Loose Lips Sink Ships

Michael Benolkin
Senior Editor

Remember that slogan from WW2? Okay, you've at least read about it and/or seen it in the war movies. Well, the saying still applies today. But instead of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time leading to the enemy sinking our ships, we are saying the wrong things for the wrong reasons leading to companies either choosing to leave the hobby business, or completely going out of business.

The power of the internet allows any of us to communicate worldwide in an instant. With newsgroups, we can say anything, anytime, and folks with similar interests will see it. And unfortunately, the power of the written word carries over into this environment ­ people believe what they read!

A recent example of this was the persistent rumor on the internet of Accurate Miniature's demise. These rumors finally spread among hobby distributors and this, in turn, reached the hobby shops. Had this continued long enough, nobody would be placing orders for products from A-M and the rumor could have come true!

More recently was the revelation of Ocidental Replica's revised Spitfire IX kit. Several well-meaning and mis-informed folks claimed that the flaws of the old kit carried into the new one. Not true! But if enough people believe the rumor, then the new kits will not sell and Ocidental will not recoup the cost of producing this kit. With that kind of market, they may not risk any further investments on new subjects. Believe me, when a kit is a stinker, there is nothing wrong with saying so. In this case, however, the information is wrong and has the potential of damaging a fledgling hobby company.

Let's be careful out there and remember that this is just a hobby.