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Model Zone in Administration & to close


Mike

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I must confess that my only dealings with MZ have been a few of their specials and, rather than opening an MZ account, I purchased via Amazon. They were the Airfix 1/24 Mosquito, Revell Routemaster and Airfix Illustrious Gift Set which did make for a sizeable saving.

The only Model Shop I (very) occasionally visit (well, Model Department) is Boswells in Oxford. Also in Oxford, Automodels (not sure how long they will survive in the "High Street") had a small selection of models, but now concentrate on the Gift Trade.

Aylesbury is my nearest large(ish) town, and I have not been there in ages and must say I missed Beatties when they went. The same applied to a Cycle Shop there that had a Model Department.

There was a popular toy shop in the small town near home which seemed very popular (they had a cut down model department after the shop closed down, only to re-open later I supect due to popular demand). Unfortunately, they wanted the building for a Library.

The only good thing from those closures has been that I did get a number of decently reduced models including a Tamiya 1/12 Williams!

Large towns seem to have an ability to drive away Model Shops with the cost of space. There was another Model Shop (including RC and trains) in Oxford, but that relocated out of town and dropped the models.

The last time I went to Milton Keynes, Beatties were still there! For that matter, they more probably were still Taylor and McKenna!

On the rare occasions I am away from home I used to try to find the nearest LMS. I remember picking my mum up from Paignton after she was there on holiday and getting a Tamiya 1/12 Lotus Seven. It was on special and I managed 10% off.

The way things are going, the Internet will be the only way to buy a kit before long. At least in some parts of the country!

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The way things are going, the Internet will be the only way to buy a kit before long. At least in some parts of the country!

Kits yes. But thanks to the Royal Mail's new shipping rules, where are we going to get our glues and paints from ?

:shrug:

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What I find a bit sad is that my local hobby shop - Galaxy models - trading for well over 30 years - shut down last year.

I know the owner.

He blamed Modelzone (and the web) for killing him.

Now, a year later, Modelzone might go.

If only Galaxy could have held on.......

They were a REAL model and hobby shop!

Roy.

If you mean Galaxy in Ipswich they had been going down hill for years before there even was a model zone in Ipswich.

They were a good all-round model shop and RC shop, but when they moved kits went down hill fast and RC became king. It got so it was almost like a club for people at the weekend and they looked down on you buying a kit. I got ignored at the counter, and then the badly trained staff could not even add my total up using a calculator. As far as I am concerned they did it to themselves.

Julien

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I am sad when any business goes under even though I am a bankruptcy attorney by profession. I try to make sure at least 50 per cent of my purchases are at local hobby stores even if it means paying a little more that what I would pay online. There is nothing like perusing the shelves, picking up the boxes, looking at the cover art and even feeling the weight of the box. Each time I visit a hobby store I make sure I buy something, if not a kit, the some paint, tools, magazines, something. I feel it is important to try to keep the local hobby shop open.

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If you mean Galaxy in Ipswich they had been going down hill for years before there even was a model zone in Ipswich.

They were a good all-round model shop and RC shop, but when they moved kits went down hill fast and RC became king. It got so it was almost like a club for people at the weekend and they looked down on you buying a kit. I got ignored at the counter, and then the badly trained staff could not even add my total up using a calculator. As far as I am concerned they did it to themselves.

Julien

There's no doubt some model shops were their own worst enemies. One thing that used to also put me off going into the one near me (before it closed down) was that I felt awkward going in there. I like to have a good look around but always felt I was being watched. The staff weren't unpleasant but they never said much either.

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I am sad when any business goes under even though I am a bankruptcy attorney by profession. I try to make sure at least 50 per cent of my purchases are at local hobby stores even if it means paying a little more that what I would pay online. There is nothing like perusing the shelves, picking up the boxes, looking at the cover art and even feeling the weight of the box. Each time I visit a hobby store I make sure I buy something, if not a kit, the some paint, tools, magazines, something. I feel it is important to try to keep the local hobby shop open.

I feel guilty looking back as sometimes I went in and didn't buy anything. I even remember mumbling to my friend once that I could buy some of the kits cheaper on the net.

The last few years I've always made a point of buying something though. I was even going to change a kit that my father bought for me recently as it was the wrong one I'd asked him to pick up. I then thought sod it..........I'll keep it and go and get the one I wanted just to give them some more business.

Edited by SeaVenom
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. . . . But this is not the same as browsing in a shop at all and I'm a fan of "browsing"... without a highstreet presence it's difficult for people to come to the hobby and give it a go. Ordering kits from the internet is a bit specialist IMO and it's not the same as walking into a shop seeing kits, paint, glue and so on... asking for advice... I'm not keen on the RC, or die-cast models, or trains but I can see why they have tried to expand the range. The problem is you can end up with too many different types of product and no focus...

IMHO this comment puts the whole matter into perspective. For us (as enthusiasts) the matter of ModelZone's commercial concerns are much more than an academical and theoretical finiancial talking point.

But, on the other hand, WTH, we're living in the "Golden Age" of the hobby, right?

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But, on the other hand, WTH, we're living in the "Golden Age" of the hobby, right?

I don't know about golden age but nothing stays the same, for better or worse modelling today is a far cry from modelling 20 years ago and even back then modelling was a far cry from 50 years ago... and modelling today will be as different again in 20 years time from today.

The rise of aftermarket resin/brass conversions, or the ability for home printing of bespoke decals and the advent of 3D printers... who knows what will be available to modellers in the future.

Traders selling direct to modellers at shows and via internet sites might be the norm for most of us.

The over riding concern with the threatened loss of a high street presence is the first contact for young modellers... but thinking about myself I never built kits with my dad... I started modelling because I was in the scouts and wanted to get my Hobbies merit badge so bought a couple of kits and after I received the badge I continued... but fast forward 30 years and my daughter watching me build a kit on the table asked if she could build one... I gave her one from the stash and 3 years later she has won best in show junior at several shows... she has never set foot in a MZ... here she is at yesterdays show in Dartford.

CAM00114_zps967b01ce.jpg

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Traders selling direct to modellers at shows and via internet sites might be the norm for most of us.

That's already been the norm for some (many?) of us for years. There was a fallow period in our local area between our last 'proper' model shop closing down & MZ moving in with great fanfare. So in those years mail order had indeed become the norm. And then when MZ did move in not a lot really changed. Paint? They started off stocking Tamiya acrylics & Revell enamels & acrylics only. Not much use to those of us using xtracolor/crylic, WEM, Life Color, etc - or even Humbrol. After much asking by modellers that actually use them they started stocking Humbrol enamels, but refused to stock the acrylics - even though they were on the website. Later they brought in Valejo. Personally apart from the occasional Revell acrylic I've never bought paint there, I still have to buy on line or at shows. Despite the Royal Mail's latest rules, paint is still available via couriers, & given the latest ridiculous RM price rises at not a lot more cost. Tools? They stock the Modelcraft range which are generally twice the price of better quality ones you can buy from someone like Eileens Emporium at a show. Sundries like plasticard, filler (£6 for a tube of Greenstuff?!) etc - again, well overpriced compared to show traders. And then of course kits. When they first opened here, they were adding a pound or so to the prices asked by a well known on-line giant who until recently were known for never discounting their prices! So where's the incentive there to buy locally? OK, they seem to have stopped that after a while, but apart from their sale items I personally couldn't be bothered to try & beat our local council's latest effort to make driving into town as slow & difficult as possible, & then when I finally do get in paying almost as much in car parking as most on-line traders charge for post & packing, & that doesn't take into account the petrol wasted getting there! And then there was MZ's own excellent on-line service - post free over £15 & usually delivered within a couple of days - why on earth bother with going into town? I really can't fault their on line business, & if I will miss MZ at all, it'll be the lack of the ability to get stuff post free!!

So, thinking about it, personally I'm not really going to miss MZ that much. Apart from maybe their sales...!!

What I actually mourn more is the passing of the local art shop - another specialist area that seems to have gone the way of the model shop. We used to have 4 or 5 locally, now there are none. All killed off by places like Hobbycraft, the Range & the internet. Way of the world it seems...

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Well I went into the local one here and after picking up the paint I needed and impulse buying the revell A-10 the guy in the store remarked "What're you going to do when we close?" He's understandably worried and after asking him he said there were 6 or so potential buyers including an American firm, the previous owner who in his words "should never have got the money from Lloyds in the first place" and Hornby got a mention. They're going day by day so far.

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I'll be sad if the MZ shop on the corner of Deansgate and Bootle St in Manchester closes. Not because MZ would be going, but because that site has been a model shop for as long as I can remember. I even bought balsa wood models from there when I was a youth, and I'm now retired! They always sold flying and RC stuff and model railways, but seem to have become much more of a toy shop since MZ took over.

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Chaddy

I was there in February. The ground floor is now plastic free and the serious stuff is now in the basement. It's like going into a secret place!

This can only mean that the management thinks die cast, action dollies and R/C sells more?

The Liverpool store has for many years devoted all its window space to anything but plastic so I can only conclude that it does sell more (surely not?)

Trevor

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So where will we buy exhorbitently priced Hasegawa kits from now then?

Trevor

Have to say that was my first thought!

Beyond a couple of Revell 'biggies' which were heavily discounted, I wouldn't go near them for a kit.

Mostly punishingly high prices, poor website.

Harsh, but that unfortunately is the way of the world.

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It's always difficult when one hears of this sort of thing, and although it won't affect me due to my current location, there's always a bit of "how badly will this affect my hobby?" - and then you remember that peoples' jobs are at stake.

So, first of all, I hope that the end result is that Modelzone continues (with its current staff, and hopefuly more), and that even if their bread and butter is R/C and the like, they find themselves in a position to stock and sell static model kits to keep the likes of us happy.

Now *that* would be a good outcome.

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To be honest im not surprised about this.

Every modelzone ive ever visited is full to the brim with outrageously expensive die cast (do people really pay over £50 for a little car??)

The base stock of kits is full price, you cant do that in this age of online shopping.

Im ashamed to admit but ive only ever purchased kits on sale from modelzone, which were always a varied selection with various scattered gems now and again.

So in a way I guess im as responsible as anyone for this demise of a retailer, but if they are not competitive thats not my fault.

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Kits yes. But thanks to the Royal Mail's new shipping rules, where are we going to get our glues and paints from ?

:shrug:

Try air-craft.net. Tamiya paints are 60p a pot cheaper than MZ, but postage is quite expensive because its via a courier. However, if, like me, you order in bulk (well 10+), the savings made on the paint pay for the postage. I have no affiliation to them, and I only started using them last December, and because I got good service, I've stuck with them. They are quick, cheap, and stock just about everything I need.
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Hi guys,

sad news for all the staff (been there myself a few times), but have to say the stores seem to be a jack of all trades & master of none, selling everything but not specialising in anything with a core staff that seem to have a can't be bothered attitude. Only been in the so called flagship store in Brum 4 times & its always been empty (it is a crap location though!!), went in yesterday & brought my first ever items from there (a few tamiya acrylics) & they were still selling Hase 72nd's for 60 notes.

hope someone will buy them out who has a core base in models,& not R/C , wooden boats, dolls etc.....

Andy.

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Just wondering if anyone's posting on RC or diecast forums about the sad demise of MZ, and saying how it wouldn't have happened if the shops hadn't been cluttered up with all those plastic kits. It's funny how insular we modellers can be , surely there's room for everbody in our hobbies ?.

Andrew

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Just wondering if anyone's posting on RC or diecast forums about the sad demise of MZ, and saying how it wouldn't have happened if the shops hadn't been cluttered up with all those plastic kits. It's funny how insular we modellers can be , surely there's room for everbody in our hobbies ?.

Andrew

Real model shops are usually not in the town centres.

TAHS was mentioned - I believe the building is owned outright by the shop.

Hannants shop is in an industrial unit well out of central London.

The problem is upward only rent agreements, which ever greedy pension funds( who usually are huge investors in retail ) will not drop their rents.

In Ireland, as in the UK ,there are more and more empty shopping centre units, which the management companies would rather leave empty, than charge less for.

Our local shopping centre has gone rent free ( it is owned by a large supermarket through a shell company).

They have a lot of empty centres and realised the rent was not helping - better to get people into the centre and then into the core business than have it die.

I don't like the company , but at least someone is starting to THINK!

Both good points with which I agree and that fit well with my initial reaction when I first visited a ModelZone (the one in Birmingham).

When I first visited the shop I was surprised to see a shop selling this kind of products right in the city centre. Model shops (and a lot of other specialised shops) have been constantly pushed outside the city centres by ever increasing rate rents. This has happened in every city in most countries and has affected every kind of shop. Today central shopping areas look pretty much the same everywhere as the only shops that can afford the rents are those of the large franchises. MZ being in the end one of these, probably had to be there in the High Street. But is the target market large enough to allow shops of that size in those areas to make money ? Now if we're just talking experienced modellers like most of us are, I'm not really sure. A larger range of more generic models (including R/C and die-casts) would probably be better. Yes, the resulting shop will not satisfy the most committed modellers in any of these areas, but might well have more chance of success by attracting a more "casual" kind of buyer while still selling something to the more experienced customers, even if it's just glue and paint.

Anyone who's been in Sydney has probably visited HobbyCo, that for some things is not too different from MZ: shops that are not specialised in any area but carry a bit of everything. The main shop is in the Queen Victoria Bldg., that is a massively expensive place to be ! Now would plastic kits alone allow the management to rent such a place ? Honestly I don't think so. Selling plastic + R/C + die-casts + trains + anime + anything else probably does, as the shop is still there.

Of course if MZ is in Administration then the business model was not 100% right, but I'm not sure if the choice of serving a broader kind of public is the reason. This choice is IMHO the only way to try and survive in certain locations, moving to become a 100% plastic kit specialist would mean to move in the outer sides of the city, where most specialised model shops are.

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To be honest im not surprised about this.

Every modelzone ive ever visited is full to the brim with outrageously expensive die cast (do people really pay over £50 for a little car??)

I was an avid collector of King &Country Napoleonic figures with the occasional Britains when prices were reasonable, but now even these type of figures are in the £60 plus region,if bought from shops like MZ,and supplier, can be found cheaper online from some dealers , hence I have given up collecting the figures,which was a passion.

Derek

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Now would plastic kits alone allow the management to rent such a place ? Honestly I don't think so. Selling plastic + R/C + die-casts + trains + anime + anything else probably does, as the shop is still there.

I'm inclined to agree. Even going back the thirty years or so to when I started modelling, I can't really think of a place that sold nothing but plastic kits and the gubbins that go with them. Everyone had other lines, ranging from trains to Games Workshop (back when they didn't have their own chain) to R/C. The Hobby House in Truro had another shop a couple of doors down that catered to the craft side. Dorking Models (which I mentioned in the related thread about local model shops) carries Lego and Scalextric as well as trains and plastic. The fact that I'm not interested in any of it doesn't mean that no-one is, and it doesn't necessarily mean that shops that cater to more than one customer base are failing all of those bases, or even any of them. The only all-plastic shop in the world, I suspect, is the fantasy model shop in my head, which wouldn't even sell every possible type of plastic kit. And it would be able to do that only because I'd own it outright and not need to make a living from it.

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Sad if Modelzone go as although I get most of my

kits etc from shows or the net its nice to go into a

Modelzone and find an unexpected bargain in the

sale. Im an occasional visitor to Leicester MZ and

last time I was in picked up several great bargains

including Italeri Sunderland which I would't have

bought at full price. Also got the Airfix Vampire

on February the first which was the release date

for the KIt! Have to say though that the kit selection

was not as good as about a year earlier.

Cheers

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