Hobby Thread - June 14, 2025 [TRex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. We gave the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies(TM) a spin and it decided to celebrate nostalgic toys a year of hobby threading with TRex! We'll leave the board games and legos for another time and focus on other toys for this thread.

Lots going on in the sphere of current events. Let's give the Hobby Thread theme a little space to breathe before we resume insightful observations and witty commentary on the news. The 100 comment rule is in effect.

As always, your hobbying participation does not need to limited to the theme. All hobbying is welcome.

Standard terms apply for any commenting. Play nice. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls. Pants are optional.

The Hobby Thread existed well before TRex arrived on the scene and (hopefully) will last long after TRex has moved on. However, this weekend marks the one year anniversary of TRex officially taking the helm of the Hobby Thread. There were some sporadic appearances before to help fill in here and there, but the keys to the Hobby Thread were left on the Ace of Spades counter this time last year and ended up in my pocket. Never underestimate the reach of short arms...

Thanks much to all of you for reading, commenting and contributing. The breadth and depth of Horde interests and skills is breathtaking.

If you're going to be crafty, you know about the sock monkey.

Did you pull newsprint with silly putty?

or were you more of a Play-Doh sculptor?

The Hobby Thread has covered a wide range of topics and themes over the past year. In many cases, the theme is only a starting point and the comments take the thread in different directions. It is organic and unpredictable which makes it fun.

What themes have been most popular? Comment volume is the easiest measure, but volume depends a lot on time of the year and what else is going on. Quantity also doesn't measure quality. Some themes attracted fewer comments, but the comments resonated with the Horde and sparked wonderful memories and insights. But...we have comment volumes, so we'll go with that as an indicator.

The winner by a large margin was the model rocket theme in July 2024.

Second place is a tie between coin collecting and writing (both in November 2024). Both were likely popular on their own, but he colder weather likely kept people at home and closer to their computers more than warm weather months.

Third place is a four way tie: national parks in June 2024, tools in May 2024, genealogy in July 2024 and knitting/stitching in August 2024.

All of those were in 2024. The three biggest themes in 2025 were Presidential history locations and model railroading in Jan and museums in March.

The comments often provide inspiration for future themes. If there is interest and energy, we'll go with it. If you have ideas, please offer them. Either post in the comments or send a note via email.

Please remember the theme is just a suggested rally point. Comments are welcome on whatever you're hobbying or interested in. No need to stick with the theme.

One of the best parts of looking after the Hobby Thread is the ability to showcase Horde Hobbying. We've shown quilts, scale models, decorated eggs, paintings and more. We had a feature specifically for jewelry and trinkets created by Jewells before she passed away.

Thanks to all who submit their Hobbying to share with the Horde. Thanks to all who haunt my emailbox periodically just to say hello. Please continue.

Tankascribe's quote anchors each post. There is truth in those words. There is a reason they are included each week.

Anyway, thank you all.

Indestructible.

Tinker Toys or...

Lincoln Logs...

or Erector set?

Etch a sketch and...

the mighty View Master.

Related comment of the week candidate taken out of context from the Wednesday Art thread:

Hat tip to Cicero and scampydog

Jacks...

marbles...

and dominoes.

Hot wheels and matchbox (along with miles of orange track):

Crashing carnage. Demolition derbies. Jumps and races. Sadly, parents disposed of some collections thinking their children had "outgrown" toys. SMH.

Still being made, but I'm stunned that a Big Wheel costs $129 or more on the interweb these days. The original apparently cost between $11 and $18 - which is roughly in line with current prices when adjusted for inflation.

Barrel O Monkeys and...

Slinky!

Did you make anything edible in an Easy Bake Oven?

Senior Cara de Papa

What else? Hula hoop, Magic 8 ball, yo yos, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Rock em Sock em Robots, kaleidoscopes, Stretch Armstrong, Operation, Lite Brite, Simon, paper dolls, jump rope, frisbee, Barbie, GI Joe, plastic green army men, etc.?

Nerf warrants a category of its own.

For those whose hobby is motorsport in some form, the Hobby Thread reminds you that this weekend is the 24 Hours of LeMans and next weekend is the 24 Hours of Nurburgring. If that's not enough, the 24 Hours of Spa follows to make three straight weekends of endurance racing.

What are you hobbying these days?

Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We talked treehouses. The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.

Notable comments from last week:

Words of wisdom:

"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).

If you have trouble finding something in the content or comments that resonates with you, hijack the thread for your hobbying as you see fit. We will feature a different theme next time. What are you hobbying? We love showing off Horde hobbying. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Do mighty things.

posted by Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

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