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Hobbico Inc., based in Champaign, Ill., announced today that it has acquired Revell Germany. Revell Germany was spun off as a separate company in 2006, and Hobbico has owned the U.S. Revell operation since 2007. “We are pleased to reunite the Revell brand under one ownership,” Hobbico President Wayne Hemming said. "Now Revell can proceed with a worldwide strategy for growth of the core plastic-model business. “We also view this as an excellent foundation to expand the distribution of our other brands and products into the European market.” After starting the original U.S. company in 1945, Revell founder Lou Glaser established the German operation in 1956. Since then, Revell Germany has been a popular brand in Europe for plastic model kits, paints, tools and accessories. For the last four years, the company has also been a player in the European radio-control vehicle market. “Hobbico’s acquisition of Revell Germany creates an enormous opportunity for our company and our employees,” Revell Germany President Hans Remfert said. “With the support of Hobbico as a strong parent company, we have a great opportunity to expand our entry into the R/C hobby segment of the European market.” Hobbico is also the U.S. importer for Japan-based Hasegawa. |
Hmmmm. That’s interesting. Wonder what will come of that.
maybe they will put out more floatie thingies…thats always a good thing…[:P]
Maybe we’ll see awesome 1/32 RoG kits of things that aren’t German.
OS2U Kingfisher please…
I do hope that Revell USA brings over more RoG original molds for a Revell USA price tag.
I agree. Let’s just hope since they own Hasegawa, we don’t get those kinda prices.
how about someone re making a 1/48 Jake…we need another option other that that POS Nichimo put out
I hope the new management will continue new kit research and creation by staff in Europe.
Al I know is that of late RoG has been putting out some really fine kits, particularly in 72nd scale—such as the B-17G, the Halifax, Lancaster, P-47, etc…Hope this change doesn’t affect this string of “hits”…
I doubt it. Just look at the new 1/48 Revell Ventura. If that was Hasegawa it would cost 2-3 times as much for the same subject.
I don’ t think it’ll have a very big impact, it’s really just that now, the same parent company owns both as subsidiaries.
We can but hope they won’t be dumb enough to mess with what works. Still, stranger things have happened. Need I mention Lindberg?
Oh, and the new JU88 which I just got—makes Hasegawa;s look somewhat lame…
What are the odds of RoG kits arriving on shelves of “entry level” retailers like Hobbytown / Michaels etc.??
One can only hope they use the Ford model of using thier overseas branches to make thier North American products better. Not taking the North American stuff and downgrading thier overseas stuff.
Vance,
As an associate editor for Model Retailer magazine, I had to keep close tabs on these movements.
I can say that with regards to HobbyTown stores, what they don’t purchase direct from HQ distro, they buy from other distributors, which includes Great Planes (Hobbico’s distribution arm). So, at the very least, HobbyTown stores will have access to the products. Whether a manager or owner brings them in is another story.
As far as Michael’s, HobbyLobby, or other big-box style hobby/craft stores, they might carry more, but I wouldn’t hold out hope that there will be a huge surge in model products due to this or any other acquisition in the hobby industry.
Best,
TK
Anything that puts more new kits on a shelf in front of kids (or grown-up kids I suppose) has got to be a good thing these days. Thanks Tim!
Maybe they wil make RoG get rid of those end opening boxes!
I just hope they are going to sell monogram, revell and Pro-modeller stuff down here in Europe, Because we can’t get those at all around here, except for some kits like the bf 109 and p-51D, planes that other brands sell over here to…
As the owner of a 2012 Ford Focus (who waited literally eight years for the Euro Focus to make its way into the North American product line), I wholeheartedly agree!
Thing is, Revell USA’s new kits are really pretty great - that PV-1 Ventura is an awesome kit, and if I’m not mistaken isn’t the F-84G of relatively new design? I think the issue is that they rerelease so many legacy kits compared to new molds that the new stuff does little to counter the general perception of “cheap and old”.
Perhaps combining or sharing development costs and ID’ing engineering best practices, etc, will yield some faster, better development time. Who can say…I think the proof will be in what their new product pipeline looks like 12-18 months from now. Fortunately kit development timelines are a lot shorter than car timelines!