Build your own solar system!

I see that another of those "build a model in 5,000 weekly parts" magazines has just been released - this time the objective is to build a fine mechanical model, or orrory, of our solar system. I had a glance at the first issue and as usual there is a magazine and a few bits - the next issue will have more bits and so on.

The finished model itself is quite intricate and beautiful to look at - lots of complicated brass gears and cranks. The visual effect is similar to that of looking at a fine 18th century timepiece.

I was just wondering if anybody here has bothered to start collecting all of the magazines and bits. There are a couple of issues with this sort of thing - I've never seen the final issue of one of these magazines stocked anywhere. There is also the fact that if you miss a week you can get a back issue of the magazine but it will come without the small but vital bits needed to finish your Solar System / Titanic / Spitfire / Bismark etc.

Thoughts?

Don't bother is my advice. Buy an Orory...orrarroy....whatjamicallit if you want one.

I'm a newsagent and these things are the bane of our lives. Only the first 6 issues of these so called partworks are sale or return. After that few shops will order stock of these for the shelves but just have copies on order for customers. Most shops have even stopped doing that and no longer stock these types of magazines at all. You lose as much on the copies you are stuck with when customers disappear than you make in profit on the rest.

Not many people know that the word “Orrery” comes from Irish Gaelic.

Robert Boyle’s full title was the “Earl of Cork and Orrery”.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Boyle

The town of Kildorrery in north Cork still contains the word “orrery”.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kildorrery

P.S
I once wrote to Cork County Council suggesting that a public Orrery would make a fine monument somewhere in Co. Cork (In Kildorrery in particular) because of the historical connections between Cork and the Orrery.
Waste of time.
They hadn't a blithering notion of what I was talking about!

Don't bother is my advice. Buy an Orory...orrarroy....whatjamicallit if you want one.

I'm a newsagent and these things are the bane of our lives. Only the first 6 issues of these so called partworks are sale or return. After that few shops will order stock of these for the shelves but just have copies on order for customers. Most shops have even stopped doing that and no longer stock these types of magazines at all. You lose as much on the copies you are stuck with when customers disappear than you make in profit on the rest.

Hmmm...I kind of thought that. You can subscibe online and have it delivered but if I wanted one that badly I'd have a hunt on E-bay. The total cost works out at something like €300...

Anyway, what is the name of the magazine?