I agree Allan,
We are just older and generally have more disposable income to spend on our little niche hobby. I have become more selective in the case of magazines I now only buy War games Illustrated, where i religiously used to buy them all with storage being a major problem for my hobby now.

On the case of stores via online i feel figures are very difficult to find in shops today so except for Wonderland Models in Edinburgh, the web is my purchase point

I also felt that their was very little interaction with store owners who had very little interest in the figure side of things with all their interest being in remote controlled vehicle or large kits.

On the subject of 3D Printing, I am not sure how viable it would be for us, the printers are getting cheaper but worth the outlay for us I am not sure. I wonder if companies would allow the data file to be purchased perhaps if they did in the form of it allowing a complete sprue to be printed off with a licence to produce a set amount of sprues(Thinking along the lines of computer software licences).

I could see it working for terrain pieces but how detailed would some of our Napoleonic uniforms be. especially for the button counters out there of which I am not one.

As for the future the ranges and quality covered have greatly improved but worryingly some companies have decided to reduce the product and increase the costs this is a trend that i hope they reverse, this policy will only put a strain on loyal supporters of this range and scale of figures.

I've also seen how the 1/72 figures disapear from the scene the last years. And if these figures no longer är seen on events, shoops and meeting's this hobby for sure is dying. To get interest from other people our hobby, figures and related products must be seen in public. Forum's on internet like this is not knew'n by most of people. They are just knew'n by (old) enthusiast's. If sellers and producer's no longer visit event's and market's they contribute to a process that will kill themselves and the hobby hiding in the dark...

Sorry for my late reply Andre B I totally agree with you. It is down to us the buyers to turn up and buy. The same goes for the few shops that are left in my neck of the woods there are more shops selling Warhammer (six shops) than 1/72 models and figures (2 badly stocked shops.} This can not bode well for our hobby.

I use the web for most of my purchases. I have moved away from Southern California where the excellent Pegasus Hobbies in Montclair, and Brookhurst Hobbies in Garden Grove are located. Living in rural Kentucky there is not a decent hobby shop that I know of in at least 60 miles, and probably further.

We may be a dying breed, but there are still plenty of figures to buy and I for one and looking forward to buying a lot more in my retirement.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
https://bunkermeister.blogspot.com/