| QUOTE: Nope, you folks seem to have missed the point. 54's are so expensive purely because of naked greed. Sure, materials and labour are expensive, but that's because we modelers will pay whatever the market asks. Ever wonder why Britains, Dragon, etc produces in Asia and Spain? Or why the St. Petersberg Collection seems to be everywhere? Because they can be produced for pennies over there, and then sold to us for 1000% profit. Everyone has the right to make a buck, but these greedy importers are not passing on one penny of the savings. |
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I disagree. There are several producers here in the US, Mike Allen, Home Grown, Carter & Crowley, Lost Battalion, S&T, Michael Roberts just to name a few. Each of these companies sells figures that are comapratively priced to European or Asian manufacturers. So no greedy importers.
We are not talking large industrial complexes here. Unlike some fo the big styrene companies that can invest 100K into molds and produce large numbers to keep unit cost low, these are smaller manufacturers. So unit prices will be higher. Ranging any where from modern facilities to garage operations and they are priced accordingly.
Too there is overhead to take into consideration. Figures are sold on 3 key points. Sculpt, painted presentation and subject matter. Again, things that limit production and also keep costs high. If I have to pay a good sculptor a few hundred dollars for a figure to keep him in my organization, then that is a cost of doing business, that I need to recoupe. Art isn't cheap. And if a good sculpt will help sell the figure then its worth every penny. Then theres the painter. How much do you think he or she is worth? At pro rates of 1-2$ per mm that is not a bad price. But remember it has to be good enough to act as cover art for my packaging so it sells in a sea of packaging. Some manufacturers are wrth every penny of their pricey figures when you get down and look at the end product. Detail, clean molding, animation of stance etc.
Look into property prices, leasing costs, reference, artistic, labor, waste, marketing, manufacturing, utilties and the scale that keeps the prices down is certainly becoming unbalanced.
Now for the overseas market. Import tariffs, unions, export tariffs, warehousing, customs, shipping, material prices in country of mfg. My 15 cent an hour asian factory worker is the least of my worries. Then once its in this country there is distribution, shipping and what ever costs of doing business with importers. Politics takes a hand in all this now too. i.e. French companies are still feeling the sting of the anti french sentiment started 4 years ago in this country. (My LHS owner refuses to carry Heller in his shop). Governments is cheap labor countires can change and new restrictions or tariffs may arise that add to costs. Nobody moved anything in or out of Port Canaveral for a month after hurricane season this year. Lot of backup in customs as a result, and export had to be re-routed to clear ports to go out. This too adds a cost.
While I agree in some cases there may be an excessive profit its not an equal playing field to compare Britons with Dragon, with Pegaso with Mike Blank with United Empire. Its all different with each one offering something different in the way of packaging, sculpt and material. All of it at a price that is not set up to rake in huge profits but to sell a product at a price that is still marketable and that folks can eat and keep the lights on.
And I don't think we pay whatever the market will ask. Look at the difference between LHS and Internet Outlet. Tamiya has recently slowed prodcuing 1/35 kits and geared up selling 1/48 armor. Not because there is a demand, but because they knew they could sell more $10 kits than $30 kits. Fewer hobby shops carrying figures because they can't compete with the internet warehouses. Look in a hobby shop and compare the number of highdollar, larger scale kits compared to the number of lower priced smaller scale. Thats where the money is. Therefore the lower price has won out. Look how many folks shop on e-bay trying to get an even cheaper deal. So where there is a will there is a wallet.
On the other hand I do support your belief that there may be some gouging, but this is also a frivolous hobby. An idle past time. It consumes expendable time and dollars. What it comes down to is if they up the price, we as modelers or figure painters will pay it if we can. It is not subject to regulation like food or necessities so if the guy wants to sell it at 1000% profit, he can if we'll buy it. If not he will either a) go out of business or b) adjust his price accordingly.
Regardless, at twice the price, figures or models are still some of the best bang for your buck when it comes to expenditure compared to time spent and enjoyment aquired.
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