[Epapazian]

Originally Posted by djjeffhall

Epapazian,
Hey there.

While I certainly have no interest in driving folks away from the hobby, hasn't it grown recently a little out of hand? Many of the thread on the forum mention lack of space and lack of funds, coupled with SO MANY new manufacturers that hardly anyone can keep up.

Yes, I'm mixing number of folks in the hobby with number of models being released, but they seem to go hand in hand. If the manufacturers did not see added growth, they wouldn't get into it.

Also, PLEASE DO NOT take this as a post where the intention is driving folks away or alienating anyone. I'm just not sure I could keep up if it got exponentially bigger.

There is a lot of speculation about the true size of the diecast collector market. About a year ago, I had a conversation with Martin at the Flying Mule on this subject and his estimate of the number of dedicated military diecast collectors was so low ---about a thousand-- that it stunned me. Others figure the market, counting "casual" or highly selective collectors, is considerably larger and I buy this since it is hard to see how so many sellers could stay in business if the total customer base was so small. Still, we are,at best, talking about several thousands, not many tens of thousands of potential buyers for a new diecast warbird---which explains why manufacturers are so reluctant to take chances. As a result, we have P-51s, BF-109s and F4Us coming out one after the other, but no IL-2Ms, nor Tonys, or LA5FNs. Also troubling is the paucity of young people coming into the hobby. Unless this issue is dealt with what are the prospects for future growth? Finally, a cooperative effort---and I know it will be very tough to organize--could provide invaluable policing on issues like putting out schedules of models slated for production, then failing to deliver, or pre-ordering practices by vendors. Ok. Maybe I am asking too much, but it doesn't hurt to look at the big picture once in a while.