The Little World

I have come to this topic from writing another column dedicated to selling photographic goods. It occurred to me that if there is an id in the camera shop, there is also likely to be one in the hobby shop. I turned over the thought that Sigmund Freud might have been a model train buff, but I let it go…

Well, the dear old id – the instinctual, repressed, and antisocial id – certainly does stalk the camera store – buying shiny objects, raging against the price of them, and then going out and using them to make bad pictures. Many of those bad pictures win camera club contests, but that is another thing altogether. The owners of the camera store welcome the ids of their clients, as they are frequently prepared to spend the money that the egos and super egos are afraid to venture.

In the hobby shop the instinct is always to get another kit, or locomotive, or dozen bottles of paint. We have this sort of reaction just walking past the door of the place, never mind seeing the shelves with the goodies. A progressive hobby shop would capitalise on this instinct by having ready-made boxes of stuff at the door and just exchanging them sight unseen for wads of cash. No id would be truly disappointed at getting something new and shiny.

Repression is not often seen in the hobby shop, unless it is a parent trying to unwrap their child from an $ 1280 R/C copter. A parent who takes a child into a fully stocked hobby shop and limits them to one Hot Wheels car is both awesome and horrible. Even more so if the parent then turns and buys a $ 400 racing car.

And the antisocial desires? Just reach me down that .80 glo-plug motor with no muffler, the tin of nitro fuel, and the Sullivan starter, would you? My neighbours are having a backyard family party.