I think with the future of 3D printing, more and more sellers around the world can enter the hobby. I have bought very rare resin model kits from Italy, South America, Eastern Europe, China, Russia, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, England, Western Europe, etc. Modeling “blurs the lines” as to which nation is friend and foe because if one knows how to do business properly, then it’s business and not politics or religion or whatever contentious conflicts you see and read in the news.
As such, one has to beware of scammers also. With a 3D printer, one can print and make online scams as well. A LOT of new sellers are entering the modeling marketplace and many of these sellers probably never built (m)any models before. It really makes one wonder about the large powerhouse model kit manufacturers and if they can compete well.
There will always be resin recasts as well, and if you’re lucky, some of the rare resin kits will be released again, but don’t bet on it. I’ve waited years, decades, for some of the OOP resin kit makers to be revived and I’ve read posts about someone buying the original molds and saying that they’ll restart the company under a new name but nothing has happened…life, family, finances, support, time, effort, other interests, and health issues play a role in business ventures…after all, this is a hobby that competes with sports, movies, video games, social media, smartphones, music, families and relatives, pets, etc.
I don’t see much hope for new modeling forums starting though. Unless someone (younger) wants to start a new online modeling forum, the forum Administrators and owners for the existing modeling forums are middle to senior age by now, and have doing this for decades.
I also think that modeling is going towards the rich and middle class. I never had anyone who was poor ask me for a free model kit because frankly, modeling is still a dangerous hobby that uses razor blades, knives, generates dust, uses super glue, has fumes and many tiny parts, etc. It’s not for kids, and the modeling forums reflect this, as hardly any kids post on the modeling forums. “Ages 14 and up” means just that, and even as a teenager, I totally stank at building models because I didn’t have the patience, time, or the money to finance all of the tools, airbrushes, and paints, and my modeling skills were primitive back then. It wasn’t until college art classes that I’ve learned how to spend money on art supplies because the semester Art class required it from the list of mandatory art tools and equipment. Without fulfilling the lists, a college student is going to be very embarrassed by not having all of the personal artist items because borrowing in class was frowned upon and hardly anyone did it…why are you taking this art class when you aren’t prepared for it? No one wants to say that they can’t afford the art supplies because the college(s) didn’t provide them (for fear or abuse and stealing). In college, with one’s own art supplies, one learns to value, cherish, and take care of one’s own art tools that last from one semester to another—college Electives—they’re required to graduate.
Finally, this is model kit building, a hobby, and I stress that because on social media, real artists from all over the world make art that sell for hundreds to thousand to millions of dollars (hopefully). Why build model kits that aren’t sold for profit when a starving artists can create unique and exquisite art to feed the family with one or a few sales? Many true artists exist where art is their career and that is not a hobby; it’s their “bread and butter” and they have to make sales for profit. We modelers don’t have that same mindset and spend money on a hobby with little to no Return-on-Investment (ROI) besides personal satisfaction and personal value. That, I believe, is a line modelers (consumers) can’t cross with modeling building but can if you’re a seller of model kits, even 3D printed, to buyers of model kits. Even LEGOs can be sold for more profit than model kits, and LEGOs don’t break as easily.