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Anyone else Grow up in the 80s?


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On Facebook I saw revell's announcement that they were going to release more Snap-tite models to bring more kids into the Hobby , and that the industry has been stagnant for decades.

The post was predictably responded to with a lot of requests for new kits and other irrelevant silliness.

I thought about this, and I was glad to see they were trying something to "make the first model-building experience a more enjoyable experience so that kids and first-time modelers will want to repeat the activity and become passionate about this hobby.”

It made me think about when I was growing up and first exposed to the hobby in the early 80s. The legend goes, that my Mom wanted to get my dad a birthday present, and saw model kits at a local variety store, I guess my Dad had mentioned he built models as a kid.

My Dad gave them to my brother and I to play with when finished them, and they invariably would break, but he did not care, he knew it would happen. Early on he built cars, and I was about 6 or 7 I guess, this would have been in 1982 or 83.

My Dad was in the Air Force in the 60s, and some of my favorite early memories were going to the National Air and space museum with him (which was still pretty new at the time) and he taught me a lot about all the planes there. I found it all very interesting, and it started a life long interest in aviation history.

He bought a monogram F-86 at the museum shop and it was fun to watch him build it. This was one of the first models that was more for display and not to be played with. He brush painted it .. this was before he got an airbrush, and it looked pretty darn good. He painted the yellow stripe on the fuselage, and also painted the nose yellow. It was "inaccurate" but it looked neat.

In those days, Toys R Us had a great selection of models that would rival many hobby stores at the time. I recall two facing aisles, one full aisle of just about every great Revell and monogram kit of the day, The big bombers, all the century series fighters, Cars, the big scale cars, and some great ones like the Space Shuttle with Launch tower. That kit came in the largest box I can recall a model kit coming in. They even had the huge Revell 1/96 sailing ship kits. On the other side, there was at least a half aisle , and I recall large Dinosaur kits from Monogram. All of this was inspiring to me as a kid just getting interested in the hobby. I have a fond memory of saving birthday money and walking out of there with a 1/72 B-36. I built, and it did not look great, but it was fun to dive into a big model and just build it.

At the time Kmart also had a good selection. You would also even see a limited selection at drugstores like People's (became CVS) and Rite-Aid. The two toy stores that were in every mall, Kaybee and K&k also had good selections, as well as the gift shops at museums.

So at the time, it was easier for kids to be exposed to the hobby since model kits were in many more places.

Sadly, It will never be the 80s again so we will probably never again see the wide scale distribution of model kits. Kits seemed to quickly disappear from most retail outlets in the early 90s. By 94 or 95, model kit sections at most stores was very limited, then, they disappeared.

I had the benefit of my father who built models well , and my Uncle who was also an excellent modeler. My Uncle contributed greatly, invariably when we went to visit over the summer he would send us home with some kits from his stash, some that he started... then it was easy to finish up a model that was already painted. My dad always encouraged me to progress with each one I built. After slapping models together at first, I was encouraged to learn to sand seams, and paint more carefully. My Dad would airbrush the final finish for me since I was really too young at time as a 6th grader.

I wonder how many kids were disappointed when the model did not look as good as the box art when assembled without the benefit of paint, sand paper, etc, especially if they did not have a parent or relative who could help.

It takes a lot of work to make an accurate replica out of a model kit. I think it is good that Revell is expanding the snap kit line up with pre-painted kits that will look much better than bare plastic. I wonder how many kids were disappointed when the model did not look as good as the box art when assembled without the benefit of paint, sand paper, etc, especially if they did not have a parent or relative who could help.

What do you think? Is Revell on the right track here? Does anyone else have the same memories of Toys R Us ?

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Yes I had fond memories when plastic kits used to be able to be picked up from Toy R us. I remember that in the mid eighties monogram, testors and even cox stuff could be found in Toy r Us here in Malaysia........it was always a treat to go and see all those kits ......from paint, tools and kits all there with great prices.......those were the days.......and even news agents used to carry matchbox and airfix kits.....and the Hasegawa 1/72 kits were also plentiful in almost all types of stores and I remember the price was only 5.10 Malaysian Ringgit.........

thanks for rekindling my memories and those were the days........

rgds

mr b

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I think Revell is doing the right thing here. I honestly think the main issue though isn't the fact that kinds don't want to make models though. I think it comes down to parents not wanting to deal with the potential mess more than anything. I have several friends that have children and most of them would rather just stick their kids in front of a tablet then have to take time out of their day to interact with their kids. As for Toys R Us. I remember those days very well. At that time I was usually building either ships or planes. Most of which would be built in a few hours, minus any paint of course. They usually lasted a week tops before either the bb gun of doom was brought in or they would end up as a pool toy.

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  • 1 month later...

My Son is 5 and loves watching me work on my models and coming with me to the local hobby shop. He asks tons of questions about the actual aircraft, where did it come from, who built it, who flew it, were they "good guys...or...bad guys?" and then a never ending stream of questions about building models. We also end up talking about how I got into model building, which leads to a discussion about my Dad, who passed away when I was in my early teens. He (my Dad) and I would sit down on the weekends and we would build an Monogram 1/48 aircraft together. I remember my first kit...the Monogram 1/48 P-51B in this box:

http://agapemodels.com/2010/03/01/readers-gallery-raleigh-lambs-148-monogram-p-51b/

I can remember vividly that weekened watching my Dad patiently walk me through the building process. We never painted it, and it really wasn't very pretty, but boy was I as proud as a peacock! I would love to find a Monogram Mustang in this very box to build with my Son, for nostalgia sakes.

Anyways, about a month ago, we were wandering around the LHS when the owner came around the isle with a Revell 1/72 snap together AH-64 Apache. He handed it to my Son and said "take it home and build it with your Dad. But bring it in here when you are done so I can see it". Imagine! Both my Son and I were thrilled and very thankful. I mean who does that now days? long story short, he built it (no paint)...loved it...took it into the store the following weekend pleased with himself. The owner made him feel like a million bucks! Since then I have bought him two other snap together kits that he works on beside me as I work on my projects. He just started brush painting (Snap Together 1/72 F-14 Tomcat) the cockpit...and he's doing a pretty decent job as far as I am concerned. He would rather hang with me then sit in front of a TV or computer...and I love that!

Sorry for the long post gents. But kudos to Revell for making these kits available :thumbsup:

Cheers all!

Don.

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I grew up in the late 80's-early 90's, and snap-tites definitely helped me get into the hobby. Good to see a bit of an added push from Revell. But my first exposure was through a few car kits and (can't believe i remember this) an F-14 (1/48 maybe? it came with photo etch, i recall) that my dad brought home. We never finished the kits, but they started me into the hobby. I really wanted to get back into it, in small part since the little time my dad & i actually spent building back then was really important to me.

As far as growing the hobby for the next generation, it really has to come from a place of fun. And I think even adults have to cut loose occasionally and have fun with the hobby. I have a whole bunch of what-if, fantasy-type builds I'd love to try out to keep things interesting. Seems a little like really proficient builders "look down" on things that aren't uber-accurate and detailed (my opinion, of course). That mentality works great for contests and the like, but it's way too stuffy for kids with short attention spans and access to video games (like me!).

I am doing my part, though. I bought a few snaptite kits for my two young cousin's birthdays a while back, and I told them we'd build them up when they come over for me to babysit sometime. I even have a few snaptite A-10's in the stash for me and my brother to build with them.

later!

- joel

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That's a great story. I was an 80s/90s kid as well and used to love grabbing some kit at walmart and throwing it together. I never painted them but I loved showing them off and of course "flying" them. My favorite was a b-25 kit. I don't remember the manufacturer, but I know I took that darn thing everywhere.

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As an '80s kid I remember seeing snap-together and the small/cheap glue-togethers like the old Testors/Hawk 1/72 WWII-warbird-size boxes seemingly even at the corner 7-11... but today, we have a culture that mocks ANY kind of "craftsman" hobby, not just scale modeling. (Look at how they depict avid woodworker Gibbs on NCIS, for example!)

And they call 'em toys? News flash, peeps, if it's got separate pieces that are smaller than a FINGERNAIL CLIPPING as some model parts are, that's not a toy and any parent who gave it to a kid as such and failed to supervise NEEDS a visit from CPS.

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I grew up in the 80's as well. Also started modelling then, when I was around 9, I think. Main reason why I stopped was simply because of the cost. Model kits were expensive where I grew up in Asia, and my parents were struggling (single income, 4 kids). I picked up this hobby again a few years ago because I have my own income now, and being in Australia, model kits and all the paraphernalia for them are relatively easier to get and cheaper than where I grew up.

Now, I have kids of my own, but unfortunately none of them show any interest in picking up this hobby... :(

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This is great to hear. The story sounds familiar buy has a slight

twist to it for me. I grew up in the 50s and 60s. My father was an ex

WWII vet who built a few models. Thats what got me interested. He built

the old Revell USS Arizona and an LST which I don't know who boxed it. When

I was about 6 or so he built me an F-106, right at the dining room table,

while he painted and glued I watched "Steve Canyon". When it came time to finish

it up I remember him asking me what color the inside of the burner can should be.

Yellow I answered without hesitation, yellow? his reply. Well at that age the flames

looked yellow, but then again we had a black and white TV. I think some kudos should

go to the "Dads" as well as the snap kits.---John

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  • 1 month later...

I grew up in the 80s. My first kit was a snap title. It was a small scale B-1 in the white prototype markings and I dont know how I remembered that. I also remember the first kit with glue was a 1/72 A-7 which I built but didn't paint. I did paint it later when I got a set of Testors paint and I also painted my toy Army men. After that I built everything and there were kits being sold everywhere. For Christmas 1986 I got the set of Top Gun aircraft. Others were the Hunt for Red October USS Dallas and a helicopter. I still build with my kids, my 3 year old loves going to "Daddy's room" to paint.

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Not long after I posted my response to this thread, all of a sudden my older daughter (a 14-year-old) approached me saying that she wanted to try building a plane! I was like..... WHAT???? Seriously?? She said: yes! She wanted to try something easy. I was initially thinking of snap-tites, but then decided to buy her a 1/72 F-117A Idolmaster from HLJ (60% off!) since it's colourful, plus F-117 should be easier (I hope!). Also, she said that she liked the look of stealth planes. LOL!

Then yesterday I dropped by a hobby shop in Melbourne CBD and saw Revell's 1/144 F-19 Stealth Fighter for $9. I'm thinking of buying that for her as well. :woot.gif:

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Not long after I posted my response to this thread, all of a sudden my older daughter (a 14-year-old) approached me saying that she wanted to try building a plane! I was like..... WHAT???? Seriously?? She said: yes! She wanted to try something easy. I was initially thinking of snap-tites, but then decided to buy her a 1/72 F-117A Idolmaster from HLJ (60% off!) since it's colourful, plus F-117 should be easier (I hope!). Also, she said that she liked the look of stealth planes. LOL!

Then yesterday I dropped by a hobby shop in Melbourne CBD and saw Revell's 1/144 F-19 Stealth Fighter for $9. I'm thinking of buying that for her as well. :woot.gif:/>

My older kids will build something occasionally. My 12 year old has a half built Corsair right now, and I bought him a 1/700 USS North Carolina after he was supposed to go to the ship for a field trip. We've done a few models for school projects. My 14 year old did a diorama of the Battle of Lexington that was pretty nice. I'm hoping my 12 year old will get a little more interested since he has been learning about WWII and is now studying the Cold War.

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I too grew up in the 80s, and fondly remember Testors A-7E yellow box with pictures on the back of the completed high vis marking jet in Rite Aid drug stores!! That was one I desired so much and never got-every time I went in the pharmacy with my family I would pick the box up. Back then in jersey we had kiddie city toy stores as we'll and I recall a aisle full of kits on both sides, not to mention Kay bee and toys r us, kmart, caldors too! Plus they were cheaper.

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I just bought a bunch of 80s Monogram kits. Two of the Skyraider have Kmart price tags for $3.50. I would occasionally get a Fine Scale Modeler magazine and look at the crazy prices for a Tamiya or Hasegawa kit. I figured they had to be amazing since they were several times the price of a Monogram B-17.

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...I would occasionally get a Fine Scale Modeler magazine and look at the crazy prices for a Tamiya or Hasegawa kit. I figured they had to be amazing since they were several times the price of a Monogram B-17.

I often go back through my issues of FSM to get an article I need for one of my builds. I recently used an issue from 1989 and noticed the adds for some Hasegawa 1/72 kits. Some of those same kits are still being re-boxed and released by Hasegawa only at much higher price then they were way back in 1989 (and I thought they were pricey in 1989). I wish I could pay the 1989 price today :lol:! One thing is for sure, Hasegawa gets a lot of mileage out of some of their kits.

Cheers!

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I'm pretty sure I built a snap-tite at some point, but can't remember which one. My first kit was a 1/72 P-40 my den mother gave me as a Christmas gift, but my Dad did pretty much all of the work on it and I played with it as a toy. Since it was molded in OD green, we didn't even paint it.

I know my folks bought me every one of the Fisher-Price Adventure People toys that had to be assembled like a model kit (including appropriate markings!) before you could play with them. I fondly remember the Turbo Hawk which was basically a blue F-15 with a tinted canopy and really cool stickers.

I saw this Monogram kit at a department store when I was maybe 11 or 12.

135805-10189.jpg?nr=5440&company=monogram&name=u.s.%20navy%20f-4j

That box art got me hook, line & sinker. Convinced my Mom to buy it and a Testors military aircraft paint set...must have been close to my birthday or something, because we weren't in a "hey Ma I want this toy right now" financial position then. Built it, loved it. I'm sure it looked terrible, but I enjoyed the process and the sense that I had built this fighter. I built a couple of other 1/72 F-4's, I recall one of them was Israeli with three color desert camo and a sky blue underside. As I entered high school I did some 1/48 birds, all Monogram or Revell: The Harrier kit with the choice of RAF or USMC markings, the A-10 and the Yeager-endorsed F-15 with Mountain Home tiger stripes on the tail. I also built the dual kit that had an Israeli F-15 and a Syrian MiG 21.

Then there was the 1/1 car and the weekend job that was full time during the summer and suddenly, I wasn't building anymore...though I did display my A-10 and F-15 in my Air Force barracks rooms. Didn't start building again until I was in my thirties, you know, the typical case.

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As far as growing the hobby for the next generation, it really has to come from a place of fun. And I think even adults have to cut loose occasionally and have fun with the hobby. I have a whole bunch of what-if, fantasy-type builds I'd love to try out to keep things interesting. Seems a little like really proficient builders "look down" on things that aren't uber-accurate and detailed (my opinion, of course). That mentality works great for contests and the like, but it's way too stuffy for kids with short attention spans and access to video games (like me!).

Amen! With my own stuff I vacillate about accuracy, but in general I think everyone should build what they enjoy building and who cares otherwise? It's a hobby, not rocket surgery!

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  • 2 months later...

I was around in the 80's but I really still haven't grown up according to my wife.

Hey!!!..I resemble that remark..... :woot.gif::whistle: . If you ask anyone who doesn't model, or has never gone nose to nose with a Hasegawa 1/48 Tomcat, or a Tamiya 32nd Phantom...we are all playing with toys. IMHO they can't meet the challenge, and would bin the kit within the first day or two.

Edited by #1 Greywolf
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Kurt,

My eyes just about filled with tears as I read your post. I, too, grew up in the 1980s. I was born in 1970 and I remember building my first kit, a Snap-Tite F-15 right around 1978 or thereabouts. For some reason, my love affair with model airplanes exploded and I would never look back. From that day forth, there was never a time when I wasn’t modeling.

When the 1980s came around, I was living in Springfield, VA. The ‘80s were tough for me. My parents had the most awful arguments every night and their marriage ended in divorce around 1983 or ’84. My mom ended up working two, sometimes three, jobs to make ends meet. I had changed schools a couple of times and I was not doing well at all. In spite of the social and financial hardship she, my brother and I went through, my mom always made sure I had a small kit or two to occupy my time when she wasn’t home.

Around that same time, I, like you, had saved up my birthday and Christmas money. Being 14, that was the only way I could earn money when I wasn’t cutting a couple of neighbors’ yards for $5 which my brother and I split. It was also right around that time that Springfield got its first Toys-R-Us store. To a 14 year old kid, you couldn’t have given me any better news than that. I think the fondest memories of that tumultuous time for me was walking in the muggy heat of a DC summer to the Toys-R-Us store. My house didn’t have air conditioning so that, coupled with the long walk, meant it was like stepping into Heaven the moment I walked through those wonderful sliding glass doors. The place was air conditioned and it was my sanctuary.

I only ever went to the model airplane aisle. As you said, there was shelf after shelf loaded with B-36s, B-17s and everything else in between. To this day I can still remember purchasing the huge 1/32 F-14 with the coolest “Wolfpack” squadron markings I had ever seen. It was a 2.5 mile walk to get home which was made cumbersome by the carrying of a huge Toys-R-Us bag filled with an enormous 1/32 F-14 box but nothing you could have done would have wiped away the smile from my face.

They say Heaven is a place you go to where your most cherished memories surround you. If that’s how it really works up there, then when I die, I’m going to be a 14 year old kid back in my non-air conditioned house sitting at my tiny little folding table surrounded by all the kits I got from Toys-R-Us. It’s been 30 years or so since all of that occurred. I think many of my bad memories from that time have been erased by me but those summers I spent during my teenage years feel as real to me as if they happened yesterday. I can still sense the air conditioned coolness on my skin when I close my eyes and think about it. Thank you for bringing up the topic!

Eric

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  • 3 weeks later...

As a new father of a wonderful little baby girl I am already worried about the allure of the iphone or other i product that her cousins are always preoccupied with. I will be the dad who pushes the lego, crayons, paints and crafts in general. At least so that she can make something all by herself and have something to show for her efforts. I think there is also a time and place for video games and sports as well. She will certainly be encouraged to try sports. But I also like her to use her brain and hands, get to understand instructions and gain confidence that she can build stuff and to not be afraid of making a mistake.

So I am pleased by this Revell announcement; it makes sense to me. While we have the patience and the ability to foresee the end result of a month or two of work on a plastic model, the little ones do not. What could be better than getting a nice model with cool box art - getting it home and out on the kitchen table - building it in less than an hour without the need for messy glues and paints - and then PLAYING with it? Impress mom and dad AND get a toy... all by yourself. If a little one 'graduates' to bigger models, then so much the better.

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My senior year in high school i was in a program that let me go to school in the morning and work in the afternoon. I would go to the local shopping plaza that consisted of an Ames, A&P, a pizza place and a drug store. I made my rounds snaching up any model that caught my fancy and usually bashed them together in a few hours. Those were the days…

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On Facebook I saw revell's announcement that they were going to release more Snap-tite models to bring more kids into the Hobby , and that the industry has been stagnant for decades.

The post was predictably responded to with a lot of requests for new kits and other irrelevant silliness.

I thought about this, and I was glad to see they were trying something to "make the first model-building experience a more enjoyable experience so that kids and first-time modelers will want to repeat the activity and become passionate about this hobby.”

It made me think about when I was growing up and first exposed to the hobby in the early 80s. The legend goes, that my Mom wanted to get my dad a birthday present, and saw model kits at a local variety store, I guess my Dad had mentioned he built models as a kid.

My Dad gave them to my brother and I to play with when finished them, and they invariably would break, but he did not care, he knew it would happen. Early on he built cars, and I was about 6 or 7 I guess, this would have been in 1982 or 83.

My Dad was in the Air Force in the 60s, and some of my favorite early memories were going to the National Air and space museum with him (which was still pretty new at the time) and he taught me a lot about all the planes there. I found it all very interesting, and it started a life long interest in aviation history.

He bought a monogram F-86 at the museum shop and it was fun to watch him build it. This was one of the first models that was more for display and not to be played with. He brush painted it .. this was before he got an airbrush, and it looked pretty darn good. He painted the yellow stripe on the fuselage, and also painted the nose yellow. It was "inaccurate" but it looked neat.

In those days, Toys R Us had a great selection of models that would rival many hobby stores at the time. I recall two facing aisles, one full aisle of just about every great Revell and monogram kit of the day, The big bombers, all the century series fighters, Cars, the big scale cars, and some great ones like the Space Shuttle with Launch tower. That kit came in the largest box I can recall a model kit coming in. They even had the huge Revell 1/96 sailing ship kits. On the other side, there was at least a half aisle , and I recall large Dinosaur kits from Monogram. All of this was inspiring to me as a kid just getting interested in the hobby. I have a fond memory of saving birthday money and walking out of there with a 1/72 B-36. I built, and it did not look great, but it was fun to dive into a big model and just build it.

At the time Kmart also had a good selection. You would also even see a limited selection at drugstores like People's (became CVS) and Rite-Aid. The two toy stores that were in every mall, Kaybee and K&k also had good selections, as well as the gift shops at museums.

So at the time, it was easier for kids to be exposed to the hobby since model kits were in many more places.

Sadly, It will never be the 80s again so we will probably never again see the wide scale distribution of model kits. Kits seemed to quickly disappear from most retail outlets in the early 90s. By 94 or 95, model kit sections at most stores was very limited, then, they disappeared.

<snip>

What do you think? Is Revell on the right track here? Does anyone else have the same memories of Toys R Us ?

Not so much the shops. My son grew up in the '80s. We modelled together and his abilities went from learner to mentor. His 1/700 scale Independance had an air wing. "It's a floating museum, Anything I want on here, I can make." I still have it and many of his other builds, small scale armour and soft skins. Big scale bombers and lots of Hasegawa and Matchbox 1/72 scale builds.

One day during the school break, I was in a welding supply store CIG Port Hedland when I spied a Paasche H airbrush. Bought it. Bought an E sized cylinder of nitrogen and dropped it off at home. That night, he taught me how to use a Paasche H. :) gold.

Neither of us model much any more. I'm lucky to finish 2 presentable models per year. I. Commence building more, but ...

He has small small children and a beautiful woman. No hobby cam beat that.

He gets my stash, what's left of it when I move in!

G

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Growing up is over-rated.

I was a child of the 70's and 80's....which is why I love Matchbox kits. Those and a few Airfix kits, along with Humbrol enamels were all the newsagent in our little country town stocked.

  • Bon Scott was my hero :D
  • I spent long peaceful hours roaming the bush with fly-rod rod or rifle in hand. I could sit patiently by a pool for hours waiting for a trout to show to have a cast at
  • Raced my motorbike along the river
  • Chased all the country-town girls
  • Drank beer and smoked ciggies in the old grandstand which my best mate had pinched from the RSL club where his mother cleaned
  • The kids at the small country high school were real decent young human beings
  • Spent hours in my mates smoke filled bedroom drinking cups of tea, listening to Judas Priest and other 80's metal

Halcyon Days my friends.

It all shattered when I was sent off to a city boarding school :(

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