Printed catalogues of cars and models etc.
Discussion
We're all used to looking at everything online lately, me included. But recently, I started to collect old copies of the original Tamiya Radio Controlled car catalogues from Ebay - you may remember them from places like Beatties in the 1980's.
It's fired my imagination and nostalgia somewhat, so since then I have been picking up printed catalogues of all sorts of things - the latest being the 2020 Hornby Scalextric catalogue.
It's interesting that companies are still printing these.
Anyway the point was that I had forgotten how nice it is to have these. When I unwrapped the Scalextric catalogue today, I was first hit with that lovely smell of the litho-printed paper. To pick up it feels thick, well-printed and bound - a tactile delight. Nice matt finish on the cover, with glossy pages inside. Then flicking through it, the pictures of the cars look fabulous - beautiful bright colours, sharp in detail.
Overall, far better I think, than staring at images on a screen. So I'm right back on a nostalgic crusade to go back to printed catalogues wherever possible. Anyone else a freak like me?
It's fired my imagination and nostalgia somewhat, so since then I have been picking up printed catalogues of all sorts of things - the latest being the 2020 Hornby Scalextric catalogue.
It's interesting that companies are still printing these.
Anyway the point was that I had forgotten how nice it is to have these. When I unwrapped the Scalextric catalogue today, I was first hit with that lovely smell of the litho-printed paper. To pick up it feels thick, well-printed and bound - a tactile delight. Nice matt finish on the cover, with glossy pages inside. Then flicking through it, the pictures of the cars look fabulous - beautiful bright colours, sharp in detail.
Overall, far better I think, than staring at images on a screen. So I'm right back on a nostalgic crusade to go back to printed catalogues wherever possible. Anyone else a freak like me?
Edited by Ray Luxury-Yacht on Friday 6th March 23:21
I’ve got a few left:
The Airfix one from ‘84 shows the EFA prototype model (forerunner of the Typhoon), but it was never released as a kit in the end AFAIK.
Mostly model railway stuff my dad kept. I had some Tamiya catalogues back in the ‘80’s - I must have spend weeks looking through them. Strange to think the built examples in there were the ultimate in modelling to me back then, but these days they just look rather toy like with flat colours and no weathering. think I threw them out. I had the 1983 Radio Control manual which I gave away. Why didn’t I keep it all?
The Airfix one from ‘84 shows the EFA prototype model (forerunner of the Typhoon), but it was never released as a kit in the end AFAIK.
Mostly model railway stuff my dad kept. I had some Tamiya catalogues back in the ‘80’s - I must have spend weeks looking through them. Strange to think the built examples in there were the ultimate in modelling to me back then, but these days they just look rather toy like with flat colours and no weathering. think I threw them out. I had the 1983 Radio Control manual which I gave away. Why didn’t I keep it all?
dr_gn said:
I’ve got a few left:
The Airfix one from ‘84 shows the EFA prototype model (forerunner of the Typhoon), but it was never released as a kit in the end AFAIK.
Mostly model railway stuff my dad kept. I had some Tamiya catalogues back in the ‘80’s - I must have spend weeks looking through them. Strange to think the built examples in there were the ultimate in modelling to me back then, but these days they just look rather toy like with flat colours and no weathering. think I threw them out. I had the 1983 Radio Control manual which I gave away. Why didn’t I keep it all?
I always thought the Francois Verlinden dioramas in the Tamiya catalogues were pretty cool, I’m not sure how they stack up to today’s efforts.The Airfix one from ‘84 shows the EFA prototype model (forerunner of the Typhoon), but it was never released as a kit in the end AFAIK.
Mostly model railway stuff my dad kept. I had some Tamiya catalogues back in the ‘80’s - I must have spend weeks looking through them. Strange to think the built examples in there were the ultimate in modelling to me back then, but these days they just look rather toy like with flat colours and no weathering. think I threw them out. I had the 1983 Radio Control manual which I gave away. Why didn’t I keep it all?
wolfracesonic said:
dr_gn said:
I’ve got a few left:
The Airfix one from ‘84 shows the EFA prototype model (forerunner of the Typhoon), but it was never released as a kit in the end AFAIK.
Mostly model railway stuff my dad kept. I had some Tamiya catalogues back in the ‘80’s - I must have spend weeks looking through them. Strange to think the built examples in there were the ultimate in modelling to me back then, but these days they just look rather toy like with flat colours and no weathering. think I threw them out. I had the 1983 Radio Control manual which I gave away. Why didn’t I keep it all?
I always thought the Francois Verlinden dioramas in the Tamiya catalogues were pretty cool, I’m not sure how they stack up to today’s efforts.The Airfix one from ‘84 shows the EFA prototype model (forerunner of the Typhoon), but it was never released as a kit in the end AFAIK.
Mostly model railway stuff my dad kept. I had some Tamiya catalogues back in the ‘80’s - I must have spend weeks looking through them. Strange to think the built examples in there were the ultimate in modelling to me back then, but these days they just look rather toy like with flat colours and no weathering. think I threw them out. I had the 1983 Radio Control manual which I gave away. Why didn’t I keep it all?
I've got quite a few of these catalogues from years ago, but, like others have said, now they're a fiver or more I wouldn't bother even if I was thinking of buying models from them. I had a couple of Tamiya catalogues and one of the R/C guides, too, though sadly not in mint condition. Some of my old Hornby catalogues have suffered from my habit back then of ticking off items that I'd got.
I've had to stop myself from picking up more recent catalogues when I go to events like Race Retro or the NEC Classic Car show - I just end up keeping them for ever. Modern ones are most unlikely to have any future value, even if I had the space for them, so there's no investment value either.
You're right about the smell of a nice, new glossy catalogue or magazine. I used to get Octane on their special offer subscriptions, and that was one of the great things about it, the lovely smell as you open the plastic wrapper. Not sure if they're the same now they don't use glossy paper, I've cured myself of that addiction.
I've had to stop myself from picking up more recent catalogues when I go to events like Race Retro or the NEC Classic Car show - I just end up keeping them for ever. Modern ones are most unlikely to have any future value, even if I had the space for them, so there's no investment value either.
You're right about the smell of a nice, new glossy catalogue or magazine. I used to get Octane on their special offer subscriptions, and that was one of the great things about it, the lovely smell as you open the plastic wrapper. Not sure if they're the same now they don't use glossy paper, I've cured myself of that addiction.
Edited by droopsnoot on Monday 9th March 13:23
I'm also experiencing some nostalgia lately and bought a Tamiya RC car to keep me entertained throughout the lockdown.
My first RC was a Tamiya Opel Calibra DTM on a TA-02 chassis, I also remember how wonderful the catalogues where, and importantly, how easy it was to find what hop up options were available for your model, spare shells, part numbers etc.
As I've been doing my research recently, I noticed how difficult it is to find any information on chassis or hop ups!
Can't find anywhere a decent online catalogue of chassis and parts for Tamiya, even on the official website!
And don't get me started on the dozens of RC brands that exist today, and even more "tuning" outfits.
Is there an easy online resource to research models and parts?
My first RC was a Tamiya Opel Calibra DTM on a TA-02 chassis, I also remember how wonderful the catalogues where, and importantly, how easy it was to find what hop up options were available for your model, spare shells, part numbers etc.
As I've been doing my research recently, I noticed how difficult it is to find any information on chassis or hop ups!
Can't find anywhere a decent online catalogue of chassis and parts for Tamiya, even on the official website!
And don't get me started on the dozens of RC brands that exist today, and even more "tuning" outfits.
Is there an easy online resource to research models and parts?
matrignano said:
I'm also experiencing some nostalgia lately and bought a Tamiya RC car to keep me entertained throughout the lockdown.
My first RC was a Tamiya Opel Calibra DTM on a TA-02 chassis, I also remember how wonderful the catalogues where, and importantly, how easy it was to find what hop up options were available for your model, spare shells, part numbers etc.
As I've been doing my research recently, I noticed how difficult it is to find any information on chassis or hop ups!
Can't find anywhere a decent online catalogue of chassis and parts for Tamiya, even on the official website!
And don't get me started on the dozens of RC brands that exist today, and even more "tuning" outfits.
Is there an easy online resource to research models and parts?
Quite often on-line model shops allow you to search for spares and hop-ups by chassis. Try Modelsport, Fusion Hobbies, Stella Models or Modellbau Seidel to start with. All good resources. My first RC was a Tamiya Opel Calibra DTM on a TA-02 chassis, I also remember how wonderful the catalogues where, and importantly, how easy it was to find what hop up options were available for your model, spare shells, part numbers etc.
As I've been doing my research recently, I noticed how difficult it is to find any information on chassis or hop ups!
Can't find anywhere a decent online catalogue of chassis and parts for Tamiya, even on the official website!
And don't get me started on the dozens of RC brands that exist today, and even more "tuning" outfits.
Is there an easy online resource to research models and parts?
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
We're all used to looking at everything online lately, me included. But recently, I started to collect old copies of the original Tamiya Radio Controlled car catalogues from Ebay - you may remember them from places like Beatties in the 1980's.
It's fired my imagination and nostalgia somewhat, so since then I have been picking up printed catalogues of all sorts of things - the latest being the 2020 Hornby Scalextric catalogue.
It's interesting that companies are still printing these.
Anyway the point was that I had forgotten how nice it is to have these. When I unwrapped the Scalextric catalogue today, I was first hit with that lovely smell of the litho-printed paper. To pick up it feels thick, well-printed and bound - a tactile delight. Nice matt finish on the cover, with glossy pages inside. Then flicking through it, the pictures of the cars look fabulous - beautiful bright colours, sharp in detail.
Overall, far better I think, than staring at images on a screen. So I'm right back on a nostalgic crusade to go back to printed catalogues wherever possible. Anyone else a freak like me?
So glad to find your post. I love print, all brochure types, not just for models.It's fired my imagination and nostalgia somewhat, so since then I have been picking up printed catalogues of all sorts of things - the latest being the 2020 Hornby Scalextric catalogue.
It's interesting that companies are still printing these.
Anyway the point was that I had forgotten how nice it is to have these. When I unwrapped the Scalextric catalogue today, I was first hit with that lovely smell of the litho-printed paper. To pick up it feels thick, well-printed and bound - a tactile delight. Nice matt finish on the cover, with glossy pages inside. Then flicking through it, the pictures of the cars look fabulous - beautiful bright colours, sharp in detail.
Overall, far better I think, than staring at images on a screen. So I'm right back on a nostalgic crusade to go back to printed catalogues wherever possible. Anyone else a freak like me?
Edited by Ray Luxury-Yacht on Friday 6th March 23:21
The smell of the ink, grades of paper, types of binding but above all the typography. So much more permanent than electronic media and a more tactile experience than a keyboard and screen can ever be.
I am amazed at the way typography, layout and even copywriting has deteriorated in this 'new age.' Maybe it is because everyone thinks they are a Graphic Designer or perhaps today's punters marvel at the technology for its own sake, rather than the content.
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
Ooh good lad, nice work. What did you get? Some pics would be nice!
I ordered a Tamiya Lancia Delta Integrale kit (TT-02 chassis) but it never got delivered, for some reason.So I then got this:
https://www.dms-racing.com/index.php?option=com_vi...
My first RC car since I was about 16. Incredible how things have moved on - brushless and Lipo are a completely different game.
For such a small car and motor, this thing really shifts!
Also for the price, it is very well specced with aluminium (almost) everything, ball bearings, servo, ESC and motor. Just had to add batteries and transmitter/receiver.
Unfortunately it came ready built. I would have enjoyed building it myself, but I'm sure I'll soon be replacing broken parts and/or upgrading various bits
52classic said:
I am amazed at the way typography, layout and even copywriting has deteriorated in this 'new age.' Maybe it is because everyone thinks they are a Graphic Designer or perhaps today's punters marvel at the technology for its own sake, rather than the content.
I could write a book about this. As a (lanky) director of a publishing company I'm almost duty bound to do so. But too busy and nobody cares anyway except, it seems, you and me.Two big reasons though. One, the standard of design education – particularly the craft aspect – has gone through the floor. I've had 'award winning' design graduates come to work for me and their artwork was unusable rubbish. Just rubbish. And they've become all tearful when I've told them so and pointed out why. So as far as print goes, rubbish in, rubbish out.
Second reason – tech. Actually I'll break this into a further two reasons.
2.1 Most design graduates these days barely know what a pencil is, let alone how to use one to express an idea. They just reach for the Mac and start trawling Google for some ideas to bastardise.
2.2 Despite what anyone might tell you, print is very much the poor relation to digital, sadly. No one values it any more. (I'm talking marcoms here BTW, not books). There's no budget for it so nobody is prepared to spend the time crafting anything. No one wants to pay for illustrations any more, when they can get cheap or free images off some image library or other. They're barely prepared to commission photography.
There are other reasons.
Wow! A kindred spirit. I thought I was the only dinosaur left.
My interest in this stems from my earlier life selling advertising and then operating a local advertising/ marketing agency so my mind was always biased towards 'cash in the till.' for the user.
I loved to learn from the good, old school, graphics people how words, pictures, even blank space and choice of materials can be engineered and crafted to create any story or proposition you like. Never had a day's formal training but I do know what works. I could romance about this subject all day!
How often have you seen text on pictures totally illegible because of of poor positioning or bad choice of colour or type? A 'mission statement' or 'privacy policy' that hogs the page right where the selling proposition should be? When you see what our predecessors did with lifestyle promotion in the fifties I despair at today's output.
The malaise is not reserved for the paper page either. I see vans with digitally printed photographic representations that are so complex that you can't understand whose van it is and what they do!
Well, I'm glad you've 'got me started.' 'Specially to relieve the lockdown for a few moments. If I want to tell a story I'll go with traditional skills every time.
My interest in this stems from my earlier life selling advertising and then operating a local advertising/ marketing agency so my mind was always biased towards 'cash in the till.' for the user.
I loved to learn from the good, old school, graphics people how words, pictures, even blank space and choice of materials can be engineered and crafted to create any story or proposition you like. Never had a day's formal training but I do know what works. I could romance about this subject all day!
How often have you seen text on pictures totally illegible because of of poor positioning or bad choice of colour or type? A 'mission statement' or 'privacy policy' that hogs the page right where the selling proposition should be? When you see what our predecessors did with lifestyle promotion in the fifties I despair at today's output.
The malaise is not reserved for the paper page either. I see vans with digitally printed photographic representations that are so complex that you can't understand whose van it is and what they do!
Well, I'm glad you've 'got me started.' 'Specially to relieve the lockdown for a few moments. If I want to tell a story I'll go with traditional skills every time.
Edited by 52classic on Saturday 18th April 09:27
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