"It's Time To Change Your Filter!"

Like friction, we all live with filters, good and bad. A car tune-up includes new oil, gas, and air filters, because they protect us from the crud that comes our way. A bad filter holds back some of the things we'd like to have, like when whole wheat is filtered and turned into white flour. In the process, the best nutrients are removed. The radio/music industry is one of the worst examples of "top-down" filtering, as it is now dominated by a handful of highly structured formats. They play what THEY want YOU to hear.

Unfortunately, as model car fans, we've been living with filters for years, primarily in the form of magazines, the big kit manufacturers, and the distribution channel, which consists of the wholesale distributors & hobby shops.

In the "before-internet" world, the physical limitations of print publications, hobby shops, distributors, and kit manufacturing required that products and editorial content be carefully selected and "filtered", a process that is inherently subjective. A magazine can only print so many pages, a hobby shop or wholesale distributor can only stock so much stuff, and a kit maker can afford only so much new tooling. It has been the job of the editor, buyer, or product manager to do the front-end filtering for the majority of consumers. And, to a certain degree, it did work, until an explosion of new products hit the whole hobby industry in the mid 1990s. Then it just started to loose it's effectiveness for the consumer, due to the physical limitations.

Also, in that highly filtered system, the personal biases of a handful of individuals for or against certain modeling categories, shows, writers, and product manufacturers could make or break a product line or style of building. Access to publicity and broad-based product distribution ruled they day, and the publishers and product merchandisers could convert that access into revenue. Good marketing consisted of getting your product used in the magazines and distributed to the hobby shops.

When the World Wide Web reared it's head, many old-timers in the hobby industry predicted that the internet would be the final blow to the hobby. Consumers, who seemed increasingly indifferent to the offerings from these traditional "filters", were perceived as non-responsive. Computer games and, subsequently, the internet, was largely blamed for the demise of the hobby, when, in fact, it was the over-filtered, unresponsive, unimaginative decisions of the "filters" themselves that the consumers were ignoring.

Actually, the internet is a huge benefit to the consumer, and it's the final blow to the "filters", those who have used the control of those filters to their own benefit. And because those "filters" have long been the established "voice and leadership" of the industry, their predictions of gloom and doom for the hobby came from a self-important, self-concerned perspective.

Let's take a look at how the internet might change the dynamics of the hobby, especially with respect to the more sophisticated, adult modeler. And let's base it on reality, not fantasy.

Back in the dark ages, like, say, 1996, the internet was a more murky place. Larry Greenburg's "Strictly Stock" site was the best thing going for model cars, and it was good. Most of the other model car sites were personal sites, featuring the webmaster's own models. Very few businesses were online. Not surprisingly, most of the established "model car industry" was having a jolly time ignoring the internet, either dismissing it as a fad or trying to figure out how to avoid it and still survive.

The three years since have not been kind to the head-in-the-sand-crowd. By taking a fresh look into the future, we can make the following statement: If you enjoy model cars, then the internet is about to usher in the most dynamic era that this hobby has ever seen.

Unfortunately, there will be traumatic dislocations along the way, especially for the old "filters". But overall, for the consumer, times will be exciting. But let's back it up with some insight.

First - let's say that you're into building or collecting old Indy cars. The internet allows you to form a "club" online, and you can swap parts, info, research, model photos, and other grit back and forth with ease. In the past, it was just too hard and expensive to get in contact with other like-minded gluemongers. Kustom Kemps in Miniature was one of the few niche clubs that existed BI (Before Internet). But online, we already have the Grand Prix Modelers Association, Baby Bimmers, F1 Modelers, Straight Line Modelers, and a Lotus modelers group, to name just a few.

Actually, most all of us can categorize our own modeling interest in some way. Maybe yours is vintage sports cars, muscle cars, customs, drag racing, trucks, etc. Back when, we'd put up with whatever was published in the magazines, because that was all we got. We were tolerant but quietly frustrated. But now, the internet is becoming a big reality check for print publications. They'll need to define a market and serve it very precisely, in order to justify the price.

As the internet fosters more quality content for various niches, those consumers who feel least served by a particular publication will begin to let their magazine subscriptions expire, and not look back. Or they'll flip through the latest edition in the hobby shop, and decide to take a pass this month. Maybe some of you have done this already.

Material and product that appeals to the "least common denominator" will take the hardest hit first. While it is carefully designed to appeal to everyone, in practice, it excites no one, and will be the first item cut from the modeler's budget and replaced with something that fits their interest more precisely. It is the targeted publications that will probably survive, as their readership has more inherent loyalty and interest. And except for sentimental reasons, the consumer is not affected by this, and will not miss what they don't want. They're voting with their wallets.

Second, we'll have the niche websites, and all of that swapping of parts and such. Out of that will come an explosion of aftermarket product. Bodies, decals, wheels, tires, engine blocks, and more. Really neat stuff, like super-accurate 1/43 scale Miller engine kits for 1920s Indy cars. It's already happening.

The internet is a huge equalizer. In the past, one of the biggest handicaps facing the specialty product manufacturer in this business has been getting the word out about your products. To reach a wide audience, it has been expensive, in several ways.

That's because the internet blows the lid off the cost of doing business. The most difficult aspect of having a successful aftermarket business is not making the product. It's marketing the stuff. Creating catalogs, getting them printed, advertising for catalog requests, mailing updates to customers, etc. etc. Before the internet, it was a real challenge, and expensive. Especially if you wanted to grow quickly as a serious business.

That was then. Now, with a decent website, which is even easier to produce than a catalog, you can reach the world. If some street-rodder becomes interested in scale models, he can plug "model cars" into a search engine, and a few seconds later, end up right here at the Model Car Hub, and start finding stuff that interests him.

Before the internet, he'd have to find a hobby shop, then take the time to go there. Once in the door, maybe he'd confront someone who knows every minute detail about Pennsylvania Railroad boxcars, but could give a rats about where to find authentic-looking Bell steering wheels in 1/24 scale. (try The Model Car Garage for those!). And he may not even find the leading model car magazine on the shelf at that store! After that abusive experience, it’s no suprise that he just gives up.

(Time out for a clarification: There ARE excellent model car hobby shops in this world. In the USA, there are about 50 "five-star" shops that carry a wide variety of aftermarket model car products. Then there are another 100 that are very responsive, and know where to get what you need, if they don't already have it. About another 1000, at most, carry just a few aftermarket items. But there are about 3000 shops in the US that sell plastic model car kits, and about 2000 of them (fully 2/3's of them!) REFUSE to stock even a few dollars worth of the aftermarket basics, like chrome foil, flocking, and engine wire. So the odds of an interested newcomer going to a random hobby shop and being introduced to modern model car building in an enlightened way are about 1 out of 10. New blood was being "filtered" out of the hobby before even getting into it! I'll probably get howls of protest from the hobby shop community, and we may look into this whole subject some other time, but these are the unfortunate facts, and, from hard experience and actual data collected, I can stand behind what I've just said.)

But back to our street rodder. On the internet, he can soon drill down to sites that sell resin bodies of old street rods, with chopped tops and woody bodies that have never been made as plastic kits. Since it looks interesting, and appeals to his own interest exactly, he jumps right in and buys a resin body. And the manufacturer or online hobby shop gets a very low cost customer.

We are now starting to see the emergence of aftermarket companies that are primarily marketed on the internet. Resin Works (speed parts for American Iron) and Lost In The Fifties Custom Decal Service are two that I am familiar with. By linking off of the Model Car Hub, they’re getting more exposure for their product line in a few weeks than they'd get with a year’s worth of expensive print ads, waiting for catalog requests to trickle in. Word of this kind of response gets around quickly, and it encourages others to turn their hobby into a business. An internet-based business.

For those who have become comfortable controlling what’s said and what’s sold in this hobby, while making money off the transaction, the internet must represent anarchy. For the rest of us, we can start to welcome in the golden age our hobby, right here on the World Wide Web. The product choices will be broad and deep, and not dominated by the few, who, up to now, have had more resources than imagination. It will become a community of choices, connecting the motivated producer directly with interested buyers. A place where "gatekeepers" and "filterers" must figure out how they fit into that equation, not vice versa.

Although we call ourselves an online model car magazine here at the Model Car Hub, we are very aware that we do not have the filtering control of a traditional print publication. No website does. Instead, while we will continue to create new content, just like a magazine, we will also work hard to try to lead our readers to the other places on the web that might interest them. We'll do it with our new Archive Links pages, with over 300 model car links, and our new Web News, also found in the Archive.

The World Wide Web is big and getting bigger every day, and we think it's our job to keep you up to date. We know that you'll look elsewhere for interesting things that relate to model cars, and we know that you don't have time to waste. It's a new way of doing business, in a new medium. Maybe we'll call it "The Unfilter"!

10/23/98

How many people do you know who custom build model cars professionally?

Actually, there are quite a few. I can easily count at least two dozen "full timers" in the USA; and Europe probably has many more. Most of the people I know have substantial backlogs of work, some of them a year or two long. I think it's great. The fact that collectors will pay professional rates for model car construction tells us that this hobby is maturing. It's a fact that the "mints" are contracting with some very well known modelers to do conceptual build-ups of their die-casts in the design stage.

Could you imagine a model car builder's show where there were active collectors making offers for the models on the tables? In the past, this has happened, most notably when the annual 1/43 scale in Chicago show was held in conjunction with a Ferrari memorabilia show. Jay Leno was even there one year. I understand the Ferrari memorabilia show is now history, so the collector attendance at the 1/43 show is just not there anymore.

Recently, Nick Mason, the drummer from Pink Floyd, was featured in a automotive memorabilia magazine. He's a model car collector. I have also heard that a drummer from well-known Texas based boogie band is a very avid collector of fine handbuilt model cars. The list goes on. Famous race-drivers, other late night talk-show hosts, famous car designers, collector car brokers. We've heard the names dropped, and the rumors. They all collect model cars, and know what they are talking about. The market for good-quality work is very large, but far too secluded.

Now, imagine the participation at the Salt Lake City Contest if you could come away with some substantial cash for a model you built, or maybe a couple of building contracts, even if you don't score any master awards? It certainly would change the incentive to invest in a plane ticket!

Yes, I realize that contest models and "professional" models usually have some differences. Many contest models are built with no concern for the time spent, making them "priceless". On the other hand, look at Andy Mathews, a Philadelphia-based professional modeler whose work is both "for sale" and world-class competitive.

Are there any other automotive memorabilia shows that already attract the serious spenders? Then that's a great place for a model car show. Monterey, California comes to mind. Are there others? Probably.

Last spring, there was a model car show that was put on at very nice museum in Stamford, Connecticut. Thanks to Marshall Buck, at Creative Miniatures Associates, this show had to be the best collection of famous model cars that has ever been assembled on earth. It featured models by Gerald Wingrove, Manuel Olive Sans, Michele Conti, Doug Whyte, and more (even Larry Boothe!). It was incredible, and turned out to be the most popular show that the museum ever hosted, and models did trade hands as a result of the display. If you missed it, there will be a book soon.

What's the point? By bringing collectors and builders together, you raise the profile of our hobby, substantially. Who wouldn't want to meet a famous race driver and personally sell them a model that you made?

Second, let's say you're a pretty damn good modeler, but you want to take your job and shove it. Or you just got laid off. A strong and readily accessible professional market allows you to thumb your nose at 'da man and continue making a living. Maybe that puts things in a different perspective for you.