A more valuable place than our showcase
By Mario Covalski
The collector got nearer the shop window, took a quick glance and gazed at something, the thing is, that after so many years of “hunting” the prey, he got used to finding among many items, the one that would awake his interest that day.
Once out of the shop, excited and with his beautiful acquisition in hand, he meditated about the question the shop assistant had asked him …what a silly question!. ”Why do you purchase resin and white metal models instead of plastic ones?, we’ve received some of high quality lately, and reasonably priced!”. A ridiculous question indeed!, anybody could realize the reason. He wondered how that man was working there if apparently, he knew nothing about the most basic?
He went through the answer in his mind, as many other times, metal or resin models have a very long life, probably, in 50 years, they’ll be in the same condition, while plastic ones, being more fragile, perhaps will become distorted as time passes. Thirty years, he thought, yes, 30 years is the maximum life of a plastic model, and what about the wheels?, if they are made out of rubber, they’ll last no more than 30 years, while those from resin or wood will last forever…
The collector, a 60 years old man, started his way back, pleased with the model and his certainties. World run as it should be and would go on doing so.
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I hope you can understand the message I’m trying to put across in this short story. Building scale models, even collecting them, is a hobby, and lasts what our excitement does; so, don’t deceive ourselves, we’re not visionaries, making a profitable investment for the future.
Don’t look either for perfection or for “everlasting” materials…building a scale model has the magic of a while, is ephemeral, and I believe that the secret is to treasure that magic moment in our memory and heart…a more valuable place than our showcase
(Thanks to my friend Sylvio Deutsch to have given me the inspiration for this editorial)
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