Okay ;
Now let's see where we are going to go here . 1956 - The material was cheaper , wages were lower and any subject matter was on the table . Now that was good for the neophyte model builder . $.49 to a $1.50 for a kit . Or Gift sets ( four models or more $10.00 ) Great deals indeed .
Enter Tamiya , Hasegawa and Airfix .All imports to our shores .The most reasonable ? Airfix . Still below a Buck to start out .Up to $ 12.50 for their 1/24 planes . Still within reason . Hasegawa and Tamiya .Not to many on my to get list .They didn't fit my budget !
Here we are in the 80s , All the choices .Some domestic , some imports .Import fees have gone up , Marketing is costlier and they aren't going to produce something that won't sell . Then China bounces in in the 90s with Trumpeter and others .Wow .Higher prices but still not in league with the T.H.bunch .
So today it has definitely become a price thing . Do I save for five or six months to get that new ship that costs more than my camera originally did . Well , you know, new molding techniques , single and double slide molds and two color molds .Wow .
Plastic .Well a carboy of plastic for colorization is expensive .The color pellets are about $ &.00 a pound .Multiply that by 2000 pounds .Now then ship it to the plant , More costs .run it through the latest Slide mold Injection molding mchine , computer controlled and then the electronics to check the parts flow .( None of this is done by hand now .)
Can you say bigger bucks for the base price of producing that model .The cost of producing , say , a F-100-SuperSabre in 1/48 has suddenly to us jumped forty to seventy percent in price .
Well there you go High tech , Higher raw material costs and guess what all down the line we pay .The company has to make a profit on that kit that with shipping , Import fees etc. is double or triple to put out there .
Here's an aside .The last time I took a ship through the Panama Canal it was a $12,000 fee one way and that was with crude oil . That was forty five years ago ! Can you imagine what it is now ? All that is factored into production costs , you betchya . T.B.