Yes, I know, but I still have a great deal of respect for his talent and abilities, the same way I have a great deal of respect for yours. I'm not sure if we'll ever totally agree on economics, but this is, after all, a hobby forum and most of us come here to learn from the talent and skill of our fellow hobbyists. You've contributed greatly in that aspect and I would never want to look at you as a foe so I hope we can disagree here but still get on well when it comes to the main point, the models. And something else I thought I should point out is that I am well aware that RC Tanks are an expensive hobby, but trucks are different, Yes, if you get into Tammy 1/14 or HG 1/12 it gets expensive, but WPL and JJRC are ridiculously cheap, and that's part of the attraction for me. I enjoy taking a cheap toy and trying to make it into a seriously cool scale model while spending the very least amount of money possible. If you think about it, that can require some serious innovation and ingenuity, and that's the part that I really like. That's right, I can figger it out! It also requires some planning. The servos I use go for about $10 each, but I wait til they're on sale for $4.99 and buy ten of them. Same thing with radios, the flysky 3ch pistol grip goes for about $40 to $45 w/rx but you sometimes see them on ebay for $29.99 with free shipping. Last time I saw that I bought four of them. I really get a kick out of taking a $60 toy and turning it into a decent hobby-grade model while spending the absolute minimum of money.

So while it's a shame what happened with Thomas, it seems to be the way of the world. We used to have a hobby shop chain here called Ryder's, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan with 17 or 18 stores throughout Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, but they've been totally gone for at least five years, murdered by the internet. Even Toys R Us couldn't keep up and went under. All I can advise is to do what you can, where and when you can, and try not to stress about the rest of it. But if you just want something to stress about, ask me about what we're doing to the orangutans. And the tigers and leopards and lions and cheetahs and elephants and chimpanzees and gorillas and on and on and on and on. When you look at stuff like that it makes our hobby stuff seem just a bit less important, ya know? At least it does for me.