Is this hobby dying in the US?

[pigeonfarmboy]

Money is tight and the RC Industry as a whole is in a very bad state. We're definitely going to feel that trend in this small niche part of the hobby. Sales are way down and people aren't spending their money on RC toys (and if they are, they are buying used or mega-cheap). Novak and Airtronics closed this year, if nothing changes there will be more to follow.

It's not all doom and gloom. Take Axialfest for example. That event gets some 700+ entries per year and keeps growing. There's people in attendance from all over the world. Just takes the right group of people to decide to support something they believe in.

I still love my trucks and equipment, I've just been building other rc things and putting my money into Pinball Machines and traveling around to play Pinball. I think everyone I know goes in cycles of interests.