for year’s i’ve been building tamiya models and at one time had all there armored kit’s. and i’ve watched there kit’s go down the drain in quality & quantity. it seems to me that there not even trying to keep up with other company’s i just seen the new DML tiger I kit and it just blows tamiys kits away.and when they do try to build a better kit like there new tiger I kit it’s so dang high in price that you have to get a loan just to buy one. now they don’t even com out with new or should i say defeant kit’s they just keep up graeting the old ones. well there’s my soap box babbel for today. dose anyone have these thoughts.[8]
Sorry, but I must disagree. Enough said.
I totally agree I love Tamiya kits and I also understand that tooling of the molds costs tens of thousands of dollars,but about the only way I can afford a Tamiya newer tank kit I have to wait for hobby lobbys’40%off sale just to buy one.I just bought a set of modern U.S.modern army infantry only to discover they were modern for the 80s’ ,wrong weopons,no ballistic armor and the molding seams looked like the ones you see on toy army men,I could not believe it.I sure hope Tamiya gets with the program,until then I will be purchasing my armor from a different company.I still love most of their kits but prices have gotton crazy 60 -70bucks for a 1:35scale tank!I can buy cheaper armor and still afford resin detail sets at that price!
Nah, I think Tamiya realizes they’ve got to compete with the Dragons and Trumpeters of the world. To fall back on their laurels would be suicidal in today’s business world. I’m looking at two recent Tamiya kits now: The M2A2 ODS Bradley and the Me-262 with Ketten. Both are exceptional and the state of the art, IMHO.
Dragon’s kits are good too but, hey, they’ve gotta be, they’re the new kid on the block.
I’m most glad to see the amount of competition out there. The modeler ultimately wins in that situation.
dt [:)]
While I haven’t been as satisfied by the quantity of new offerings from Tamiya as I would like to, the quality of their new stuff is fantastic. Their Panther G series is fantastic, their King TIger is also really nice. Yes, they are expensive, but sometimes I just need to decide- do I pay more for a kit upfront that has now major problems or do I buy a less expensive kit and then throw some extra money on top of it in the swear jar??
I just paid £25 for the JGSDF LAV which is an awesome kit. I cant help wodering tho if paying extra for a die cast chassis, which I think is uneccessary btw, is really worth it. I am generally happy with the other kits Tamiya puts out pricewise and detailwise. The fact that Dragon have just raised the bar can only be a good thing and hopefully Tamiya will react accordingly.
Contrary to the opinion given in the initial post, I believe the quality of Tamiya products has INCREASED greatly, which is also probably why the prices have, too.
And as far as pricing goes, a Japanese company will never be able to sell a product as inexpensively as a Chinese company, due to a myriad of socio-economic factors (that basically means it’s much much cheaper to manufacture things in China).
The only personal complaint I have with Tamiya is that they haven’t released many kits that I’m PERSONALLY interested in…but that’s just me, personally. Aside from their T-55 (two, actually), M-26 Pershing, Challenger II, and their big 1/16 Tiger II and King Tiger, I haven’t bought much from Tamiya in the last few years. Oh, and I’ll definitely be getting that Leclerc when it comes out this Spring! Oh wait, I forgot, I bought the 1/48 Tiger I and Sherman, too (and some aircraft)…and I’ll be getting the 1/48 M-10 and M4A1 when they come out, too…
Yeah, Tamiya sucks!! (Money out of my wallet, that is!) [;)]
oh i’m not saying i hate there kits i’ve been building them sence the.60’s but after seeing what every other company is got. i would hope tamiya gets going. and add new kits to there stock. and get there fig’s up to standerds of other companys. it’s time to get with the program.[8]
Hello all. Thought I should take the plunge, 1st post. Love the newer Tamiya kits. I was wondering how the licensing agrement for the new F-16 would affect our hobby. Is Tamiya trying to eliminate some of the competion? I am not to well informed. Look forward to your opinions.
Vonyran, I was responding to these comments of yours:
No, you didn’t say you “hated” Tamiya’s kits, nor did I imply that you did. Actually, I didn’t imply that you said anything…I was just giving my thoughts on your comments quoted above.
And I certainly agree with you on this point: I hope Tamiya strives to put out the best product it possibly can. With all the great competition (Dragon, Trumpeter, Tristar, AFV Club, etc) out there now, they’re going to have to!
Which means great kits for us (even if they’re expensive)! [:D]
Welcome to FSM! [:D]
The licensing agreement for the new F-16 is a requirement of the aircraft’s manufacturer, not Tamiya, so no, Tamiya is not trying to eliminate competion through licensing.
This point is made clear by the fact that Academy will also be releasing a 1/32 F-16 in the near future (I do not know if it is licensed or not).
j-hulk dose this mean they can license any kit and keep other companys from them? man i hope not .
Agree 100%. It’s fabulous that Dragon is adding all the multimedia stuff and putting zimmerit on kits and all that, but I find little competition for Tamiya’s fit and the clean handsome look of their build-ups. You don’t have to be anal armor wonk man to build one of their kits (not that there’s anything wrong with anal armor wonk man [(-D]) – a decent modeler can sit down and build the Challenger 2 (desertized) into a beautiful kit.
Build one of the new Marders and you will see what they are capable of – just look at that PAK gun, an exquisite little kit within a kit. Same goes for he Mobelwagon.
HOLY MOLY! You just made my day!
There hasn’t been a Tamiya kit that I’ve built that I didn’t like (with exception to all of the ejector pin marks in the M151A2). Dragon is still touch an go if you ask me. Their small stuff is sort of junky if you ask me. They build up nice, but they give headaches…much like the PST kits that I love.
Give Tamiya a chance. I’m sure that they have something big coming around the corner.
I’m not sure I understand what you mean, Vonyran. Who is “they” in your question? Tamiya, or the actual aircraft manufacturer?
These days, more and more manufacturers of aircraft, automobiles, and other things we love to model are demanding that model companies obtain licenses to produce models of their vehicles. I suppose they could license to as many companies as they desire, as shown by the announcement of Academy’s new 1/32 F-16 release (if it is indeed licensed).
So, while the model company that receives the license to build a model doesn’t have the legal authority to shut out other companies, I suppose the manufacturers of the actual vehicles can, since they decide who does and doesn’t get their licenses to build a model of their product.
Does that lengthy explanation clarify things for you?[:)]
You hadn’t heard that yet, Larry?
Yes, Sir! 1/35 Leclerc, due this Spring!
Sell your Hellers while you can!!
(Just kidding…the Heller can be built into a nice model!)
We’ve had this chat before, but anyway, I like Tamiya kits pure and simple. Have built them forever. Dragon has come in and addressed the modelers nitpicking by offering “free” upgrades such as aluminum barrels, indy tracks, and pe parts. This satisfies our craving for upgrading our kits. Sure there is more that could be added, but they (Dragon) have solved most of our problems. And to boot, they can do all this for less money out of our wallets. So how does the modeler support a company that refuses to acknowledge the modelers needs? Simple, they don’t. They move on to something else, much like a car shopper would. Tamiya has realized that they can no longer compete in the 1/35 market and have for the moment tapped into unknown territory: 1/48. It’s a shame, because I will always respect their quality, but not their wisdom.
man that would suck but yeah that dose thanks j-hulk.
Tamiya cannot compete price-wise with the likes of Dragon in the 1/35 market, simply due to the aforementioned socio-economic differences between China and Japan, addressed in one of my previous posts in this thread. If Tamiya threw in all the goodies Dragon does, the price would be much higher than the average modeller would be willing to pay. Would Tamiya be wise to go that route? I don’t think so. Too many modellers already gripe about Tamiya’s “high prices.” There’s absolutely no wisdom in making a fantastic product that wouldn’t sell due to necessary pricing.
I’m starting to sound like a broken record here, but it all comes down to manufacturing costs. Dragon can offer great kits with tons of options at very low prices simply because the cost of labor and manufacturing at all levels is very low in China. Conversely, labor and manufacturing costs in Japan are very high.
To address this problem, Tamiya has recently opened a huge manufacturing facility in the Philippines, and is in the process of opening factories in China, as well.
So perhaps we will see some lower-priced masterpieces from Tamiya in the future, once they have started taking advantage of the low labor and manufacturing costs available in China.
Which brings us to the ethical dilemma of exporting jobs, currently a topic of heated debate in the US and elsewhere…
Oh well, who cares, as long as we modellers can get some cool models at cheap prices, eh? [;)]
No problem, Vonyran!
The whole licensing thing is another quandry for the modelling industry…