Why is Tamiya 1/48 Swordfish so expensive?

I bought one for my brother for Xmas a year ago from a hobby store going out of business... It certainly isn't a BIG kit, but it is highly detailed even without the metal etch parts, that is about the only thing I could see that would drive up the cost.

You can usually find it for around $50 at most on-line stores like this:
http://www.scalehobby.com/product_info.php?cPath=28_45_67&products_id=730

Hello happy model buyers
There is a shop ( http://www.store666.com ) thet sells the floatplane version for $ 29.99 and the clear (terrestrial ) version for $ 30.99 . I think you can't beat this. They also sell a lot of Tamiya and Trumpeter models and other...odd things, you'll see by yourself. You can calculate the p&p to your house on the site and pay with card.
Just a little thing : every Swordfish could be modified in a floatplane and back to wheeled version; as I am waiting for mine, I can't tell you if the floatplane still has the gear and wheels ("not to be used" parts); as far as I know, the Swordfish was primarily released by a resin , PE and decals cottage industry called Model Design Construction ( http://ds.dial.pipex.com/model.design.construction/ ) and it was an all resin kit; if you find (and I find) the Tamiya a bit expensive (70 euros in France ) just imagine what it would have cost in such way; nevertheless, they still have a number of accessories and I can tell you , as I got the parts for a Fw 190 D9, that it is the level of Jaguar ( paradox is that Vincent Kermorgant is their master modeller, and if I don't say BS, he did work for Black Box, of which I am not very fond of; another modelling mystery)
You can get a lot of decals for the wheeled version ( http://www.hannants.co.uk and maybe Great Models Webstore among others )
There is a PE set by Tamiya for wiring and Eduard did an interior set, so all in all your finished model should weight 50 kilograms and cost $ 3000 (just kidding thanks to Mr Store666, I hope he didn't give my money to the Beast)
There is a specific book (a how-to sold by Hannants much cheaper than by GMW or was it Squadron ? take it at Hannants' if you want it, not forgetting the Warpaint monography
Et voilà !

hey guys,
i love tamiya to bits, but the reason the kit is so expensive is that modellers everywhere outside asia are taking up the you-know-what by being ripped off on prices!!!
this is especially the case in the UK!!!
www.hannants.com is a great site from which to shop - easily the best organised on the web - but it still pays me to airmail kits from asia (japan/singapore...wherever) back to london by buying them off ebay!!!
this is ofcourse ridiculous!!!
guys in the USA you have it a lot better (hey, isn't everything cheaper over there?), but we are all still hostages to our hobby!!
please gyuys before you buy anything, especially if you are in europe, CHECK EBAY FIRST AND SAVE SOME MONEY!!!!!!
there now, got it all off my chest!!
regards,
nick

All Tamiyas are over pricedit's a shame because they are great kits. I try to buy them for 1/2 off at Hobby Lobbys sales.

It's all about quality, quantity, manufacturing methods, and speed of production. Tamiya obviously has better than average manuracturing practices and/or equipment, it's evident in the quality of their kits. I would expect them to have some of the best die builders and reserchers in the industry. The cost of all these things must be recovered in the sale of the product in order for the company to thrive. The reason that we get them as cheap as we do is to the massive quantity of kits that they produce- Produce more product in less time equals lower costs to the buyer (ie: Ed's Hobby Shop) . We're getting stiffed more by the shops than by Tamiya. My company manufactures giftwrap and if it costs us 25 cents to make, we sell it for 28 cents and your wife will end up paying around 2 bucks for it at the store! Models are no different. I suppose that we could conclude this chapter of Manufacturing 101 with the ever popular phrase: You get what ya pay for.

I'll pay a little extra for Tamiya quality any day1

-fish

PS, Tell your wife thanks for buying our giftwrap

I bought one with the ecthed bits. Can't remember how much I paid for it but it was a bit. I wanted the kit because I admire the spunk the pilots showed in their relentless attacks on the Bismark, Now I feel a bit intemidated by the kit.... not it's complexities but it's cost. So it sits undone along with a Ju 88 and a few others waiting for my modeling skills to improve to do them justic.

Excellent replies, all. Yep, I know a few things about bidnizz, so I understand ya stoopidfish. The swordfish is about twice Tamiya's other 1/48 kits, so that gives me pause.

And yep, E-bay is a good source, if you're careful and don't get ripped on shipping (whaddya mean 17USD w/in the U.S.?).

BTW, this is one of THE best fora on the 'net, keep it up everyone.

Tamiya kits are expensive. But they are worth the price. Japanese labor cost is high. Their tooling is high quality and therefore expensive.

hi again guys,
i think you missed my point (i probably made it badly more likely!)...basically tamiya is dirt cheap in japan, affordable in usa (where most stuff is cheap) and v expensive in UK, AS IS NEARLY ALL OF OUR HOBBY STUFF!!! i don't think it's ecessarily a tamiya thing...
just fed up with paying more than everyone else on the planet, that's all.

As I said before, Swordfish is 70 Euros in France; apart from custom taxes (protectionism against protectionism, after all it's fair game), I believe the French importer is building a personal fortune (maybe he's the hidden brother of Jean Marie Messier); on the other hand, the Roden Gladiator is sold 37 Euros, the Classic Airframes Arado 68 is 38 Euros; I left them on the store shelves along with the 1/12 Tamiya Caterham at 350 Euros; it's a hobby, not an addiction.

Know exactly what you mean nmayhew.

I was recently looking at Tamiya's Huckebein in a well known UK model shop, and it was £45. I bet it costs the same in $ stateside!

I've been lookinh a compressors too, and it's the same story. The UK price is the same as the US, just change the currency marker, $145=£145!

yeah nmayhew is right you look at the prices in the UK in pounds
,clear swordfish £49.99 on the internet UK
clear swordfish $59.97 on the internet USA
its about £8 cheaper in the states
some things are half the price in the states (you lucky lot)

We don't get the "Tamiya" Huckebein in the states. It's originally from AMTech. It goes for about $30-35 US. No Kettenkrad included.

I have the Swordfish kit. And looking at it parts wise, I see no real difference in why it's twice the price of the other comperable Tamiya kits. Funny that it's the same price as their Lancaster kits!!!!
Bernie the K.
St. Paul, MN

QUOTE: Originally posted by Karl jones Know exactly what you mean nmayhew. I was recently looking at Tamiya's Huckebein in a well known UK model shop, and it was £45. I bet it costs the same in $ stateside! I've been lookinh a compressors too, and it's the same story. The UK price is the same as the US, just change the currency marker, $145=£145!

The clear version Swordfish is 4,600 ($38 US) yen here in Japan.
It's all about import costs.

Conversely, Monogram's 1/48 Catalina sells here for 8,000 yen ($67 US).

Imports'll kill ya!

21-09-03
Just to add to this.
I live in Ireland so Euros are my currency of the day. Threre is a model-shop in nearby Limerick town and they had a Revell 1/48 Val priced at Euro18.00. I couldn't believe it! Excellent!
I had no cash on me at the time, so I went home, came back the next week and the price had leaped to Euro38.00!
Now, fast-forward to a few weeks ago, myself and a pal went to London and di a model shop tour. We found the same Val for sale in one shop for £16.99. That translates to roughly 25.00 Euro!
So this is what I think happened. The shop in Ireland buys from a UK company. Someone there misread the tag and priced it at it's UK recommended sale price, realised their mistake and pumped it up to it's "true" price.
However, it seems it would have been cheaper to buy it in London, which is odd as it usually costs MORE for us Euro-users to buy from England.
Even allowing for VAT, this Limerick shop is overcharging for the product. And do shops not usually buy at wholesale prices?
( my theory is that they are not doing so, but that's stupid. Really. And if they are buying at wholesale prices, then adding VAT and then adding profit, they're making almost 10 Euro on that one kit. )
And I do think the "importers" are just as guilty in this matter. It's a pity that you cannot order directly from the source, buisness wise.
This I think is a case of same numbers, just change the currency-sign in front .
As they are the only shop around for about 200 miles ( seriously), I usually choose to buy from Hannants or USA as it's cheaper and I can usually get what I need within a couple of weeks as opposed to months.
It really p***es me off they way they gouge us and then carry on like we don't know hat they're doing! Maybe I should open my own shop.
Hmmmm
Liam