Hobyy Heaven Closes It's Doors!!!!

[Bri]

It was announced tonight that Hobby Heaven, one of the U.S.'s leading mail order automotive model comapnies, will close it's doors on August 1st, 2007 for good. Hobby Heaven have been in business over 20 years, supplying kits and accessories to modelers worldwide at prices that were more than reasonable.
It was highly rumored when Tom recently opened the doors to the warehouse for an "Open House" and "Blowout Sale" that this was the beginning of the end for Tom and the business he created back in the 80's. He always treated every modeler fair, and to my knowledge I don't know of one hobbyist that felt he was wronged by Tom and that says alot considering the amount of business he did.
I do hate to say it, but it seems to me this is just another indication of what is coming for our hobby. You can't expect all the shutdowns and buyouts to not have an adverse effect on the hobby as a whole and so far this year there has been nothing but bad news for modeling. People laugh when I say I'm getting all the kits while I can before they dry up, but rest assured, if anyone doubts me, they had better start waking up and looking at the hobby as a whole. It's not good no matter how you look at it.

[DoubleBarrel]

Did he say why he was getting out of the business? would he sell to some one that would tale over and keep it running?....... He just can't give up.......

[Bri]

Tom's stated it was basically the state of the hobby which was forcing him to close down. Apparently Revell is in the process of substantially increasing their cost for wholesalers which really hurts those who are able to sell kits for a better price than other hobby outlets. He also cited the lack of new kits to entice modelers to keep buying and building kits. With AMT already shutting down it's plastic modeling division and no prospective investors in sight, Tom really had no other option at this point.
Tom did say he will keep his E-Bay store going at least for awhile selling OOP kits, but that the doors and mail order is effectively shut down permanantly. The message forums he has will also remain up and running as well but under a new name.
Unfortunately, as I said elsewhere, I believe this is just the beginning of the repercussions that are going to belt throughout the hobby, regardless of what we build. The only exception might be the aircraft and military modelers as there are several overseas companies casting kits dedicated to those medias. As for automotive modeling here in the good ole USA, I truly believe life as we once knew it is gone, maybe forever. There just isn't the demand anymore for new musclecars, trucks, hot rods and other styles. Personally I think we can thank the diecast market for contributing to this downfall as well, but that's just me.