JJ Skippy
Well-known member
It's been a little while since I created my own thread. This will provide a brief documentation of my acquisition of one of my biggest white whale models, the Seattle Model Aircraft Company Frontier Boeing 737-200 in the Saul Bass livery.
About The Model
This SMA model was released in November of 2002, item number SMA021101. One of 38 Boeing 737-200s the manufacturer produced between 2002 and 2005, this like other SMA models have become extremely rare and valuable. Occasionally some would pop up, but more often than not people were asking three figures for it.
I hunted this thing down for three years, trying and failing constantly. Sometimes I missed out, other times I didn't even know, and admittedly one time I let the fact that this is a rare model slip out before someone was about to put it up on their store
big oopsie on my part!
Why A White Whale?
Everyone has their white whale models; ones that they dream of collecting. This was one of them. Why was this so critical for the collection? To put it simply: Retro FSD. My other two white whales are also crucial models for the project.
This aircraft in real life served Sioux Falls for a five year period, beginning in 1981 when Frontier launched flights from Denver to Madison, Wisconsin; Sioux Falls was added as a stopover. In 1982, Frontier added a flight between Sioux Falls and Fargo, North Dakota, while discontinuing the Madison thoroughfare and adding Sioux City. That service alongside Fargo stayed through 1986, when Frontier ceased operations. Despite the short time it had at my home airport, the difficulty in finding the model led me to designate it as a white whale.
How I Found It, Finally
I always kept an eye on eBay for the latest listings; most of the time I wouldn't find it, but if so it was usually on a bid, guaranteed to fly past the $100 mark by the end of the auction period. I was up late one night when my friend, @Shrek 2 on VHS, searched up models on eBay and found it, third down on his results. What was even crazier about this find was that the seller had seven other listings, all were on bid. This one was a Buy It Now at $99. He had sold the Aeroclassics release a few days prior at just over a hundred bucks on bid, so the fact he listed this model as Buy It Now still makes me ponder how much this would've gone had it been a bid instead. I hesitated a bit, but my friend pestered me to buy it, knowing that another chance might not come for months. So I clicked the purchase button, and just over $100 later (shipping + tax included), I finally have my first white whale.
USPS, being inept, delayed the delivery of this model by a few days until after the President's Day holiday, so I was planning on waiting until next weekend to see this model in the flesh. Luck would have it though, as a cold snap swept across the central US and leaving me at home for a couple more days than I planned, so I got to unbox it when it arrived in the mail today.
Some SMA 737s are suspectible to zinc rot, and considering my Western Indianhead had it on the main landing gear, I was sure to check this one when it arrived. All looks good, except for a tiny blemish on the port (right side in this photo) gear door. I don't think it's zinc rot, since it's in a tiny area.
Overall, she is gorgeous and I am so glad to add her to the collection. I'm also curious to hear what some of your white whale models are and what your journey has been like to find (or not find) it.
About The Model
This SMA model was released in November of 2002, item number SMA021101. One of 38 Boeing 737-200s the manufacturer produced between 2002 and 2005, this like other SMA models have become extremely rare and valuable. Occasionally some would pop up, but more often than not people were asking three figures for it.
I hunted this thing down for three years, trying and failing constantly. Sometimes I missed out, other times I didn't even know, and admittedly one time I let the fact that this is a rare model slip out before someone was about to put it up on their store
big oopsie on my part!Why A White Whale?
Everyone has their white whale models; ones that they dream of collecting. This was one of them. Why was this so critical for the collection? To put it simply: Retro FSD. My other two white whales are also crucial models for the project.
This aircraft in real life served Sioux Falls for a five year period, beginning in 1981 when Frontier launched flights from Denver to Madison, Wisconsin; Sioux Falls was added as a stopover. In 1982, Frontier added a flight between Sioux Falls and Fargo, North Dakota, while discontinuing the Madison thoroughfare and adding Sioux City. That service alongside Fargo stayed through 1986, when Frontier ceased operations. Despite the short time it had at my home airport, the difficulty in finding the model led me to designate it as a white whale.
How I Found It, Finally
I always kept an eye on eBay for the latest listings; most of the time I wouldn't find it, but if so it was usually on a bid, guaranteed to fly past the $100 mark by the end of the auction period. I was up late one night when my friend, @Shrek 2 on VHS, searched up models on eBay and found it, third down on his results. What was even crazier about this find was that the seller had seven other listings, all were on bid. This one was a Buy It Now at $99. He had sold the Aeroclassics release a few days prior at just over a hundred bucks on bid, so the fact he listed this model as Buy It Now still makes me ponder how much this would've gone had it been a bid instead. I hesitated a bit, but my friend pestered me to buy it, knowing that another chance might not come for months. So I clicked the purchase button, and just over $100 later (shipping + tax included), I finally have my first white whale.
USPS, being inept, delayed the delivery of this model by a few days until after the President's Day holiday, so I was planning on waiting until next weekend to see this model in the flesh. Luck would have it though, as a cold snap swept across the central US and leaving me at home for a couple more days than I planned, so I got to unbox it when it arrived in the mail today.
Some SMA 737s are suspectible to zinc rot, and considering my Western Indianhead had it on the main landing gear, I was sure to check this one when it arrived. All looks good, except for a tiny blemish on the port (right side in this photo) gear door. I don't think it's zinc rot, since it's in a tiny area.
Overall, she is gorgeous and I am so glad to add her to the collection. I'm also curious to hear what some of your white whale models are and what your journey has been like to find (or not find) it.
