petition for new kit

On thing I think will affect new and upcoming releases of model companies.

Most of them will do some form of research studies and check the interest levels of local groups(i.e. where the company is based) and of course also licencing issues come into it.

In case many people haven't noticed US Companies seem to cover mostly US subjects and lets say Japanese Companies cover japanese subjects.
Granted there is some cross-over there.

So did they ever reply to your letter DURR? I am interested to hear a response to this to, as I am sure many others are.

well remember how i said we would have to write the co.
well i wrote a co. and their process of how a subject is chosen is pretty much the same in the industry so take their answer if they answer and apply it to all the other co. and their choices for models

this below is what i wrote

you may have to pass this on to the person or persons in charge of model(product) development
we understand that you people can't accept ideas for new kits but some of us ask why
this subject comes up many many times a year on the fine scale modelers forum
would it be possible for someone to take a few min. to explain the process of who and how a new model subject is chosen etc...
this would only have to be done once you just would have to send it to fsm care of jeff herne
assoc editor he could post it as a reference on the site permanently so the over 50000 members could see it . then we as your consumers could understand the complexity of what is involved



it could be posted as [sticky] on the forum so this subject can be answered because i noticed this subject in 3 of the forums by 3 different people and it comes up several times a yr

I wrote my sarcastic sounding comment because I believe it to be nearly impossible to convince a manufacturer to produce a specific kit.

Before a manufacturer invests money in a new kit it has to be convinced the model will sell enough to make a profit. The person who prepares or makes these decisions puts his career on the line.

Look at the resin kit manufacturers. They have exotic models, but they are not cheap.

Maybe you could persuade some millionaire interested in model kits to fund a limited run kit. Or you could try to get several hundred thousand prepaid orders for the kit and "sell" those orders to a major kit manufacturer.

sasu

i think what you said about limited run sports cars and race cars sums it all up. Its what the people demand, and unfortunatly, what the majority of people demand. Have you noticed that there are a lot of muscle cars, and yet a lot of sport "tuner" cars as well. The way it seems to me is there is an age gap in the people that buy and build models. The older generation wants the muscle cars because these are the cars they wanted when they were kids, and the kids want the "tuners" because this is what they want now, the modern hot rod. This is only my 2 cents worth, but if you find a way to get them to make a kit of your model, more power to you, and let me know, cause i want a couple built to.

My experience has been that when I contacted several companies, I was only told that my suggestion would be passed along to the Design Department. I was not able to find out who actually makes the decision to build. The most information I could get was that the company would expect a return on thier investment (duh!).

I know personally that the item of my interest - the military M37 3/4 ton cargo truck - was made in numbers about 40,000, meaning that they were driven by over 100,000 different drivers at one time or another. It seems to me that would be a large enough customer base to target. I know about a dozen of these persons who have themselves petitioned several manufacturers to produce the model. It's a mystery to me why none are in production.

my question to you guys is
in order to understand what goes on in the model companies has anyone ever written to one of them and just asked what is your process for determining what new models to develop ,then and only then can one determine IF there is any way we can influence their choices

Uh, No!!

The Lincoln Navigator is a SUV build on a truck chassis. The Lincoln Town Car is a 4-door Sedan automobile.

QUOTE: Originally posted by dyouse sasu Captain The M37 is as close to the Beep (WC51) as a Lincoln Navigator is to a Lincoln Town Car

do they look the same then aswell?

sasu

Are you trying to say that no model has ever been produced until some collector paid the development costs? What I'm asking is how the manufacturers decide to produce a particular model and how I could tweak that decision making process.

Captain

The M37 is as close to the Beep (WC51) as a Lincoln Navigator is to a Lincoln Town Car

looks like a beep to me
couldnt you get a skybow beep and convert one

>What is the best way to convince a manufacturer

Pay the development and marketing costs.

sasu