Dave

That's a start, now, let's see if the end of the month is a reality or not, I would say, more like in May than the end of the month.

RD

I got mine from my local hobby shop - That's where I bought all my rockets and motors. I never got into mail order at all.

As far as why I got out of rocketry the first time around, it was a combination of lack of time (I was entering college and had little time to build rockets) and a lack of a good place to fly (I did most of my high school flying with my high school's rocketry club - and we flew either in the track infield or the parking lot of the high school).

Greg

In the beginning (50 years ago) the hobby was just too new to have hobby shops on board. It was mainly through as in many magazines that got the word out about model rocketry.

Mail order was about the only way to get your rocketry supplies, then, more and more hobby shops carried rocketry products.

Also, there were many areas where you could not find any hobby shop nearby, so, mail order was the answer.

Like I had mentioned previously, the emphasis changed over to mass merchndisers and mail order stopped.

Now, that mass merchndisers are stearing away, the emphasis is once again of hobby shops.

The good old days are ong gone, unfortunately.

[QUOTE=Rocket Doctor]After Estes stopped selling through mail order, the catalogs stopped being sent through the mail. basically, their mailing list stopped because they didn't have the feedback from orders to keep a mailing list.

Emphasis was swithched oveer to the mass merchandisers, and the hobby shops were put on the back burner. Now, that certain mass merchandisers don't stocke that much of the estes products,the emphasis has now swithced back over to hobby shop. But, unfortunately, hobby shops are few and far between, except like Hobby Lobby and Michaels.

As we all can remember, at one time estes stopped sending out catalogs at all, their thinking was that it would be easier to have the catalog online , also, print catalogs are expensive to produce, Customer complaints brought back the catalog.

This years 2008 is scheduled to come out at the end of April, and, possibly into May.

Unless you go to a retailer that carries the catalogs, then, I guess everyone will have to do what they did last year, send in an email (email only-don't call) to the estes customer service department requesting a catalolog.<[QUOTE]>



RD, you can't really call a Hobby Lobby or Micheals a "hobby shop". They aren't, not in the real sense. They have a small isle for model rockets and cars, etc, but not like a hobby shop. They are "crafts" stores.

__________________
Enjoy life, it has an expiration date.

I am revealing just how much of a geek I was back then, but my mother (on more than one occasion) caught me with a flashlight, under my sheets reading the Estes catalog (not that other "catalog"). I too had part numbers memorized.

There weren't any decent hobby stores in my area that carried all the parts I needed, so 99% of what I bought was through the mail. I *always* specified USPS delivery instead of UPS since that gave me one additional day in the week that the distinctive Estes box might appear. Unfortunately our house was at the end of the mailman's route and we wouldn't normally get delivery until late in the afternoon. This just would not do, so I made friends with the mailman and rode my bike up to his first stop of the day to look into the truck for my box. I can remember him saying "hey, I have a box of rocket supplies for you, do you want them now or wait for me to deliver them later?"

"Uh, just wait until later". Surrre.

[QUOTE=Rocketflyer][QUOTE=Rocket Doctor]After Estes stopped selling through mail order, the catalogs stopped being sent through the mail. basically, their mailing list stopped because they didn't have the feedback from orders to keep a mailing list.

Emphasis was swithched oveer to the mass merchandisers, and the hobby shops were put on the back burner. Now, that certain mass merchandisers don't stocke that much of the estes products,the emphasis has now swithced back over to hobby shop. But, unfortunately, hobby shops are few and far between, except like Hobby Lobby and Michaels.

As we all can remember, at one time estes stopped sending out catalogs at all, their thinking was that it would be easier to have the catalog online , also, print catalogs are expensive to produce, Customer complaints brought back the catalog.

This years 2008 is scheduled to come out at the end of April, and, possibly into May.

Unless you go to a retailer that carries the catalogs, then, I guess everyone will have to do what they did last year, send in an email (email only-don't call) to the estes customer service department requesting a catalolog.<

Mom and Pop hobby shops are few and far between today , you must admit. Hobby Lobby has a good selection compated to some hobby shops that I have been to.
The hobby shop that I use to go to was in business for 43 years, until the big box stores came along.

More and more hobby shops are going out of business each and every year. Times have definately changed.

The hobby shops that are left don't always carry a lot of rocketry items either, they must carry all types of products just to stay afloat.

It's like plastic models, I can't see where Revell/Monograms stays in business.

Kids today don't want to sit down and build anything, it's coimputers, computers, and more computers. Cell phones, video games etc. It certainly isn't like it was even 25 years ago.

I give credit to the families who still believe in getting together and doing something constructive together as a family, which, is quite rare.
I applaud those families who share their hobbies.

Compare Hobby Lobby and Michaels to any WM, no camparison at all, and, like I sadi, hobby shops have gone away.

Just as the catalog had gone away for a couple of years, but, due to customer demands, it came back, but, still no mail order.

Kinda reminds me of the new version of Little Shop Around the Corner......You Got Mail.

Come on, I know you saw it. My wife made me watch it three times . But, instead of a old shop book store being pushed out of business, it's the hobby shops....

__________________
Don
NAR 53455
"Carpe Diem"

Sent the e-mail and already got a response, saying the catalog will be mailed to me as soon
as they come out (no specifics)....

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Dave, NAR # 21853 SR.

Man, I can't remember how many early Estes catalogs I threw away 'cause I had two or three already. (now worth hundreds on ebay).

I know for a fact that Gleda Estes did all of the mail orders.

I was ordering stuff in the early sixties when I was in high school.

Now, I first met Gleda Estes at NARAM 43 in Geneseo, NY. I had gone there with JimZ.

Vern and Gleda came over to our EZ-up and Vern was talking to JimZ so Gleda started asking me questions.

Gleda, "Have you been in model rocketry long?"

Me, "Yes, since the early sixties but I never joined NAR 'cause I lived out in the country and didn't know anyone else that flew rockets. I ordered everything from you guys by mail."

Gleda, "Where did you live back then?"

Me, "A little town in rural Michigan ...Lexington. You probably never heard of it."

Gleda, " Oh say, did you live on Roach Road?

Me, "Yes....(with a quivver) why, yes, I did!"

Gleda, "OK, then I remember your orders."


MY GAWD!!! That was 40 years ago and she remembered my orders!

__________________
"I'm a sandman. I've never killed anyone. I terminate runners when their time is up." Logan from "Logan's Run"

http://sandmandecals.com/

Who would know, back in the early days, we had our rockets for the fun of it, not to be collected and sold like today.

I wish that I still had all of the rockets from my childhood, and all of the rockets that were lost and broken, quite a few.

I wish that I still had my original K-1 Scout, now, I do have an early Scout, with a red package insert, payed $200 for it, I have all of the Scouts that were produced by Estes.

And, remember back then, the early catalog were hand stitched by Gleds and the body tubes of the K-1 Scout were hand rolled.

A lot of dedication from a new company.

That's why we are celebration Vern and Gleda's 50th Anniveersary in the hobby.