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Yes, I loved the catalogues of that era too, especially since they commissioned SF art for the covers: http://70sscifiart.tumblr.com/post/166105106512/maplin-ca

by pm215 9y ago

Yes, I loved the catalogues of that era too, especially since they commissioned SF art for the covers: http://70sscifiart.tumblr.com/post/166105106512/maplin-catalogue-covers-1979-1990-via-this http://70sscifiart.tumblr.com/post/166105106512/maplin-catal... In the modern era their shops were useful for the "need a Usb cable/external disk/whatever today and will pay the premium for getting it immediately". But I'm not too surprised that that kind of thing wasn't sufficient to keep them going.

pjc50 9y ago
They were great, I believe Roger Dean painted most if not all of them. More at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/maplinonline/retro-maplin/ https://www.pinterest.co.uk/maplinonline/retro-maplin/ But as you say, nowadays there's no reason to go to Maplin unless you need to go to retail. Online shopping, especially direct-from-China, overtook them. I think also there has been a generational shift in the people doing electronics; the old "ham" culture and the new "maker" culture look superficially like they're both doing things with soldering irons, but the people and community are very different. Brexit and the associated fall in Stirling are mentioned as proximate causes, but they're the hard winter that's going to kill off a lot of already week UK firms.
- majewsky 9y ago
  > but the people and community are very different Can you elaborate? I'm not familiar with either of those cultures.
  - pjc50 9y ago
    I'm not exactly an inside observer of either, but this is my impression from spending time on electronics.stackexchange.com: Ham culture predates the internet by a long way, when talking over the radio was a sensible option for making friends with interesting strangers in faraway places. Very analogue. Slightly hierachical, generally older, and believe in the importance of theory and credentials. Maker culture is self-taught off youtube and other places. It involves a lot of tinkering and trial and error with Arduinos, Raspberry Pis and breadboards. Very "open source", very digital, very much anti-hierarchical. Although not free of their own gatekeeping issues. ""Millenials"" (+). My feeling is that the wider set of people who were customers for Maplin or Heathkit kits are a lot more like the former than the latter. In some ways it's the difference between people who will build a lego set to the picture on the box and the people who'll freestyle something else with it. (+) I'm so gen X that I have a signed copy of Coupland's book. I also made a couple of Maplin kits when I was younger.
tonyedgecombe 9y ago
I'd forgotten all about their catalogues, I remember spending hours going through lists of components figuring out what I could build. If only I'd spent as much time on my A levels.

by pm215 9y ago

pjc50 9y ago

They were great, I believe Roger Dean painted most if not all of them. More at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/maplinonline/retro-maplin/ https://www.pinterest.co.uk/maplinonline/retro-maplin/ But as you say, nowadays there's no reason to go to Maplin unless you need to go to retail. Online shopping, especially direct-from-China, overtook them. I think also there has been a generational shift in the people doing electronics; the old "ham" culture and the new "maker" culture look superficially like they're both doing things with soldering irons, but the people and community are very different. Brexit and the associated fall in Stirling are mentioned as proximate causes, but they're the hard winter that's going to kill off a lot of already week UK firms.

majewsky 9y ago
> but the people and community are very different Can you elaborate? I'm not familiar with either of those cultures.
- pjc50 9y ago
  I'm not exactly an inside observer of either, but this is my impression from spending time on electronics.stackexchange.com: Ham culture predates the internet by a long way, when talking over the radio was a sensible option for making friends with interesting strangers in faraway places. Very analogue. Slightly hierachical, generally older, and believe in the importance of theory and credentials. Maker culture is self-taught off youtube and other places. It involves a lot of tinkering and trial and error with Arduinos, Raspberry Pis and breadboards. Very "open source", very digital, very much anti-hierarchical. Although not free of their own gatekeeping issues. ""Millenials"" (+). My feeling is that the wider set of people who were customers for Maplin or Heathkit kits are a lot more like the former than the latter. In some ways it's the difference between people who will build a lego set to the picture on the box and the people who'll freestyle something else with it. (+) I'm so gen X that I have a signed copy of Coupland's book. I also made a couple of Maplin kits when I was younger.

tonyedgecombe 9y ago

I'd forgotten all about their catalogues, I remember spending hours going through lists of components figuring out what I could build. If only I'd spent as much time on my A levels.