So the economy is not the greatest and everyone is cutting back. Sometimes i think the safest place to be right now is the military. With all the cut backs how is this affecting the modeling community? And with most of us buying and keeping those old kits from over the years, do you find yourself diving into those old kits more to save money or are you still going out and buying new? I find myself looking at some of the older kits that i have stocked away so i do not have to hear "house hold 6" complain about spending money and already enough with " you got all those modles down there that are not built !" In a way i guess it is a good way to clean out a few of the kits that i have been meaning to get together. Just wondering if it is hitting everyone else like some of us are getting hit?

Absolutely. My purchases of new kits is practically nil, no matter how tempting they are. However, I have a stash that will keep my ancestors busy, so I am not hurting there. Honestly, it is not the economy that is keeping me from buying - it's the price of a new kit. I find it very difficult to justify paying todays prices.

Cheers,
Mike

Your ancestors build too? Sounds like you come from a good gene stock...

As for the older kits, well, they were purchased not in today's dollars, but dollars from that era. By comparison they aren't cheaper than kits I buy today. (I was po' with a capital "P") I still buy far more than I can build right now, but some day I'll be able to hang up the boots and rucksack, and spend my twilight years building them all.

I still by new release if it's a subject I have an interest in or a void in the collection .

I do enjoy in building the older kit's . It's great practice for scratchbuilding

As Mike mentioned in his post, it isn't so much the economy that makes me second guess buying new kit, it's the price of the kit itself. The same can be said for AM goodies too. The review I did on the Centauro tires is a prime example. Had I not received these items to do a review on, I seriously doubt I would have shelled out the $40 or so dollars they retail for, no matter how good they look. I have enough kits on hand to supply my son, daughter, 2 grandsons, and my granddaughter should they take up the hobby. I could actually stand to reduce the kits a weeee bit..... yeah right. like thats going to happen any time soon. I have a soft spot for the older kits too as that is what I cut my teeth on, and some of them will actually build into great looking kits with some TLC and elbow grease where needed. They also are a great test bed if I want to try new techniques without the risk of trashing a $40, $50, or $60 kit. If I find a bargain on a kit though, no matter the subject, consider it bought as I can always flip it for something I really want, or I can add it to my clubs raffle boxes etc.
"Q"

My stash isn't that big, about 15 kits, but that's enough for now.
The ones I do buy are secondhand and usually not all that new.
There are 2 reasons for that.
1: I enjoy building and upgrading older kits without AM or PE more, then building these new and, for me, not so challenging kits. I don't see the fun in just glueing them together and paint them.
2: The prices of new kits are simply absurd to me. The price is in no relevance to the heap of plastic that's in the box, no matter if there is a small sheet of copper or a little chuck of resin in there.

but hey.... that's just me.

second that, and the price of single link tracks, again something with an extraordinairy profit margine.
20 years ago, I went ballistic when seeing 15 euro tags on kits, today it's a bargain, even second hand!

I also buy most of my stash from other modelers who just "over stashed",or stopping with the hobby.
55+ euro for a PZ1 with a gun (Bison) ontop, whohooo!

what's wrong with doing some work yourself?

damn that happymeal generation !

totally agree i would love to have a go at the tamiya famo ,but i cant afford or justify spending £50 on one model .so sticking to buying 2nd hand older kits .there are some great bargains to be had out there.

I am cutting down on new kits but it has nothing to do with the overall economical situation. Since I have quite a stash and my buildspeed is very slow I only buy AM-stuff and figures lately if anything. And with the first kid on the way I suspect modelling time to be cut even more soon...

My 2 cents...

My buying habits haven't changed one bit, regardless of the price of kits. I always contemplate a new purchase, but I always seem to end up with it before I leave the LHS or turn the computer off. I have way more than I can possibly build, but I have to laugh it off at times just to make light of it. I'm fortunate to be in a job that has guaranteed longevity, and isn't on the demands of work productivity. Whether people show up or not, I still get paid, and that is a nice thing to have. As far as the old stash goes, I could reason to move many of them only because newer versions have come out or I simply lost interest.
Only issue is most of these kits were purchased with the obligatory AM stuff and I'd rather sell it as a unit than in pieces, otherwise, I'll just hang on to them and ponder it as a future build. Ebay has been great too; most kits I purchased were about half off retail, to include s&h. My latest was a HB AAVP w/ EEAK 1/35 for $40 shipped.
I don't mind paying retail, but I don't mind saving money either.

Yeah I haven't bought a new armor model since the new year because of a lack of funds. I bought a couple of bargains at my LHS and some €10 figure sets. I have a chunk of money coming from a contract soon and I've earmarkled €45 for the new Tasca 1/24 PZR II but that's it, I've passed on all the DML and Tasca DV Shermans. I have a sizeable stash and a slow build rate so what I miss really is that feelgood factor when the postman delivered the goods

I also have a sizeable stash and slow build rate, but everytime I look at a new kit, I get a guilty feeling, as I have so many at home already, that I really want to build ... and just don´t have the time. I seem to have totally lost interest in whats being sold at the moment. This I am glad for actually.
I am picking up the occasional book though .... and if you think buying kits is expensive ... wait until buying books is your thing.