I just paid $28.00 for a PLASTIC ship model kit, yikes!!

Those of us who seek vintage kits...can wind up paying  up to $70 for such kits.....still better then the retail of such.........I Ebay most of my kits to save what I can.

Rob

If it makes you feel any worse, Thunder, the kit is currently for sale at Freetime Hobbies for about $22.00. 

According to Freetime Hobbies, it's supposed to come with some photo-etched parts.  On the aftermarket, Gold Medal Models offers an extremely comprehensive set of photo-etched parts (including railings) for this specific kit ( http://www.goldmm.com/ships/gms350-38.htm ).

The kit seems to have a fine reputation. 

I too remember the days when models could be bought for pocket money.  Let's see...49 cents for a kit, 10 cents for a tube of Testor's glue, 10 cents for a bottle of paint (one, of course, would be enough), ten cents for a brush...even with the 3% tax thrown in, you'd still have a nickel left for a cherry phosphate at the same corner drugstore.  Times, as in so many other ways, have changed. 

There's been a fundamental change in the hobby.  Most of its participants used to be kids.  (Remember when Revell and Monogram advertised in Boy's Life magazine?)  Nowadays scarcely any kids build models; it's a hobby for an extremely small segment of the adult population.  The upside to the transformation is that the kits, to say nothing of the aftermarket, are so much more sophisticated nowadays.  The downside is that a hundred bucks doesn't go very far in a hobby shop.

Ship modelers who think they've got it rough may find a little solace in looking at the prices of model railroad products.  I can remember buying an Athearn F unit diesel for $3.00.  (The drive shaft was connected to the trucks by four tiny rubber bands.)   A new Athearn  diesel nowadays costs almost $200.  If you're a model railroader, a thousand bucks doesn't go very far in a hobby shop.

I feel old.

so true about model railroading.  I had an extensive stock and layout..which I dismantled.....because of a move..but I saved everything..even all the cast rocks I made..everything..so when I do(If ever) I will have what I need.

Not to mention that kids these days build gaming models, such as Warhammer and the like and these babies are expensive.  One model when finished at about 4" tall and in similar width can cost over $55..hundreds if you want the larger figures. The detail is extreme as well.

I shop for deals and then make the rest.  My models can be more expensive then my telescope stuff.

Rob

When I was a kid in the late 40's, a lot of kids in my third/fourth grade classes were into model building.  Of course, all we had available were Stombecker solid wood aircraft models and balsa stick models with tissue skin.  Prices were affordable- you could get a big Piper Cub stick model with 3 ft wingspan for under a dollar.

Of course, many of them turned  out pretty horribly.  Nobody had the patience to sand the solid wood parts to the proper shape, so just glued them together and slapped a coat of paint on them.  The most skilled modelers could make the stick models look very nice, but the tissue had to be shrunk fit with a little water spray, then strengthened with a few coats of clear "dope".  It was difficult to get a nice surface.  Most of them had rubber band motors and looked so bad that they were not highly valued by their builders.

I remember once lighting one's tail on fire and sailing it out a friend's third floor attic window.  Flew really nice, too, but landed on their garage roof!  Fortunately it burned itself out and did not set the garage on fire.

Anyhow, my point is that kids back then were indeed involved in modeling, but on a much lower level than what we do here.

jtilley

Ship modelers who think they've got it rough may find a little solace in looking at the prices of model railroad products.  I can remember buying an Athearn F unit diesel for $3.00.  (The drive shaft was connected to the trucks by four tiny rubber bands.)   A new Athearn  diesel nowadays costs almost $200.  If you're a model railroader, a thousand bucks doesn't go very far in a hobby shop.

I feel old.

One more note: Fine Scale Modeler magazine samples seemed to disappear quickly

                      1965          2013

candy bar        $.05          $1.19     23.8 times the cost

gallon of gas   $ .23          $3.85    17 times the cost

model              $.89           $28.00  31 times the cost

As my grandfather said to me once... " I remember when hamburgers were only a nickle, but I didn't have an extra nickle to buy one. Now they're $3.50, but I can afford to buy one."

I started modeling at the age of ten. My first kit was a Monogram F-4 Phantom snap together kit. In Nov.

of 1985, at the shop that i got it, it was $10.00. That was without paints. But I know that today (God bless'em) that if I went to Hobby Lobby or even the closest brick and mortar store, That I probably couldn't spend less than 25 to 35.00 for a decent 1/35 or even 1/48th scale aircraft kit plus some finishing gear including cement, paints, thinner or any other acesessories or tools I might need.

And a lot of stores like K-mart, and Walmart used to carry kits and paints; not that I can find now.

But remember: "what goes around comes around."      Shaun

I think $ 28 is a pretty good deal, in the over all scheme of things. There's always a better deal somewhere, but that's not much money. That's a nice kit of a good subject.The one thing that's a bit of a startle is that it's pretty tiny at 1/350. It's a bit of a shock when you open the box. But I felt the same way about the Bronco Chin Yuen, and that cost about $ 55.00. Or the Hasegawa Soya for $ 66.00.

I remember there might have been a fret of PE. I don't think I bought the extra set as it would have cost more than the ship!

Kits can be spendy, that's for sure....the most I've shelled out was 120 bucks for the Zvezda Black Swan...but it was well-spent!  And most of my Imai vintage stash have run me between 40-70 bucks apiece....but per hour, the entertainment value beats a trip to the cinema or a nice dinner out by a longshot!

Kids ain't into models for reasons other than price. $2 is far, far lest than their latest smart phone and texting plan. It's just not part of the culture the same way it was. People of all ages are more into instant gratification, although there is a "maker" movement that is swinging things the other way.

You want sticker shock,take a look at new Tamiya 1/350 Yamato,Hasegawa Akagi,or the new 1/200 offerings.Or how about some of the 1/700 stuff that cost more then the old 1/350 stuff.Fact is everything has gone up since we were kids.Also it's a hobby,if it cost too much,we don't do it.Someone offered me Baseball All-Star game tickets for $300.00,too much for me,I wont go.The new Maxima's that cost $40,000 I wont buy it,same with those high cost kits,I won't buy them.Also, they ARE not for kids with paper routes or novices,they can be built up to museum quality pieces,but not by me or most kids,so I abstain.Not to say I won't spend bucks on something I want.I spent $ 100.00 on a Wittman Tiger,because I can afford it,and I can get it done.So we all must make choices with our entertainment dollars

I find, frequently these days, that I am paying more for a PE set for a ship model than I pay for the ship model itself.

I started building ship models in 1960, when I would take my 50 cents allowance and run to the drug stare to buy one of the old Eaglewall/Pyro Table Top Navy kits. That left me with 15 cents left over for a candy bar and soda.

I recently bought the Eaglewall HMS Ajax for $35.00 on EBay (it cost about 35 cents in 1960). But, to be fair, my income is so much higher that that 50 cents allowance!

Bill Morrison

One other thing to take into consideration is the cost per hour. If you spend $100 on a kit for the model, paint, and accessories, and then spend 50 hours building it, how much has each hour of entertainment cost you?

Compare that to a movie. It may be that today's expensive kit is cheaper PER HOUR of entertainment than the cheap kits we slammed together in an hour or less as a kid.

$28 isn't too bad for a kit even with AM parts it would still be less than than Trumpeters 1/350 scale Battleship kits.

by the way my name is also Mike M.

thunder1

O.K. it's been many moons since I purchased a plastic kit, but talk about sticker shock. The model is a 1/350 DE (USS ENGLAND) by Trumpeter. I must admit the molding is rather good but at $28.00 (plus tax) I would have thought some photoetch railings and lifelines would be part of the models parts inventory. It's no wonder the younger generation shuns model building, the start up price of a model it pretty steep. Not to sound like an old geezer but "back in my day sonny, we'd pick up a kit for .89 paid with our paper route money down at the five&dime, have it built by lunch time and if firecrackers were availible, blown up by dusk"....actually, I only blew up the Lindberg kits, Revell, Renwal and Aurora were kept in high regard. A youngster today would have to have a hell of a paper route to plunk down twenty eight "large" for a kit. 

Any suggestions as to a company that offers 1/350 photoetch railings for a DD/DE that's prototypical for the ENGLAND so I can finish this kit up proper? 

Thanks

Mike "I'm still in shock and need a drink" M. 

"

            1965          2013

candy bar        $.05          $1.19     23.8 times the cost

gallon of gas   $ .23          $3.85    17 times the cost

model              $.89           $28.00  31 times the cost

As my grandfather said to me once... " I remember when hamburgers were only a nickle, but I didn't have an extra nickle to buy one. Now they're $3.50, but I can afford to buy one."

Your last sentence is indeed the key.   So many of us have simply lost track of how economics works when we get lost in nostalgia for the days of cheap kits.   I'm sure that those that want to pay 1960s prices don't want to be paid 1960s wages.  Different classes of goods and services go up and down.  I know I would not want to pay 1960s prices for a TV!

A better way to look at prices is to calculate the TIME it would take to buy the item you are interested in, or another way of saying that is: how many minutes/hours of work would I have to do to make that purchase. I recall getting my first good paying job in 1970.  I worked on a truck dock loading freight from 11 pm to 7 am and was paid the princely sum (at the time) of $5.20 per hour, a rate twice that of my previous job.  

Everything now is different.   Millions of people work in jobs that were unheard of in 1970.  The goods we buy are different as well.  People today think nothing of spending $100-200 per month on cell phone service! Another poster brought up the subject of automobiles.   Which vehicle would you rather drive today, a 1969 Ford Galaxie  or a 2013 Fusion?  How many hours of work did it take the buy the 1969 versus the 2013 car.   Remember, you can't comp up the '69 to the '13 in terms of safety, reliability, handling or any other measure of quality for any price.   The two may both be cars but they are as different as night and day.   The same goes for kits today.   Can you even imagine a kit like Revell's 1/350 Bismarck or Trumpeter's 1/200 Arizona in 1969?  Nostalgia is nice but it makes you look through rose colored lenses.

D-NO-52

Are you trying to make the case I'm OLD??? $5.20 an hour, must have been one of those union guys....

      Well, let me put you young "whippersnappers" straight. When I received my first plastic model ship kit, Revell's USS Missouri, in 1955, it cost .79 cents. A Monogram wood cruiser model kit in similar size cost twice that much. The Revell kit had superior detail, very easy to assemble and paint. The plastic kit was mass produced, popular and a huge seller for Revell. Eventually Monogram, Strombecker and most  wood kit producers dropped the wood line and went to plastic. Why? Because plastic kits are popular and after the initial start up costs (mold making)  are factored in, a hot selling, low priced  "mass produced" kit will turn a profit for the company. Recently  I purchased a Revell Missouri (same as my 1955 kit) for a bit of NOSTALGIA and the kit was priced at $9.95 and I derived great enjoyment slapping this OLD model together as an adult. The price had gone up since my first foray at model ship building but I felt all things considered it was a good buy. I was taught that MASS PRODUCTION lowers costs for the manufactuer and the consumer. Remember the old "Brick" cell phones, $3000.00 a pop. Today we use better phones, better service and a lot less expensive....mass production. But perhaps this doesn't apply to plastic models, I don't know.

I don't claim to have a hold on all things economic: I purchase what I want and if the truth be known the ENGLAND kit is nice. I was disappointed there wasn't a railing PE fret in the kit, a few dollars more wouldn't have bothered me..Now I need to send away for a set and it would make more sense to me to charge a little more for the convienence of having a "complete" modern day kit in one box.

   As for the good old days all I say is that the dollar had more purchasing power than it does today. Perhaps the $20.00 bill is the new $1.00.

    And to answer your question, YES ,I'd rather drive a 1969 Galaxie than todays "fuel efficient"- 25 cupholders- silk upholsted- computerized engines no one can fix-tv set equipped, program my GPS because I can't follow a road map-objects in the mirror are closer than they appear- cramped Gemini  space capsule seating-choice of black, gray, silver, silver gray, some kind of green exterior paint-bodies made of the same plastic material as my trash cans-God awful "jelly bean on wheels" styling-no spare tire- current crop of automobiles. One can make the case the cars rolling around the country's asphalt roadways are better than their predessors. But name a car of today that makes a drivers "blood boil" and lust after these days. You know like a '63 Corvette split window or a GTO, Camero, T bird, Chevelle, Impala, Charger, you know, cars with real engines, cars with chrome, cars with sheet metal, cars that had soul....

we now return you to some talk about ship models and such.......

nuff said,

Mike the Luddite

an analog man living in a digital world.....

The England kit is decent - but photo-etch is a contentious issue. Some people are scared by it or just don't want that level of complexity. Many manufacturers are punting and just providing a few, optional parts.

HEY ;    

 PROFF, I didn't know you played with trains too ! You are right though ,  it ain't a cheap hobby anymore .I bought recently a USED -SOUTHERN PACIFIC steam engine and matching tender in H.O. scale . How about $ 800.00 bucks ! I have bought a lot of ship kits for that kind of money .

   You are dead on right talking about quality .That's why I couldn't understand why REVELL thought to re-release the old dog of a MISSOURI kit they have .Talk about using old molds to death .One of the worst ship kits out there !

    I would buy TAMIYA 'S or HASEGAWA'S version in 1/350 IF they did a 1945 fit , I won't hold my breath . For their kind of quality it's not going to be cheap .Shoot the NEW JERSEY and my conversion from her to the WISCONSIN cost over $ 300.00 when you figure in P.E. and one ship was a gift at that ! Now , I figure cost for quality is what drives a lot of any hobby anymore .So it's something we have to get used to , like it or not .

   Unless you have a grand , big hearted modeler who shares his stash with no regard to a monetary return ( happened to me over the " SHELL WELDER kit ) there ain't much you can do , except pay the price or just keep wishing . Whatever you do , This is to ALL modelers out there , Try NOT to get distracted when looking at something on E-BAY and check out the offering very well BEFORE putting down that hard earned cash . It's no fun when you've done that , bragged about what you've won , only to be grossly dissappointed when you open the package and realize you didn't pay attention .

    I HAVE bought stuff there .NOT been dissappointed , because when they said , " disassembled model of " And it was a sixty year old kit. I figured if the hull was good I could scratch the rest .SURPRISE , I was able to use over 80%of the model itself ! See ! Watch the bucks and   MODEL ON ! !     Tanker -Builder

TRACY ;

   You have the gist of it right there .How many hours would GOOD (if you can find them)  movies cost if you watched them more than twice ? now , take a model you really enjyed building. Figure out how much per hour that pleasure bought you ! Amazing how much value you got fot the price , P.E. or not !

  This is what I tell folks too . How much dollar value per hour does your hobby give you ? I know a carver that does western caricature heads of cowboys . the wood (cherry , oak and mahogany ) aren't cheap .But if he pays $ 45.00 for a 4"x4" piece of wood and then spends say forty hours on it ,he's enjoyed the time spent at a cost of less than two dollars an hour ! Some folks don't seem to get a handle on that part of it, though .    Well , MODEL ON ! !        Tanker- Builder

tankerbuilder

You are dead on right talking about quality .That's why I couldn't understand why REVELL thought to re-release the old dog of a MISSOURI kit they have .Talk about using old molds to death .One of the worst ship kits out there !

Depends on what the purpose is. We had an 8-year-old come into my local hobby shop yesterday, who had just finished their Calyso kit and had a blast... wanted another ship kit. That Revell Missouri might not suit our desires, but if there's a kid who enjoys it and wants more, I'm all for it!

I've got mixed emotions about this one.  On the one hand, I certainly want to see kids encouraged to get into the hobby - and if the only kits on the market are those with 300+ parts apiece, the process of exterminating the younger generation of modelers will continue. 

On the other hand, when a company like Revell issues yet another reboxing of a 50- or 60-year-old kit (that Iowa-class fossil has now reached 60) and calls it a "new" kit, consumer deception is taking place.  Consider, instead of the 8-year-old kid, the guy who's built one of the Revell Bismarcks and buys the Missouri assuming he's going to find something similar in the box.  Nowadays it's highly unlikely, in the U.S. at least, that he'll be able to look at the contents of the box in advance; he has to make his decision on the basis of the box (which may or may not have some photos of the finished model on it - and those photos may or may not reveal just how primitive the kit is), or an ad on the Web.  (I buy almost all my kits on the web these days.)  That purchaser is quite likely to think he's been ripped off, and I don't blame him.

In the case of Revell (Revell-Monogram of the U.S., at least), I have a sneaking suspicion that the people currently running the company know so little about scale modeling that they genuinely aren't aware of how awful the contents of some of their boxes are.  (Another example:  the recent reissue of the Treasury-class Coast Guard cutter kit, this time as the Taney.  Apparently it's disappeared from the catalog again, but in its most recent incarnation Revell was claiming that the real Taney "is currently stationed in the Atlantic" (or words to that effect).  In fact the Taney was decommissioned for the last time in 1986 (that's 27 years ago, folks), and since 1988 has been on public exhibition as a museum ship at Baltimore.  Did Revell know that?  I doubt it.

Another firm that's in the middle of this issue at the moment is Airfix.  In the past few years it's been releasing some really nice newly-tooled kits - at reasonable prices.  At the same time, it's been reissuing 40- and 50-year-old kits in nice new boxes.  There are so many Airfix 1/72 Spitfires available that I, for one, can't sort them out.  (I think - I'm not sure - there are two different Airfix 1/72 Spitfire Mk.I's, one that's a couple of years old and one that dates from the 70's.)  I'm a big Airfix fan, and I sympathize with the complexities of its current financial situation (long live Airfix), but....

To their credit, the manufacturers have come up with a few measures that alleviate this situation somewhat.  One is the stamping of "New Tool" on the box art.  (We will shortly reach the point where that phrase will mean significantly less than it does now, as those "new tool" kits sit on the shelves for five or ten years.)  Another is Hobbyboss's idea of marketing - and clearly labeling - "easy assembly" kits that are designed for beginners.  (Back in the days when I was working in a hobby shop, marketing campaigns like that were notorious for not working.  But maybe things have changed.)  It's been suggested in various places that the manufacturers ought to be required to put the original release date of the kit on the box.  And, of course, there are reviews in magazines and on the web.  (But where can one find an objective, knowledgeable review of that old Revell Missouri?)

I don't have a solution to the problem.  I don't suggest that only brand new, state-of-the-art kits ought to be allowed (by - well, who?) on the market.  But I do wish there was a simple way for modelers to find out what they're getting before they pay for it.  I really think we ought to be able to do better than the classic shrug of the shoulders and "caveat emptor."

You Know Proff , there is an answer ;

 I think that a window could be made of strong enough plastic .(read  TRAC-Phone packaging here )  OR barring all else .You have  truth in advertising .The unpainted ,built model MUST be a photo of whats in the box , no tricks or airbrushing .     Tankerbuilder

tankerbuilder

You Know Proff , there is an answer ;

The unpainted ,built model MUST be a photo of whats in the box , no tricks or airbrushing .     Tankerbuilder

Just because they put a picture of the compleated model on the box doesnt mean you can build it to look like that.

I built that Gotha G back in the day and  I seem to recall the little pilot figure  was so distorted by ejector pin marks that you had to preform MAJOR surgery to get him to look even half right !

The modling companies had PROFFESSIONAL model builders to build their kits to look as good as possible..   What ten year old is going to live up to this ???

BTW   I ended up making that pilot look like he had been shot and crashed the plane...... It was my only way out.

littletimmy

I built that Gotha G back in the day and  I seem to recall the little pilot figure  was so distorted by ejector pin marks that you had to preform MAJOR surgery to get him to look even half right !

BTW   I ended up making that pilot look like he had been shot and crashed the plane...... It was my only way out.

The quality of the built-up models on box tops varies a great deal.  A friend of mine got hired by Airfix many years ago (long before the company's current renaissance) to build some ship models for box art.  The company told him not to do anything special (e.g., paint the parts that were to be grey and were molded in grey) lest potential purchasers think the kit was too difficult.  That sort of policy may have been one reason why Airfix went bankrupt shortly thereafter.

On the other hand, there was a period sometime in the seventies when Revell was putting photos of completed Tamiya and Hasegawa kits on its boxes.  The company denied it, claiming that the photos were of "prototype models."  I believe there was at least one lawsuit over that one. 

The lesson from all this seems to be that, whatever rules are put in place, kit manufacturers will always find ways to market old kits in new boxes alongside genuinely new kits.  (The practice isn't exclusively American.  Just about every month Hasegawa offers a stack of "new releases" that in fact are old kits with new decal sheets.)  Buyer beware.

arnie60

                      1965          2013

candy bar        $.05          $1.19     23.8 times the cost

gallon of gas   $ .23          $3.85    17 times the cost

model              $.89           $28.00  31 times the cost

As my grandfather said to me once... " I remember when hamburgers were only a nickle, but I didn't have an extra nickle to buy one. Now they're $3.50, but I can afford to buy one."

I can see the correlation between the first two items; assuming the candy bar is the same size and type (i.e. a 5 oz Hershey Bar) and a gallon of gas (even though today it is unleaded and in 1965 it was leaded).

But, is the 89¢ model a small 1/72 scale Airfix Spitfire (or something similar) that now retails for $7.00 being compared to a new tool 1/350 scale warship that retails for $28.00?

I know a lot of the Aurora monster and super hero models I used to get for under $5 are now around the $20-30 mark depending on the subject. Of course the end price of these kits often depends on the current licensing costs so Dracula might not cost as much as Spider-Man even though they were originally the same price.

A better comparison would be the 1/35 scale M48A2 Patton tank by Monogram. It was recently reissued by Revell with the exact same markings as it had when I first owned it. I believe it was just over $2.00 when I got it around 1960 something. Today it retails for $22.95, but can be found for less. That's 11½ times the original cost. High, but not 30 times as much.

Hi :

  I think we all can find comparisons here .The truth is ,new tools today are expensive . There is a set mark that must be reached to pay for the costs involved .  Once that is done and if sales have been high they will create a second mold . Now , they can pump them out like hotcakes  .Profit is the GOD they are in business for ! I would pay more for a quality product and be happy with my purchase  .I don't like spending big bucks to get something I wouldn't buy the first time because I thought it was crappy then ! Shoot ,  when you think about it I was a kid then , and didn't know as much about models as I do no !. AH well !   MODEL ON !     Tanker-Builder