Even as a child I preferred Matchbox over Hotwheels. I still buy a cool looking moving parts or construction vehicle if I find it interesting. Cool article!
Im so sad about this.
I am 24, and have loved Model Trains my whole life. I grew up in India, where there was no model railroading scene (I picked it up as a toddler in the UK).
My drive for moving abroad was to have the space to make my own model train set. I got lucky and we made it to the States when I turned 18. But I still need to earn, get a house, before I can build my layout. Hope it sticks around until then.
My heart aches, I have such a passion for model trains. I’ve taken a few friends to shops and they always found it interesting. But no one buys anything. I don’t think kids will ever get into this, I blame the babyfication of Thomas and Friends more than anything else.
A bit late, but I think these are orthogonal to Western generations. Probably due to increasing globalization of the world, but I find general attitudes toward socialization, romance, and technology to be very similar between Indians and Westerners of similar generations. Obviously Indian differences matter when it comes to a lot of things, but the older Western generation was surprisingly conservative too especially those who grew up in more rural places. The biggest differences usually come from how used to material comfort older Indians seem compared to Westerners.
