Passing The Time

Jim Eves will construct model kits for as long as he is physically able to. The 58-year-old, Yonkers, N.Y.-based collector has been constructing and collecting military model kits since he was a kid. And while his hobby was put on hold for many years because of “life” (marriage, kids, busy work days), he's looking forward to getting back to play.

A Vietnam veteran, Eves prefers military figures, in particular ones by Dragon Model USA, which recently released easier-to-construct, 20-piece Smart Kits, which are 1:35 scale models of military tanks. “They make the most interesting, wide variety of military models, more detailed,” he says. Tamiya and Academy are some additional favorites. In total, Eves has completed close to 30 models and has another half-dozen or so half-completed or waiting to be started. And there's more to come.

“Like everybody, I started making models when I was a kid,” he tells Playthings. “Then I got away from it for awhile. It's not until lately that I'm getting into making them again. There was gap in general—getting married, having kids. I didn't have free time.”

Overall in the hobby market, military vehicles, commercial vehicles, trains, aircraft kits, die-cast models and remote-controlled vehicles have the most baby boomer appeal, while the more kid-friendly models for generations Y and Z (especially Z—those born on or after 1998) tend to be science themed, such as dinosaur and experiment kits, or models of the most popular commercial vehicles, like Hummer trucks.

“It's a split market,” says Michael Brezette, director of marketing for Revell-Monogram, Northbrook, Ill. “Everybody buys kits—aficionados, enthusiasts 35 years or older, people who belong to model clubs, big toys for big boys. It's the bedrock for model sets, while 40 percent [of sales] goes to the kids. Do kids still buy kits? No. But are they still a viable audience? Yes, because they are recipients. Parents—in particular, grandparents—buy kits for them. Kids still like models, but it's not like it was in [the category's] heyday in the 1960s.”

Revell has noticed the science trend among younger hobbyists and will release two new figures lines next year with those kids in mind: Vex robots and Dawn of Time dinosaur models. The Vex line, targeted for 13-year-olds and up, features remote-controlled robots that can be built in multiple ways. The models, which will retail for approximately $199 each, include claws to grab things and a camera with a live feed, so activity can be monitored via laptop or TV if it's crawling around the backyard. The new line ships next July and is currently in prototype stage.

The Dawn of Time line, Revell's reissue of vintage Aurora dinosaur kits, features the Pteranodon, Ankylosaurus, Allosaurus and Dimetrodon models in the first wave. A following assortment will include Styracosaurus, Triceratops and Woolly Mammoth. The not-so-anatomically correct models for ages 8 to 10 are a fun way for kids to learn about dinosaurs and spark their interest in building kits. Though the kits are not scientifically accurate, according to Revell's manager of creative services, Bill Carreon, they are “fun to be around, kind of like an old Saturday morning cartoon show from the '80s.” Brezette adds that the experience that hobbyists get with the kits is more like a “great B-movie.”

Not quite space-age nor prehistoric, R/C helicopters—particularly foam-based ones that can fly indoors and out—are hot items this year, says Perry Charles, operations manager for online retailer and hobby toys manufacturer Trend Times, Scottsdale, Ariz. The foam flyers are not only less expensive but more durable than more elaborate R/C helicopters, Charles tells Playthings. Nevertheless, wooden and plastic flying toys are still just as popular as the foam kits. The Extreme Micro R/C Helicopter, developed by Trend Times and recommended for all ages, is a small helicopter than can have a flight time of up to 15 minutes per charge. Charles tested the Micro Helicopter in the Trend Times warehouse, which has a 20-foot ceiling, and says the toy could have easily reached a height of 40 to 50 feet.

“We're working on more helicopters and flying toys,” says Charles. “Everybody in their heart has always wanted to fly a helicopter and this makes it possible. Hobby kits bring out the kid in adults and also give kids some new play options. Kids can even work with parents on models.”

The company has also added a Hydro Flyer 4 Channel R/C craft to its selection, one that can soar in the air, ride on land and in water. Trend Times also has products that are popular with the littlest hobby fans, such as its new ride-on Hummer (H2), which comes with a rechargeable battery that lasts an hour and a half and features real headlights, and the new R/C Buggy, which can do donuts, 180s and 360s with a two-speed transmission. Charles adds that nitro-powered R/C cars are also big because rather than going electrical or being held back by battery life, nitro fuel is all you need to play. And it doesn't hurt that they can reach speeds up to 80 miles and hour.

Bob Wilke, senior vice president of Lincoln, Neb.-based retailer HobbyTown USA, says that some hot items for the holidays and for 2007 include Hasbro's Nitro XRC R/C truck, which doubles as a stunt vehicle with a lower price point, and the E-Flite CX 2 Ready to Fly Micro Helicopter from Horizon Hobby. The CX 2 features a crystal-less Spektrum radio system that searches through bandwidths for a free channel, helping to eliminate the problem of radio-controlled planes being on the same channel and interfering with each other.

Additionally, construction kits like those from Bridge Street Toys and K'Nex (both K'Nex branded sets and Lincoln Logs) are also popular buys at HobbyTown USA's 180 stores around the country. “They're the kind of toys a lot of people see as similar to those they remember playing with as kids, the durable type toys,” Wilke says.

In keeping with their tradition of die-cast products, Revell will introduce some new items, including the Revell Performance Machines (RPM) line, customized R/C kits in 1:24 scale, recommended for ages 12 to 25. The kits, which start shipping next March, feature die-cast models that can be customized with different car springs, tires and other vehicle accessories for racing.

This holiday season, Revell will launch a new submarine model, The Gato, a 250-piece kit of a World War II era U.S. Navy Gato-class submarine in 1:72 scale, as a follow up to last year's big seller, a German U-boat submarine. Next year, the company will also launch a new NASCAR-licensed line as well as a new submarine model kit line.

However, regular die-cast models are a category that Revell will scale back on by next year due to over-saturation in the market, according to Brezette. The company has kept its new Creative Master die-cast line available only on their Web site instead of spreading it through brick-and-mortar distribution channels.

He also adds that the cost of Zmak, the zinc metal material used to make die-cast, has gone way up. “Metal die-cast is not a good place to be right now,” he tells Playthings. “Die-cast is a struggling category to say the least, if you don't have a unique twist. We're pulling out of die-cast—the market is way over saturated. Plus, the cost [of Zmak] coming out of China is off the roof. Everyone is getting hurt, I don't care who you are. There are too many players chasing the market, and it's not growing.” Nevertheless, die-cast models continue to sell well for RBI Toys, a model manufacturer in Ontario, Calif. Izet Qimwong, marketing assistant for RBI, tells Playthings that collectors and consumers are always asking for more variety of die-cast to be produced, leading the company to “offer new die-cast [vehicles] that have not been in the market before.” To help increase the choices available to collectors, Qimwong says, the company makes sure to offer all the die-cast vehicle replicas that it produces in a wide variety of colors.

This year, the company is focused on new die-cast lines: Fresh Cherries, inspired by an American car built in the 1970s and early 1980s—a first car for many; American Graffiti, cars based on the '50s-era George Lucas flick from 1973; and Hi-Riserz, street cars with jacked up wheels, for holiday and 2007.

Most of RBI Toys' products are sold in hobby shops as well as through online retailers, where Qimqong sends brochures and samples to help promote new items. Online stores like Trend Times are where collector and builder Eves purchases his models. He says that, unfortunately, all the hobby shops and stores that sold hobby products in his neighborhood have closed or stopped carrying hobby merchandise “because everything is online.”

For now, Eves says he wants to start working on more intricate models, like those of ships. “The hobby is interesting,” says the collector. “When you get a new model, you open up the box, and it's all in pieces. When you put it all together, it's like you accomplished something. It's something you got done. When you're doing it, you don't think about other things. It's like any other hobby—it's something to get your mind off things.”