I would take this a step further in that MapleLeaf is putting out a
very high quality product and they deserve to sell it so that they are
not doing it for sub-minimum wage. I don't know Don's financials but If
there is a legacy of the "hobby industry" it is the constant cycling of
small manufacturers/companies (with great products) that come and go
simply because they find themselves doing it for peanuts. There's a
stigma in this hobby against the cottage industry guy to make money,
like it's a four letter word. Some years back at the Toledo Show a
modeler actually said, "Make money? You're not supposed to do that!"
And he was dead serious! Well, that's great if you are doing it as a
"hobby", or are retired and already have a great pension (again doing
it as a "hobby"), but not so otherwise. Even with many U.S. model
manufacturers now replaced by U.S. model importers it is still the same
story. And the magazines don't mind - for every new manufacturer/
importer that starts up, runs a year or two worth of ads and disapears
another one will come along. So it still comes back to the old saying,
"If there is a model you want you better buy it NOW because the odds
are very high it won't be available tomorrow." Yeah, this is a bit of a
rant ... I just can't help it.
Gregory Vasgerdsian
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