[Phono-L] Phonographs and the economy

[William Buchanan]

Tim,

Good observations, I am new to this hobby (less than 8 months now) and since I have joined I have seen several others gain interest as well. I don't think the hobby is dying but a lot of the older hobbyist perhaps are not as active this could be because of the age of some of the people that you are used to seeing.
I do not have the funds available to purchase many of the items that people are talking about but that I hope this is only a temporary set back while I am getting my disability resolved with the VA and the Federal Government. Once that has been secured than I will be able to purchase some of the wonderful machines that are out there.
I used to be involved in Model Railroads many years back. I used to hear the same from many of the older hobbyist there as well. Well it's been about fifteen years and Lionel is still with us and they are making engines that cost over one thousand dollars just for the engine and tender. That is not a dying hobby. Nor is this, I have spoken to hobbyist here in the states, UK and other countries. It seems that the hobby is alive and well.
Once the economy turns around and people are not fearful of losing their jobs I believe that we will see an increase in the cost of the players. Lets face it nobody is making these anymore.
Currently because of my situation I am trying to find old players to salvage and bring them back to life. I am doing this for two reasons, one is therapy (because of my injuries) the other is because I can't afford a nice show room piece that is working.  This gives me a nice machine that I not only can look at and enjoy but also the feeling of accomplishing something by bringing something back.
The hobby may be a little slow right now but it is far from being dead.

Bill Buchanan
Army Vet


--- On Fri, 2/20/09, Phonophan at aol.com <Phonophan at aol.com> wrote:
From: Phonophan at aol.com <Phonophan at aol.com>
Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Phonographs and the economy
To: phono-l at oldcrank.org
Date: Friday, February 20, 2009, 12:52 PM

>From my experience --- the interest in the hobby is not declining -- in fact

new people are coming along every day -- it's just that the market has
slumped 
badly. When the market slumps everything becomes "relative." It's
not the 
end, it's just an adjusted present. It's done this before. There were
the late 
80s, the mid 90s, briefly in 2001. Within the sphere of the "usual
suspects," 
that is the Wayne Show, Danbury, Union, eBay, prices are likely to be depressed

for several years. Will it all wither and die ? -- no. It never does. People 
have been predicting the death of the hobby for years, as crackpots have been 
predicting the end of the world. Neither is likely to occur any time soon.
 
Tim Fabrizio
phonophan
PO Box 747 
Henrietta, NY 14467

TEL 585 582 1586
FAX 585 582 2624
Web site: www.phonophan.com
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