Moderated Forum at TCA Convention!

[Anonymous]

I was interested a while back in joining TCA but couldn't find anyone around to sponsor my application. I did some reading up on them and wonder now if I can afford to belong.
I read articles about tinplate trains that cost hundreds and thousands of dollars but not anything about how to really find affordable stuff. They seem to dislike any train that has any wear or use on it because it is not "mint" and so it is not collectible. Yet I don't see those trains for sale at affordable prices. TCA seems to be made up of wealthy people who have enormous amounts of free money. Either that or they are professional brokers in antique stuff. I can't believe that anyone who advertises in train magazines and the TCA magazine and bulletins that he has "$1.5 million to spend on trains this year is just an amature collector that just likes trains. I think that that and the large number of dealers and train makers that market just to the TCA interests are what is making the hobby non-affordable to the rest of us. If TCA wants to survive into the future then they need to get more realistic in their efforts to promote the hobby. Tell the train makers to put out affordable trains and accessories. They are so great about standards then they should set pricing standards and enforce the standards that they already have about condition, grading, honesty, and dealers. I went to York once with my uncle and saw dealers selling in halls that were supposed to be off limits to them. I saw obvious dealers pretending to be collectors having tables with brand new stuff on them and the prices were higher than in the stores. When I said something to a person there about this I was told not to make waves that it was the way things were done there and everyone knew this. I don't want to sound negative but I am a working man who just wants to get involved in something that other members of my family were doing over the years as a tradition. Someday I want to have kids and show them what their older relatives used to play with before computers and videos. It also is a relaxing hobby because it separates you from the regular world and it is something you can do on your own. Maybe some of the people here at this CTT website can tell the TCA people how the regular folks feel. I'll just have to stick to flea markets and yard sales and friends to find trains and stuff. TCA can have the rich guys. I've got to eat and make a living.

[Anonymous]

I dunno about TCA nowadays. I checked their site and they
apparently no longer update it. Their "e-Trains" magazine is
still showing a MAY issue and we are getting ready to go
into JULY. This has been happening quite a bit lately. The
last Quarterly looked like an OGR web-page snapshot with
all of the manufacturers writing their press releases in there.
Not much original content anymore. Guess the interest is
gone. Noticed a decidedly different attitude at the last York
as it was more about the money than trains. (More than ever)
Not as much congeniality. The hobby definitely needs a "shot
in the arm" more than ever. It should be all about the trains,
not litigation, fraud, elitism, etc.

Shame.

[Kooljock1]

Eventually prices WILL rise, as the industry runs out of third-world Pacific Rim developing countries to exploit. As those countries' standard of living rise, so too will the cost of production.

My prediction: manufacturing will move West from China to the former Soviet block, or South to the mid-east or Africa. And this isn't just about trains, but all goods manufactured in the far-east because of cost. China and South Korea are quickly becomming "buying" markets, rather than "selling" markets.

The question will become: who will recognize their potential as the next industrial leader first? The rudderless former East block, the horribly quarrelous mid-East, or the equally horrendous African nations? Whoever figures it out first has the most to win in the long run, bringing stability and a rising standard of living to parts of the world that sadly have been by-passed for too long.

In any event, this has nothing to do with how much *** Maddox is paid. I don't know, nor care. I would like to make more however.

Jon [8D]

[Anonymous]

Of course *** Maddox would say that prices will be higher. Atlas has to justify his fat salary.

M. DONALDSON

[MartyE]

The video is up at the convention site...

[MartyE]

The big discussion was basically how to keep TCA surviving in the future. What needs to be done to make sure the hobby grows. It can be seen on the http://www.tca2004convention.com under Manufacturers forum sometime today.

Among the ideas was Mike WOlf who suggested opening the meets especially York to the public at least sometime during the scheduled time like Saturday for York.

How the outlook looked was interestinly answered by *** Maddox who said he believed that pricing would go up as Asia starts to deal with higher production cost.

For more watch the video if your interested. I would of liked to seen more Q&A but the forum was only an hour.

And Mr. Neil B...was moderating too.