Testor's is No More

[DoctorLarry]

After noticing dwindling selection at Hobby Lobby and my favorite hobby store, I asked the store person about Testor's paints. They are no more. Rust-Oleum bought the line and determined that hobby paint was an expensive money loser so they are ending the line. You will still be able to get military and aircraft colors from other vendors but the automotive line that was a Testor's market will be gone shortly. Stock up while you can. This is Model Master as well as the small bottles of enamels. Bummer.

[Dave Van]

RPM has owned Testors for a while now.........and has been eliminating product as they go. Testors regular line is staying but Ye.....MM is going away along with many other paints like Metalized paints. I did not look but at one thime there were a few threads here about it. 

[Mike 1017]

1 hour ago, DoctorLarry said:

After noticing dwindling selection at Hobby Lobby and my favorite hobby store, I asked the store person about Testor's paints. They are no more. Rust-Oleum bought the line and determined that hobby paint was an expensive money loser so they are ending the line. You will still be able to get military and aircraft colors from other vendors but the automotive line that was a Testor's market will be gone shortly. Stock up while you can. This is Model Master as well as the small bottles of enamels. Bummer.

Did Hobby Lobby say if they are gonna get a new line of paints to replace Testors?  New Revell stuff ?

[DoctorLarry]

Did not ask them. My hobby shop person said they were looking at Revell and another European line as replacements. This is Hobby Town, which I think is a national chain.

[DoctorLarry]

Hobby Town has 125 locations nation wide. According to their web site 100 are franchise-owned, which makes them a little more "local".

[TransAmMike]

Unfortunately, Hobby Town as far as I know are only in major cities. I wonder how many of us live over 50 miles from a major city. Heck, Nashville is the closest for me and no Hobby Town there.

[Tom Geiger]

22 minutes ago, TransAmMike said:

Unfortunately, Hobby Town as far as I know are only in major cities. I wonder how many of us live over 50 miles from a major city. Heck, Nashville is the closest for me and no Hobby Town there.

No, they are wherever someone wants to invest money.  There was one in West Chester PA in a suburban shopping center.  There's one in Tom's River, NJ too.

[Danno]

I think HobbyTown USA was about the first "large" national hobby shop chain to be decimated by the online purchasing trend.  They adhered to Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Pricing (or more) long after the internet and other local shops offered the same products for less $. 

We once had five or six HobbyTown USA stores here (the Phoenix metro area), but it dwindled to nothing in a few short years. And we're the 4th or 5th largest city in the USA (depending on whose stats you accept). 

 

??

[DoctorLarry]

Dave, my hobby guy said not just MM but all small bottles as well. Rust Oleum is killing it all, he said.

[peteski]

4 hours ago, Dave Van said:

RPM has owned Testors for a while now.........and has been eliminating product as they go. Testors regular line is staying but Ye.....MM is going away along with many other paints like Metalized paints. I did not look but at one thime there were a few threads here about it. 

"A while" is more like decades.  Floquil/Polly-S, and Polly Scale have been under RPM ownership since late '70s or early '80s.  Rustolerum is also another brand owned by RPM.  I don't recall exactly when Testors was acquired by RPM, but it was at least 20 years ago (or more).  Funny how these rumors keep coming back and back and back.  Yes, some of the hobby paint brands that RPM owns are getting discontinued (and have been since Floquil was killed off some time ago), but there still  are many other, new and old brands of hobby paints (not owned by RPM) to choose from.

Edited February 20, 2021 by peteski

[DoctorLarry]

Examples to look for?

[Mark]

I've always wondered what advantage there would be in buying a Hobby Town franchise as opposed to just opening a hobby shop on your own.  We had one in my area which plodded along for ten or fifteen years, until it changed hands and the new proprietor went 100% RC.  It closed about six months later.

Hobby Town (the main company) did advertise once upon a time, but minimally even then.  The purchasing power they offer apparently isn't much judging by their pricing or selection.  If you don't gain anything with either of those things, why bother buying a franchise?

[Dave Van]

Floquil paint was the best paint I ever used......It was a HUGE loss when it went away.

[kurth]

54 minutes ago, peteski said:

"A while" is more like decades.  Floquil/Polly-S, and Polly Scale have been under RPM ownership since late '70s or early '80s.  Rustolerum is also another brand owned by RPM.  I don't recall exactly when Testors was acquired by RPM, but it was at least 20 years ago (or more).  Funny how these rumors keep coming back and back and back.  Yes, some of the hobby paint brands that RPM owns are getting discontinued (and have been since Floquil was killed off some time ago), but there still  are many other, new and old brands of hobby paints (not owned by RPM) to choose from.

RPM acquired testors in 1984 according to this page: http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/the-testor-corporation-history/  I can not find a second source to verify, but it seems correct to my recollection. 

I also found RPM acquired Rustoloeum in 1995 https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-05-04-9405040196-story.html

It is a real shame Floquil was discontinued.. The silver paints were awesome, the pigment was the most finely ground metallic I have ever seen in a hobby product. 

[Straightliner59]

2 hours ago, peteski said:

"A while" is more like decades.  Floquil/Polly-S, and Polly Scale have been under RPM ownership since late '70s or early '80s.  Rustolerum is also another brand owned by RPM.  I don't recall exactly when Testors was acquired by RPM, but it was at least 20 years ago (or more).  Funny how these rumors keep coming back and back and back.  Yes, some of the hobby paint brands that RPM owns are getting discontinued (and have been since Floquil was killed off some time ago), but there still  are many other, new and old brands of hobby paints (not owned by RPM) to choose from.

When I worked in a hobby distributorship, back in the late '80s, RPM owned Testors. At that time, Pactra was a Plast-i-cote brand. At some point, during that time, RPM bought Plast-i-cote, as well. Soon after, as I recall, Pactra began to go away.

[Dave G.]

I started embracing acrylics 3-4 years ago now so I'm about 90% off of stinky paints anyway at this point, unless I order custom made from MCW or someone. Then when the Model Master line was wiped out I just pretty much figured Testors enamels would be gone at some point. But so many things, so many names and brands are gone that were staples in America and elsewhere when I was growing up in the 1950's and 60's it's just no surprise. Pretty much don't get too comfortable with much of anything.

[keyser]

So what does FSM have to say about this? Big hit to railroaders, wing nuts, and everyone else. Ongoing for years but MM finally gone and the new lacquers a hit. Humbrol Revell etc just can’t do it. 
Other threads never mentioned rest of hobby needs, now that hobbies are back to some degree. 

[peteski]

31 minutes ago, keyser said:

So what does FSM have to say about this? Big hit to railroaders, wing nuts, and everyone else. Ongoing for years but MM finally gone and the new lacquers a hit. Humbrol Revell etc just can’t do it. 
Other threads never mentioned rest of hobby needs, now that hobbies are back to some degree. 

By now, many model builders that FSM caters to have moved onto other  lines of paints.  Sure, few still used the old-standbys, but if you read the construction articles in FSM, many  mention other brands of paints being used.

[Dave G.]

I went on an old railroader site a while back and a bunch of them were discussing craft paints. Model Railroaders always find a way anyway. I remember back when Floquil went out and I was doing some railroad modeling back then, using a lot of flats and primers in spray cans off the hardware store shelves. And a little Scale Coat here and there. There is always a way.

[Danno]

Tru-Color is huge in the model railroading and military modeling genres. They are moving into a line of automotive paints, but their basic colors are excellent across all "lines" of hobbies. 

??

[TransAmMike]

Just looked 

13 hours ago, Danno said:

Tru-Color is huge in the model railroading and military modeling genres. They are moving into a line of automotive paints, but their basic colors are excellent across all "lines" of hobbies. 

??

Just looked up Tru-color paint. Wow, they have a large selection of automotive colors.  Their msrp is 5.95 for 1 oz bottle...maybe someone has a less expensive price for us "cheap-skates".

[Danno]

Maybe.  But, you gets whats you pays for.

As fewer choices are out there, the cost of what's left will likely not drop.

??

[Plowboy]

38 minutes ago, TransAmMike said:

Just looked up Tru-color paint. Wow, they have a large selection of automotive colors.  Their msrp is 5.95 for 1 oz bottle...maybe someone has a less expensive price for us "cheap-skates".

Cheap paint is not good. Good paint is not cheap.

[TransAmMike]

1 minute ago, Plowboy said:

Cheap paint is not good. Good paint is not cheap.

I'll reserve comment on that.

[ranma]

If it's true that would also mean that their glues ect are going away as well????