bambam

Dear colegue, just imagine how we modelers in Brazil would pay in the shops at list double prices due to import taxes and greed. This situation are forcing a lot of model shops closing their doors., Many modelers like me become to search/pruchase models at internet shops. I have to agree with you, first come tamiya from Japan with very high prices, than the Chinese factories start producing kits with reasonable prices and suddenly all become true expensive. Try search trough internet many shops and aldo ebay. In case you don't find that desired kit with good price you may try something different. For sure there will be a time that kit will have a better price.

You remind us, Bambam, that we have it pretty good, and for that, we should be thankful.

mike_espo

the Baron:

I do, too.  I was completing collecting each example in the lineage of the Thunderbolt.  One P-35 would be done as a shiny NMF bird, and the other will be done as an OD-over-gray bird in the Phillipines in December 1941.

 

Exactly what I wanted to do....just read "Doomed at the Start" Pursuit pilots in lthe Philipines. Lost a great photos of the P-35a!

Yep, me too, reading the book made me think of collecting the aircraft.  So far, besides the P-35, I've got some P-40 kits, plus a Texan to bash back into an A-27, and a Grumman Duck kit set aside for the collection.

Dear colegue, just imagine how we modelers in Brazil would pay in the shops at list double prices due to import taxes and greed. This situation are forcing a lot of model shops closing their doors., Many modelers like me become to search/pruchase models at internet shops. I have to agree with you, first come tamiya from Japan with very high prices, than the Chinese factories start producing kits with reasonable prices and suddenly all become true expensive. Try search trough internet many shops and aldo ebay. In case you don't find that desired kit with good price you may try something different. For sure there will be a time that kit will have a better price.

the Baron

I do, too.  I was completing collecting each example in the lineage of the Thunderbolt.  One P-35 would be done as a shiny NMF bird, and the other will be done as an OD-over-gray bird in the Phillipines in December 1941.

Exactly what I wanted to do....just read "Doomed at the Start" Pursuit pilots in lthe Philipines. Lost a great photos of the P-35a!

mike_espo

I contemplated getting the P-43, I already have Seversky's P-35s, both versions from Academy 1/48!

I do, too.  I was completing collecting each example in the lineage of the Thunderbolt.  One P-35 would be done as a shiny NMF bird, and the other will be done as an OD-over-gray bird in the Phillipines in December 1941.

the doog

 

That's OUTRAGEOUS, and inexcusable,. It's their responsibility to package it appropriately, and if nothing else they should refund your money-or at least offer you some satisfaction.

 

This time it's a SMER Amiot M in 1: 72. Since the Roden Sdkfz. 4/1 i only go for sellers w/ detailed pictures and description, as well as a excellent online rating. 

mike_espo

 I already have Seversky's P-35s, both versions from Academy 1/48!

That's a fun little kit!

I contemplated getting the P-43, I already have Seversky's P-35s, both versions from Academy 1/48!

waikong

Baron, You're the one!!!!  I've been looking for the CA P-43 for years also. But can't ever get myself to pay $100 bucks for it.  Guys like you are keeping the price up!  No one buys, get the price to come done, and we can all snap it up cheap at the same time.  Right - lol.  Hey good luck with the P-43, love to see it built up.

Sorry about that, but I had to bite the big one finally and buy it

If it's any consolation, I figure it's a small group of builders who want the kit, so with each passing auction, another one gets it, and it might get easier to win one.  Or maybe someone else will put one up on Buy it now.

The P-43 is one that one of the other manufacturers ought to take up.  Or wouldn't it be great if one of the big boys licensed with CA to repop their kits?  From the auction traffic, I'd say there's got to be some demand for them, especially because of the rarer subjects they kitted.

When you have the lousy 1/48 AZ models Saab J-29 tunnan, which has shape issues priced at 70USD........yes kits are overpriced.

PaperPanzer

Manstein's revenge: My only concern is that the shipper doesn't handle the package inappropriately, I received a badly damaged Roden Sdkfz. 4/1 about a month ago, and they don't allow returns!

Baron, You're the one!!!!  I've been looking for the CA P-43 for years also. But can't ever get myself to pay $100 bucks for it.  Guys like you are keeping the price up!  No one buys, get the price to come done, and we can all snap it up cheap at the same time.  Right - lol.  Hey good luck with the P-43, love to see it built up.

PaperPanzer

GreenThumb:

I think everything in this country is overpriced!

 

And nothing is made here either!

The one flows from the other.

PaperPanzer

 

GreenThumb:

 

I think everything in this country is overpriced!

 

And nothing is made here either!

 

Badger airbrushes are.

mitsdude

The "Market" (model kit or not) will determine if something is truly overpriced.

There is a price point beyond which an item will not sell becasue buyers are saying "thats too much". (This excludes those with truly deep pockets (like a Bill Gates) or are totally clueless.)

Just because its more than you want to pay doesnt mean its overpriced. There may be others more than willing to pay a price you consider ridiculus.

 

Of course.

That behavior is evident in the market every day and not exclusive to model kits

The "Market" (model kit or not) will determine if something is truly overpriced.

There is a price point beyond which an item will not sell becasue buyers are saying "thats too much". (This excludes those with truly deep pockets (like a Bill Gates) or are totally clueless.)

Just because its more than you want to pay doesnt mean its overpriced. There may be others more than willing to pay a price you consider ridiculus.

GreenThumb

I think everything in this country is overpriced!

Shellback

 

Manstein's revenge:

 

 

wychdoctor92394:

I think that today's kits are overpriced considering that the kits offered tend to be out-of-date...

 

 

The ones I buy aren't out of date; they are brand new moulds...not sure I agree with this blanket statement...

 

 

I dont like to make statements in a blanket either ...................for cripes sake all of that fuzz gets in the mouth !

Yepper, I agree with ya there.

..........switched from fuzzy blankets to down comforters.........much better.

TD4438

Tojo72:

Yes and No

Depends,everybody has their ceiling and how much they are willing to spend for a kit.What I think is a rip-off is something you have to have at any price.

Overall,I would say no    Kits are always good bang for your entertainment buck,even that 1/350 ship kit with all the extras.When you think about the hundreds of hours it will keep you busy,and the joy (hopefully) you will have upon proudly completing and dispaying it,even the most expensive kits are worth it.

 

I've got over $150 invested in Trumpeter's 1/350 Roma.It's kept me busy for almost four months now and the quality is excellant.Worth every penny and all the cussing.

I hear ya!  Having said what I said previously about making choices, I had been trying to get a Classic Airframes P-43 kit off eBay for several years.  The auctions usually get up to $100 or more (like one I was tracking last week).  Last fall, I bit the bullet, and bought one for $110 on a Buy-it-now offer.  I'm still looking for another one, but it was a decision that I made, recognizing that I have to give up something else, in this case, to pursue this kit.  This one is worth that to me.

See it as price / hour of modeling enjoyment.

Ever wonder why some of the best builds are by people in 'have not' countries?

It is because they invest more time & craftsmanship in their models. A $60 kit to some represents a months income or more!

A $100 kit slapped together in 10 hours cannot be compared to a $10 kit built over 100 hours.

If cost is a issue they look at the vendor's tables at model contests and hobby shows. For $35 I bought a 1/9 scale resin bust and a 1/35 scale Dragon 251 reconnaissance half track! A friend picked up a 1/32 scale Revel German WWII float plane, the recent release. Get a better deal yet by holding off until the second day of the event, vendors would rather leave with cash than their inventory.

Y'all know what I think... 

Hell, I'd bet real money that if, God help us, "Star Tek's" Replicator system ever becomes viable, some modelers will walk up to one and say, "Mustang, P-51D, 1/32 scale, 343 Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, S/N 44-23145, Code CY*T, 8th Air Force, March 1945.", and then trot off to a contest with it... And a couple will even say, "Well, if you can't afford a replicator, maybe you should be in another hobby"...

Manstein's revenge

wychdoctor92394:

I think that today's kits are overpriced considering that the kits offered tend to be out-of-date...

The ones I buy aren't out of date; they are brand new moulds...not sure I agree with this blanket statement...

I dont like to make statements in a blanket either ...................for cripes sake all of that fuzz gets in the mouth !

I agree , its a hobby , not a necessity .Todays prices will look cheap in a few years .

It is what it is. If I'm gonna spend weeks building a kit, I'd like it to preferably be higher quality not only to save some time, but perhaps some frustration as well. I do my best to shop around, find sales, etc. online and get it at the best price. Already looking forward to the next Black Friday sale. Missed the last one.

PaperPanzer

I saw at a hobby shop in Simi Valley a 1/350th scale Yamato, I don't remember the manufacturer, but the store was asking for 120 bucks.

Probably the older Tamiya kit. And that is more than you would pay if you headed south in to Orange County to Brookhurst Hobbies in Garden Grove. I picked up mine there last year (before the new tooled one was anounced and released) for around $70.

GreenThumb

I think everything in this country is overpriced!

Try another country

wychdoctor92394

I think that today's kits are overpriced considering that the kits offered tend to be out-of-date...

The ones I buy aren't out of date; they are brand new moulds...not sure I agree with this blanket statement...

I think everything in this country is overpriced!

I think that today's kits are overpriced considering that the kits offered tend to be out-of-date (AMT/ERTL kits are famous for this, their Ford Probe is still a kit you can buy at nearly 12 bucks a model); Tamiya is merely responding to the current oil prices by jacking their kit's prices, but what really irks me is that everyone complains about it.

I used to run a hobby shop and I'd hear that my prices were too high and that you could get them cheaper over the border -- well, kiddies, go over the border, but when you figure travel costs/rates of exchange into it, it's no cheaper.

Manufacturers complain that it costs over a million dollars per mold die -- it's true. However, after running off a half million kits, they sell them to other manufacturers at nearly the price they paid to have them made.

Polar Lights is a perfect example. Their Frankenstein kit, their Spock kit are from 1968; they've never cleaned up the molds and they still charge 30-50 dollars (retail for them).

Do what I do, exhaust every other possibility for locating them, or make your own.

Also, don't buy that kit from the Hobby Collector's magazine or the Modelers Price Guide. That's what gullible people pay for kits -- $6,500.00 for a AMT Star Trek Enterprise (no scale given) with the orange upper and lower 'glass' bubble? I built the original with the blue version and it was $6.00 back then! It hasn't changed in over 40 years.