THE CLUBHOUSE

Waking up to this news. John was the conscience of this hobby, and I told him that once over the phone. I never met him but appreciated his wit and honesty. R.I.P.

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• • Graybeard wrote:
    RIP John . . .
    

    • • 

Now THAT shows John to a “T”

• • tay666 (other thread) wrote: . . . I will be honest and say John could be a handful at times here on the board, but his loss is a big blow. His knowledge and generosity will be sorely missed. Not to mention the catalog of kits he produced.

Absolutely. Even John recognised his shortcomings - bless.


The raised eyebrow bit

John could be rude, cantankerous, opinionated, provocative, condescending, paranoid, unruly, disingenuous . . . hell – he should have been working for early evening news

He was a self-admitted stirrer, sometimes trolling others just for the fun of it, and then employing an annoying tendency of acting innocent.

I would often admire his debating skills while at the same time thinking (and sometimes saying) “For God’s sake John – STFU and get a grip”.

He would never back off, EVER, even when he frequently should have.

There are certainly those who used to post here that were WORSE offenders - but John was in “THAT” club . . . 100%. We knew it, he knew it.


The applause bit

While I won’t deny/minimise ANY of that, I will ALWAYS remember & recognise the HUGE amount of good he did for the hobby, and for this site.

John was arguably the most prolific producer & distributor of garage kits over the last 25 years. Which basically means EVER! And he did that while (as far as I know) never ripping anyone off, and always delivering.

An extract from a letter I wrote 7 years ago to his dear departed Mother - Marie - included these observations . . .

• “I have always admired John’s intelligence and writing abilities, along with his debating skills and business acumen.
  • An honest assessment of his customer service to the hundreds of people he has conducted business with over so many years shows he is unmatched in our hobby.
    My conclusion is that you taught John well, did a fine job as a Mother, and should be rightly proud of your achievements, and his.”

I still believe that to be true.

Love him or loathe him – you could never ignore John, and I for one, am VERY glad he was a member of the hobby. It wouldn't have been be the same without him - and won't be now he has gone.

Sadly, who would have thought that only 4 years after his Mother left us (Dec 2014), we would hear of John’s passing?

The abilities, history and knowledge in John’s head is irreplaceable. He was an accomplished mold-maker, caster, painter, builder and sculptor. And then there are the things he saw & experienced, and the records he kept – possibly now lost forever. I asked him a number of times to write his memoirs, but he had various (legitimate) concerns around that.

You are going to be missed by so many people John – for all sorts of reasons.

RIP Mr. Tucky – your customer service, debates, and skirmishes, will always be remembered - and may they ever continue dude


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So sad and sudden! You will be sorely missed.

Very sad news RIP John

What a honest assesment of JT - You said it, Spikey -

Irreplaceable is a great word when it comes to Tucky. This world has all of a sudden become a darker place.

And one of the sadder things, as a newer member of the community of "ThroneHeads" he won't get to see the resolution of the series in April.

Sad, sad, sad......................

Like all of us, I guess he had his faults, but he was a true Icon of the industry and we're all diminished by his loss.

I never met John, only knew him from here. I have a number of his kits and they are all amazing. He was a highly irascible personality, and once, just once, he and I got into an argument so bad here that people sent me messages asking what was wrong. But that was just the way he was (and I was.) I never held it against him.

I can't say I knew him well enough to "like" him. I can say however that I never disliked him. I respected his work ethic and his support for the hobby more than anything.



And today I'm crying over his passing.
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P.S. I know he also had a very tough time taking care of a sick relative, I think it was his mother, or his wife? It takes a very tough person do to that.

Me and John didn't always get along but, he was very knowledgeable about garage kits
like Rayzorwire I didn't realize John had other health issues I was wondering he wasn't
on the board as much as he use to.. R.I.P he will be missed.
Oh I met him at last Mad Model Party.. he was very engaging.

One of Johns strongest points that I admired the most was his longevity and ability to continue and maintain his business for so long- few of us can say that. X O Facto was such a long lasting, staple, classic company that always pushed on, and his endurance greatly helped to keep the hobby alive

I also admired John’s willingness to call out recasters among us———sometimes they were even staples of the hobby that had been around for years, but John had the balls to call them out for it- I always admired John for that

John will be sorely missed...you Nailed it Heavy Metal Spike

I was shocked when I read the news on Paul's group page.

John was the first producer I went to when I first started in this hobby so long ago.
When I went to buy a kit I emailed him about it, and he quickly wrote back saying send me your phone number. Ok, and did. I got a call not to long after that and it was John. we talked for quite a while, and in the end I got the feeling that I got interviewed. "What kind of a hobby is this, that I get an interview to buy a kit?" I didn't know that this was just John protecting his kit from anything nefarious from a guy who's name he didn't know. Thankfully I passed the audition.

Enjoying dry, sarcastic humor, I often got a kick out of John. I guess it was also fun since his points weren't directed at me. LOL
We have spoken a few times since then, and I'll really miss him. RIP.

I'm so sorry to hear of John's passing. I always enjoyed talking to him on the phone when buying his kits. Of course, so many of his kits were absolutely incredible! He was the one who introduced me to the Clubhouse back when I was getting almost all of my hobby info from print sources. He will be missed.

Thanks most everyone for your good thoughts.

Just to keep you updated in this sad time… John's Cousins, his friend Em and I are waiting to hear further news from the coroner's office. Hopefully Em and I will then be able fulfill the instructions for his final wishes. The police have rightfully sealed his affairs until an assessment is complete and then I can give you more details.
For those of you who have requested info on memorials etc… I'll let you know as soon as we get him placed.

JY

I bought my first ever kit through John 25 years plus ago and plenty since. You always tried to help me get what I wanted. I respected him just as much for his honesty as I did for anything else. He gave me lots of advice in those early days for me in the hobby. The hobby has lost one of the great personalities and arguably the best producer your legacy will live on in my collection. Thank you for everything you will be sorely missed

Damn. That's about all I can think of to say. He was a giant in the hobby.

Thanks for the photo. I never met him, so every time I pictured him, I thought of Peter Cushing.....

dupacucc wrote:Thanks most everyone for your good thoughts.

Just to keep you updated in this sad time… John's Cousins, his friend Em and I are waiting to hear further news from the coroner's office. Hopefully Em and I will then be able fulfill the instructions for his final wishes. The police have rightfully sealed his affairs until an assessment is complete and then I can give you more details.
For those of you who have requested info on memorials etc… I'll let you know as soon as we get him placed.

JY

If so I can make her aware of the kind words of John's friends here at the Clubhouse if it is ok with you that I do so. I know she is taking it hard.

A true loss to our hobby. I once got so mad at something he posted that i almost punched my screen and then that same day had me laughing my ass off via pm's. Rest well good sir and thanks for all the kits.

I never knew John personally but did chat with him from time to time back when I could afford to be a Wonderfest regular years ago. My fondest memory was from I believe 2006 at Wonderfest. My son Sam and I were making one last walk though of the dealer room just before closing on Sunday. I was looking over the amazing kits at his table and John struck up a conversation with my then 10 year old son. He asked Sam if he built models and they were talking about the two kits he had entered in the contest. Before I realized what had happened, John reached into a box behind the table and asked if it was ok for him to give my son a Lindberg Godzilla kit. It was an opened box kit and it must have been something he picked up from someone else at the show. He made Sam's day and I though that it was a very genuine act of kindness on John's part. He had his moments here at the Clubhouse but I will always remember how he reached out to others and supported the hobby. RIP John and thank you for all you have done for the hobby.

I am so sorry to hear of John's passing. I spoke to him a couple times by telephone when I first purchased kits from him several years ago.
I found him quite pleasant in our conversations and always professional when I purchased kits from him.He always would include a thank you note with the kits he shipped me. Always made me feel he appreciated my business.
He will be sorely missed .

RIP John

Gerry

During the last few years that I was molding and casting at Alchemy Works John was one of my BEST customers ....he will be missed for sure....RIP my friend
Mike