I was browsing my kit collection this evening and realized something I thought I would never see…
I have more Dragon Armor kits on my shelves than Tamiya!!
With all the influx of new offerings, will Dragon become the NEW Tamiya?? Where Dragon kits become the religious standard and the Tamiya ones thrown by the wayside as obsolete???
Inquiring minds want to know…[:p]
Well according to one of the more recent threads, yes Dragon has overtaken them in productivity and value. I think Tamiya is still generaly regarded as the better fitting and perhaps higher quality. Still Dragon offers so much more: aluminum barrels, pe grilles and parts and indy tracks. Saves a ton of money to blow on other kits. Tamiya will still have it’s loyal following, but more people seem to be buying Dragon. Still depends what you want to buy and who makes it.
Even though I have been buying a lot of DML lately, I still have more Tamiya kits than anything else. I also have growing collections of AFV Club and Trumpeter. I expect both of those collections to get larger in the coming months as well.
Well done
I think Dragon has most definitely turned the corner, and it doesn’t appear the’re going to look back! My stash has taken on the Dragon, AFV, Academy, look also. There are still some Tamyia kits that I would like to get though, like the “Dragon Wagon&Trailer”, but I’ll have to take a 2nd out on my house to buy that one. Semper Fi, mike
I don’t think there is any doubt that Dragon gives you more bang for the buck, but Tamiyas still fit better and have much better instructions than Dragon or Academy. It’s hard to ignore the better value of the Dragon’s though, which is why I have more Dragon, and Academy, than Tamiya on my shelf.
I have more Tamiya…I still haven’t bought any of the 3in1 kits from Dragon. I want to, but I have so much to do. I try to use the first in, first out method.
Happy building!
Mike
I am a dragon devotee, i will always buy their kits first if it is german-because you get more bang for thte buck, and they are usually newer.
I’ve been a Tamiya devotee for most of my modeling time, but must admit I’m liking some of the Dragon kits very much! I’m especially fond of the Elefant and my 251D kits (the AFV Club kit with the PaK 40 and the Dragon 251 3 in 1 kit… I hope to build those puppies as soon as I’m done with all the group builds). It’s nice to see so many new kits coming out.
Right now the score is: Tamiya - 10, Dragon - 5, Academy - 3, Italeri - 2, Zvezda - 1.
I also have on deck 2 Dragons, 1 Tamiya. I really like Dragons detail, selection and price and I will certainly buy many more of them. The only gripe I have with them is some of the kits don’t have things like tow cables, fenders or crew figures.(older kits mostly) [|(]
I still love the newer Tamiya kits but they just cost too much. Dragon is very reasonably priced and you get a whole bunch of goodies to boot![:D] I can’t wait for my King Tiger, (Battle of the bulge) to get here from Greatmodels! By the way the most fun kit I’ve built was a 1/35, ISU-152 from Zvezda. It was a poorly made, bad fitting, dirt cheap ($11.00)
fun build! Turned out not too bad either, even though the instuction sheet (yes, one page!) was in Russian![X-)]
Good products, better value. Is it really a surprise that people’s collections are starting to show greater Dragon numbers? I myself have three to four times as many Dragon kits, as Tamiya kits.
I will sit on the fence here as I like certain kits from both manufacturers , 2 of my faves so far are tamiya , I do hope tamiya does not give up on 1/35 scale as their newer kits they have done are excellent .
Dragon has so many diverse subjects and are such a bargain at the same time, you have to love them as well .
I seriously have to wonder how they are going to make a profit on the 3 in 1 initial tiger 1 ,… this has to be the modeling bargain of the century ! [8D] Both have excellent kits .
I’m wondering if Tamiya isn’t running away from the 1/35 because it can’t compete with the manufacturing competition from the cheap labor Dragon? I see lots of 1/48 on the horizon from them, but very little 1/35… are they holding out on us or abandoning us? It would be a shame because they really raised and established the quality bar in the 80’s and 90’s for military modelling… I hope they aren’t paking up and leaving town.
I look at the current state of things as the perfect reason behind NOT acquiring a large stash of kits…never know when the “gold” standard will change in a new direction. [:D] Of the 7 kits in my stash, only 1 is a Tamiya (Marder III) and that’s only because Dragon doesn’t make it. I definitely see Dragon has having established a strong claim on the value per kit angle, am looking forward to seeing what new things they come out with in the future.
I have 1 Tamiya, 1 Revell, 1 Italeria, and 1 Dragon. I’ve built 2 Tamiya, and 1 Revell. SO i’m looking forward to my DML that just arrived.[:D]
I have been a big Dragon fan since the modeling bug got me 4 Years ago. The company just keeps moving the standart up a notch every year. I always loved their link by link tracks so i got a little disapointed to see Tamiya - like rubber track in the Tiger (P) from dragon.I hope they will give us an option of one or the other. The new 3 in 1 kits blow the Tamiya’s boxes off my shelf since Christmass. I hope the trend of the multi media kits with lots of extras continues and is also pick up by Tamiya , with their quality of castings it would be a great combo. If not I think they will eventualy be left at the end of all supply columns
I only have 1 tamiya armor kit, 2 italeri, and 6 dragon. I still want to get the tamiya T-55 but its pricey. every time i look at it, i say well, maybe its cheaper at the other guys store, and then they dont have it. so i buy another dml kit instead!
Since I have only recently taken up this hobby again, my relatively small stack is made up of mostly Dragon kits, as they are currently the hottest, most cost effective company in the market. I do have some others (ie. Tasca, Tristar, ICM) which I have purchased based on the recommendations of others on this thread. I do have one or two Tamiyas, which I got mostly because they were on sale a few months ago. I don’t know if I would say I have absolute loyalty to a specific manufacturer. If a particular kit interests me, I’ll get it despite the manufacturer if it’s something thats been recommended by someone who has had experience with it.