How did you get started in the hobby?

[rschaap]

I am not sure if this has been done before but I have always been interested in how people got into the hobby an if they consider it a hobby or obsession.

I myself started when I was around 6 years old. My dad had just come back from his first tour in Vietnam and brought back some models he had built while on the ship. As time went on he began to bring unbuilt kits home and he would let me help build them. I was determined to build a whole fleet. My dad was involved in three campaigns in Vietnam and retired after 20 years in the Navy in 1973. He worked for Todd Shipyard in San Pedro until they closed. My fondest memories of my dad was going to the navy base, touring ships and attending a number of air shows. Now every military piece I acquire brings back memories of my dad, good memories. If you ask my wife she would say that my collection is an obsession. I can't argue, because she is right.

I will post some pictures later.

[Arpia IV]

Hi, I'm from Colombia and since my childhood I was always attracted to what looked like realistic looking toys. I remember that they were a different level of toys so were not affordable.
Once here, I started to see them again in stores like Toys R Us with a more realistic level of details but I remember I felt a bit grown for them and then I don't remember how I saw in internet for first time an F-14 in 1/18 scale and I knew that I had to get it. When I saw it I had no idea about scales were but after some research on internet I understood all about that and it became my favorite. Now I have a few models and I’m still looking for few more. This is an endless hobby and as a personal long term project I would like to start producing models for sale because I see the lack of new products in this field.

[tmanthegreat]

I am not sure if this has been done before but I have always been interested in how people got iterested in the hobby an if they consider it a hobby or obsession.

This topic surfaces from time to time. This is not the first instance, nor will this be the last, but its something we all seem to like recounting

I've always been a fan of small realistic toys myself. When I was young in the 80s and early 90s, I collected Playmobil (which has always featured small scale detailed items), Legos, and really enjoyed the vintage Star Wars and 3 3/4" GI Joe items. I remember a friend and I, 20-something years ago, dreaming about how cool a realistic WWII-themed GI Joe line would be. In the 1990s, I was into the renewed Star Wars lines, Galoob Star Wars Action Fleet, BattleSquads military line, etc. I was always a fan of Galoob MicroMachines. Further, since the late 1980s, I had built a string of mostly model aircraft in a variety of scales. I had also collected a couple 1:32-ish Liberty Diecast P-51Ds and some 1:48 scale Yat Ming WWII planes.

So, that was sort of where I was come fall of 2000. By that time, I was in college, and really should have been drifting away from toys, but at that time, Hasbro was re-releasing the 3 3/4" GI Joes again and ever the collector, I was beefing up my existing collection. Consequently, it was on a road trip to Sacramento CA in October 2000, that I stopped by a Toys R Us store somewhere up there to look for what was new with GI Joe. Walking into that aisle, I was floored when I saw a realistic-looking 1:18 scale BF-109E (that is the first-ever 21c XD item I recall seeing). Near that a P-51D was found. I don't remember seeing the other items (figures, Sherman, Panther, etc) but they had to have been there...

To that point in my life, I had only seen WWII planes either as scale model kits that I had to build or as expensive diecast toys. Never in my life did I think I would see "GI Joe sized" WWII aircraft! I walked out with the P-51 - which I still have with its box - and have not yet looked back

[[CAT]CplSlade]

I used to build military models back in my early teens, so the seeds were laid then. A few years after getting married and settling down, I found myself upstairs in the Toys-R-Us that used to be located at Union Square in New York City in late 2000. I was looking for Volkswagen-related diecast, but the huge BF109 with the yellow nose caught my eye that day, and its purchase was followed by Corsair #29 a few weeks later. Odd pairing, but that was all they had in stock at the time (an issue that would become all too frequent). Limited space raising a child in a NYC apartment barred me from buying more large toys and I collected nothing until moving to Georgia in 2006. By then, 21C was in disarray and Wal-Mart was cleaning house so I was able to sweep up almost one of every type of vehicle in 1/32, if not every paint scheme, and there was still plenty of FOV for cheap at Target as well. I couldn't believe I was getting such a decently detailed and reasonably accurate model at that size and price.

But with the apparent death of 1/32 vehicles since the implosion, I sold all my tanks and trucks and started building 1/35 kits instead so I could continue expanding a collection. I can't handle scale mixing so one had to go; 1/35 won for variety. So, I owe 21C for getting me back into my childhood hobby of kitbuilding which works out now that I am not in danger of moving for many years - well, at least until my youngest graduates high school.

I still have nearly all my 21C, BBI, and FOV 1/32 aircraft as they work with their bethren in the kit realm. The 109 was sold a few years ago but I still have the Corsair. So while technically I'm not buying "collectables" as such, I consider amassing and building my kits to be "collecting" and it is military in a small scale. Besides, it's all Unimax's and AllGo-NoGo Toys fault I sold that stuff.

[Threetoughtrucks]

As a teen, I built kits and destroyed the tanks and vehicles with "realistic" shell holes by heating my Moms knitting needles and melting holes in the turret sides.

Skip ahead years and my youngest found a 21C 1/18 CC in TRU and gave it to me as a BDay present. The quality knocked me out. I was a MV 1/1 collector and my first MV had been a WC-56 Dodge CC and I had taught my boys to drive on it as soon as their little legs could reach the pedals. They both have fond memories of us bouncing through the woods and on the beach with them driving way, way, before they were legal drivers.

My MV days were winding down and I started buying 21C 1/18 vehicles and then 21C 1/6 vehicles to bring me where I am today...... out of room and pissed. My wifey wanted me to buy an "extra" house last year for my toys and the occasional houseguests but I hesitated and today house prices are going up and up in our area. 20K over what I could have paid just a year ago for a house a block away. He who hesitates...........

TTT

[Jesse James]

Can't be obsessed with something that more or less doesn't exist at this point, haha, but I got into the 1:18 military stuff when I walked into TRU and saw the first series of things. Walked out with the Kubel and a couple German figures. I bought most of the first series then save for the Mustang and Sherman... No clue why I passed on them.

I got into it more as I got better work and still pick up what I can now, but it's not like Star Wars is where you're actively looking regularly. That's much more what I'd label obsessive at this point. Though, it's much easier now to order online and not be quite so jittery passing a store.

[c119box]

I've always been a fan of WWII history. While Christmas shopping in a Toys R Us store, I found a 21C "Blue Nose" P-51. As I looked further, I found a JU-87 and a P-38 (Samantha). That was the last airplanes I saw at Toys R Us. Along came Walmart, I hate to think how many times I drove to one just to look for more releases. While traveling, I'd see a Walmart and would leave the road to check it out. I might loose 45 minutes, but If I found a 1:18 airplane, it was well worth it. I found some that never made it to my hometown Walmart.

[Jnewboy]

I was an only child that had a lot of time on my hands so I built 1/35 armor and lots of aircraft of every scale when I was a kid. It all stopped when I was about 13 or so when I started to chase girls and hang out with friends more and more. Fast forward to my early twenties when I saw one of 21st Centuries 1/18 Spitfires and a 1/18 Fw-190D at Walmart and thought they were cool and got them and hung them in my room, after a few weeks I had to add the black nose 1/18 109 to the mix and I went down the rabbit hole... After a few years of collecting I started doing customs, I did not have much money so I sold customs to buy more stuff and the first year or so they were pretty bad, there are lots of old posts on here about them from back in the day. After a few though I started shaking off the rust and got better and am always trying to learn more. with the money from the customs I reinvested most of it in more product, sometimes in bulk, I remember buying 7 BBi 109s at one time for just alittle over $500 and after I sold a few custom 109s I had broken even. Now Im 31, with a family and full time work and a massive collection that I plan on slowly making all customs out of for myself or for sale however the market for customs in 1/18 seems to be fading, like the scale. I gave up on the 1/18 armor collecting awhile back and have instead built up a nice collection of 1/16 tanks. I have a few 1/18 tanks left that will be offered up to the public as customs, a Tiger, a Sdkfz 251 & a Panther. The Panther is going on eBay tonight. These will be the last of the custom 1/18 armor that will be made for the public.

[pickelhaube]

I bought the Spinach 109 from a local hobby shop for $45 10-12 years ago.

Then went back and worked out a bundle deal for the original Corsair and Snake Stuka $75.

Then I was hooked. I have had hundreds of XD . I have since sold about 3/4 of my collection.

I had 19 1/6 scale Stuarts at one time now I am down to about 5.

I still wish I had those bad boys.

I am putting a hold on selling my 1/18 scale stuff but I am steady increasing my 1/6th scale collection.

I do believe the only " new " thing that I will get is Pizza Man's Hobo

[supersonicfifi]

in 2003 I saw once in a small toy shop in Paris a GIANT corsair and was intersted and then i discovered another shop with a bigger P38 hanging from the ceiling and decided to look on internet for some more infos. I've found at that time a new website badcataviation and have ordered my first plane : P51 killer from BBI .... i was hooked !

Now i own one sample of evry plane/variant but in one color only (space is at premium because my wife dosen't share exactly the same vision of a cosy interior )

I then saw the big jets F16:F18 and went crazy !!!!

I was hesitating in 2005 in buying a 75$ blue angel F18 ! by the time i was ready to make my mind i bought one in 2007 on ebay at 99$ ! Now i wish i had bought a whole squadron in 2005! i could be rich !

So now i grab a model as soon as it is possible (carefully choosing the paint scheme)

You can still find some gems : for exemple last year i was able to find a P51 prototype on ebay for 65$ !!!!!! viewtopic.php?f=1&t=28721

http://www.warbird-photos.com/gpxd/view ... =1&t=28721

[pizzaguy]

2000 TRU, I remember while on a Star Wars hunt I saw the P-51 and 109 stacked high on a shelf. That's when it started. In 2006 I came across SSMH getting input on the acrylic stands I was making. They actually started off as stands for my Y-wing, X-wing, Falcon and Tie fighters. From there I've been thinking of ways to support the addiction.