Vintage Estes Kits: Build or Collect?

DankMemes · Jun 11, 2018

I've been getting back into fiddling with some vintage estes kits, restoring my Astrocam and finally completing my Explorer Aquarius and buying a second has really got me going again. I'm firmly in the Build & Fly category, but I do know many out collect these kits in the Bag. I do however hang on to the box art and frame some of the cooler boxes for the wall of my workshop

Thoughts?

K'Tesh · Jun 11, 2018

Build and fly, unless it's really rare.

jazzviper1 · Jun 11, 2018

Build and fly, that is what I do.

les · Jun 11, 2018

+1 Build and fly

A kit is just a bag of parts
A built kit is just a model
A flown model finally becomes what it was meant to be, a Model ROCKET

SaintJohn · Jun 11, 2018

Build and fly! The parts won't last forever in the bag/box; if they're not built they'll eventually become useless. Let them fly!

dr wogz · Jun 12, 2018

clone.

Open the bag, copy, trace, cut the parts.
return parts & reseal the bag.

you can then re-make the long OOP kit again (See steps above) and if you do want to sell it, it's only at a slight loss. Decals are the only real hard part, but not impossible..

afadeev · Jun 12, 2018

DankMemes said:
I'm firmly in the Build & Fly category, but I do know many out collect these kits in the Bag. I do however hang on to the box art and frame some of the cooler boxes for the wall of my workshop
Thoughts?

Build, of course!

I never understood folks who expect to get positive ROI from hoarding old Estes rocket kits. Just because something is out of production (i.e.: never sold all that well), doesn't necessarily mean it has an intrinsic value.
I certainly hope it has more value to you when built and flying vs. gathering dust in a bag, in storage somewhere.

But to each his own...

a

K'Tesh · Jun 12, 2018

dr wogz said:
clone.

Open the bag, copy, trace, cut the parts.
return parts & reseal the bag.

you can then re-make the long OOP kit again (See steps above) and if you do want to sell it, it's only at a slight loss. Decals are the only real hard part, but not impossible..

Copy (translation: Scan w/ruler)
Trace (translation: Scan w/ruler)

Don't forget... Measure

Photographing the kit and its contents is also a good step. Sharing that info is even better.

neil_w · Jun 12, 2018

I'm certainly in the "build and fly" camp.

But it depends on *why* you would think of keeping the kit in unbuilt form. Is it for investment purposes? Would you gain some happiness from seeing the kit in the bag (sounds weird but I can imagine finding the unopened kit to be a cool object on its own)? Simply afraid to rip it open for fear of expending a precious limited resource?

Of the three, I'd only put any stock in the second. If the unopened kit brings you pleasure, then consider not building. Otherwise, get out the glue.

Fully documenting the contents of the bag before building is a good idea though.

Steven · Jun 12, 2018

I believe in building and flying. My problem is they aren't being built so how the hell can I fly them? Wait, I know, strap a cluster of motors onto the bags. Now THAT'S rekitting something.

Gary Byrum · Jun 12, 2018

The little one is vintage. Keeping it bagged seemed like a waste. Decided the Father needed it's son.

cwbullet · Jun 12, 2018

I do both.

dr wogz · Jun 12, 2018

it could be worse. Looks like with the demise of the Great Planes / Hobbico umbrella.. RC plane kits are now very far & few between.. So, whatever R.C plane kits out there are OPP! and worth something!

Zeus-cat · Jun 12, 2018

In my opinion unless Vern Estes personally cut and shaped the nose cone AND Gleda Estes cut the body tube to the proper length it is just another of the thousands of the same kit that rolled off the Estes assembly line. Build, fly and enjoy.

If you want to "invest" your money get into the stock market. Saving collectibles is like the lottery, you might make money, but you are far more likely to lose money.

dr wogz · Jun 13, 2018

Zeus-cat said:
If you want to "invest" your money get into the stock market. Saving collectibles is like the lottery, you might make money, but you are far more likely to lose money.

I hope POGs come back. I have a few dollars invested in those....

burkefj · Jun 13, 2018

Just build it. I think the collecting mentality(hoarding thinking things will be worth a fortune) is a fools errand for things like these. When people die off that had these or wanted them when they were young, no-one is going to give a crap about some cardboard tubes in a box, no matter what someone paid for them in the past. Same goes for hotwheels....they may be getting big $$ now but won't in 20 years. With 3-d printing now, reproduction decals available for a lot of things and some creativity and skill you can pretty much build anything anyway, there is almost nothing that is unobtanium.

Frank

DankMemes · Jun 13, 2018

neil_w said:
I'm certainly in the "build and fly" camp.

But it depends on *why* you would think of keeping the kit in unbuilt form. Is it for investment purposes? Would you gain some happiness from seeing the kit in the bag (sounds weird but I can imagine finding the unopened kit to be a cool object on its own)? Simply afraid to rip it open for fear of expending a precious limited resource?

Of the three, I'd only put any stock in the second. If the unopened kit brings you pleasure, then consider not building. Otherwise, get out the glue.

Fully documenting the contents of the bag before building is a good idea though.

I definitely am in the build camp as well, but I will admit seeing the bagged kits from long ago triggers a strong sense of nostalgia, memories of walking through the local hobby store back in the late 80s with a fistfull of money from mowing lawns ready to buy the latest kit and a pack of motors... man those were some good days...

neil_w · Jun 13, 2018

DankMemes said:
I definitely am in the build camp as well, but I will admit seeing the bagged kits from long ago triggers a strong sense of nostalgia, memories of walking through the local hobby store back in the late 80s with a fistfull of money from mowing lawns ready to buy the latest kit and a pack of motors... man those were some good days...

Agreed. I miss that. That is why I got goosebumps last time I saw a picture from inside Erockets... racks and racks (and more racks!) of rockets hanging on pegs. Yowsa.

I will say this: if you want to preserve that "rocket in a bag" feeling, just open it carefully by slitting the plastic bag in the back, and removing everything carefully without messing up the face card. Put it all back together when finished. You'll have the rocket *and* that nostalgic hanging bag.

SaintJohn · Jun 13, 2018

My father has dozens and dozens of old kits from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s he never built. I don't understand it. He's getting older now and I think that he's starting to realize he'll probably never build most of em. He's given a few to me over the years so that they'll actually get built. He recently gave me an original Estes Space Shuttle kit (#1284) that I plan on building this summer.

GlenP · Jun 13, 2018

DankMemes said:
...walking through the local hobby store back in the late 80s with a fistfull of money from mowing lawns...

I tended to mail order from the catalogs but did visit a hobby shop on occasion, and raised my funds from a paper route.

RocketFeller · Jun 14, 2018

The only kits I hoard are doubles in case I lose/wreck my built one.

DankMemes · Jun 15, 2018

RocketFeller said:
The only kits I hoard are doubles in case I lose/wreck my built one.

definitely, there's a few of my favorites that I can repair but if lost would be hard to scratch build. The newer flip flyer is one of them, the kids love it and I fly it hard, keep one bagged in the closet in case this one gets lost to a tree or the lake. But its holding up well so far. Also have a vintage SR-71 bagged in the case the one i built back in high school finally bites it.

jd2cylman · Jun 15, 2018

I really wanted one of these when I was in jr high school. I had the Maxi V2 and flew the crap out of it. Somehow I never got one. And now when they go for this much, I wish I had one to clone and/or upscale. Polecat had a Pershing 2(?), but they never had one in stock. Maybe when the new Polecat owner surfaces, I'll be able to get one.

DankMemes · Jun 16, 2018

jd2cylman said:
I really wanted one of these when I was in jr high school. I had the Maxi V2 and flew the crap out of it. Somehow I never got one. And now when they go for this much, I wish I had one to clone and/or upscale. Polecat had a Pershing 2(?), but they never had one in stock. Maybe when the new Polecat owner surfaces, I'll be able to get one.

Theres a few kits I really wanted back then, always had a thing for the Estes SDI, I did eventually pick up another I wanted which was the deep space transport, which died spectularly when an engine Cato fried the shock cord and it lawn darted but I still have the nose cone, so after digging around I found some meticulously documented plans and decal scans recently so she’ll fly again!

to pay it forward I’m going to breakdown and scan my unopen corkscrew kit which actually is difficult to find plans for but looks like it can be built with standar parts...

Vintage Estes Kits: Build or Collect?

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

Well-Known Member

.....OpenRocket's ..... "Chuck Norris"

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Fly caster

Well-Known Member

.....OpenRocket's ..... "Chuck Norris"

OpenRocketeer

Well-Known Member

Overstable By Design

Obsessed with Rocketry

Fly caster

Well-Known Member

Fly caster

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

OpenRocketeer

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Still not Carl... ;-)

Well-Known Member

Similar threads

Join the conversation!

Join today and get all the highlights of this community direct to your inbox. It's FREE!