Saw a big lineup of 1/48 Avengers at the LHS today, and from a distance was sure they were the Accurate Miniatures’ kits. I was then surprised to see a logo for “Ace Corporation” on the boxes, with subscript reading “Manufactured in Korea under license of Accurate Miniatures.”
They were all priced at around $50 USD.
Has anyone heard of “Ace Corporation?”
I’ve been looking for the AM Avengers for a while now, but I have no idea if these are quality licensed kits made to the same standards as the great AM kits, or if they’re just cheap copies ( they do claimed to be “licensed,” though. And they’re not cheap!).
Any info on this company or these kits in particular would be greatly appreceiated. [:)]
50 USD that is like twice what they are worth over here. I don’t know if that is just because that is in Japan or not. It seams Fishy to me. But what do I konw? I wouldn’t pay that price. No way. Not a chance.
Most Accurate Miniatures kits that I’ve seen here in Indy go for anywhere from $25.00 on up to $45.00. The radar-equipped Avenger goes for about $42.50 here. Hope this helps you out.
Ace may be the tool maker for AM. I dunno fersher, though, it’s just a guess. I know they come from that neck of the woods, and AM’s injection moldings come from over there as well. (whose doesn’t these days? [:p] )
Idea Plastic Model Company is (or was) the toolmaker for Hobbycraft and they’ve released many of Hobbycraft’s kits under their own label in the past, so who’s to say that AM’s toolmaker wouldn’t do the same?
Idea also sold a buncha molds to Academy, explaining the Academy boxings of Hobbycraft kits. Unfortunately, this was done without Hobbycraft’s authorization. But that’s another story…
its a great kit… its worth all $50 usd… ace IS the tool manufacturer for am, i seen it on my p51 one… great kit btw. bougt it for $12 cad. goes for $29 usd
I’ve been finding Accurate Miniatures B-25C/D’s, SBD-5’s, F3F-1’s, Avenger, and the Photo Recon 51 at Hobby Lobby lately. I always wait for the 1/2 off sale and they are well worth that price.
Speaking of grabbing kits for cheap, just got me a B-25C/D in a trade tonight. I’d say giving up an 'ole Monogram B-25 for the AM kit was more than worth it! [:p]
Remember that 32nd F-16XL kit from several years back? It’s been released fairly recently by Kangnam, but it was originally boxed (and probably tooled) by Ace. They also did a buncha 1/144th stuff.
I bought an ACE TBF-1C through Amazon for around $34 (delivered). It most definitely IS an Accurate Miniatures kit I compared it to one I have it IS NOT a knock-off; in fact it says “Made under license of…” on the box and decals. You get a AM kit with really sub-par instructions, but they are adequate to build. It came from Korea in about a week and in VERY nice shipping packaging.