Model Rockets disapearing?

I was coming around to deicing to maybe build my own model rocket. i had used tho store brand model rockets for years the class you dont need a license for. but they had lost there oomph and i stopped using them. but i noticed searching stores that once carried them in abundance now niether sold the rocket fuel or the rockets. not even the kits. ok maybe it wasnt a best seller but suddenly disapearing from 3 stores that once carried them? i searched walmarts online store, toys r us online store and kmarts online store none showed up anywhere! so they didnt just stop selling them locally they stopped selling them all together. is this a subdivision of the patriot act or is this a move by you know who to eliminate a possible resource for resistance movements? the only rockets i found still selling are from stores that still had them in stock and are selling there stock, all new supplies are only the type u need to REGISTER and be LICENSED for. any thoughts on this?

Probably just much ado about nothing. I doubt that there's a conspiricy here.

that very well could be, better to discuss and get opinions rather then just figure on ones own on something that could possibly be more.

Most likely the diminshing numbers of places left to launch them have cuased them to wither on store shelves. There are tons of online sources, however.

Rockets-2-Go

I've found that places like Hobby Lobby are the stores that carry them now

reply to post by JustInCase101



What type of rockets are they?

model/size/price etc, etc.

There the type of rockets with engines a-d class that have disapeared.

My guess, not a big seller. Most people probably consider them to be an uncool thing to play with when you have Wiis, iPods, cell phones, and every other electronic gadget.

People just don’t care about the same levels of entertainment they once used to. Look at how toys for all ages have changed over the years. Very few take a walk or read or do educational things for entertainment anymore. Making a rocket requires some degree of learning; you cannot make one without learning something.

Raist

Yes you do make a very valid point raist and thanks for your insight. the more i think about it, it is probably the case of just being replaced with something that requires no thought like an ipod or better yet playing bowling on a wii lol fun ill admit but might as well play for real. anyway back on topic, besides getting erased on store shelves dont u think they would still offer them on there online shelves being the big companies they are?

Originally posted by JustInCase101
Yes you do make a very valid point raist and thanks for your insight. the more i think about it, it is probably the case of just being replaced with something that requires no thought like an ipod or better yet playing bowling on a wii lol fun ill admit but might as well play for real. anyway back on topic, besides getting erased on store shelves dont u think they would still offer them on there online shelves being the big companies they are?

I would expect hobby stores to carry them online and in stores. But I would not expect to see them at any big retail chain either online or in the stores. I am actually surprised you still see BB guns and sling shots in any store aside from a gun shop.


I think the big retail chains are after the newest hottest thing that will bring them the most money. Anything else sits in their warehouse and requires money to store. Money they may not get back because the product may sit for years before someone comes along to buy it.

Raist

I was always amazed growing up that in the slave state of CT I couldnt get fireworks and certain rifles but I could get all the rocket engines I wanted. Maybe the slave citizen/totalitarian government model is becoming more consistent in getting these solid fuel rocket engines off the shelves?

In the same aisle you can get rocket engines and nitromethane but god forbid you be able to get a sparkler or firecrackers.

Just a thought......
Would you want an emo kid that spends 6-10 hours a day on a keyboard, launching, propelled stuff upwards.......I don't, hell thought of them owning guns scares me......turn off their PC's and make em get out, go fishing canoeing, hunting etc.etc They really are lacking in "life experiences"
Not to mention the mega store chains, are now only in major metro and only slightly urban areas"small mart" don't exist anymore, nowadays you need to drive 15 miles from town, before you really get out of town......
I make my own..to answer your question....why use a store, just get to the root of it....

reply to post by JustInCase101


Saw them inside our local Toys"R"Us, you may want to search inside rather than online.

I'd rather be launching a nice C series than playing Wii heehe.

I miss my rocket.. lost it in a 'badly planned out launch'... if ya get what I mean.

The sound of a rocket is amazing.. PSWHHHHHSSSSSSSSSSsssssssssssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I must go get me another one!

haha glad someone else feels the same invogoration of a wooshing rocket lol

I actually saw a guy build a 'thing' once after a little reading that described how to turn one of those suckers into a real wire guided explosive ordinance with little more than part of a rat tooth file, some lighter flints, black powder and a spool of thin wire. I won't go into detail here obviously, but to make a long story short I watched the guy put a big hole in his woodshed with a D model...
I wouldn't doubt for a second that these are being taken off the shelf in the name of public 'safety', they can be weaponized easily and the liability has to be an issue with them. The guy that made the actual 'thing' wasn't even all that brilliant, he was smoking when he was filling the nose cone... lol

The Rockets have been gone from stores around me for years. So have model kits, I only see the star Wars: Clone Wars kiddie kits anymore.

Over the summer I asked about the missing models and I got a response that probably rings true for the rockets. The store clerk said; "You couldn't pay my kids to sit still long enough to put anything like that together."

I suppose the same is completely true for rocket kits. Luckily I still have some old Estes kits sitting around in storage.

[edit on 18-12-2008 by SweetRevenge]

hobby lobby still has them here in ohio. When I was a kid 40 years ago I ordered every thing right from estes in co. Wa a good hobby.

Probably being replaced with those remote controlled helicopters I've been seeing everywhere now. I never actually tried one, but I guess the reduced chance of losing it (vs a rocket) and the fact that you can actually control it's flight means that the era of the toy rocket may be over.