Aside from the Lionel starter set I got when I was a kid, I joined the hobby circa 1994. What's fascinating to me is, based on these back issues in the digital library, I now realize how fortunate I was to join at that time. OGRR magazine was clearly getting more colorful and the contents show a fast evolving, modernized hobby at that time. Arttista featured its first ad of its awesome little detailed people that I discovered a few years later. As Rich Melvin says, we can look back at those old companies. My first hobby shop was Owen Upp in Milwaukee, featured in ads of that period. The owner is long gone now. But it was a wonderful experience stopping at his shop. He was a cranky old guy who probably got tired of asking dumb questions from newbies like me. But, as he discovered my seriousness, he took me under his wing, accepted me because he saw that I appreciated that his shop offered so many dreams... very cool to look back.
Mike
