Tag: prices
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Do You Trust Your Dealer?
No, I’m not referring to the one with the ziplock bags of powder… I mean the one with the cardboard boxes of styrene kits. You should get some help… Your hobby dealer is your friend, if you will be his. You both have a vested interest in seeing the other happy and successful. All it…
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The Expensive Shop
We all know a hobby shop that is expensive to go to – because we spent more than we should have last time we visited. But was it really that bad? Or were we the authors of our own discomfort? Did we go in for a new bottle of black paint and come out with…
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The New Kit Box
You do not have to be an 18th century rake… To recognise the experience of being captured by the appearance of a smartly-dressed courtesan with a painted face and patches on her cheeks. The ample bosom and the curled hair may be missing, but the end result – bitter horror at the raddled creation encased…
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Well, The Maths Works Out
Dang it… As a kid in 1965 I could buy a 1:25th scale AMT car kit of a standard North American convertible for $2.50 from any drug store or hobby shop. A 3-In-1 kit with some custom parts and a fancy decal sheet. Today I saw a retro AMT kit looking precisely the same for…
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I’m From Missouri
Show me. If you recognise that phrase, you’ll know it embodies the scepticism and practicality of the Missourian. It must be hard to sell used cars in Kansas City… But the miniature builder can satisfy even the hardest prairie mind – because the miniature builder need not be restricted to where they are or when…
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Selective Ordering
A recent Youtube post by a Canadian hobby shop owner pointed out the selective nature of the current tariff brouhaha. He gets supplies in from US distributors and recently had a shipment stopped by Canadian Customs, with a 25% tariff fee slapped on it. When he was notified of this he took his ordering invoices…
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The Profiteer’s Stash
The very word ” profiteer ” is a red rag for certain political minds, and has been used to justify no end of malice in the past. It has been heard to crop up in the scale model world, as well. Yet, every one who buys and builds kits has to recognise that there is…
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When The Model Price Is Measured In Hundreds Of Dollars
Something happens to the hobby. It becomes a serious business. Good thing? You might think so if you are a devotee of contest modelling and the pursuit of prizes. Newer and bigger can get you closer to the awards. Complexity figures in this as well – if you can overwhelm a judge with extra after-market…
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Lemme See That Invoice
Suppose you were a person who imports scale model kits from Ruritania to sell in Australia. Suppose you have been selling them for years at Price A. Then suppose that a great national tragedy strikes Ruritania – war with neighbouring Latveria. Factories are deserted and stocks of Ruritanian scale model kits are threatened. Fortunately you…
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Styrene Broker – Part Two
The scale market’s answer to Madoff and Ponzi. In case you are wondering what the answer should be, ” No ” is safest. Anyone who has seen a pyramid or junk bond scheme in operation will recognise the game as it develops. We’re after a better class of broker here. I have disposed of many…
The Little World 