The MV Hobby, De-Mob

[rob love]

There is the aspect about "entry level" prices to get into the hobby. Most guys in their 20s are worried about housing, their car, and their beer. We see carriers running from $30K to ?? these days, and even junkster hulls have asking prices of around $7K. Then you want a manual? $200-400. Need to get the flathead rebuilt? There goes another $3K. And the list is endless.

Jeep prices for the most part seem to be getting out of hand, unless it's a basket case. CMPs are usually a little better, although I have seen some ludicrous prices on direlect cab and chassis. The sellers see the pristine stuff on a site like this, look at the asking prices of the few they can find record of selling, and they price their butchered relic as though it is one of the finished ones.

Small wonder the young guys aren't lined up to get in to the hobby.

Oh yeah, there is one more thing that guys in their 20s think about....young ladies. And the average young lady does not normally get attracted to guys driving CMPs, in fact quite the opposite.

[Frank v R]

Guys, I read all this with great interest, having been in the hobby for about 35 years now I have seen our members getting older , but on the happy side I do see new young blood coming into the hobby , even through my parts business I have late 20's early 30's members restoring CCKW's and heavier vehicles, the big US regional shows are a good place to see the new blood coming into the hobby , I think that a MVPA convention is a poor place to see how the hobby is doing due the expense of attending these, another part of this is that the hobbies we grew up with are vanishing due to the fact kids only seem to be able to use their thumbs, when was the last time you saw a bunch of kids playing street hockey , most of these kids will grow up with no real skills, and no knowledge of history, still one more big factor in Canada is that we will no longer see tactical soft skin vehicles coming out surplus so that will leave only vehicles that require for the most part a ground up restoration that brings us to one last very important point , disposable cash, these days that is less than it was in the past for most people, no more buy your surplus military vehicle and go for a drive,

[David Dunlop]

Just another thought with the younger crowd and our hobby. Could they be intimidated by the fact vintage MV's have standard transmissions, many of which come with no syncro? Standard transmissions are getting rare in modern vehicles today. I work a couple of days a week in a wash bay at a local dealership. Every once in a while the youngest guy in the bay ( mid 20's) has to bring in a Jeep Wrangler that has a standard transmission and he cannot do it. One of us 50+ Geezers has to drive it in and out for him.

David

[chris vickery]

I am happy fellows are reading and contributing to my post, it is certainly a topic for discussion.
At this time the Poll suggests an approx 65% of MLU contributors are in the 51+ group, just as I suspected...
Pertaining to the attraction of young guys to the hobby; help us to help ourselves in preserving the hobby by giving a deal to a newcomer.
As pointed out by previous comments, far too many think they have gold and ask ridiculous prices. I overpaid on my first CMP truck, mainly because I was not "connected". The same went for many parts which I had made when I could have found originals cheaper if I knew where to look.
I must commend a few guys that DID help me out when I first started by giving me a break or a deal on items to help me along as well as offer good advice. (you guys know who you are and many of you are here listening )
Most recently I got a young guy started who was hot to have my M715. Yes, I took a loss on it overall but the smile on his face was worth a few bucks.

[rob love]

Originally Posted by chris vickery

At this time the Poll suggests an approx 65% of MLU contributors are in the 51+ group, just as I suspected...

As a member of that sector, I want to quote Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock where he states “Fifty is the new 40 for men. Fifty is still 60 for women.”

Perhaps with the age shift, and the unknown length of the male lifespan in the near future, the MV ownership age is not that far advanced. I had honestly expected the poll to lean more towards the 60-80 group. I still feel like one of the young guys at the meets and conventions I go to. Then again I may just be fooling myself.

Actually, to look at the poll in a different light, approx 1/3 of the collectors are in the "under 50 " category, 1/3 are in the 50 to 60 category, and 1/3 are in the 60 and up range. Interesting.


By the way Chris, in your first post you mentioned discussing this with a long time collector. Was that with me? Seems to me we might have broached the subject on your first visit earlier this month.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by rob love

Actually, to look at the poll in a different light, approx 1/3 of the collectors are in the "under 50 " category, 1/3 are in the 50 to 60 category, and 1/3 are in the 60 and up range

.... of which 100%, 66% and 33% are online, respectively, willing & able to participate in this poll. But that is my guess only

H.

[jdmcm]

Even with prices at almost record highs on many of the collectible military vehicles there are ways for people to use their own hard work and ingenuity to participate. For example there is a group here on the west coast that has built a "replica" M10 Achilles tank destroyer. They began by salvaging a fabbed up tub from a scrap forestry yarder that itself used surplus Sherman running gear, and from materials they had around they built a fantastic homage to a WW2 tank destroyer. From 50 feet away you would be hard pressed not to believe it was real. Now I'm sure the rivet counters will deride it for being an imposter, and the value to a collector is negligible, but the fun factor is off the charts! And they didn't need to spend a quarter million or more dollars to do it. With the technical skills I see the young crowd applying to customizing their cars, trucks and motorcycles, they are well capable of building a variety of replica vehicles that would otherwise be unavailable to most of us. Now changing people attitudes toward "replicas" and welcoming these as legitimate representations of the hobby is another matter....

[Scott Bentley]

I wrote a huge response to a similar post here a couple of years back. I ended up deleting it as it was rather harsh towards the OMVA, but my sentiment hasn't really changed so i'll toss up the short version of it.

In 2008, I had just bought my first MV (M151A2) since owning an M38A1 as a teenager in the early 90s. The MLU membership was (and still is) instrumental in getting it on the road.

I decided to drive it from Trenton to the OMVA Summer Show in Oshawa; this would have been in June 2009. My goal was to get an OMVA membership and meet fellow MV'ers. The Coles Notes version is that I had developed a carb problem over the 75 mile drive from Trenton to Oshawa. I ended up pulling the carb and cleaned/adjusted while at least half a dozen other older Jeep owners watched from 100' away. Why 100' away from the other Jeeps? Because (i'm guessing because I was new) that was where I was instructed to park; 100' away on my own. This was after I was initially told to park in the parking lot with all of the other spectators. The only one at that show who actually came over and offered help with my carb was Mr Anderson (RIP) from Barrys Bay. I fixed my carb and went on my way. Although I doubt it was the club's intent, my spouse and I could not have possibly been made to feel anymore ostracized.

That one incident right there soured me from any further involvement in clubs. Almost all of the other MV guys I personally know in my age demographic feel exactly the same way.

If it is up to the new guy to cross no mans land and extend his hand to a group of old guys with their arms crossed, them membership is going to tumble, especially where there are excellent knowledge bases like MLU.

[jdmcm]

Well put Scott, I have had similar experiences in the past when I was starting out...we can be our own worst enemies