[Merritec]

Just got the following news release that may be welcome news to kit builders:

Quote:
Iconic plastic plane firm Airfix was rescued today after Hornby struck a deal with administrators.
Model train maker Hornby agreed to pay £2.6 million for Airfix, Humbrol Paints and Young Scientist.
It followed the collapse of Airfix owner Humbrol which went into administration in August.
The troubles at Humbrol sparked an outpouring of nostalgia for Airfix, which enjoyed its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s as children across the land glued together model Spitfires, Hurricanes and Lancaster bombers.
Humbrol has suffered trading losses for years and 31 staff were made redundant when it went into administration following the collapse of its principal manufacturer in France.
Fans were concerned it would signal the end of the Airfix brand, although administrators said at the time they were looking for a buyer.
Hornby was among those linked with a move for Airfix and today the firm pledged to reinvigorate the firm.
It said it will move the distribution, sales and marketing side of Airfix to its own site in Kent and outsource the manufacturing and assembly arm.
Last year, Airfix, Humbrol Paints and Young Scientist delivered sales of £6.5 million.
The deal with administrators Grant Thornton came as Hornby, which also owns Scalextric, posted a fall in sales and profits in the first six months of the financial year to September 30.
The Margate-based company said sales slipped from £18.5 million to £17.9 million, sending pre-tax profits down from £2.5 million to £1.4 million.
Hornby chairman Neil Johnson said: "In common with many consumer goods retailers, we began to experience slower retail take-up during the early summer, particularly during the period of the World Cup.
"These conditions continued during the rest of the summer due, we believe, to the unusually warm weather which is not conducive to indoor hobby activities.
"We have therefore experienced lower sales in the UK during the first half of the current financial year."
But he said the company was in good shape to take advantage of increased trading over Christmas.
"Despite some difficult market conditions in the first half in our main market, we are pleased with the group's overall progress," said Mr.Johnson.
"Current indications for Christmas trading in the UK are better than last year, and provided that this trend continues we are expecting a significantly stronger second half in the UK."
Airfix has its origins in a company founded in London in 1939 by Hungarian-born Nicholas Kove, which manufactured cheap rubber toys filled with air.
Its first model kit was the Ferguson Tractor in 1948 and the Spitfire was introduced in 1953.
Due to its massive popularity, Airfix became one of the first toy companies to have its own magazine in 1960 and it gradually expanded through acquiring a number of other companies, including Meccano.
Its range grew to include vintage and modern cars, motorcycles, trains, ocean liners and spaceships, and children - and parents - spent hours making the models which were famously difficult to assemble.
As its model kits became less popular, Airfix went into receivership in 1981 and was bought by Palitoy, part of the American General Mills toy group, and production moved to France.
In 1986 it was taken over by Humbrol, but has suffered from falling sales as children became hooked on computer games and television.
A recent survey commissioned for First magazine found youngsters spend an average of 25 hours a week in front of either TV or games console screens - rising to 42 hours a week during the school holidays.

[jim]

A sad reflection on modern times. 42 hours a week in front of a games machine probably killing people and blowing things up etc tells us all we want to know about why kids today have so many problems.

[STARMAN 352ND]

42hrs in front of a TV playing games...
I have a Xbox 360 and my kids only play on it once in while but not 42hrs a week.
It's a sad thing to see too....So many more things to do then sit a play games on TV all the time.
When i was kid back in the 60's my dad would sit down with me and help me build plastic WWII Fighter planes models....And that was a fun time i had with my dad too and i passed that along to my son in the 90's and they were just like old times.
I'm happy to see someone picked up Airfix.
JP

[timbo]

It realy is a sad sign of the times. I had a wonderful time making a braking airfix. Never did get the spit to fly out the bedroom window

My eldest is in 4th grade, and I know a lot of his class mates are exposed to a lot more violent games than him. We try and limit the PS2 to 1-2 hours at the weekend, but it does seem that there is a draw to these that model making dos not even come close to filling.

Even sticking to the Lego Starwars game, there does seem to be a rapid decline in behaviour whenever he comes off. HAs anyone else noticed a extreem hyped up attitude in there kids after gaming?

[YYK950]

It,s great news that Airfix has been saved but I hope my model trains don,t come in kit form from now on.

[mustangdriver]

I love the fact that this icon in model aircraft is not going anywhere.