Kit Collectors Clearing House (KCC / John Burns) Old timers?

[frank]

I was thinking yesterday about some of the regulars in John Burns KCC
who I used to buy from regularly in the '70s & 80s, even early '90s &
was wondering what's become of them. I know about Paul Milam
(jetpilotpaul on eBay), I still buy from him some & Jeff Garrity
(RarePlane Detective) is still around. Jeff Roberts is still around
with Combat Models. There was a guy named Steve something, I still
have his card somewhere, & his "Big Set of Kits" with a busty babe
charicature on his card. Lou Maglio, whom I think is still around with
CollectAire Models. Charlie Pace of APC Hobbies fame, has retired &
faded away I guess. A couple of guys I've wondered about, both in NY
state, Richard Trezza & E J Krampert. I talked to these 2 on the phone
a time or 2 back then, long distance even! I bought a lot of stuff
from them over the years. I know John himself moved in with his son or
daughter some time back. KCC was one of those things I waited for
every issue & posted want ads in regularly & I don't think I had but
one deal go bad & that was Galactic Trade Commission screwed me out of
a kit I paid for. Man, just think, nearly everything was done by mail,
paid for by personal check or, Heaven forbid, cold hard cash, sent in
the mail. Sometimes people would send me a kit along with a note on
how much to send them! Once, in the early - mid '80s, somebody sent me
two 1/48 Soviet made kits of a Mil Mi-2 & an Mi-8. All it said was
"Merry Christmas, R. S." The postmark was somewhere in NY. I don't
think I ever found out who the KCC member R. S. was. Those were the
days! So, anyone know about any of these MIAs?

[eyeball]

Post by frank
I was thinking yesterday about some of the regulars in John Burns KCC
who I used to buy from regularly in the '70s & 80s, even early '90s &
was wondering what's become of them. I know about Paul Milam
(jetpilotpaul on eBay), I still buy from him some & Jeff Garrity
(RarePlane Detective) is still around. Jeff Roberts is still around
with Combat Models. There was a guy named Steve something, I still
have his card somewhere, & his "Big Set of Kits" with a busty babe
charicature on his card. Lou Maglio, whom I think is still around with
CollectAire Models. Charlie Pace of APC Hobbies fame, has retired &
faded away I guess. A couple of guys I've wondered about, both in NY
state, Richard Trezza & E J Krampert. I talked to these 2 on the phone
a time or 2 back then, long distance even! I bought a lot of stuff
from them over the years. I know John himself moved in with his son or
daughter some time back. KCC was one of those things I waited for
every issue & posted want ads in regularly & I don't think I had but
one deal go bad & that was Galactic Trade Commission screwed me out of
a kit I paid for. Man, just think, nearly everything was done by mail,
paid for by personal check or, Heaven forbid, cold hard cash, sent in
the mail. Sometimes people would send me a kit along with a note on
how much to send them! Once, in the early - mid '80s, somebody sent me
two 1/48 Soviet made kits of a Mil Mi-2 & an Mi-8. All it said was
"Merry Christmas, R. S." The postmark was somewhere in NY. I don't
think I ever found out who the KCC member R. S. was. Those were the
days! So, anyone know about any of these MIAs?

Wow you really took me back! I was a teen in the 80s and had never
heard of KCC, but I was a regular customer of APC hobbies, probably
found it through an ad in FSM. APC, Squadron, and a place in Utica NY,
the name of which escapes me. I usually paid with a money order but
remember overpaying or ordering out of stock items, and getting exact
change taped inside the models.
Wish I could help on whereabouts, I recognize the name jetpilotpaul
from a few ebay deals, and ordered from Charlie Pace right up until he
gave it up. And Jeff Garrity seems to be going from strength to
strength since he took over for the late, lamented Nostalgic Plastic.

[The Old Man]

a place in Utica NY, the name of which escapes me.

Hobby King or something like that. I used to occasionally do business
with them from time to time myself.

[j***@gmail.com]

Hi John,
Here's a blast from your past---Me!
Milt Smith,in Skokie, IL, here. Checking in after a 15 year AWOL and hoping you are (1) in good health and (2)still involved in the crazy biz of keeping up with the state of the art of plastic ship models.
I'm at the point of needing to thin out a 600+ kit inventory. I hope you're still publishing the KCC and/or the Value Guide. I have an organized list of all the kits. Of course, there are many on that I'd would rather not part with, but the right price might convince me to re-join reality.

Anyway, if you have a moment, please let me know about pricing on either or both of these publications, also, if you have a short, free "Hot List" available for download.

Many thanks, hope to hear from you(by any medium)soon!

Milt Smith

at the address you already have:
10043-C Frontage Rd., Skokie, IL, 60077
or by emule: ***@gmail.com

[RobG]

Post by j***@gmail.com
Hi John,

Good luck, this original post is over four years old. Although sometimes ancient posts come back to life, this newsgroup is all but dead.

[w***@gmail.com]

Post by frank
I was thinking yesterday about some of the regulars in John Burns KCC
who I used to buy from regularly in the '70s & 80s, even early '90s &
was wondering what's become of them. I know about Paul Milam
(jetpilotpaul on eBay), I still buy from him some & Jeff Garrity
(RarePlane Detective) is still around. Jeff Roberts is still around
with Combat Models. There was a guy named Steve something, I still
have his card somewhere, & his "Big Set of Kits" with a busty babe
charicature on his card. Lou Maglio, whom I think is still around with
CollectAire Models. Charlie Pace of APC Hobbies fame, has retired &
faded away I guess. A couple of guys I've wondered about, both in NY
state, Richard Trezza & E J Krampert. I talked to these 2 on the phone
a time or 2 back then, long distance even! I bought a lot of stuff
from them over the years. I know John himself moved in with his son or
daughter some time back. KCC was one of those things I waited for
every issue & posted want ads in regularly & I don't think I had but
one deal go bad & that was Galactic Trade Commission screwed me out of
a kit I paid for. Man, just think, nearly everything was done by mail,
paid for by personal check or, Heaven forbid, cold hard cash, sent in
the mail. Sometimes people would send me a kit along with a note on
how much to send them! Once, in the early - mid '80s, somebody sent me
two 1/48 Soviet made kits of a Mil Mi-2 & an Mi-8. All it said was
"Merry Christmas, R. S." The postmark was somewhere in NY. I don't
think I ever found out who the KCC member R. S. was. Those were the
days! So, anyone know about any of these MIAs?

I was a subscriber for years and sold alot at hobby shows and through KKC before I switched over to an eBay store. I quit selling kits around 2005.

[Mad Modeller]

I used to buy kits from Charlie Pace until he got out of the biz. I moved on to Aviation Usk and stayed there until Tom Fresque (sp?) retired and passed the business to some guys in the Midwest. I don't know if they're still in business or when they quit. I buy sometimes from Jeff Garrity when he has something I want in teeny-tiny scale.
For my model car biz I buy from Fred Sterns once in a while, spent a lot of money at Modelhaus and have even bought directly from Round 2.
For my aviation stuff now, I frequently buy diecast bombers in 1/144 and kits for the fighters from ebay sellers. I'm also sampling 3D printers' offerings in the little scale. Decals are a bit scarcer than in the "good ol' days with Microscale's 1/72 offerings. There was a seller from Scotland on ebay with an interesting range of markings but he seems to be gone from ebay now. I should have bought more sheets when he was there. I'll just have to check my 1/72 sheets for the smaller markings that would be usable. My most recent dealer I dealt with was Roll Models in Minnesota but they sold their stock to an outfit called KitLinx recently. I've been unsuccessful in getting an order to go through their process. My first order for kits and decals was placed with an outfit in Federal Way, Wash. and I think the name was something like Scale Aircraft. I don't seem to have a copy of their listings any more.
At the same time I hit 70 several months ago and I am reluctant to take on too much more than what I already have in stock. There's less time left ahead of me than there is time behind me. Oh yeah, avoid TKM for cars unless you're a masochist. ;-)