Am I the only one that almost choked when I saw that the price of the Hasegawa Nagato Kit will be over $200? That is Crazy!
The best thing to do is get a MEGA list of all the projects that you want to do or even maybe want to do and go to a show.For example i bought my tamiya 1/350 enterprise with a squadron book about her and a box of extra a/c for 80 bucks back in febuary.You really have to look long and hard but the trade shows you can really save some serious cash.
Given the quality level, extent of detail, size and complexity of the moldings and all the associated costs of packaging, marketing, distribution, legal and the cost of labor in the Japanese market what would you think a reasonable cost for a project this large would be? Sometimes we in the USA have a distorted view of the costs of product outside of our experience. Have you looked at the price of the Tamiya Missouri/New Jersey kits lately? These things are over 30 years old and can’t even remotely compete with the level of detail that can be seen in the Nagato kit. The new 1/350 kits from Trumpeter list for $100-150 in spite of the cheap labor market and other cost reductions found in China.
It is not just the cost of the plastic parts but ALL of the costs in the world market have been rapidly rising. Have you tried to ship anything big lately? Check out the costs in the Post Office and UPS now.
We aren’t the only people chasing goods in the world, there is a whole new group of folks out there with money to spend and costs to pay. WS
If the price makes you choke, check the molding!
From a SteelNavy thread at http://members.boardhost.com/Warship/msg/1193073287.html
In Hasegawa’s attempts to replicate hull plating, the gimmick they chose was to engrave overly deep and wide grooves to replicate the seams.
Who’d of thought that a hundred dollar resin destroyer kit would be a bargain!
www.greatmodels.com has it on pre-order for $ 156.00…not exactly cheap but in line with Hasegawa’s Yukikaze,Mikasa+ Aoshima’s Takao.
If it is anything like their Mikasa it will be worth it.
Hey everyone spends their money on what they want,and everyone has their own idea of what they consider a must have item. One person buys smokes,another gambles,someone else spends big bucks on concert tickets or sports events,others models,each might consider what the other does a waste of money,but in the end we all have a choice of how spend,or not spend our money.
Thanks, you all made good points! I guess I’m just cheap![(-D]
Nah, I think it’s way too expensive myself! I am sure there are many others who will agree out there. I have a feeling that this hobby will price itself out of existence for newcomers and younger modelers in the not too distant future. Or at least certain portions will. Just trying to find simple kits for my kids, to bridge the gap from snap tights to glue togethers, is not an easy nor inexpensive task.
For me, $100+ is just too much. Remember, It all comes down to a big piece of plastic or resin. However, you get what you pay for. (In most cases!)
There’s a real perception gap here guys.
Go to a toy store and look at the prices of single purpose toys. Look at the price of a video game ($30-60) that is mastered in a few hours and discarded. Go out to dinner in a decent restaurant and the bill for two will easily be $40-60, never mind what it will cost for a really nice place.
How many other things do you regularly accept the price of today without question? Hey, how about tickets to a single pro ball game? Been to a live music event lately? How about just parking your car in a parking garage for the day downtown? Get a grip. That Nagato kit is going to provide scores of hours of entertainment and fulfillment that none of those other things will (btw, I’ve seen the pre-order price for a US distributor and it is $146). WS
$10 a gallon for coffee?
Orange Juice… ever pay $1.49 for an 8 ounce box of orange juice?
That comes out to $23.84 a gallon
Printer ink…
Cartridge holds 21 ml of black ink. That is 0.71 ounces per cartridge
One Gallon is 128 ounces
128 ÷ 0.71 = 180.28
180.28 x 54.99 = 9913.59
So you are paying $9913.59 a gallon for printer ink…(I guess you get a neat cartridge also)… Do they still market ink by the ML or by the number of pages you can print now?
Needs are a funny thing… [%-)] I would probably scratch build my own hull for any ship I want to build, however, at my scales, the hull and superstructure would cost about 200-250 bucks.
I thought this was bad, but I saw in the Squadron Mailer for this month a tank kit for over $1,000. Triple choke!
I’ll bet you buy your airbrush thinner for $4.99 for a 1.75 oz bottle, just because it has a model manufacturer’s logo on it.
Thats over 91 dollars a quart and almost 365 dollars a gallon!
I paid just under 13 dollars yesterday for a gallon of hardware-brand lacquer thinner. Works great!
I dont think there is a perception gap here. I just think Hasegawa is charging a big chunk for it. Consider Revell’s 1/72 U-Boat or Gato submarines. Both required a similar amount of engineering and research, both are similar sized kits, and both will also provide comparable hours of entertaining build time. Yet you could buy both for the price of one Nagato. I agree that we will pay what we can afford for what we want, I often do with or without family. But I will bet it could have been done by another maker in the same quality for less.
As nice as those sub kits are, they really aren’t comparable to the the development and tooling of the Nagato. A look at the sprues needed for each will illustrate the difference. Don’t forget that the number of kits expected to be sold also affects the price of the kit. The sales of a Japanese battleship in 1/350 will not be as great as the far more ubiquitous submarines mentioned in your post. WS
Okay, enough with the novelty “you think gas is expensive per gallon, check out these other fluids” that everyone’s gotten in an email by now anyway - there’s a lot of different factors to consider in the price of a model kit. Sure, you can hold out examples of expensive dinners and this and that - but when is the last time you and your significant other sat down to work on a model together? A restaurant dinner is expensive, no matter where you go nowadays. Consider my situation - my wife wants a night off from cooking, so we go out to Ruby Tuesday’s - with a drink each that’s easily $65 before the tip. And my wife thinks her last name is Rockefeller when it comes to the tip, because she refuses to leave a tip that is less than 20% no matter what. She will sneak back and leave some more cash if I try to do less than 20%. And I’m unemployed right now, but that doesn’t stop her.
Anyway, the point is that you’re sharing something with one or more others - presumably a special occasion, or maybe just a chance to spend some time alone. But you’re sharing something.
Now say you go out and buy that new Nagato model. Unless your better half is blind and locked in the closet, she is going to find out how much it cost. And you just spent that much on yourself, and nobody else. There are plenty of people here who don’t have those ties that bind, and are able to shell out that $ for a good kit when they choose. And there are others who are pretty well off financially, and can do the same. But there are still plenty of us who have other factors - and mouths - to consider when trying to justify the cost of any model kit - not just one as expensive as the Nagato.
Yes, modeling is relaxing (usually) and it helps us cope with a lot of stuff we wouldn’t otherwise be able to cope with as easily; it’s something we enjoy, and (if not now, then eventually) do well - it is something that shows results and gives us a sense of satisfaction at having created something out of many pieces of plastic or whatever. But there are other things that we usually refer to RL - Real Life - that can and should overshadow modeling, and that is frustrating. We spend years - literally years - waiting for a kit like this to be produced; then when it finally becomes available, we find it’s beyond our budget. And it seems to be a limited release, so chances are we won’t be able to save up for it before it isn’t available any more. How fair is that? We’ve been patiently waiting for the modeling industry to give us something we really, really want - only to have it dangling beyond our grasp because we can’t afford it. It really isn’t fair in a lot of ways - and yes, I know that’s life and that’s business. But here we’ve been, patiently and silently supporting them while they pump out kits that we like, waiting for the one we will love. It’s like baseball - there would be no multimillion dollar player contracts without the money pumped into the teams’ coffers by us, the fans. Yet who gets the shaft? Us - the fans. We pay close to $100 to take our kids to a game, and are we allowed to get close to the players to get an autograph? No. We have to go to a show, buy a ticket, and then pay for the autograph - and usually for the item to be autographed, too. It’s never enough for them.
Ok - back on track. They depend on us for their revenue, yet do they seeem to care what we actually want? No, it doesn’t seem that way. How long ago did Tamiya come out with their 1/350 ships? 1980 or so? That’s 27 years ago! And what did they offer us after that? Nothing. We waited, and we hoped - and we dreamed. And then finally some other company seemdd to take notice of what we wanted, and here we are. Finally, new 1/350 ship kits from Trumpeter. And now that they’re selling well, now the other, older companies are finally seeing the light. Because they see money to be made, not because they see what we want. So why should we expect them to consider our wallets and budgets when they’ve never considered our desires as modelers?
Maybe the trend will continue - I certainly hope it will. Because while I have plenty of kits in my stash, I want to get these new 1/350 ships as well. So I’ll start scrimping and saving, and maybe someday soon I’ll be able to afford one or more of them. Hopefully. If they’re still around. But even if they’re not, I’m sure I will find something to build. Maybe by then I’ll be able to scratch-build my own.
I’m waiting to see what the MFG price for the soon to be release Trumpeter 1/200 BB Arizona will be? Might have to find a second job.
Scott
All I can say is , the Japanese must have a lot of money to spend! modelbob@hotmmail.com
Good thing I have no interest in ships and don’t build them. Those prices, IMHO, are insane. The torpedo and PT boats I do have a keen interest in, but my only option was the cheap Revell PT-109, because the new Italeri kit in 1/35 in $109, which is an improvement over the initial $150 price tag though.
Well I’m kinda putting the pieces together for a 1/72 U-boat (Revell kit) right now. I bought the boat for $42, and was elated over the price. But then I needed the photo etch kit, and that’s another $30 shipping and all (got a deal). Will probably change the 20mm gun for one from WE, and that’s another $10 + shipping. They make a real wood deck kit for it that’s another $37, but may just forget that. Then there is the torpedo door correction kit, but once again I don’t think I’m gonna do that one either. The decales leave a lot to be desired and I want the ones from ULAD, there’s another $12.50, and correct flags are another $5.38. But the killer is the figures I wanted to use. The best deal I could find was two sets at $25 each, plus another set for $10. When this is all said and done I see two hundred dollars plus the price of paint (lots of paint). And I have not glued one piece yet!! But I am having a ton of fun just doing research alone!
gary
P.S. I’m also in the hunt for a better 88mm cannon. Anybody know of one?
In the end, the the price of the kit will depend on the price of oil.
After all, plastics are a petroleum product…
Your personal styrene reserve may be the fuel of the future. [:)]