Real G: Thanks! The Wave and some of the smaller Hasegawa kits are much better priced than I thought they were. If I ever clean off my bench I'll have to give one a try.

FSM's kits are nice but I'm more interested in something to build, even if I could afford them I'd hate to build a collectable kit and destroy it's value.

Every time i go to the hobby shop i see a couple of these kits. I like them. They call to me. then i look at the price tag and i have to hang up. I especially like the Hornisse and the Fledermaus. (but i think i could kit bash something similar) My favorite design is the hover craft looking vehicle whose name i do not know and do not see one in the pics.

This guy is offering a great deal, i just dont have 300 bucks to dump all at once.

That's good to know I got a deal. I remember buying the Fireball when Squadron carried a handful of these kits. After months of seeing the price go down, I eventually grabbed it for $4.99. This had to have been 15-20 years ago. They just weren't big sellers in Squadron's line and they clearanced them out.

Rob - You got a great deal on the Neuspotter.  The original MSRP was 1,500 Yen I think, so $20 in 2003 dollars was a steal.  I got lucky and got a pair of them for the original price, but had to cough up $75 for the Krachenvogel, which is the armed version of the Neuspotter.  The price was crazy to me, but I really wanted it.  I hope Hasegawa or Wave make a new-tool kit, but if I recall, the Neuspotter/Krachenvogel sold poorly when they were first released, at least in the US.  They might be like the Monogram Ju-52 and Catalina in that people seemed to really want them, but when the kits came out, the sales figures were disappointing.

Gamera - The original Nitto kits can fetch some stupid prices on Evilbay, but the Wave kits are currently in production and readily available.  My only gripes are that Wave does not include metal wires and springs like Nitto did, surface detailing like weld beads are absent, and the joints are integral weather boots molded from polyethylene.  The Nitto kits were kind of clunky in certain areas, but the detail was first class, matching the armor kits of the period.  I have a few examples of Wave's AFS (Mk.I, MKII, and Polar Bear), and aside from the aforementioned quips, they look great.  Wave's body shell is narrower than Nitto's, which brings it closer to the original scratchbuilt model.  Wave's SAFS suits look pretty nice too, so give one a try.

...so no takers for FSM's offer?  (Sorry FSM, my MaK box is already full of kits, so I cannot help you out.  )

Real G

Finescalemodeler,

Your price is good.  The high-value kit is the Neuspotter, which can go for several times the original price.  I'm not sure you are aware of this, but a portion of  the Neuspotter's mold was damaged during Nitto's infamous fire, so there will be no more reissues.  (But maybe Hasegawa or Wave will tool a new kit?  Never say never.)

By my observation, SF3D/MaK is a funny sci-fi niche, with a small core of really dedicated fans floating in a vast sea of uninterested modelers.  I tried getting guys to try a kit or two, but so far I have had very little success.

Anyway, good luck and hope you get a good price for your stuff.

PS Anyone interested in a 1/6 Melusine?  No?  Didn't think so.

Funny, I've always wanted to try one or a few of these kits but the prices I've seen are so high I keep balking at it. I like the designs and I've seen a few a member of our club brought in and they seem nicely detailed.

FSM, good luck with your sale there.

Good info to know on the Neuspotter; I bought one at a local show in 2003 from a fellow club member. He had it marked at $35. At the end of the show he saw me eyballing it (I'd never seen it before and had only built one kit, the Fireball before) so he lowered the price to $20 if I took it off his hands.

Almost 10 years later, it sits in a box somewhere in my basement, akin to Indiana Jones' Lost Ark.

Finescalemodeler,

Your price is good.  The high-value kit is the Neuspotter, which can go for several times the original price.  I'm not sure you are aware of this, but a portion of  the Neuspotter's mold was damaged during Nitto's infamous fire, so there will be no more reissues.  (But maybe Hasegawa or Wave will tool a new kit?  Never say never.)

By my observation, SF3D/MaK is a funny sci-fi niche, with a small core of really dedicated fans floating in a vast sea of uninterested modelers.  I tried getting guys to try a kit or two, but so far I have had very little success.

Anyway, good luck and hope you get a good price for your stuff.

PS Anyone interested in a 1/6 Melusine?  No?  Didn't think so.