Same with me on the Squadron books…going back to the 70’s. Got a lot, if not most, of the armor ones. Always good reference even today. Guess they’ll end up being a rare commodity at some point.
@rfbaer I didnt learn abut them until about two years ago. When I was looking into them back then and I called they said I couldnt come by to pick up the order. Did they use to allow this?
Rather sad news but not surprising given the business model that they seem to have followed. I got my very first ‘mail order’ kit from them in the early 70’, the Tamiya Sd.Kfz.7 based off the grainy B&W image in their catalog - it was all downhill from there on 
Yes you’re right
Growing up in Detroit, I visited their original shop often. They helped me grow the hobby into a life-long activity - I’m old and retired, and still modeling.
One of my great mementos; saved in my library all of these years.
1970!
Farewell, old friend.
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I respect Jef Verswyfel and he would know what went on at Squadron, after working there for so long. Squadron’s selection of kits, in the last few years, was horrible. Their prices were on the high end of MSRP. When they did have a sale they would jack up the list price by 10% or 15% and then give a sale price of what the normal kit was selling at before the sale. Modelers are not stupid, we pay attention to prices. You can not fool someone who is buying 10 or15 kits a year plus all of their modeling supplies. That’s why I quit buying from them and started getting my kits from Andy’s Hobby HQ, Kitlinx, Sprue Brothers and to a lesser extent, now because of shipping prices, Hobby Link Japan and Lucky Model. I’m truly sad to see Squadron has died but in actuality they dug their own grave. I hope the employees affected by this will be able to get back on their feet soon.
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Like many of you have posted, I too remember the good old days. Being a young lad in his early teens going to the Squadron Shop(s) in Detroit (yes there was 2 of them) in the late '60’s early '70’s. Going into a store that was nothing but models, wall to wall. On top of that they had display cases with finished kits and dioramas that totally blew me away. I sure left a lot of face prints on the glass display cases and hoped I did not cause any irk with the proprietor(s). Like Bravo36 I have the full collection of ‘The Squadron’ mags carefully preserved in a binder. I ended up with every bottle of I/R paint (only one survives today) and even got my first airbrush and compressor from them (Paasche). Still have it and it still works. Maybe someone may get the trademark and maybe even see some part of Squadron rise from the ashes. Maybe that same someone will get Wingnut Wings and Squadron. One can only dream.
Cheers
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From what I was told, there wasn’t much on the shelves left for inventory. I had seen stories on FB that people were getting refunded their money, as they didn’t have enough stock to fill orders on this last sale.
They have a few lines that are probably worth money to some. Squadron Signal, True Details, Avionix (although they hadn’t released anything from that line for years). Not sure if they still owned Warrior or not, if so, those figures are well past their prime. I am sure the holding company that holds their debt will likely try and sell those lines to recoup some of the debt.
Building would be a decent asset as well.
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@Scott_Millican Hey Scott, long time no see an all that…
If I remember correctly, the Warriors line was bought back by the original owner Chris Mrosko some time ago and he has relaunched whatever molds he salvaged.
I seem to remember something about that, however I don’t believe Chris was the original owner. Thought Warrior was born out of VLS, and when it was separated into 2 companies, Warrior went with Squadron.
Think Custom Dioramics was in there as well, but it got sold off to someone else as well that had resurrected some of the kits. Originally a Canadian company from Winnipeg, MB
I stand corrected, was started by Chris, and then sold to VLS
Yes as I said, Chris started that business and several others, he was involved in Trakz, S&T (was him and John Rosengrant IIRC) New World Miniatures was his etc. He bought his Warrior stuff back when he bought the Verlinden molds/books/etc.
Chris has been embedded in this hobby for decades, he was with Dragon/Kirin when they made resin stuff, and I believe Kirin later became Jaguar after the split from Dragon.
If he wasn’t directly involved in the ownership, he was casting their stuff for them.
I knew about New World Miniatures, as I bought some of his product for the shop. Didn’t know he was behind Warrior originally.
So, did I get this right, a gal that didn’t work models was in charge in the end? Hmmmm,…if that be the case, sounds like a poor business “model” decision. I remember the Boy Scouts had a similar issue and look where they are today. So, is this history repeating itself? I recon,…
I sure will miss those walk around books, some of them were really good.
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When I was younger, I worked at a steak house that was doing very well because of the on-hands manager. Corporate decided to send him to another location that was struggling to turn it around, and to replace him they sent us a doctor who recently retired from his practice and had also married a relative of an executive at the company.
The unit was closed within a year as doctors don’t seem to know much about the restaurant business.
a gal that didn’t work models was in charge in the end? Hmmmm,…if that be the case, sounds like a poor business “model” decision.
I have been told by more than one model paint manufacturer, and more than one hobbyshop owner, that that is what killed Testors. Only in their case, it was a pair of ladies. Not that it mattered to me, they alienated me when they discontinued Polly Scale and Floquil, after which they had no products I wanted.
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I sure do miss Polly S and Floquil. If it ain’t broke, don’t @#$% with it, right?
I can only imagine how his practice was doing.
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I don’t know about a pair of ladies, but they were probably done when acquired by RPM international.