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-   -   Interceptor-E, MRI Zenith Two, R/C Rocket Glider Phoenix & Cuda kits for auction (http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=18099)

georgegassaway 10-04-2019 03:14 PM

Interceptor-E, MRI Zenith Two, R/C Rocket Glider Phoenix & Cuda kits for auction
 
I have added four more old kits for auction:

Estes “Interceptor E”, 39” long scale-up of the classic kit. https://tinyurl.com/yykqawzq


MRI Zenith Two Payloader from 1969-1970. https://tinyurl.com/yyns49s8


Aerotech Phoenix R/C Rocket Glider, designed by Bob Parks (F & G powered). https://tinyurl.com/y38fbskg



Vector Aero “Cuda” R/C Rocket Glider kit, designed by Kevin McKiou, for C/D/E power (designed for S8E). https://tinyurl.com/y44e654w


These are in addition to the Centuri 1/100 Saturn-IB: https://tinyurl.com/y5m3zdjl


And Estes V-2 Maxi-Brute: https://tinyurl.com/y2knvcpk


All auctions will end Thursday October 10th, shortly after 8 PM, EDT.

mojo1986 10-07-2019 04:49 PM

Love the artwork on that Zenith Two. That's a nice old kit and certainly very scarce.

georgegassaway 10-08-2019 11:09 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by mojo1986
Love the artwork on that Zenith Two. That's a nice old kit and certainly very scarce.

Weird thing is that I got one of those kits in my first three months in the hobby in early 1970. J.C. Penny had them! I do not even remember if I flew it 2-stage, or what happened with it but I certainly built it.

Another odd thing is that once I got into the hobby for real in 1970, my first models were MPC, due to the nearby K-Mart. And J.C. Penny was not too far from K-Mart. The closest hobby shop was not that close, but when I did finally go there, they had Centuri, and maybe AMROCS or SAI, no Estes stuff. They also had Model Rocketry Magazine, which blew my mind, and helped get me hooked even more. I recall my 5th kit, and first with balsa fins, was the Centuri 1/100 Little Joe-II, and 10th kit was the Centuri Saturn-IB. The MRI Zenith-2 was somewhere around when I got the IB or a bit later.

Much later I went to a hobby shop much farther away, and finally saw Estes kits, and got one or two there. I'd gotten hold of an Estes catalog by then, but hated the idea of mail-order, due to a bad experience with ordering something from a comic book ad that took 6-8 weeks to show up. When I finally did order from Estes, I was shocked, the order arrived about 5 days after I mailed it in.

tbzep 10-09-2019 07:26 AM

George, have you always lived down around Birmingham or were you close to Huntsville at one time? The first time I went to Huntsville, I couldn't believe all the hobby shops that were there. They dwindled down over the years, but at one time it was amazing, at least to me.

Of course, I'm from a rural area and mail order was all that I had growing up. Even one shop was amazing to me when I went to the huge (to me) town of Jackson, TN and found the railroad/rocket section of Duffy's Home Center in the back right hand corner. IIRC, the owner was a railroad guy, but had other hobby stuff back there also. Not long after I found that shop, the owner passed and the hobby section disappeared. The store soon closed also.

LeeR 10-09-2019 01:34 PM

Growing up in Colorado, word spread pretty quickly about Estes Industries. A friend loaned me his copy of the 1964 catalog, the one with the Astron Cobra on the cover.
I think I stayed up all night devouring every bit of information on kits, engines, parts, and launch equipment. And what would I want on my first order?

My first rocket purchase was a mail order to Penrose. I think I got the order in about two weeks from sending it in. It felt like an eternity.

After maybe a couple years, we discovered that Tom Thumb Hobbies in Denver carried Estes rockets. In fact, it seemed like they carried every part, too. Long glass cases had boxes of tubes, nose cones, engines — everything! Kits hung on hooks behind the counters. It was amazing. I built a few kits, but I did a lot of scratch-building, too. I still placed orders with Estes. The early morning ring of the doorbell meant our postman had a box for me from The Model Rocket Capital if the World.

Something else I looked forward to getting — the latest issue of Model Rocket Hews. I built a lot of the Designs of the Month, and enjoyed getting copies of plans in every order, or a coupon for a free kit on a future order.

georgegassaway 10-09-2019 08:48 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
George, have you always lived down around Birmingham or were you close to Huntsville at one time?


I came up to Huntsville for a lot of HARA launches in the mid 1980's thru 90's but never lived near there.

Moved from North Carolina to Midfield (west of Birmingham) in June 1968, Homewood since fall 1970. West of Minneapolis, MN since 2012.

The shop near Midfield was Spivey's, a pretty famous hobby shop for the area. But as Centuri dwindled, so did his rocket section. Caught fire and burned down around 1994-1996. The "far away" hobby shop was Homewood Toy & Cycle, which was an odd combo of a bike shop and a toy store with hobbies. About the time we moved to Homewood, the store had split into two separate stores, the original bike shop, and toys/hobbies in a card shop next door. Then later, a five and dime store on the other side of the bike shop went under, it was bigger, so the Toy & Hobby shop moved into there and it still there as Homewood Toy & Hobby, the best hobby shop in the B'ham area. I spent a LOT of time and $ there till I moved.

But also in Homewood was Bill's hobby House. A literally classic mom and pop hobby store. Bill and his wife were both in their 70's when I first started going there in 1970 or 71. He had Centuri kits, and even got hold of some MPC Mini-Jets when those came out. I learned a lot about model planes and gliders from him. His wife passed away in the mid 1970's, and she was the one who did the store's paperwork and such. One of Bill's sons stepped in to help him run it, but only a couple of years or so later it closed.

georgegassaway 10-10-2019 03:01 PM

The auctions for these kits end tonight, shortly after 8 PM, EDT.

Flash 10-11-2019 06:55 AM

Those were some really nice kits. Would have like to have a chance at the Phoenix and 1b, just didn’t have the funds to spare.

I was surprised at the final selling price of the 1b.

That glider did really good! No surprise there.

Earl 10-11-2019 08:44 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flash
Those were some really nice kits. Would have like to have a chance at the Phoenix and 1b, just didn’t have the funds to spare.

I was surprised at the final selling price of the 1b.

That glider did really good! No surprise there.



Yes, I was a bit surprised myself on the Saturn 1b final bid. That is such a nice, classic kit. Ebay prices can be a mystery at times. Just depends whether two competing bidders are really eager for a particular item. The winning bidder on that one got a good deal. I remember one time getting a Centuri Defender, open kit but very nice and complete, for something like $45. Any other time that kit would have fetched $150 or more.

Earl

ghrocketman 10-11-2019 10:11 AM

Wowwwwww.

That Saturn 1B went for way less than I expected it would.
I planned to bid up to $170, but honestly I forgot...oops !


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