Is Tamiya Changing???

I highly doubt Tamiya is going under. They pumped out a few new planes a couple years ago, they are singlehandedly bringing 1/48 armor into the mix (c'mon Jeep!), and they have a pretty nice ad campaign. Just look at FSM or other model magazines. So maybe the LHS owner was wrong, or trying to trick you into buying a "collecter's item"

dagne wrote:

I live in Japan, and, a month or two ago, the owner of a hobby shop I frequent told me that Tamiya is in grave danger of going bankrupt.  He thought it was because they overextended themselves.  I haven't seen anything on this subject in print anywhere, so take it with a grain of salt.  However, he also said that other model manufacturers were already buying Tamiya's molds.  I haven't seen many new Tamiya releases on the shelves over here, and they do seem to be re-releasing many of their older kits; so, perhaps there is some truth to what he said.  Keep an eye out for news.

Its going to be a sad day if Tamiya goes under! I guess I better go pick up one of their Skyline kits again... and yes, a three in one Skyline kit would be so awesome, I mean wow, street, strip, and circut racer, that would be to cool!

I don't build as many cars as I used to, but when I did my first ever Tamiya kit, I was instantly hooked! Love their cars, and I like to just build race versions (chalk that up to too much Gran Turismo playing over the years )

I agree that the production of the cars has dropped, and it's kind of disapointing to see a "new" release of YET another 206 WRC car, and YET another Impreza kit, what's that, like ten each of those now?! Let's see some different race cars!

But mostly being an armour/dio builder now, and the mention of competition, for those of you who also have the military bug, can you imagine if Dragon really got into the car field? And with all the goodies they pack into their 3n1 kits, now do that to say a Skyline kit....where's that salivating Smiley? haha

I really don't like the way the big T release a car kit, then offer their own PE set separately, the way the companies are packaging stuff now, it should almost be a must to add this stuff when they release a car kit. But when I do a car, the first place I go to in my LHS is the Tamiya pile, still the best IMHO.

cheers,

Kelly

I live in Japan, and, a month or two ago, the owner of a hobby shop I frequent told me that Tamiya is in grave danger of going bankrupt.  He thought it was because they overextended themselves.  I haven't seen anything on this subject in print anywhere, so take it with a grain of salt.  However, he also said that other model manufacturers were already buying Tamiya's molds.  I haven't seen many new Tamiya releases on the shelves over here, and they do seem to be re-releasing many of their older kits; so, perhaps there is some truth to what he said.  Keep an eye out for news.

I think that they have focused their efforts in 1/48 scale military vehicles. They are also releasing many planes from Italeri and the like in the japanese market.

If they are doing this it's probably because it's working for them. But in the other side, they are loosing a good  part of their reputation. Trumpeter and Dragon are killing Tamiya in the 1/35 military vehicles with their last releases, for example. And any company that makes some good kits will kill tamiya in 1/24 autos.

DURR wrote:

better watchout Eizzle the last time i complained about tamiya car kits  because they had no engines and  the detail was so-so i got attacked beaten and abused on the forum

Ok, I give! Consider the subject dropped, now lets everybody put down your keyboards and walk away like civilized people... no cyber punching!

Funny thing was, I posted this over at scaleauto forums to, and wow, the first couple people started getting a little rough! I guess I hit a tender spot with a lot of people? Jeez folks, I like Tamiya to, I only have about 20 of their kits on the shelf, calm down

better watchout Eizzle the last time i complained about tamiya car kits  because they had no engines and  the detail was so-so i got attacked beaten and abused on the forum

Tamiya makes some great kits, but like DBFSS385 said, they have are going to have some competition, so things might start changing? Maybe the kit prices will drop a smidge? I mean, I love the 1/32 F-16 CJ model they brought out but I'm not going to pay $160 for it! Thats a bit much if you ask me?

 

Tamiya is also facing strong competition from East Europe and Korea and now China. I build mostly WW 1 Aircraft and ships and Eduard is in my opinion the "Class leader" in kit mfg. Heaven help Tamiya et al if Eduard goes into Car and later period aircraft kitting. I have built Eduards Mirage IIIc and it has to be the best aircraft kit ever kitted if not the best kit period...Their new Fokker DVll is also a work of art for similar $$$ as Tamiya and other old leaders of this hobby. The Mirage kit is so fine that It actually got me to model a subject I normally would not have.

I remember the Tamiya BMW Z-3 as well as their Mustang GT kits, they were dogs. So not everything they do is all that good.

Overall it's got to be good for us if not Tamiya Eh???

shaun68 wrote:

Now that I've given the topic more thought, the more I think Tamiya have taken the defeatist attitude. They know most modellers are going to go & get a pile of p/e & a/m stuff for their kit, sometimes spending more than the actual kit is worth. Ergo, they probably figure they shouldn't compete with that, in terms of their own moulding process. Trouble is, if you drop the base quality to assist the a/m fraternity, you can't really put your prices up. That's just not cricket, is it?

I can only see one fault in your statement Shaun. Tamiya doesn't seem to be lowering their quality, I think that would be suicide in this volitale market, but they do seem to be cutting back on the goodies. There seems to be less detail. Either low detail engines, or no engines at all, rear suspension molded to the undercarriege, things like that. That won't stop me from liking them, but I would like to see a little bit more detail there, but maybe thats just me, cause the first Tamiya kit I built, I was amazed! It was stinking awesome!!! I wanted more! Now that I have grown up in the hobby a little bit, the kits seem to be a little plain??? Oh well, maybe they will read this thread and and think about it a little?

Now that I've given the topic more thought, the more I think Tamiya have taken the defeatist attitude. They know most modellers are going to go & get a pile of p/e & a/m stuff for their kit, sometimes spending more than the actual kit is worth. Ergo, they probably figure they shouldn't compete with that, in terms of their own moulding process. Trouble is, if you drop the base quality to assist the a/m fraternity, you can't really put your prices up. That's just not cricket, is it?

Tamiya HAVE changed a lot. Before, they were releasing 8 to 16 cars by years. Lot of interesting, hi detail Kit. Now, since the Enzo, they release 1 or 2 new car every year. They are low detail, they even put diecast chassis. which bring the details down again, but put the price higher.

They ask more and more money for lower and lower quality product. I used to love Tamiya, but now it's hard to like their new stuff.

The prepainted stuff is available since 2 year I think, and yet again, it's to push more sells of the same kit, since they don't make any real new kit like they did before.

I hope they don't go the prepainted route, but like you said, its not very likely. I have seen the pics of the Evo. Its different, thats for sure, but like the 8, I'm sure it will grow on me to the point of trying to spend $30k to buy one, which ain't gonna happen... sorry Mitsubishi!

Good Question eizzle. Probably not. When Mitsu released that god-awful thing they called a WRC, Mattel immediately announced they had the marketing rights for all of Mitsu's cars. Having said that, I have seen Evo's 7/8/9 from Fujimi recently, so it's likely they've tipped some money back to Daimler/Chrysler too.

They are doing a bit of pre-painted stuff now, aren't they. I too think it takes the fun out of building, meself. I doubt Tamiya will travel down that path exclusively, though, as it looks like they are committing heavily towards their own packs of p/e for their car kits. I wouldn't be surprised to see them offering different decal options in their car kits soon - just like planes & armour.

BTW has anyone seen pics of the Evo 10? Very futuristic looking. The bloodline stops at the 9.