Harry P.

Ok... so ebay may charge fees... but the entertainment is still free!

I think Gregg wants to keep emodelcars and this site as separate entities. Keep the buying and selling apart from the forum. But I do think we should have a link on this site to emodelcars.

Nice work, Mike!

To get back the original topic... I think if we had a link to emodelcars right here on the forum, up there at the top of the page with all the other links, maybe highlighted in color, that would drive people to at least check it out. And the more that people visit it, the more people will tend to use it. Emodelcars' biggest problem is the fact that very few people know it exists! We have to get the word out.

Ebay isn't a charity. It's a business. And their goal is to make money, like any business. And they're good at what they do. They are the 800 lb. gorilla of online auction sites, and they have the bulk of the online buying/selling business... and they can charge whatever fees they want to charge! And of course, you have every right not to do business with them, if you feel that they're scamming you. But in my opinion, given the vast audience of potential buyers that do shop on ebay, I think most sellers would agree that whatever fees ebay/PayPal charges is worth it. Just my opinion.

I don't remember the specifics, but weren't there several cases (at least) of a built-up box art model (a photo of what was supposedly in the box) that included parts (like custom wheels) that were not in the box? Wouldn't a photo of the parts trees on the side of the box have shown the buyer exactly how many sets of wheels were actually in the box? Or whether there was a "custom" intake setup included? Or custom seats? Or whatever? I don't see why you would argue against showing a buyer what he's buying! Maybe "back in the day," when 95% of model car kit buyers were little kids, a slightly, uh, "interpretive" illustration or misleading build was perfectly fine on the box... maybe it even helped sell a few kits. But with the bulk of the hobby now comprised of adults, and the days of the $2 model kit long gone, I don't think showing a buyer what he's actually buying with his $25 bucks (or more) is too much to ask. I'm not saying do away with fanciful box art illustrations. I'm saying also include the "straight dope" somewhere on the box, too.

Yes... that's exactly what I said. If the box art is an illustration or representation of the kit in the box, then also include either a photo of the built model or pictures of what's in the box (parts trees). You don't need to show the instruction sheet, it's assumed that every model has assembly instructions included. But showing the actual parts that are in the box (along with whatever fanciful "interpretation" of the actual model is on the box top) would tell the consumer exactly what he/she will find inside. And that would help many people to decide if the kit they're looking at is one that they want to buy or not. They wouldn't have to go on blind faith and buy the kit, hoping that what's inside the box is what they thought was inside the box!

Maybe you need to get a paper route or something...

I didn't realize they even had mobile MRI units!

Can someone try posting images? I think the permissions were locked, should be ok now.

Ebay isn't at fault. In fact, I'd say that given the volume of traffic that passes through their site every day, they do an amazing job keeping things running well. But whenever you deal with the public, as ebay does, well... you get the public involved, and let's be honest... there are a lot of scam artists, ripoff artists and crooks among the public. To put the blame on ebay is like saying it's the city's fault when there is a traffic jam. Ebay provides a service-a marketplace for buyers and sellers to do business. Ebay is merely the conduit, it's the buyers and sellers who cause the problems. If you use a bit of common sense, you can do very well on ebay. I have bought dozens and dozens of items through ebay, and have never had any sort of issue.

Allowing buying and selling here would open up a whole can worms, legally and logistically speaking, that neither Gregg nor I nor any other moderator wants any part of, not the least of which would be bad blood between buyers and sellers every time a sale didn't go the way the buyer or seller wanted. Allowing buying and selling here would be a disaster, I guarantee it. Look at all the stuff that ebay had to put in place to keep things running smoothly... their feedback system, their conflict resolution system, etc., etc. There's no way we want to take on that sort of a complex operation here. Keeping the forum members in check, moderating their posts, moving topics to the correct place, etc., takes up enough of our time already. Adding buying and selling here, too? No way. If you want to buy or sell models, there are plenty of places online to do that. This forum is not one of those places.

I think there ought to be a law... a "truth in advertising" type of thing, where if the manufacturer wants to use an illustration or some sort of "representation" of what's in the box, then they also must show a photo (or photos) of what is actually in the box... either the completed model (no airbrushing out the kit's flaws!) or the parts trees (or both), on the side panel of the box. Cool box art might sell kits, but the manufacturers owe the customer an honest example of what the customer is buying before the customer gets the kit home and finds out that the stuff inside the box is far from the image promised on the box top.

What Casey was saying is that if the wrong type of art file is provided, the decal maker has to spend his own time to create a usable file.

Check the links under "Decals." http://www.socalcarculture.com/modelcarlinks.html

Instead of an ebay "about me" page, wouldn't it make a lot more sense to have either a Fotki or a Photobucket account, and post your models in photo albums on a, you know, photo-hosting site instead of an auction site?

So buy it!

Final vote: 47 REAL, 10 MODEL. And the answer is... REAL!

Possibly a stupid question... but why do boats have the steering wheel on the "wrong" side?

Ok, now that is very impressive!

Why was this posted "On the Workbench" when it's obviously finished?

Danbury. Says so on the box.

Well, I'll give you an A for imagination, and an A for execution and craftsmanship... But as far as the design goes... it hurts my eyes to look at that thing! It reminds me of those crazy Japanese bozuku (or whatever they're called) cars.

In college from 1962 through 1970? I guess you must have really liked that campus lifestyle!

Danbury? At that scale, nobody does diecast better.