Gold Medal Models website is shutting down.

[Loren Perry]

The official Gold Medal Models website (www.goldmm.com) is shutting down, effective immediately. I just put in my order for the shutdown to my website's provider and they've agreed to start proceedings at once. It will be a few days before this actually takes place.

Anyone placing an order via this website or via PayPal will not be able to have their transaction completed.

However, I'm still able to fill some orders via regular e-mail requests.This means payment will only be possible the old-fashioned way through checks and/or postal money orders. Be sure to contact me first to check on availability because some items are now sold out and will not be re-stocked.

There are several reasons for this.

1. I'm 77 years old and my health is rapidly deteriorating due to bad lungs (Sarcoidosis) and Osteomyelitis which has led to me having all five toes amputated from my right foot a little over a year ago. No problem with that, but the healing process has taken over a year so far and it's far from over with complications arising recently that may require further surgery. Also, I'm on home oxygen now and can no longer drive a car due to disorientation and the onset of dementia which I'm now using as an excuse for forgetting anniversaries and birthdays with my wife Sherry. She's carrying quite a load now so I want to make things easier for her. (The bottom line is I'm not long for this world and GMM is going to fade away with me.)

2. My etchers of almost thirty years are about to close their doors due to their inability to comply with California's Draconian radical left-wing government regulations and destructive climate change edicts. Also their high taxes, neighborhood crime, and numerous other problems are leading them to consider this drastic decision. They can no longer provide me (or anyone else) with products to sell. So I can only sell what I have on the shelf today. They're about the same age as me so it's too difficult for them to uproot their operation and their families and transport it all to another state.

3. Being in a highly specialized hobby-related field complicates GMM's photoetching business in that it's not easy to find people willing and/or able to step in and take over. It requires a genuine love of the craft rather than a desire to make a lot of money. So rather than try to attempt to do that, I've decided that GMM's life should simply come to a natural end. Therefore, I and Gold Medal Models will become a part of modeling history, known or remembered mostly by people of my generation in a similar way that famous award-winning entertainers of the 1930's are virtually unknown to young people today. We're all a product of our time.

4. Finally, although I rarely spoke of such things in public, I do believe that Jesus Christ was the real deal and is among us today. I do believe that he willingly died on the cross to save us from our sins and rose from the dead a few days later. Too many witnesses to all of this make it impossible for me to believe otherwise. This is my personal belief and I truly hope as many people as possible come to feeling the same. I can feel that I'm getting closer each day to standing before God in judgement and I rely on Jesus's sacrifice to help me pass through the gates of Heaven. Please keep this in mind today as we navigate the perils of a very insecure future. Thousands of innocent people around the world are losing everything now due to unforeseen disasters, both natural and man-made. Please try to get your souls prepared. Personally, I'd like to think that maybe I can be the sort of individual that God (and his son Jesus) wouldn't mind allowing me to hang around with them. Try to do the same if you can. Make them smile.

[John]

Loren - Thank you for the incredible impact you've had on the model railroad community. Your products have made my modeling journey much easier, and your absence will certainly be a great loss to all of us. I wish you all the best for the future and hope you can enjoy life as you envision it.

[peteski]

I'm so sorry that GMM came to the end of its run. You're right, none of us are getting any younger or healthier.

Your products were so very useful to model ship builders, and model railroaders.  Too bad that today's world is not friendly to manufacturing those products.  We have lost MicronArt and TrainCat some years ago, and now GMM.  As you mentioned, most small hobby-related business are a labor of love rather than generating large-profits.

Like John, I like to thank you for all those wonderful products you made available to detail-oriented hobbyists, and I wish you all the best for the future.

[Lackawannae8]

I would see if KV models would have any interest in continuing your products...

[Peavine]

Thank you for all you have done for the hobby. I have used your products for years and appreciate your efforts.

Cheers,

Jim

[wm3798]

Loren,
Quite a journey.
You're creativity and industry have made us all a bit richer, even as we sent our money to you.  I appreciate the difference you were able to make in a lot of our work.
I'll be making a trek to my local to see if I can clean out their stock before someone else does.
If the drawings and plates are still intact, perhaps there's a vendor who will take them off your hands for good value.  There definitely remains a market for that stuff, even in the face of 3D printing.
Wishing you all the best for your health and your family, and peace in all you pursue going forward.
Lee

[basementcalling]

Loren, you will be missed. Your products were top notch, and benefited the entire modeling community. All good things must end. Kudos for accepting the passage of time and the inevitable, though I would hope a rescue of the product line could be found.

[tehachapifan]

Some things you just assume will always be around and sorely miss when they aren’t any longer. Sunrise Enterprises was one, NJ International was another and now GMM. Sorry to hear this but totally understand and respect the decision. Thank you for all the joy you brought to the hobby!

[SP-Wolf]

Loren,

You have my thoughts and prayers!!

Thank you, for the great contribution to our hobby

Best regards,
Wolf

[Showme]

Loren

  Thank you for all the years of your great products. And, most of all, thank you for that great testimony.

Bob

[Bob]

Best of luck to you Loren - you have been a God-send to N scale modelers!

[Kentuckian]

Loren, thank you for your products, and for your post. I admire you for taking action in the face of adversity.

[robert3985]

Loren, I am so sorry about your deteriorating physical condition.  I hit 75 this year, and by the Grace of God I am still healthy and able to fully indulge myself in this wonderful hobby.

But, it is inevitable that one day in the future, life will catch up to me, as it does to all of us.

I've used your products for decades in building many of my projects, both major and minor, and the exit of GMM will leave a huge hole in the model railroading world.

I hope that your physical problems become less soon and that the remainder of your life fulfills you mentally, creatively, and spiritually...and that you additionally have a good portion of fun and enjoyment along the way.

All my best to you...

Bob Gilmore

[randgust]

I just checked my inventory of GMM stuff, and was again reminded of the variety and quality of what you have done.   It really brought the entire scale up a notch.   I have GMM detail EVERYWHERE on my layout and modules, and there's no substitute for a quality etching in comparison to a RP printed part.

The reason I went to an etcher service for my kits was when I tried to do it myself, and as my wife once commented 'if you're going to be in a hazmat suit, working in the dark basement, getting toxic chemicals in the mail, why don't you just make meth instead and some real money?'   That's when I gave up doing it myself!   One of my better decisions. Metal etching is not organic gardening. 

Many 'on the edge' operations seem to have found second owners at the last possible moment, some doing things as well, and some not.  I was certainly dissapointed by Monroe Models picking up RLW, I've been surprised that NWSL has continued pretty much 'as-was'.  Keep trying.

[Doug G.]

God bless you, Loren.

Doug