There is 1 shop in NW Washington that carries a small amount of Sn3. That's
it. Same story in San Diego where I lived for 20 years. But I have more S
stuff in my basement than most hobby shops have in HO! I had to mail order for
S when I was a kid in the early "60's. To me it's part of the hobby. Now the
internet has made it much more efficient, so S should continue to grow.
Roger
----- Original Message -----
From: Edward Loizeaux
To: List, S scale
Sent: Saturday, September 16, 2006 7:49 AM
Subject: RE: {S-Scale List} Re: I'm IN!!
From: Donald Thompson
Dear Ed,
For us that was 10 years ago, but most of our 2-8-0s were sold via hobby
shops.
Best regards,
Don
Hi Don....
As my message said, "With few exceptions, most S products are sold via
direct mail......." Looks like SHS is one of the exceptions
(congratulations) and also one of the big four. But what about the
dozens and dozens of really small one or two-man shops working out of a
residence? Y'know, those really teeny tiny two-man shops like S
scale's largest brass importer, River Raisin Models, whose Global
Headquarters is located in an oversized bedroom (or is it a small family
room?). Maybe I am living in the past (age does that), but it seems to
me that the vast majority of S scale products are not available in local
hobby shops. None in the San Jose, CA area for sure. San Jose is
California's second largest city and in the top ten for the nation.
Kadee S couplers are stocked, but not much else that is S. I could
drive to San Francisco, but that is an hour away if there is no traffic
and the S offerings are very limited. Hardly worth the gas money. Tom
Hawley has more S stuff in his basement than any hobby shop around here
has in stock and on display. Doug Peck and Ron Sebastion have brick &
mortar hobby shops that carry S stuff, but how many other hobby shiops
are out there that carry a wide variety of S products not made by the
big four? Not many..... But Andre has a credit card and so he can
support S scale via long distance just like most of the rest of us.
Cheers...Ed L.
Andre.....
As every long term S scale guy knows, it is because S is not carried
in your local hobby shop. Hobby shop owners with a large investment
in HO/N/G prefer to sell what is on their shelves rather than
special order stuff that provides them with a below-industry-
standard dealer discount. Hobby shop clerks have been known to
say, "S died in the fifties when American Flyer went out of
business, but I have some nice HO stuff right here."
Of course, that smaller discount is necessitated by the tiny cottage
industry nature (read: small sales volume) of our S manufacturers.
With a few exceptions, most S products are sold via direct mail from
S-only dealers or direct from the manufacturers or via eBay. Both
the dealers and manufacturers are, for the most part, part time
endeavors working out of basements and garages. Except for the big
four, this is true of most all of the folks associated with S
scale. Very few people actually make a living wage from S scale.
If you are looking for an opportunity to help spread the S word, you
might consider volunteering to work on NASG's promotions committee.
Lots of opportunity there for someone to talk it up.
Having fun yet....Ed L.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
