Well, I won't say anything very much here. It is my opinion that the Chinese Worker is tired of conditions in some factories up to and including anti suicide windows etc.
It is going to affect the hobby in different ways to different people. It is probably dependent on war or peace in the Koreas, Europe and Middle East. If I am not mistaken the price of Plastic material etc is tied somewhat to the cost of petroleum.
For years I have struggled with pre-orders required to have a company make a complete number of X product and ship it on the water to the USA. To some degree I still struggle.
My Local Hobby Shop has been good to me and am moving some dollars his way. I also rely on these forums as well as a number of sites to capture a out of production model of something useful for the railroad.
Ebay has undergone some changes as well, they used to be a good source for capturing imports when you did not have the money to pre-order one by a deadline.
It is good that companies like Woodland Scenics, RMT and others here in the USA do what they can to make good products that do very well.
Bottom line, it's going to cost more money. 30 years ago I recall brass prices of less than 200 dollars. If not also below 100. But wages and such in America then does not really exist now.
It's going to be an interesting year. I look forward to America experiencing a Renaissance in learning how to make good hobby models and such here at home.
It is also going to be a sort of war between HO folks and the O Folks. If my experience and the Nation's aging population is any guide, I expect O Scale to have a bright future for at least a few more decades.
Right now, I am content with what little I can do in O scale in today's current retail action regarding China. And hope for the future.
The biggest boost to my positive outlook is the willingness of various Companies such as Sunset, and others to communicate online or email and take care of everyone with various teething issues on models and so forth.
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