Legendaryreproductions.com

This is a place for me to tell you what is going down.
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Mike Casey
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Legendaryreproductions.com

Post by Mike Casey »

I finally pulled the trigger tonight and closed down the site. It now redirects to qsl. Thanks to all that tried to help support that site. I really appreciate it, but now it's time to move on....
www.quarterscalelegends.com The Awesome history of 1/4 scale!!
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Mike Casey
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Re: Legendaryreproductions.com

Post by Mike Casey »

LOL... she is retired now.

Its not gonna come back. I learned quite a bit from that experience. Basically everyone else want YOU to make the investment and take the risk so THEY can get parts for a reasonable price... well some day i guess? There are a few guys out there that have made copies off these originals so they are out there. Either that or its back to the days of $400-$500 bodies and $350 ring gear sets on ebay again...
www.quarterscalelegends.com The Awesome history of 1/4 scale!!
M.R. Ogle

Re: Legendaryreproductions.com

Post by M.R. Ogle »

I think it's a shame Mike had to close LRU, but I certainly understand.

A little history for those who don't know:

In 2005-2006, I sold quarter scale funny car bodies, the new style ones that were on LRU. Because of the small volume demand and ever-rising costs of "oversize" package shipping, I finally decided that it was not only NOT profitable, it was actually starting to COST me money to sell those bodies for a "reasonable" price ($200 to $250 ea.).

And if you added in the time it took to pack one, the cost of the packaging materials/boxes needed, and the time to drive these large packages to a UPS or FedEx freight office, it was absolutely a losing deal.

So I made a deal with LRU, and sent Mike the mold, so I could get out of that business.

This year, I thought I'd make a musclecar body mold, because I believed the dozens of posts on QSL bemoaning the lack of that kind of body being available. Surely, with soooo many people saying they wanted one of these bodies, this would finally be a body that could 1) be useful to a LOT of Q-scale hobbyists, and therefore 2) might actually NOT be a money-LOSER. So I built the master, Mike Casey invested in a professional mold being made (which still has some issues to be resolved) and how many guys desperately wanting a body actually ordered and paid for one?

Three.

At this point, I think Mike has finally realized that quarter scale is not a big enough market to justify ANY kind of real investment in mass-producing components such as bodies. Or rear gearboxes. Or most anything really. You can do it as a labor of love, you can build onesy-twosy stuff for yourself or your buddies, but looking coldly at it from a business standpoint, a reasonable timetable for "ROI" (return on investment) possibility for anything more ambitious than that is simply NOT there.


Anyone else can go give it their best shot, if they want to be a Q-scale "manufacturer" and I wish them the best of luck, But I don't see it being a venture I'd readily get into again. I've seen that movie.
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K
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Re: Legendaryreproductions.com

Post by K »

Mike:

An outstanding effort, lesser people would have quit a while back. Legendaryreproductions was a breath of fresh air which I truly appreciated. I only ever bought three bodies from LRU but I will treasure these.

Again Mike, an outstanding effort.
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Mike Casey
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Re: Legendaryreproductions.com

Post by Mike Casey »

labor of love is really the way to put it. At that time, i knew what it was costing me and i loved this hobby so much that i desperately wanted it to grow. Unfortunately this hobby wornt really grow unless someone actively goes out and gets new blood. Since this was just a hobby business that i did on my very limited free time on the weekends... well, you get the idea!

Anyway, cant wait to start focusing on my own stuff now!!! :)
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Mike Casey
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Re: Legendaryreproductions.com

Post by Mike Casey »

picked up my babies over the weekend and now they are safe in my overflow storage. I forgot i even had some of this stuff.

Mike, the FE body plug is there too.
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molds.JPG
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glr racing
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Re: Legendaryreproductions.com

Post by glr racing »

Hi Mike as a new commer to this hobbie I am sorry to see it go down.It is bad that people have to take someone elses hard work an flood the market with nock offs. I am still going to try to do this hobbie because of my health and age this is as close to racing as I may be able to get. I hope I can still look to guys like Billy,Mike,John,Bob,Pete and if I ever get to talk to Mr.O for help. I think it is a lot of fun and hope to add new cars and build a collection so I can hand them down to my Sons and grandsons to hopefuly keep it alive for years to come.Thanks Greg .......PS my collection will be with any drag race cars, but I do kinda like sprint cars may one. And hot rods.who knows it is what gets my eye.:) (QUARTER SCALE LIVES ON)
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Mike Casey
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Re: Legendaryreproductions.com

Post by Mike Casey »

That's how to do it!!!!!!
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cadguy
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Re: Legendaryreproductions.com

Post by cadguy »

Mike...I am so dissapointed to hear about the closing of LRU. I know in the very short time that I have been involved with the 1/4 scales, I have really gained a lot of knowledge from this website. I think that the economy has had such a negative impact on our hobbies. I know I have had my share of struggles and there are many other stories with struggling families just trying to make it and having to sell their prized quarter scale cars just to possibly make one more mortgage payment. I have been shocked at the great deals that have come available from someone liquidating because of hardships. And equally having a tear in my eye while I couldn't even afford to take advantage of those rare opportunities. I happened to be lucky enough at one time to catch my prized possesion at a time that i could afford it. But if that opportunity was available to me again today, I would have to pass it up just the same. I hope one day we can get to a point where these almost rare museum pieces that we treasure so much will continue to be built and restored and continue to live on for our childrens grandchildren to enjoy and appreciate. To own one of these 1/4 scales is to own a part of history. Thanks for all you do for the 1/4 scale enthusiasts Mike as well as all of those in the past and present who continue to strive to keep the 1/4 scale legends alive.
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Mike Casey
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Re: Legendaryreproductions.com

Post by Mike Casey »

We offered both styles and only sold 2 bodies over the years. You can see the two molds at the front of the picture.
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Mike Casey
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Re: Legendaryreproductions.com

Post by Mike Casey »

I have had a few emails asking why i dont just send the tooling to them and they will keep offering bodies. Sooooo i have come up with this. I am willing the to Sell the LOT of molds I have for exactly what i have invested into them. There are 18 body molds in all. All to produce fiberglass bodies. No Lexan body molds will be included. I will NOT seperate the lot. Price is $25,000 firm plus you arrange transport. Again, this is EXACTLY what i have invested in this tooling. Get this lot and you could start your own body building business. Hell, i would even include the LRU web domain.

Operators are standing by.
www.quarterscalelegends.com The Awesome history of 1/4 scale!!
M.R. Ogle

Re: Legendaryreproductions.com

Post by M.R. Ogle »

What an opportunity to make a small fortune!

(out of a regular fortune)
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