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To set up any manufacturing base is expensive ( machinery,staff, electricity, raw materials, shipping, packing, printing). More kids are buying computer/mobile phone games than ever and they are not buying model kits. So the market is very uncertain, if the manufacturers could sell millions of kits the prices would reflect that and be more affordable but that is not the case. I see model kits in the UK for most of the Japanese makes with £30 - £40 and above being the norm with thousands being imported.
If I want to buy Revell/Amt/Monogram I'll be paying £25 and upwards due to the high import costs from the USA as only hundreds are being imported. I used to buy from both LHS and Mainstream model retailers, one of which has just announced its demise and all 20+ stores are closing due to high prices of kits and few customers.
I saw a 1/12 scale bike kit reduced to £32 in the closing down sale. I went onto ebay and bought the same kit for £16 including postage! The kit was just under £10. We have no LHS now so the only place to buy will be internet stores(same pricing as chain stores) or ebay.
Remember , common sense is not common.
littletimmy It could be worse. You could spend all your time and money in a bar....... on some floozie who you wont see again. And have nothing to show for it.
It could be worse. You could spend all your time and money in a bar....... on some floozie who you wont see again. And have nothing to show for it.
That pretty much sums up my 20's.
Science is the pursiut of knowledge, faith is the pursuit of wisdom. Peace be with you.
On the Tarmac: 1/48 Revell P-38
In the Hanger: A bunch of kits
GreySnake I've only paid full price for some of my models. And all of the rest either on sale or through evil bay. And have been able to build up a sizable stash so far.
I've only paid full price for some of my models. And all of the rest either on sale or through evil bay. And have been able to build up a sizable stash so far.
f8sader ievil ...Is like anything else out there, you need to shop around! ...Shop around, you will get farther ahead, then trying to bully a major company in to lowering their prices, because it is not going to happen! Best regards, Don Very well said Don!!! Personally, sometimes I can't wait and pay full list on impulse, other times I sit and wait for a price drop, shopping the adds on the web.
ievil ...Is like anything else out there, you need to shop around! ...Shop around, you will get farther ahead, then trying to bully a major company in to lowering their prices, because it is not going to happen! Best regards, Don
...Is like anything else out there, you need to shop around!
...Shop around, you will get farther ahead, then trying to bully a major company in to lowering their prices, because it is not going to happen!
Best regards,
Don
Lon-ski
I'm waiting for the banks to change the way they collect interest from home buyers. Then I know the price of plastic kits will drop also.
Sorry, this is a HOBBY, or the universe's way of telling you, "You have too much money." A quick look at a D-i-c-k's Sporting goods shows the cheapest driver at $179, shoes starting at $129 and a 12 pack of golfballs at $48. Greens fees start at $25 for a public course and can go to $110 for a mid range course in season. You can spend $500 of a pair of bike shoes, $300 on a seat and $2500 on a wheelset and $10,000 on a frame.
Well said Al.
Somethings in life I can afford, and some I cant.
As Kramer says' "Do you ever yearn Jerry ?" "I yearn..... a lot"
"Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional"
" A hobby should pass the time - not fill it" -Norman Bates
Couldn't agree more, where is an 8 year old to go to get a $5 quality model? Ironically the kits we got for that price (and cheaper!) are now valuable collectible worth hundreds of dollars (Aurora anyone?) Prices are driving us all to the Internet, I'm just hoping that all of the brick and mortar hobby stores don't all disappear or turn into a Michaels or Hobby Lobby - I can't afford $300 for a 1/350 Japanese carrier!!!
I've seen threads like this pop up from time to time and while I grudgenly shell out my hard earned cash for some of the new Tamiyagawa kits I have to say I love the way Eduard markets their kits. The weekend editions, profilpacks and Royal Class options are aimed at catering to each tier of buyers. Shoot, even the value you get in one of their Pofilpacks with the PE, masks and in some cases resin, can be had for less than the price of an OOB Tamiya kit. What really goes a long way for me is the quality for the dollar. That new -109 they came out with nudged the AM Avenger out of its top spot in my favorites list and I'm really curious about their new-tooled Spit. They just seem to do it right.
"Ahh the Luftwaffe. The Washington Generals of the History Channel" -Homer Simpson
AN OPEN APOLOGY TO THE MODELING COMPANIES
I realize that you don't use "slave labor" from China or any where else.
The cost of tooling for a new set of moulds is the real reason a kit gets expensive.
I just meant the costs are inflated compared to workers wages.
AN OPEN APOLOGY TO FLOOZIES
I'm sorry you took offence to my reference of you hanging around in bars to get free drinks from foolish men.
It was only meant as an extreme example of the "silly " ways guys throw their money away
P.S. What did you say your number was again?.
Dont worry about the thumbprint, paint it Rust , and call it "Battle Damage"
Models don't have to be expensive ....... its only plastic. But the model companies feel the need to " re-coupe" the cost of paying their Chinese slave labor $1 a day so they up the price to what the market can bear.
You don't have to pay ...... You can find something else to do .
But that Tamiya Yamato Is a kit I am almost willing to pay $400 for.
A few years from now , when they haven't sold any (because of the cost ) I'm sure there will be sales which will make the price far more attractive to us.
But I to have paid a premium for a kit I just "had to have".
So I'm not helping the problem.
The only way to drive down prices to an acceptable level is to BOYCOT the model companies !
But this will never happen.
I NEED my plastic !!!
I NEED my glue !!!
I NEED my paints !!!
I gotts to have me my models !!! ( Or else I getts the shakes !)
Remember, if the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.
Meh... I have to disagree with you, and I'll be completely honest, I buy from ebay 75% of the time, and the other 25% is shared between LHS and local online ads, and buying models, I find... Is like anything else out there, you need to shop around! For instance, I just purchased the Academy 1/48 Phantom F4B "Sundowners" via ebay for $48.00usd with free shipping! That same kit from my LHS is almost $60+ hst (13% ontario sales tax). But my paints and supplies for the most part, are purchased via my LHS at about $3.50per, whereas ebay would cost my about $6-$9 per (I buy my liquid glue 'Plastruct' from a seller by the dozen @ $5.00 per ship inc).
And I just purchased a Tamiya 1/16 Tiger I full option via Craig's list, for $520.00 unbuilt (which is on ebay for between $700-$1,200.00 ship inc) .... So basically, you just need to take the time and shop around, and open your mind to other options when it comes to buying for your hobby! And just a added tidbit, I sell on ebay as well, and I sell to feed my hobby, lol and let me tell you, it helps allot when you sell off some older kits that you may not ever finish, and it frees up cash to purchase that shiny new Academy F4 or Tamiya 1/16 Tiger I !
Shop around, you will get farther ahead, then trying to bully a major company in to lowering their prices, because it is not going to happen!
"Suffer Well...."
On Deck: 1/35 Hobby Boss GMC w/bofors 40mm Gun, 1/35 Tamiya Jagdtiger, 1/35 Bronco 5t 'Diana', 1/35 Bronco Land Wasser-Schlepper mid pro
Wall of Shame: 1,300+ kits & counting
Hi :
As has been said the price of oil won't go down to benefit us .Plastic is definitely tied to a barrel of crude as it is a product of that same barrel of crude .Now that said .The plastic manufacturers will only lower the price if the market dries up and they have to work harder to sell the outcome of the industry .Have you priced a sheet of acrylic clear lately ? There it is in a nutshell .
Yes kits are higher priced .But , on that same vein , did you get P.E. and all the finer engineering with that old kit when gas was 50 cents a gallon ? No , why ? the engineering then was a far cry from computer aided drafting and the precision mold cutting of today . Metal for the molds is higher priced too .We have a HOBBY .Now , do you want to go back ? Probably not
.Yes 100.00 is a high price to pay . I paid , ON SALE ! 129.95 for the TRUMPETER , U.S.S. NORH CAROLINA . Why ? because it is infinitely better than a REVELL model of the MISSOURI in that GOD awful box scale ! THAT'S WHY . If I could get a U.S.S. MISSOURI in 1945 fit for less than 200.00 bucks I would buy it even if I had to put it on layaway .WHY ? because I have NEVER in my life built the " BIG MO " in any scale . That's one ship I would love to have . Well , there you go . Tanker-builder
Model prices are going up but that can be pretty much said of anything. While newer kits are definitely getting more and more pricier, I can also see that a lot more work have gone into developing them engineering and detail wise so I understand them being more expensive. Has anyone ever used a Dragon model and the word oversimplified in the same review? The new Meng Merkava.... I can understand it costing a bit more than the average model.
What gets me though is when manufacturers release old models and expect new prices for them. The new Airfix releases are very good models, and I believe to be very reasonably priced. While their fit is not as perfect as say a Tamiya model, they are still offer a very good bang for your buck. Their new Harriers are an excellent example of this. However, for the same price I can also get the re-release of their Eurofighter, which for me is better off not spoken about. Retail price for the old Revell -Monogram kits? Similar story.
For me it's about that balance between a kit that needs a bit of extra detai/ work/ major surgery required on it, and the price I would pay for it. I most certainly wouldn't be happy paying the big bucks for a kit that needed major plastic surgery.
URL=http://picasion.com/]
Before there were model kits you had to scratchbuild what you wanted.
Then the model companies came in and did the hard part for you. and it was cheaper than building it yourself.
Now its almost the reverse. But most people don't know how to scratchbuild.
Its only a matter of time before were all back in caves using sticks and stones to replicate canopys, rudders and props !!
Now where did I leave my obsidian knife.........
As long as there's a demand I don't believe anyone will change their prices.
the Baron .Tojo72 Yea,and let's get the oil companies to lower the price of gasoline,because when I first started driving it was only 50 cents a gallon Ain't gonna happen,either thing I disagree. Some model companies do offer kits at lower prices--Airfix comes to mind, Revell-Monogram is another--and those kits do precisely what the original poster is driving at. They provide a kit at a modest price, that a beginner can buy and get an intro in our hobby.
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Tojo72 Yea,and let's get the oil companies to lower the price of gasoline,because when I first started driving it was only 50 cents a gallon Ain't gonna happen,either thing
Yea,and let's get the oil companies to lower the price of gasoline,because when I first started driving it was only 50 cents a gallon
Ain't gonna happen,either thing
I disagree. Some model companies do offer kits at lower prices--Airfix comes to mind, Revell-Monogram is another--and those kits do precisely what the original poster is driving at. They provide a kit at a modest price, that a beginner can buy and get an intro in our hobby.
So you think that Dragon,Tamiya,and Hasegawa are going to lower kit prices because we ask ? The only thing they might pay attention to is if we stop buying kits,and that's probably not going to happen either.
Just like tickets to sporting events,concerts and shows,I can protest by not going anymore,and many have stopped once the price goes up too high,but there is always someone willing to step up and spend their cash.
Oh,and I didn't say that there were no lower priced kits anyway,like Revell or airfix.They are definitly out there.
The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.
Wrong forum...post this in general modeling discussion.
I would like to see Fine Scale Modeler do an in-depth article about the price of models (and perhaps thereby get some of the manufacturers to drop some of their skyrocketing prices). I have been modeling since I was about eight years old and make a decent salary, but I simply cannot afford to go into a local hobby store and drop $60, $70, even $100 or more on a model. I think I am not alone in this and I know it has negative effects on the whole hobby. For example, I truly believe in supporting the local hobby stores in the area because they provide local taxes and are part of the community, but I find I do most of my model shopping on EBay and other on-line sites where I can find bargains. I understand it is not the hobby store owners' fault that prices are so high and I realize that I may be contributing to the demise of local hobby stores, but I can't afford the retail prices of many models these days. And if I can't afford them, I am sure that young people that we all say we are trying to get interested in the hobby cannot afford the models, the paints, and all the other equipment either. As I said at the outset, I hope that an article on this subject would cause manufacturers and anyone else responsible for the skyrocketing prices to reconsider and perhaps slow the ever-increasing costs of this hobby. Thank you.
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