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<blockquote data-quote="Glyfair" data-source="post: 5357148" data-attributes="member: 53">I am in the middle ground.&nbsp; I do feel those that say the hobby is going strong do have their heads in the sand and are ignoring the obvious signs of a declining hobby.&nbsp; On the other hand, the &quot;hard data&quot; given tend not to be the strongest of signs.&nbsp; The key is these unreliable signs still almost all point in the same direction.In this article the biggest flaw is pointing to the ICV2 survey.&nbsp; That survey is very flawed since it only goes by surveying hobby retailers.&nbsp; It doesn't measure non-hobby sales at all.&nbsp; It surveys a line of stores that clearly has a deserved reputation for often bit being the most professional and business-like (i.e. many make business decisions based on whether they like a game line rather than it's sales and marketing potential).Looking at all that is out there and I see that the industry is shrinking and that definitely means the hobby is shrinking.&nbsp; That doesn't necessarily mean it is near a critical issue yet.&nbsp; It should be a wake up call for all who are concerned about it to look at ways of growing the hobby, though.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Glyfair, post: 5357148, member: 53"] I am in the middle ground. I do feel those that say the hobby is going strong do have their heads in the sand and are ignoring the obvious signs of a declining hobby. On the other hand, the "hard data" given tend not to be the strongest of signs. The key is these unreliable signs still almost all point in the same direction. In this article the biggest flaw is pointing to the ICV2 survey. That survey is very flawed since it only goes by surveying hobby retailers. It doesn't measure non-hobby sales at all. It surveys a line of stores that clearly has a deserved reputation for often bit being the most professional and business-like (i.e. many make business decisions based on whether they like a game line rather than it's sales and marketing potential). Looking at all that is out there and I see that the industry is shrinking and that definitely means the hobby is shrinking. That doesn't necessarily mean it is near a critical issue yet. It should be a wake up call for all who are concerned about it to look at ways of growing the hobby, though. [/QUOTE]

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