The View from Here
Mark S. Gustavson

As Museum Trustees and members and interested hobbyists continue to labor to preserve the past and advocate for the future of our great hobby, things at the Museum continue to change.

Historically, we have been concerned principally about acquiring and preserving the history of our hobby. We were remarkably successful early on, but it became clear after a few years that we needed to expand our scope to encompass contemporary hobby activities. In response, the Museum moved a few years ago to sponsor current contests and several NNL events by offering one-year memberships to Best of Show winners or "top"models. The Museum also became the sole sponsor of the Best of Show award of the Goodguys model car contests. We have written and distributed almost 500 copies of a modeling "how-to" booklet (thanks to the generosity of Dr. Anagnostopoulos); that publication will be updated and reprinted in mid-year 2003. We have also reached out to the general modeling public (as you'll learn about later in this issue) to involve a greater number of people in Museum programs. These efforts to date have paid off handsomely with public-spirited hobbyists signing up to scan our magazines, clone vintage models, and help us identify significant models for the hobby. Our efforts to make this newsletter more useful to builders, (so far limited to my fitful reports on the "How We Used To Do It" articles), will change soon. Still, we need to focus and expand our goals to best exploit the stated mission of the Museum and its role in the hobby.

To better serve the hobby and expand the role of the Museum as the central source for information about the past, present, and advocacy for the future of the hobby, many changes will be occurring, starting at the end of this year.

First, we'll be changing the name of the Museum to more accurately reflect the expanded support of the Museum from members from outside the United States. Starting with the final 2002 issue of The Builder, the name will change to The International Model Car Builders' Museum. This change will eliminate the perception that the Museum is concerned only with domestic modeling: with active builders and representatives in at least seven countries, we must broaden our scope. The changeover work will start soon and require redoing stationery, amending legal documents, recrafting the Museum logo, and refashioning other artifacts through which the Museum is promoted to the public.

The next change will be the effort to present, in each issue of this newsletter, a short but comprehensive 'how-to" article that will pass along information on how to accomplish a particular modeling technique, or how to restore a vintage model, or some other builder-related task. With a focus on building models, it's high-time the Museum encourages and advocates constructing model cars. I'll be calling on leading hobbyists, with a known track record of article writing, to pen some of those articles and I'll write a few others. (Ironically, my work on the vintage AMT Styline Valiant has been delayed because of Museum and GSL work: watch next issue for an update.) We'll also be presenting features on key models in the Museum's collection to better educate our audience on our great collection, and in particular those that might never be able to actually visit the Museum.

Third, we will start to copy, and offer for sale, a selected series of the video tapes taken at past GSL Championships. We have nearly five dozen video tapes on which some of the most instructional and memorable building seminars are recorded. Also, if we can negotiate and secure a copyright release, we also intend to sell copies of the CDs of the scanned magazines (see the article later on our Scan the Past program). Both of these efforts will occur to help raise much-needed funds to keep the Museum open, as well as disseminating key instructional and historic information. As you may know, it's usually a footrace each month to pay the rent on time.

Fourth, we'll entertain and print interesting letters to the Museum as a way of better interacting with our membership and the hobby at large. If you have something important and useful to say, whether by way of a suggestion or a positive critique, or if you want to offer to help us with any program, please drop us a line. We want to encourage an active interchange with the public. All of this will mean that the newsletter and the Museum will continue to grow. With the help of our intrepid editor, Paul Anagnostopoulos, and the photo scanning services of Chad Benton, we can manage the growth, I think.

Finally, and wherever possible, the Museum will continue to sponsor leading contests and NNL events across the country, as well as being the sponsoring organization for the famed GSL International Model Car Championship. A new Museum display ad campaign designed by Trustee Pat Covert will present a new, more vigorous and forward-looking image of the Museum.

There are several ways in which you, as a Member or other supporter of the Museum, can play an active part. First, please donate funds to help us pay the rent and utilities, and to meet the expenses of our other programs; we depend exclusively upon the generous contributions from donors and members alike, so please think of us often. Plainly said, without adequate financial help, the Museum will simply cease to exist. Second, you can volunteer to scan a magazine or clone an historic model. Or you could take on the task of organizing and filing the hundreds of photos of model cars from the Seventies. We also need experienced builders to write how-to articles for this newsletter. How about just taking the time to thoughtfully consider a nomination for the Hot 150 list for Ages Five, Six and Seven?  And we need a gregarious person to handle the Museum's interface with clubs. Check out the article on volunteering later on in this newsletter.

You are invited to join with us in the preserving, and advocating the future of, this great hobby!  Volunteer to do something! We need your help, and you need to give something back to the hobby that has helped you. Write and offer your services. NOW. Okay?

Previously...

The Putty Thrower
by Mark S. Gustavson

We've witnessed some significant changes in our hobby in the last few years. In contrast to the time when new kits seemed to be abundant, many of the kit manufacturers have greatly scaled back their product line which is now becoming more diverse as they reach out to -- or create-- other markets. The recent acquisitions of Revell/Monogram and ERTL/AMT have resulted in tentative marketing decisions pending those sales which have produced a new level of uncertainty. Though many now are loudly lamenting what they see to be a downturn in our hobby, I don't see it that way. And neither does guest editorialist Mike Carroll who correctly thinks that any problems are properly our responsibility. I think that even the assessment of a downturn misunderstands what's going on.

Think about this: instead of the collapse that some hyperventilated hobbyists are seeing emerging from the shadows, I think we are witnessing the accelerating decentralization and diversification of our hobby. Where once the hobby was focused on the actions of the major kit manufacturers who determined the direction of the hobby by deciding what we'd build and to what level of detail, enterprising entrepreneurs now have changed the entire complexion of the hobby. Whether offering complete resin kits, or sophisticated machined and photo etched detailing sets for mainstream kit, or presenting unbelievably cosmopolitan scale speed equipment (did you ever think a vendor would offer a S.C.O.T. blower kit like Norm Veber does?), we've never had more choices or had it better.

If the major kit manufacturers are no longer the purveyors of dozens of new kits every year or the promoters of reputable contests, the rank and file of our hobby have taken up the slack and we've done things they could not have been even imagined a few years ago. The best events these days – from the many NNL displays to contests like the GSL Championship, the So-Cal Classic and the dozens of contests covered in ScaleAuto's Contest Annual – are all presented by dedicated hobbyists who've made the right decision to consciously avoid tie-ins with the manufacturers.  By growing independent, we have developed the ability to tailor our grass-roots events to fit the expectations of demanding and sophisticated hobbyists as well as the casual builders who collectively have a precise idea of what they'll support and what they'll avoid. This is a vital marketplace that is -- and must -- remain directly and quickly responsive to the audience to survive. Centrally-managed major kit manufacturers can't possibly be in touch with both the casual and sophisticated builders and they can't be expected to. 

The hobby is changing in other ways too. The January issue of Scale Auto (note that "Enthusiast" has been dropped from the title) now boldly presents concours-quality slot cars and the best of the diecast models along side the traditional how-to articles and event presentations. Model Cars -- an upstart and increasingly sophisticated competitor to Scale Auto -- attracts mostly new author/builders and provides the diversity the hobby requires. Car Modeler has been transfigured into a hard core builder magazine, though it is unfortunate that it appears only once a year.

Instead of lamenting the appearance of non-traditional topics in Scale Auto, let's consider the possibilities. Demanding hobbyists might move the die-cast manufacturers to create metal kits of increasing sophistication; if there's a market for a more scale accurate '57 Chevy Black Widow in metal, a company will step up. It's not beyond the realm of consideration to think about a hybrid metal kit (remember the Monogram die-cast kits of more than a decade ago?) with enhanced and more delicate casting and more subtle and accurate accessory parts manufacturing that might also be offered as an assembled model.  Moreover, if we can avoid the inane "thingie" slot cars of the late Sixties and later, think of the possibilities that this area of the hobby might present! Consider: with contemporary computer technology and micro-miniaturization, a visionary and committed builder (with a good budget) could create a sophisticated and authentic model of the Bertone 250 Ferrari concept car that could be operated, by remote control, on a scale slot track and still rule a static contest. We don't have to assume that the there is a bright line between a cutting edge contest model and a motorized model that could be enjoyed in action. It's time for us to shed our historic prejudices and think outside the box. There are enormous opportunities to expand the hobby.

It's up to us to mold our hobby to reflect our dreams and expectations. Let's spend less time wringing our hands, and dedicate that time and energy to changing the hobby to fit our dreams. It's truly up to us.

On to the future! 

Mark S. Gustavson