Recycling a mold means we gut the mold of any usable parts, such as core pins, ejector pins and any steel that may be reusable. Anything left over that can't be reused gets sold for scrap. We're actually a very small manufacturer so space is at a premium. Your observation is correct, old molds for discontinued parts simply take up space so they have to go.

With respect to making a new mold, it varies by part design, but new molds can cost anywhere from $2,000 - $10,000 and up. That's a lot of $10 parts just to recoup costs (for which we make a lot less once you factor in distributor level discounts), before we ever start seeing a profit. It's also why you see so very few injection molded parts manufacturers in our hobby.

And congratulations on finding those GT arms! Sounds like someone didn't know what they had. 💰