Over the weekend, I chanced into some old MRR magazines from 30 years ago, thanks to my wife's noticing them at an estate sale. After browsing through them, I came to the conclusion that the hobby isn't making progress; it's moving in reverse. These are my observations:
Things being introduced as "new ways of doing things", such as making trees, were already being done 30 years ago by previous modelers. The "new methods" are merely re-inventing the wheel.
There were a great many more LHS's 30 years ago, seven or more in Denver aloneat various times. Now there is one.
Companies like Dremel offered a complete line of miniature precision tools, ranging from little table saws to miniature drill presses and metal lathes, for the serious hobbyist. There was an amazing variety of such tools available from several manufacturers. Those ads disappeared long ago, and those tools can no longer be easily purchased as they once were, if they can be purchased at all.
As many or more items of rolling stock, particularly fine locomotives, were offered in scales such as N scale than are currently offered by anybody. Kits abounded everywhere, for bridges, rolling stock, buildings and locos - far more than are advertised today because simply perusing the ads reveals a plethora of manufacturers offerings goods, now reduced to only a handful of major players. Not a few of the N scale buildings featured electric lighting that came in the kit.
The starter set that my wife bought me for Christmas was available thirty years ago, exactly as it is today, but for $29.99. Today the price has quadrupled but the product has not changed.
The layouts presented were more imaginative and beautifully crafted than much of what we see today. Imagination, landscaping and visual presentation was emphasized to a greater degree than on the prototypical layouts of today.
Overall, the hobby appeared to be more opriented towards fun and comraderie among modellers than the rivet-coutning mindset of today, leaving me with the distinct impression that the hobby has regressed, not progressed.
Things being introduced as "new ways of doing things", such as making trees, were already being done 30 years ago by previous modelers. The "new methods" are merely re-inventing the wheel.
There were a great many more LHS's 30 years ago, seven or more in Denver aloneat various times. Now there is one.
Companies like Dremel offered a complete line of miniature precision tools, ranging from little table saws to miniature drill presses and metal lathes, for the serious hobbyist. There was an amazing variety of such tools available from several manufacturers. Those ads disappeared long ago, and those tools can no longer be easily purchased as they once were, if they can be purchased at all.
As many or more items of rolling stock, particularly fine locomotives, were offered in scales such as N scale than are currently offered by anybody. Kits abounded everywhere, for bridges, rolling stock, buildings and locos - far more than are advertised today because simply perusing the ads reveals a plethora of manufacturers offerings goods, now reduced to only a handful of major players. Not a few of the N scale buildings featured electric lighting that came in the kit.
The starter set that my wife bought me for Christmas was available thirty years ago, exactly as it is today, but for $29.99. Today the price has quadrupled but the product has not changed.
The layouts presented were more imaginative and beautifully crafted than much of what we see today. Imagination, landscaping and visual presentation was emphasized to a greater degree than on the prototypical layouts of today.
Overall, the hobby appeared to be more opriented towards fun and comraderie among modellers than the rivet-coutning mindset of today, leaving me with the distinct impression that the hobby has regressed, not progressed.