Over the past twenty years more collectors have left the hobby (voluntarily or otherwise), than have entered it. And given that the majority of collectors are aged 60 or older, this trend is likely to continue. Compounding that is the fact that the number of dealers and producers (unless you include Shapeways) has also declined.
Our Northern California chapter of the SMSC is the only U.S group that meets regularly (three times a year). Several of our members are wargamers who primarily collect Superiors, Comets, etc. A decade ago we regularly had 15-20 in attendance. These days the average is 10-12. While we have recently had some new members attend, these are older gentlemen. Despite repeated efforts, over many years, to recruit younger members we have had no success.
It should be noted that there are other hobbies which have expressed similar problems.
Thank you for the photo.
I am wondering this question, in the most polite way.
Does anyone think this hobby will be picked up by the new generation? Because there is a lot of white hair in there, again! Asking in the most respectful way, no offense intended here..
On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, 11 of us got together at the house of Tom Vargas. This time, 3 wives also joined us, but they did not participate in our lengthy navy and ship related discussions. As you can see on the photos, Tom has created a vast amount of dioramas and displays of 1250 ships.And most of us also brought models to sell or display.
The discussion part of our gathering centered again on the state of our hobby. Producers and dealers are retiring, or slowing down. For the collectors of metal models, the availability of casters is becoming a problem. But it looks to us as if the casters of toy soldiers are still producing a lot. Also, the hobby of railroads is still going strong. They seem to be able to attract younger collectors better than we are.
In 2 weeks, the delayed Kassel show will take place under a trio of new organizers, but at the same venue as before. It will be interesting to see the future of this vital event of our hobby. Of our group yesterday, only Kevin and I will be in Kassel.
I mentioned to the group that the event at the International Maritime Museum in Hamburg is still planned for September. My friends and I had reserved a table for our Lingener Navy Strategy Game. However, the organizers of the Hamburg event have informed us that given the current war in the Ukraine, the showing of a "war game" might not be appropriate. We are still planing to exhibit it in Kassel.
Our San Jose chapter has 3 displays planned for May:
May 19 at a retirement community in Cupertino
May 21 at the San Martin Airport-an event that attracted 1500 visitors last year
Memorial Oak Hill Cemetery-I forgot the date
The displays at these events are always very popular and our San Jose chapter gets invited back every year. They are also in touch with the organizers of the Spirit of '45 at San Joses Historic Park in early August.
We discussed the status of various US Navy Museum Ships, some of them are in serious trouble.
The liveliest part of our discussion was about Navy and war movies from 1942 to present. I guess this brought back a lot of good memories for most or all of us. Very interesting.
Our next meeting is planned for September 24, 2022 at Paul's house.
Here my photos from yesterday: Anyone can view this shared album at: https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0m5zXwoYh6vA4
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