Zuiun
Sr Member
Here's a tale of how great this community can be at times.
If this isn't the place for this, I apologize to the mods, but this is modeling related.
This year I finally decided to add the TOS Battlestar Galactica to my collection. I have all of the other Moebius kits that I want, and this was the last one to collect. I only put it off because every time it seemed like I might have the funds for this one, something else would come up.
But I decided this was going to be my Christmas present to myself this year.
There was one small problem...
I've been doing most of my shopping online during the pandemic, so I hopped on Amazon and... there were no kits. Oh sure, there were some of the pre-built ones. But they were going for north of $300. Ok, no reason to panic. I jetted down to my local HobbyTown, where they always have at least one in stock. Nope. Gone. Hmmm... jump on eBay. Kits are selling for ridiculous prices.
Is this a 2020 thing? I know that a lot of the Bandai Star Wars kits became scarce this year thanks to Covid. Maybe this was the case here, too.
As I unfortunately discovered after posting about it here on the forum, Moebius had discontinued their Battlestar Galactica line.
I assumed I was out of luck... until a member here, Restart934, said to send him a private message. His local hobby store has one in stock - he knew this for a fact because he had just been in there and saw it. So I sent a message and got the info.
I first emailed the store, but got no response. So I eventually called them up.
The guy I got on the phone clearly didn't work there for his science fiction model expertise. When I asked if they had the Moebius brand Battlestar Galactica kit, he asked "is that by Bandai?"
There was a lot of noise in the background... clearly the store was busy. I heard another employee tell the guy I was on the phone with "if he doesn't have a part number, don't waste a lot of time looking." The guy eventually confirms that they have *a* Battlestar Galactica kit, but is unable to confirm if it's actually the TOS Galactica or one of the other kits. He's definitely out of his element here. Either way, I ask about shipping it to me and he tells me it'll be several weeks at least before they can get it sent.
That's when fate stepped in. As it turned out, Restart934 was in the store and overheard the conversation on the phone. He asked if they were talking to someone from out of state and told them he was the one who gave me the info. The guy I was talking to hands the phone over to Restart934 and we chat for a minute. He agrees to buy the kit and ship it to me, then let me know the cost so I could reimburse him.
And that brings us to now...
After a week and a half USPS delay, I have the kit in hand. It cost me retail, plus a modest shipping fee. All because a member of the RPF stepped up to help a fellow member out.
I've learned a lot from this community over the years in terms of tips and tricks. And this is another example of how great this group of people can be. A HUGE thank you to Restart934 for helping me to add this now hard to find kit to my collection!!
I'll definitely be posting some build pics of this kit, hopefully soon. First I need to invest in a few more things for it (PE kit, some lighting materials, etc.)...
If this isn't the place for this, I apologize to the mods, but this is modeling related.
This year I finally decided to add the TOS Battlestar Galactica to my collection. I have all of the other Moebius kits that I want, and this was the last one to collect. I only put it off because every time it seemed like I might have the funds for this one, something else would come up.
But I decided this was going to be my Christmas present to myself this year.
There was one small problem...
I've been doing most of my shopping online during the pandemic, so I hopped on Amazon and... there were no kits. Oh sure, there were some of the pre-built ones. But they were going for north of $300. Ok, no reason to panic. I jetted down to my local HobbyTown, where they always have at least one in stock. Nope. Gone. Hmmm... jump on eBay. Kits are selling for ridiculous prices.
Is this a 2020 thing? I know that a lot of the Bandai Star Wars kits became scarce this year thanks to Covid. Maybe this was the case here, too.
As I unfortunately discovered after posting about it here on the forum, Moebius had discontinued their Battlestar Galactica line.
I assumed I was out of luck... until a member here, Restart934, said to send him a private message. His local hobby store has one in stock - he knew this for a fact because he had just been in there and saw it. So I sent a message and got the info.
I first emailed the store, but got no response. So I eventually called them up.
The guy I got on the phone clearly didn't work there for his science fiction model expertise. When I asked if they had the Moebius brand Battlestar Galactica kit, he asked "is that by Bandai?"
There was a lot of noise in the background... clearly the store was busy. I heard another employee tell the guy I was on the phone with "if he doesn't have a part number, don't waste a lot of time looking." The guy eventually confirms that they have *a* Battlestar Galactica kit, but is unable to confirm if it's actually the TOS Galactica or one of the other kits. He's definitely out of his element here. Either way, I ask about shipping it to me and he tells me it'll be several weeks at least before they can get it sent.
That's when fate stepped in. As it turned out, Restart934 was in the store and overheard the conversation on the phone. He asked if they were talking to someone from out of state and told them he was the one who gave me the info. The guy I was talking to hands the phone over to Restart934 and we chat for a minute. He agrees to buy the kit and ship it to me, then let me know the cost so I could reimburse him.
And that brings us to now...
After a week and a half USPS delay, I have the kit in hand. It cost me retail, plus a modest shipping fee. All because a member of the RPF stepped up to help a fellow member out.
I've learned a lot from this community over the years in terms of tips and tricks. And this is another example of how great this group of people can be. A HUGE thank you to Restart934 for helping me to add this now hard to find kit to my collection!!
I'll definitely be posting some build pics of this kit, hopefully soon. First I need to invest in a few more things for it (PE kit, some lighting materials, etc.)...
