I’m curious, how many of you out there have gone to the hobby shop and had to choose between an item for the layout, or the latest whatever magazine (or two) that has an interesting article or two in it that could prove helpful? I mean, lets face it, at almost $6 for one mag, and I may see two or three I’m interested in, it can cut into a tight hobby budget.
I know, if I had a subscription it would solve the problem, but I don’t.
I’m just wondering if there’s anyone out there who stands in the hobby shop like me and makes these kinds of choices. How many of you are like me and standing there in the hobby shop isles like a deer in the headlights?
(Fess up! I know some of you do it! I’ve seen you!)
No I do not have that issue. I am not cheap to be worrying about a couple of magazines or something for the layout. I believe you should be better prepared before you go to the hobby shop. With more than 6300 post you really must spend more time on this forum than on the layout so it shouldnt be a big deal anyway. I know that this hobby is expensive and when I go to make purchases a magazine is not cutting into my budget. PLUS I am noit rich either. I am certified broke but I save enough for my hobby
Philip, I try hard not to be impulsive about the hobby. God knows that I dont have the funds, either, but even if I were in much better condition financially, I would on principle resist the “feel good”, gotta have it cuz it’s going to be important…maybe even soon…thing.
I have gone into nice LHS’s with wonderful, eye-popping stuff, some of it at ridiculously low prices. But I try to stay true to a plan or method of some kind, and that has meant my leaving the store empty-handed with others fondling all the jewels with red stickers. I have decided not to purchase this month’s MR because I don’t see anything in it that is essential to my overall direction. I don’t subscribe…I get it at the store. So, only old issues for me this month. I wouldn’t mind some nicer rolling stock, but I also need trees…lots of trees. I was ready to hit ‘enter’ on a $230 order at Scenic Express last night, and then said to myself, “You had intended to make most of them…why are you doing this?” So, I just exited the browser and admired what I have.
Funny thing, but this morning, now about 12 hours later, I have a strong hankering to make my first tree in nearly two years.
I’m fortunate in not having this problem nowadays, but hade it when I was younger and less well off. The choice in my case was between the staple items needed to build the layout and the cool stuff needed to make it better. Example: choosing between Kadee #5 couplers, two sheets of Evergreen styrene, and a few bottles of paint and a neat new loco. The couplers and paint won.
I am thrifty and seldom go to the LHS or buy anything I don’t need. I subscribe to the magazines I am interested in. Most LHSs that I’ve been to don’t stock what I need and I will not pay MSRP if I can help it. I shop online from the discount houses and get incidentals at the many discount arts and crafts stores or builder suppliers in the area. It’s surprising the amount of money you can save by using common items in place of dedicated hobby supplies whenever possible. This hobby can be as cheap or expensive as you make it.
I go through the same agonizing moments that you seem to go through. It often a choice between getting this car or that car, this magazine or that magazine etc. Couple that with my two sons who insist on going with me to the Hobby Shop and absolutely must get something. And if one gets it they both have to get it. So Dad’s RR often loses out on a freight or two. Last visit to hobby shop cost about one hundred dollars. Went to get some Kadee couplers and wheelsets. Found some ACF Covered Hoppers I had been interested in that were on sale, had the two boys who always find something for their favorite railroads and there it went.
I have reached that fortunate point in life where I’m not servicing debt (other than a low-rate mortgage on 40% of the present value of the house) and not supporting my offspring, so the monthly check that goes into my personal account only has to pay utility bills. The remainder is available for trips to interesting places, tickets to sporting events and, of course, model railroad purchases. (My wife has a similar situation, covering golf expenses and visits to the friendly neighborhood casino. The largest income stream goes to a joint account for the mortgage and other expenses.)[:)]
If I decide that my life won’t be complete without the latest wonder-widget, I can buy it. Being a simple soul, I am seldom even tempted by wonder widgets.[8D]
The one thing I don’t have to pay for is trips to Las Vegas…[(-D]
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - in a Clark County, NV, garage)
i always plan on spending at least $100 every time i walk into the train store. so if i dont have the $100 i dont go in.
after 15 years in this madness i advise anyone who wants to show me their trains from their childhood…to just put them back and forget they have them. few listen. so i do end up in the train store assisting but its just as fun spending some one elses money.
i recent went to the Boeing and collinsville train shows on the 15th and only bought tickets to get in… my wife doesnt believe me. i had cash but didnt see what i wanted and a recent convert brought his 3 yr old and wife so i was more of a tour guide.
i get all my railroad article needs from MR(hear the sucking up sound)lol
also im saddened that ready to run is the norm… i miss building my cars…
Some of the better “journals” from the historical societies are more like $8-$10 per copy. I would love to get them all, but what I do is carefully note the exact article and issue I am intersted in and then watch for them at swap meets. I’ve picked up an entire collection (1-3 years worth) that includes the specific one I want for the same $10, that I would have spent for the one issue.
Also I have several friends in several different Historical Societies. We each get that particular railroad’s journal and then share if we need info out of one of the others. I get “Private Varnish”, NP, & GN while friends get the AT&SF, Moffat, RI, UP, D&RGW. Unfortunately we don’t have a CB&Q, Mopac or Frisco person in the group.
But if one switches from magazines to books, I really wish I would have spent the $40-$60 for some of the books I’ve seen rather than the $80-$100 I’ve spent on some locomotives. The books come off the shelf a whole lot more, than some of those locomotives come out of their boxes. I wish I had as many good books as I have good locomotives.
Never. Items for the layout always win out over books and magazines. If it is a real good article, it can always be found later on the internet or at a library. Might not be that lucky with a car or loco you had your eye on.
I too have gone into the hobby shop with a $100 bill burning a hole in my pocket, usually I needed most of it, but some still sits in my to do box…Other time a ten or so, as I need a particular item.
For me to get on and stay focused on purchases, I had to implant in my mind ( OK it was like carving granit with a spoon LOL) the words “disposable income and it ain"t much”. Since then I dont come home with an armload of stuff that wont go on the layout for a long time, a couple of those niffty widjet…perhaps never, …but seemed like a good deal at the time and great dust collectors on the top shelf…LOL
But as Selector and others alluded too…Its kind of fun doing more with less…Then one really consider the “Money Invested”…to “Hours of involvment”. Im kinna getting into scrach building. I too also pick up a mag that has somthing I am or about to do…John
I back ordered every issue of model railroad planning and Great model railroads last month since I’m working on the plans for my next layout. The way I see it is that they will end up saving me cash in the long run by giving me inspiration, ideas and tips that i can use to build a better layout.
That said, I sure would have liked to put those money on another engine, or a few trees or maybe another…
Well you get the idea. I spend a lot of money on books as well. They are almost worth the money and makes modelling something easier and it gives me something fun to read when not studying for the university!
heck I do it all the time when I go to hobby shops. I walk in and look at all the great stuff I “need” for my layout and can’t decide what to get. Then my mind starts telling me that I shouldn’t be spending all this much money once I decide what I AM going to get I start to feel guilty because I should probably be saving it for a rainy day. So, what I tend to do is make a list of the essential items I need for whatever project I am working on currently, save some $$ up and tell myself it isn’t bad that I’m spending this because I have worked hard for it, and go from there. It tends to help some.
PC, I have both MR and RMC subscriptions, and that - trust me here - is not the solution. I have to agonize about if I want to order the new special issue (Realistic Layouts special issue #3,025) I find that the multitude of back issues I own actually have lots of stuff - that I haven’t got to building or applying yet. And that’s on top of the 35 (correct that! I just got a Glacier Gravel kit, so it’s now 36) structure kits which need assembling, and not counting a few dozen freight car kits. My one LHS owner and I joke about my having more of the Kalmbach books (some dating back to around the 1970’s, when my last attempt at a model railroad fizzled out) than he does, and most of the ones Kalmbach makes.[:O]
I can go to the local LHS (the one in town) and get out without spending too much (define that as under $50 most times). One problem for me is our down-the-road LHS whose owner (crafty person that he is, retired and supplementing his income with the LHS) gives fellow MRR club members a pretty decent discount on our orders, and notifies us when Horizon or Walthers has some items on close-out. That is coupled with one of the biggest hazards for my budget (did I say I had a budget? Nah…) is those addictive, full-color Walthers sale catalo
Nope. I’m a subscriber and I stopped getting gouged by the LHS last year. All my shopping will be online from now on. Now that being said…I do sit infront of the laptop agonizing over how I’m going to get everything I “NEED” out of my paltry dollar! [:D]