2008 Vendor Road Trip - Day 15, July 30

My second visit in California was to the Flying Mule. Yes, the Flying Mule is a retail competitor, but they are also the US distributor for the new and highly desirable Century Wings 1:72 diecast line. And, heck, they are just plane nice folks. Martin and Bill, the co-owners and I had lunch together and talked about new lines and planes, but also about life in general and found that we had a lot in common. This getting to know my business colleagues in person has been the most rewarding part of my trip.

The newest Century Wings model, another Jolly Rogers F-14 is arriving this week. Only 1000 of these were made. The Century Wings line has taken the modern military collector world by storm with amazing detail on the models. I have been amazed with the way the collectible model world has changed in the last 10 years. When I started this business 1:72 models were the realm of Corgi and Dragon models, but the addition of lines from Witty, IXO, Force of Valor, Hobby Master, and Century Wings has been great. This has really worked to the benefit of the collector with more new planes and liveries available then ever before. I can hardly wait to see what the next 10 years brings us.

My blog entries seem to be getting shorter the longer I am on the road. I think it’s because I beginning to get tired of the traveling. I’m in to week three and have put over 7000 miles behind me in the last two weeks, but 4000 more to go. Don’t get me wrong, this trip has been fantastic, but in terms of making business contacts, but in terms of seeing parts of this fabulous country that I have never seen before. But getting home sounds good, too. Anyway, I get to go to the Seattle Boeing Museum of Flight this coming week, which I’m looking forward to. On the way home I’ll be stopping to visit the Edmo Company, another pilot supply wholesaler, and then to the US Hobby Master distributor.