...
"Young People = People Under 40."
Finally.
Finally, we're getting somewhere!
Other than this, in reviewing your list of operations in the hobby, of times and places adn things [like hobby shops, etc.,] it read a lot like a list of how things were done 20-50 years ago. If you keep analyzing the hobby using that model, you will of course come up with grim reality time and time again.
Let's analyze the hobby from the Modern Lens instead of this Antiquated view [containing hobbyshops, Ambroid kits, Varney stock, Magazines, etc.]
Siding One, Shopping: The modern crafter shops at Michael, Hobby Lobby and Walmart. The modern builder shops at Lowes and Home Depot. The Modern hobbyist shops ONLINE - This is true in almost every hobby. The hobbyist is further Closer than Ever to the means of production - we're seeing unprecedented levels of access to cottage industries. Emails and Correspondence can have an order SHIPPED within the same day the person decided they wanted to buy something!
What happened to the hobby shop?
1, markup. We're not going to pay MSRP. 2, Timeliness. We're not going to wait for the proprietor to order the stuff for us from Walther's - not when we can do that ourselves, AND get a better discount! 3, Stock. The hobby shop used to have "everything," or claim to have "everything," or at least access to "everything." That was never possible. Nowadays, if you want Anything, you can find it online and quicker than the proprietor ever could. 4. Competition. The only thing left to buy at the hobby shop then was adhesives, turf, scenery items, wood, etc. Why buy at the hobby shop when you can get it [or similar items] at the big box? 5. Rent/Property Taxes/Mortgages/ROE. Yep, the land under the store was worth more as something else than as a hobby shop. They sold it, made a bundle, and retired. 6. Future employment outlook. Honestly, who gets into a hobby shop nowadays, when the old joke is that the only way to make a small fortune in the hobby retail business is to start with a large one?
Siding Two: Buy/Sell/Trade: The Modern Hobbyist buys, sells, and trades their stock Online. IF they want to sell something they may use an email server or bulletin board. Or they may pull up to a site like Ebay where they can pick through a million flea market tables all at once. What more, they can also locate discount warehouse vendors blowing stuff out - great for the hobbyist!
What happened to the Trains shows?
They're still there!!! That's right, you can still find a great host of tables all across the world selling hobbyist materials! People LOVE shopping, people LOVE selling, and thus, the market remains viable!
Siding Three. News: The modern Hobbyist does not use a magazine to get news about what's going on in the hobby. The modern model railroader gets his news Online.
What happened to Print news?
By the time the print industry publishes news and gets it in the hands of the hobbyist, the news is three months old. Today, manufacturers are able to put their pipes right into the hobbyist's email inbox, alerting them of new arrivals and future projects at the same instance they might alert the press about the item. Those who relied on the print press for their news found the items already sold out when they went to reserve - yes, RESERVE!!! - the items! If they went to their retailer with the reserves, they'd find their retailer either screwed up the order or sold their order to "a better customer." Huh!!
Siding Four, Hobby Features: The modern Hobbyist finds their hobby Feature articles Online. Do you want to learn how to rebuild brass locomotives? Do you want to see a cool Locomotive build? Do you want to see a layout get built in real time? Its All available at the click of a button! If it's not a full blown website, there's a blog. And if not a blog, there are the web bulletin boards, holding a host of forums on every subject you ever thought possible to discuss. Can't find the topic you want to see? Start it!
What happened to the Feature Magazines?
They have shrunk, gone out of business, and their heretics are actively researching the electronic medium to better serve the hobbyist community by bringing them their hobby features "Forever Free!" with the level of interactive responsive community [and company] the modern hobbyist is coming to expect. Tongue may be in cheek here, but I'm also serious!
Siding Five, Discussion: The modern Hobbyist discusses their hobbies Online. Their friends exists around the world, and they have a better idea of where the cutting edge is than ever before. Controversy is fresh, though there is indeed nothing new Under The Sun!! The modern hobbyist is an active member of the discussion - or at the very least, an active reader!!
What happened to the "Pot Belly Stove" Club?
In the old days, you had the local club or bender or wherever where the hobbyists gathered to celebrate their chosen interest. If you didn't like those people, You found another stove where you liked the people better. If you didn't like the people at any of the stoves, you found your own stove. Maybe once in a while you'd turn to the magazines, and read a letter to the editor, but otherwise that was your extent of exposure to controversy in the hobby. You did not know what was happening beyond your community and the magazines. Many clubs have lost their sites and their huge layouts, others have had to curtail their activities due to the landlord's decisions. Still others have bought their own buildings Adn then there is this other subset who are Round Robining and playing around with modular layouts that spring up over night and then disappear the next evening. Madness!!
Siding Six: Scratchbuilding: The modern Hobbyist is electronics savvy. Even while the old ways are still here, the modern hobbyist designs their projects in CAD and then burns them on a laser cutter, cuts them out on a CNC router/mill/lathe, or has them produced on a 3D printer. The modern hobbyist could build their own electronic equipment, if they had the patience, using plans available online. The level of displayed quality has never been higher - nor has the access to quality equipment, including cameras, been better. End result, the modern hobbyist could easily achieve results once only attainable by the "masters."
What happened to the old ways?
They're still here, and ever six months or so, a new article is published in the electronic resources showing a new "how to Cast Resin Parts" or "How to make Trees." The razor blades are still cutting, the tools still flying. The masters are still producing new models and loving every minute!
Siding Seven: Manufacturing: The modern Hobbyist has never been closer to being a Cottage Industry Producer. Just as scratchbuilding has become easier than ever, so too has manufacturing. With a minor investment of a couple grand, the modern hobbyist could produce market goods on par with what is already available on the market and at a competitive rate.
What happened to the old houses?
Many of them went out of business. Go ahead, count the ones that have survived without being bought, sold, merged or closed. Many of the small ones have closed with the retirement of their owner, while many of the best have sold their stock to new producers and some of those producers are still selling the products. The new producers that have replaced them are overnight operations, appearing and disappearing seemingly out of nowhere, with the best ones sticking around. They sell direct to their customers, both nurturing and devastating their business with their personal customer-relation abilities. This, we have all seen!!
So there is the modern state of the hobbyist world. note this "hobbyist" does not have to be a model railraoder - IT could be ANY number of fields, whereas every hobby has been touched by the net. I guess there is a common thread to all of this...this hobby like many[all] other hobbies has gone ONLINE! Being online, it's harder than ever now to measure its strength!
Nice work, Don!!