Golden Age of Model Collecting!

[JJ Skippy]

The owners of Gemini / ADI are not young. I have heard rumours of a potential sale. Within the next 10 years or so I would expect a change in ownership at Gemini in the very least. The same goes for JC Wings, Phoenix and Aeroclassics. With the brands all 20+ years old and run by a figurehead leader approaching retirement age (Johan, Sanry, AK) you can expect some changes....

Just curious, which brand is Sanry affiliated with?

 

[bakejobb_23]

The owners of Gemini / ADI are not young. I have heard rumours of a potential sale. Within the next 10 years or so I would expect a change in ownership at Gemini in the very least. The same goes for JC Wings, Phoenix and Aeroclassics. With the brands all 20+ years old and run by a figurehead leader approaching retirement age (Johan, Sanry, AK) you can expect some changes....

Do you think eventual changes through possible new ownerships or even the eventual retirements could mean brand mergers of one or a few to happen? There would be a lot of good and probably more “bad” that would come of something like that. Kinda like airline mergers

 

[abdulmohiuddin]

Just curious, which brand is Sanry affiliated with?

Sanry is Phoenix

 

[Macsergey]

Ironically they’re the only brand that has licensing rights on a mass scale and lean heavily into corporate orders for airlines which makes a lot of money for them. That licensing I believe at the end of the day is a huge safety net for them even if it doesn’t always benefit them.

Probably this is the reason why GJ is basically the only US brand. No other brand can really enter the market because GJ owns many licenses and would not allow competitors to produce models of US airlines they have connections with. This means GJ has a monopoly over the US market, which gives them little incentive to invest in quality or improvements. There is the new V1:400, but they are not a direct competitor since they focus mainly on retro aircrafts.

I think GJ’s disappearance could actually benefit US collectors, because it might allow few fresh brands to appear. I understand that many US collectors like GJ, but if it were really as good as people say, we wouldn’t see so many complaints about NG making fewer US releases.

For me, GJ is just a junk brand. Just open their site, it looks like it was made in the 90s. I think it actually is their original site from the late 90s or early 2000s and hasn’t been updated since.
I started collecting only a year ago. Before buying my first models, I watched videos about different brands where people said GJ was the best. When I received my first model, which was a GJ model, I was very disappointed that this “best brand” looked like garbage. Luckily, I also bought an NG model, which was just perfect.

 

[aviation456]

For me, GJ is just a junk brand. Just open their site, it looks like it was made in the 90s. I think it actually is their original site from the late 90s or early 2000s and hasn’t been updated since.
I started collecting only a year ago. Before buying my first models, I watched videos about different brands where people said GJ was the best. When I received my first model, which was a GJ model, I was very disappointed that this “best brand” looked like garbage. Luckily, I also bought an NG model, which was just perfect.

GJ was near the top in terms of quality when they made their own moulds- that's probably why many western collectors might say the golden era was 2000-2010ish. The production agreement means that the same deficiencies that affect JC now affects Gemini - and JC isn't innovating fast enough.

 

[Macsergey]

GJ was near the top in terms of quality when they made their own moulds- that's probably why many western collectors might say the golden era was 2000-2010ish. The production agreement means that the same deficiencies that affect JC now affects Gemini - and JC isn't innovating fast enough.

I might understand why it was true. I have few old models from around 2015: 752 and 735. Despite the fact they are cradle moulds, what I am completely fine with, they are quite solid models. they are not as detailed as modern models, but if I bought them in 2015, I would have an opinion that GJ is a good brand.

 

[BubblesAviation]

Gemini/JC has a lot of moulds many others don't, like the E175 (except for LJ, but we haven't seen anything real yet) and the CRJ-700/900 I belive as well.

GJ is a very important brand for the scale. They don't have the best quality, or good quality on many models, but they were one of the first companies to really deliver good models. It would be sad to see them go under but I assume it won't happen in the very-near future.

 

[Macsergey]

Dont get me wrong, I dont wish them to go down, I just dont see a reason they are still afloat but their monopoly on US market.

 

[MIAv8Diecast]

GJ was near the top in terms of quality when they made their own moulds- that's probably why many western collectors might say the golden era was 2000-2010ish. The production agreement means that the same deficiencies that affect JC now affects Gemini - and JC isn't innovating fast enough.

JC arguably has better QC and quality as they produce with their own I.P… GJ frequently takes shortcuts with JC molds and add ons to cut cost as they don’t have any ownership of production.

 

[MIAv8Diecast]

Dont get me wrong, I dont wish them to go down, I just dont see a reason they are still afloat but their monopoly on US market.

Two words… Brand recognition. You can sell a middle of the road product but have the best returns if you’re well known in a marketplace. There are many examples of this. If you buy a $300 pair of Ray Ban sunglasses chances are the cheaper $30 pair of sunglasses you didn’t want to buy is made in the same factory and has the same materials. You just don’t trust the brand recognition to buy the same product at such a discount under an unrecognizable brand name.

 

[pons399]

If you look at the MADb numbers, there were 220 US models in 2025, which is a pretty good amount. It’s unfair to say the US had a bad year of releases when you look at other manufacturers.

I just assumed ‘25 was a dropoff because everyone’s been complaining more. Or than might have just been in regards to NG.

if good quality KAL models were released constantly

Oh no, I just want one. Uno. That’s it, asking for more would be delusional.

 

[Starz10p Aviation]

I think a lot of collectors are blinded by nostalgia here… the “golden age” was certainly not in the 2000’s. Models were cheap, yes, but they were very under detailed, and the 3D printing accuracy and model quality today is so much better compared to that. Saying the 2000s or an era prior to that was better is just saying you’re blinded my nostalgia, just like how some people say “The golden Era of video games was the 1980s and 1990s!” When in reality the quality today is so much better.

 

[Serratedtrout]

I think a lot of collectors are blinded by nostalgia here… the “golden age” was certainly not in the 2000’s. Models were cheap, yes, but they were very under detailed, and the 3D printing accuracy and model quality today is so much better compared to that. Saying the 2000s or an era prior to that was better is just saying you’re blinded my nostalgia, just like how some people say “The golden Era of video games was the 1980s and 1990s!” When in reality the quality today is so much better.

Yes. We cannot definitively state that ‘era x’ is the golden age when compared with ‘era y’, as each decade has its ups and downs. Things are very much cyclical when it comes to time.

Even when looking at the models being produced today, for all the progress we’ve made in pushing more accurate moulds and printing forward, we can’t really say that this is the best era when we don’t have the benefit of hindsight. Or at least not yet.

When we try to compare current times to what has come before, we cannot help but be a little biased one way or another, whether if we are blinded by nostalgia or cheering for what we have now.

 

[Jazajia]

I think a lot of collectors are blinded by nostalgia here… the “golden age” was certainly not in the 2000’s. Models were cheap, yes, but they were very under detailed, and the 3D printing accuracy and model quality today is so much better compared to that. Saying the 2000s or an era prior to that was better is just saying you’re blinded my nostalgia, just like how some people say “The golden Era of video games was the 1980s and 1990s!” When in reality the quality today is so much better.

As an avid nostalgic, I would say that we are not blinded, we can see the detail level of today.

What a lot of us are is influenced by nostalgia.

The turn of the millennium was a turning point. Three-man crew airframes, as well as tri-jets went from dominating airports to almost extinct in less than a decade. The iconic liveries from the late eighties and 1990s quickly gave way to less inspiring ones, etc…

Suddenly, the commercial aviation scene of only a few years ago was so different than the current one that it seemed distant. And model makers didn’t hesitate to capitalize on it.

It seems like most threads at DAC, Wings900 and 400SH were celebratory and not wishlists. Aeroclassics, Big Bird, Gemini and Dragon were pumping out the models the majority wanted with their own initiative. The models might not have been as detailed as today, but they were good enough. In fact, the Aeroclassics of those years (and some GJ) were way better than the ones from today.

I think the classic market is a tad underserved today. Fix that, and then I will definitely say that these times are better.

 

[BubblesAviation]

As an avid nostalgic, I would say that we are not blinded, we can see the detail level of today.

What a lot of us are is influenced by nostalgia.

The turn of the millennium was a turning point. Three-man crew airframes, as well as tri-jets went from dominating airports to almost extinct in less than a decade. The iconic liveries from the late eighties and 1990s quickly gave way to less inspiring ones, etc…

Suddenly, the commercial aviation scene of only a few years ago was so different than the current one that it seemed distant. And model makers didn’t hesitate to capitalize on it.

It seems like most threads at DAC, Wings900 and 400SH were celebratory and not wishlists. Aeroclassics, Big Bird, Gemini and Dragon were pumping out the models the majority wanted with their own initiative. The models might not have been as detailed as today, but they were good enough. In fact, the Aeroclassics of those years (and some GJ) were way better than the ones from today.

I think the classic market is a tad underserved today. Fix that, and then I will definitely say that these times are better.

I 100% agree.

 

[Phantom]

I think a lot of collectors are blinded by nostalgia here… the “golden age” was certainly not in the 2000’s

So based on your experience, what was collecting like in the early 2000's?

 

[Starz10p Aviation]

So based on your experience, what was collecting like in the early 2000's?

From what I’ve heard, it was cheap, yet the models were undetailed. You couldn’t get a detailed 1900D in 400 scale then, nor could you get light aircraft in 400 scale. Models were lacking in detail, no antennae, worse moulds.

As an avid nostalgic, I would say that we are not blinded, we can see the detail level of today.

What a lot of us are is influenced by nostalgia.

The turn of the millennium was a turning point. Three-man crew airframes, as well as tri-jets went from dominating airports to almost extinct in less than a decade. The iconic liveries from the late eighties and 1990s quickly gave way to less inspiring ones, etc…

Suddenly, the commercial aviation scene of only a few years ago was so different than the current one that it seemed distant. And model makers didn’t hesitate to capitalize on it.

It seems like most threads at DAC, Wings900 and 400SH were celebratory and not wishlists. Aeroclassics, Big Bird, Gemini and Dragon were pumping out the models the majority wanted with their own initiative. The models might not have been as detailed as today, but they were good enough. In fact, the Aeroclassics of those years (and some GJ) were way better than the ones from today.

I think the classic market is a tad underserved today. Fix that, and then I will definitely say that these times are better.

I get that. I really wish people were bridging the gap in models from the 80s-90s to the 2010s, the Modern-Classic Era is so underserved.
I would kill to see some old United Regional jets and props, or some more USAir or US Airways releases.

When i say blinded by nostalgia I’m mostly just speaking about a few collectors around here who completely deny the better things we have today and say the older times were better.

Things like 3D Printing are what I mean by saying today is better. Like I’ve said, this kind of detail wasn’t possible back then, but with brands like NG, 3DD, Aviation400, and others on the scene now, I really do think we have made huge leaps of progress and the hobby as a whole has benefited from that

 

[Starz10p Aviation]

Yes. We cannot definitively state that ‘era x’ is the golden age when compared with ‘era y’, as each decade has its ups and downs. Things are very much cyclical when it comes to time.

Even when looking at the models being produced today, for all the progress we’ve made in pushing more accurate moulds and printing forward, we can’t really say that this is the best era when we don’t have the benefit of hindsight. Or at least not yet.

When we try to compare current times to what has come before, we cannot help but be a little biased one way or another, whether if we are blinded by nostalgia or cheering for what we have now.

Completely agree. I do think it’s fair to say the quality has drastically improved though…

 

[JJ Skippy]

I just assumed ‘25 was a dropoff because everyone’s been complaining more. Or than might have just been in regards to NG.

I think a lot of that was directed at NG. Excruciating circumstances aside it was and still is quite a hot topic.

 

[GoLithuania]

Yes… but no.

While I didn’t collect back then, I personally think that the golden age of collecting was when it was simple and cheaper (2010-2017). Gemini had the best quality and from videos I’ve seen, people were happy about their quality a not just comparing it to saying it could be better. Releases were solid, and they remained cheap. I’m losing track with all these new Chinese brands using the panda moulds, and many brands just rereleasing stuff in an infinite loop. Feel free to disagree with me, but I think golden age has passed. Yes, it’s good now, but models are so expensive, and I’m starting to think they’re actually not worth the price. I personally am very fond GeminiJets. They’re my favorite company through all their QC issues because they release stuff that’s popular, and gets people exited. they release new stuff, and for the most part, only rerelease when it’s really needed. I can’t say the same for NG. But $50+ for almost, if not every single model (except regionals, at $48) is getting to be too high. And as of now, NG’s peak is well past and the quality pf their releases haven’t been up to the Gemini standards for a while.

That’s just my opinion. It’s great now! The quality has improved, but I just think simpler is much better for a niche hobby.

I think that many brands release too much Chinese/Southeast Asian aircraft. I get that this is big in China but still we have very few Japanese or Korean or Indian releases. GeminiJets is actually good in this regard despite their less than average QC. We need more brands focusing on America/Europe.