people with hundreds to thousands of transactions. The feedback on his overpriced kits and parts is glowing. People were happy. He made money. That's what business is about. He has something like 7,000 current listings so he must be doing something right.

So does AMT, I'd be selling their parts. And I just noticed that PJ Toys is being discussed on the Moebius Ford truck thread too. As we know, "any publicity is good publicity". And you know that people here not acquainted with him, went to eBay and are looking at his auctions. And somebody bought something!

Yes. The first reports on the World Trade Center put the loss at 10,000 people. And that was before the second tower was involved.

Completely agree! Guys, most of your replies are that of hobbyists not businessmen. As a hobbyist, I am happy to send you a part you need for free if it helps you finish a build. I give away a lot of parts. I sort my parts into little plastic bags for fun. Everything I do in the hobby is for fun, friendship and relaxation, not profit. On the other hand, there is a business side to this hobby, Those involved in it, whether they are kit manufacturers, resin casters or kit / parts sellers need to be able to earn a return on the time they invest so they can feed their families. Your position is like saying you should do your job for free. In fact I just checked something. Modelhaus lists front and rear bumpers for the AMT '51 Chevy kit. These are pretty common parts and I'd be happy to send you a pair from my parts box for free. Still, if you want the Modelhaus version you will pay $15 plus $5 shipping for a total of $20. And nobody has a problem with that! But if I took my bumpers and listed them on eBay for $20 with free shipping, I'd wind up the subject of a thread here! Not fair guys!

Model Car World does one. ENG-01 1960's Chevy 6-Cylinder (1/25th scale) $10.00 (Complete) Includes early (to '61) and late ('62 & newer) air cleaners. A generator (up to '62) and an alternator ('63 & newer) are both included. Fits Chevy II. For full-sized Chevys & Chevelles, cut off oil pan, turn it around with the sump in the rear. http://mcwautomotivefinishes.com/resin/resinlist.html

Alex is a good guy, never mind that we both have the same last name. We aren't related. I've never been to the store, but Model Empire is one of our annual NNL East vendors. They've been coming with Jimmy Flintstone for years.

I'm with Harry on this one. You guys are just upset because you didn't think of this gig first! The buyers of these overpriced parts must be happy. His 5 negs over the past year are for other things. Click on this to see: http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=pj-toys&iid=-1&de=off&items=25&which=negative&interval=365&_trkparms=negative_365 The only negative related to a model part was from a guy who thought he was buying a real car part. Duh! Think about it. This guy is doing this for a living. A service station gets what $50-75 an hour? Figure by the time he pulls out the parts, photos them, uploads the photos, writes the ad and uploads it to eBay he probably has 30-45 minutes invested. Then to wrap it and ship it, maybe another 15-30 minutes. So say he has an hour of his time invested in that one part. Would you begrudge anyone $15 an hour wages? And note that he is paying eBay fees. With about a 20-25% sell through, he is relisting items and paying more fees. Apparently he's found a market.

Lookin' good Ron! I was thinking about you today. I am working on a Revell '62 Valiant and the windshield top is way to low. I'm figuring I'd be taking it up to the top of the molding, and scribe a new one that much above. Didn't you do this modification? Advise?

How do you know they don't?

And wouldn't ya know, I hadn't seen one lousy stink bug all summer, but after reading this thread, I saw three today. Two outside and one on my kitchen wall. I guess it's getting cool enough that they're trying to get indoors. I decided to give them amnesty. I left the two outdoor bugs alone and set the kitchen one free outside. They get one free pass. If they sneak in again they get a free flume ride to the nearest sewerage treatment plant!

Best I did was when I was insulating the attic in my old house. As I pulled out the old thin insulation, I was rewarded with a bunch of old Johan model parts. Mostly small stuff, but I was happy to find them. No doubt from a previous occupant of the house.

I have found that at a good number of hobby shops. If you aren't in the hobby of the person at the counter, you are suddenly not welcome there. And there are a good number of jerks in business. I have been stalking my local Hobbytown just to get an idea of the franchise and the business. As predicted, the two young RC dorks fixing stuff behind the counter saw I had about $75 worth of Evergreen and basswood and asked me what I was building. When I said 'cars and light commercial trucks' their faces fell and they treated me like I had ordered a dollar burger at McDonalds. Then I went back on a weekday and I can say that the owner was friendly and treated me like a customer. It's been said, 'you can't get good help anymore!'

Dealers playing games in car ads! I just read through the Auto Shopper / Philadelphia edition while I was eating dinner and it just drives me nuts. Dealers who don't list the mileage in ads, dealers who don't list the price in ads, dealers who just show a monthly payment (on the ad with no price and no mileage), and dealers who list a really low price for a car with a very small print (nearly unreadable and purposely smudged) at the bottom that says "with a $5000 down payment or trade in". All those ads are just devised to rip people off, those who aren't as well read or informed as many of us. Dishonest dealers just tick me off!

We have a winner! Yes, that's two of the roll pans fused together. I do need to pull this one back on the bench. I got stalled on picking out a nose for it.

Many years ago I was working in Princeton, NJ and one day on my way to work, the hour trip was non-eventful until I got within a few blocks of work. It was stop and go, and I could see trees down. It turns out that there was a mini tornado (or other disturbance) that hit a very select area, maybe a few square blocks. At work, all the willows around the lake were toast, uprooted and laying on the ground. A steel door that was open on one of the building mechanical penthouses blew off and was found a few blocks away.

and when you were 13 they were good for burning plastic, which was part of our fascination with models back in those days!

That is pretty darn cool!

Skip, they also provide the computer system and accounting software to run the store. That's actually huge since everything you do is computerized and as easy as printing reports. That includes bar codes on merchandise etc. Sooo... do you guys think this is a viable business opportunity. I qualify, but am skeptical.

details look great Rich, especially that grill is spectacular! It was sunny here most of the day, so I was out staining the deck. I don't know why they call it stain since it's pretty much paint. It got cloudy late in the afternoon and started to sprinkle around dark. Now it's raining like heck. Maybe tomorrow will be a rainy model room day for me!

Even Walmart stocks different inventories in different stores. May it be from store size, local preferences or even their rather sophisticated inventory system telling them what sells best in each store. Some guys have reported models for sale at their store, I haven't seen models in any Wallys near me. Once I was out in Evansville, Indiana and the Walmart there had a huge double sided aisle of Ertl farm toys right up front near the registers. No doubt catering to the local clientele since I hadn't seen those products in any store in suburban NJ. Since I've been looking for my next career adventure, I have looked into a Hobbytown USA franchise and have gone over their prospectus. They talk about the product categories and your ability to select from those. The local store in Westchester, PA fits that toy store description. There are aisles of kids toys and games. They also have a long aisle of RC parts, and no doubt make their money on that, noted that there are two kids behind the counter working on RC cars and planes. Of course if I bought the franchise, I would listen to everything their folks say (that's why you buy a franchise instead of going it alone, their experience) and modify their inventory to limit the toys and games and expand the models and supplies. I would no doubt embrace the bread and butter of the RC trade, as well as the gamers. I'm sure that once the store opened and people knew it was mine, I'd have a decent clientele of car modelers. As others have said, the smaller shops buy their kits from distributors. I don't think Hobbytown USA does any national purchasing for their franchises, they probably buy from distributors. Those who buy kits directly from Revell and Round Two save some money, but must buy in larger quantities than the average hobby shop can handle. Tower Hobbies IS a distributor (as well as the owner of Revell) so they get the largest quantity discounts and can pass on that savings due to the volume of business they generate. All said, I don't think I'll be opening a Hobbytown USA. It's a nice dream, but I'd be very worried about it's ability to sustain itself and provide me with a living.

Bring em on!

When you go to court, use my photo above... your honor the officer must've been blind!