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ORIGINAL: Gray Beard

It's a hobby, it's that simple, noting too deep to think about. Why would anyone want to save old coins or old oil cans or spark plugs? People just like to collect things. I was a bird hunter most of my life, I collected old shot shells, guns, decoys and anything else related to the shooting sports. I now have original first print books worth big money. My son is now showing a lot of this stuff in his new office, I'm not selling, I'm giving it away. My oldest two grand sons are getting a fine collection of Winchester Model 12s and thrilled with them.
I have a friend in this hobby that collects engines. he buys them, fires it up to hear it then puts it back in the box or on display.
Kits are no different.
My question is: why can't you understand collecting, it's not anything new or too deep. People have been doing it sense the beginning of time.

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ORIGINAL: littlera

People who collect coins, paintings, antiques, and any number of ''collectables'' do so without any intention of ''building'' them or doing anything to them whatsoever. Fans of PBS's Antiques Roadshow know that many people do thousands of dollars of damage to antiques in their quest to ''improve'' them by refinishing, buffing, polishing, and in general removing generations of patina from the objects of their desire.

Kits are no different in many ways. Some collect them just to have them, and that's totally OK. They are nice to look at, talk about, etc., but have the advantage of being useful (i.e., to be built) if the owner wants to at some point. This is something that cannot be done with most collector items. In the mean time, the value of most will continue to increase with time, and can be sold at some point, ether during or after the lifetime of the collector, for their book values.

I tend to collect kits, with intentions of building each one at some time. I buy them when I find them, as the weird subjects I tend to favor do not come available too often. Therein lies part of the thrill of collecting kits - the chase!! I love looking for certain kits, and it is really satisfying when I find what I am looking for somewhere in the world. I bought a kit from the Channel Islands about three years ago, and actually built that one.

I would prefer to collect Ferraris, Picassos, and Rembrandts instead of kits, but have found those to be more costly. If I had some multi-million dollar paintings, like other collectors of those subjects I would only be able to look at them, talk about them, and pay the insurance. Kind of like model plane kits, but only on a grander scale! I had better NOT do anything to try to improve them, like letting little kids color in the Picassos.

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ORIGINAL: DavidAgar

I build kits because I enjoy it and the sense of satisfaction after a maiden flight is very high. As for hoarding kit's, yes I do it. The reasons are many but I will start with a few. First, some of the older kits build into planes that the ARF world will never be able to duplicate. Second is cost. As mentioned else where on RCU, Tower just raised the price of kits and if you watch, you can get the same kits for alot less here in the Market Place or on the Bay. Third, I will be retiring in a couple of years and will not have the same cash flow that I now have, so yes I have hoarding the kits for my retired years because reality says I will not be able to buy as many as I do now. If I pass before the hoarding pile is gone, I have made arraingments to have my collection liquidated for the going rate at the time. Given how much Tower just raised the prices, my kits can be sold for good money and be making money as well. Good Luck, Dave