The thing you need to understand is that with a relatively small company like Classic Airframes, they don’t have the capacity to produce on a par with a Monogram or a Hasegawa. There are enormous up-front costs to bring a new kit to market. Patternmaking and toolmaking are extremely expensive on a new kit. These costs must be recovered quickly (likely to repay their creditors) if a small company is to continue in the game, hence the steep introductory prices (which typically level off after a year or so). A large company like Monogram pumps out kits in great volume, and most of their tooling has been paid for years ago, so naturally they can afford to sell kits cheap. I’m not really all that thrilled with Classic Airframes kits (I feel they could be of a little higher quality), but they do bring projects to market that the big boys won’t touch, and so I do appreciate them, and I don’t mind paying a little more for them. Honestly, after experiencing firsthand what it takes to make a model kit, I think most kits I see around today are generally priced fairly.
A LOT also depends on where you are.
Due to my job I often travel a lot(working at home till jan than start again).
My point is hit Japan, etc and you will struggle to find Italeri, Monogram, Revell, etc and if you do be prepared to hand over the gold-card to pay for them as they will cost you more than the local produced kits.
Imported kits will always cost a premium, more so if they come from a well established country with a strong economy.
Earlier people were ranting about the Fujimi 1/72 F-22 and F-35, I checked both kits and thing they are fairly priced for their target market which is Japan.(not a cheap place by any means).
Been to 2nd-hand shops in Tokyo and if you can find any 1/72 plane kit under $9 you scored. So $20-40 for a new kit is not uncommon.
Surprised didn’t see any mention about Academy(haven’t bought any of their kits as most were copies of others makers way back when).
I’ve changed my mind,sorry for any offense I gave while I was taking offense
I’ll just go and post my builds somewhere where the other modelers want to see AA-AQ and NA-NP
and where they can be Hasegawa etc
Rex
Tarnship.
Thx, remember the last kit of theirs I did was the Tamiya Bradley with Interior sans Instructions.
Getting a 1/48 Hasegawa 1/48 Saab J35O “Austrian Black Special” tomorrow.
Don’t care about price/quality not many models with those Insiginias out there I like the rarer air-forces.
hasegawa without a doubt, and to add insult to injury their kits are often mediocre or actual crap- i stopped buying their stuff years ago. their starfighters are fantastic though. not really a fair comparison to put classic airframes or the other limited run firms in here- their unit costs are higher and in their defence their actual product has improved as well; it’s a matter of how much you really want one…
I could deal with high priced kits a little better if only the cost of paint would take a dip.Rattle can or bottle,it’s getting ridiculous.
Over priced: reboxes of old kits at a high price, like Revell reboxing Frog of VEB Plasticard kits.
I think Tamiya is expensive but they do deliver top quality product, so they can sell at a premium price.
Agreed with all the above comments regarding value / cost of kits.
Without resorting to Evil-bay there are great deals found at contests and shows. One shop in Halifax (Marine Hobby & Scuba shop) has a assortment of traded in kits at less than 1/2 the original cost. Most have the plastic removed and obviously one has to inspect the contents yet its nice to have to option to save a few bucks.
Next contest make sure to buy raffle tickets, its a good way to build some kit not in your regular line up as well.
I suppose I couldn’t agree less with the theme of these posts. Manufacturer’s do not overcharge for their kits because if they did then no one would buy them!! Since they seem to continue to sell kits by definition they are not charging too much. If you want the prices to go down then you have no option but to stop buying new kits and only buy used kits at shows, Evil Bay, etc. They will get the message if enough sales reduction is observed but in the meantime please quit whining about it and get back to building!!
That’s a great deal. Wish there was something like that around here. I’ve had a few Academy kits and have really liked them. Their P-47 is really nice.
Tried it… The F-15s nozzles are far too small in diameter to fit on the B-1. I have several spare F-15 tailpipes in my spares box and none were even close to fitting.
I recently built a Revell F-18E that I paid a grand total of $15 for. There were virtually no weapons in the box, but the kit was very good. I can’t really find much to complain about with it. The decals kinda sucked (boring), but those were easy and cheap enough to change with a 5 minute search on Greatmodels and an investment of another $10.
I want to thank everyone for his or her response to my post.
My post was meant to be educational; I know not everyone has the time to research everything they may want to buy.
I do find the statement that manufacturers do not overcharge to be false and misleading. Consumers tend to buy product whose names carry weight regardless of what they may charge. Nike is a good example of this (consumers pay for the name).
I found there are kits that simply are not worth the money they ask and I feel this is a good forum to let the consumer know.
Classic Airframes and Czech Model do make unique kits that tend to be one-offs and I do understand that you pay for this type of service, but for those who may not have built these kits I feel this is a good place to let them know what they will find in the box before purchace.
[dto:] And believe you me, I do vote with my wallet. I have no problem shelling out for the cost of a new Revell kit without thinking twice (their upcoming Ventura is another prime example), while if I see a Tamigawa kit I want badly (such as Tamiya’s Betty) I wont touch it unless it is on sale for a substantial markdown. Usually I suspect at or near the cost the retailer paid for the kit. There are model companies that set a standard of value for the money, and others that blatantly ignore that. Am I whining? No. Griping, yes. In the Army we used to say, " a Bi[cnsod]ing Soldier is a happy Soldier". So to paraphrase and translate that for here, I am a happy modeler. This is a great time for our hobby. Kit selection is incredible. Quality is most impressive.
Some modelers are snobs when it comes to kits. I see and hear them all the time talking at AMPS and IPMS meetings, talking down to those who don’t buy the uber kit (from those “Nike” name brands) from the Far East. And they are often taken aback when a modeler turns out a beautiful build of the same subject from a less “sexy” company. I know we see it on here from time to time.
As I’m newly returned to the A/C fold, all I can add to this is a little anecdotal evidence…
I recently built a 1/32 Hasegawa Bf 109 Trop and was blown away at the fit of the parts. So I then decided to spend a paycheck or two and see what the Eduard and Trumpy 1/32 109’s were like in comparison. In short, from just looking in the box you get more model from Trumpy and Eduard than Hasegawa on this one subject. I want to see how DML’s new 109 compares to these others.
My verdict is that Hasegawa is overpriced for what you get in the box, as compared to other offerings of the same subject.
$34 at Scale Hobbyist…
Don’t get me started!
What bugs me is the $Dollar price you guys pay is the UK£ Pound price (add another 60-70%) in the UK…
& IF you get something worth more than about $30.00, we will pay import duty PLUS $16 bucks Post Office ‘handling fee’
[dto:] on that Stik. Those burner cans are awesome.
Best price I’ve ever seen. Gotta order this one…looking at it right now…
But with shipping it’s $42.64. So much for the awesome deal. Still better than I’ve seen though.
*Squadron has the Airfix 1/24 Mosquito for 25% off until December 31…tempting, very tempting.[^o)]
Market price is based on supply & demand.
Note how less popular kits or subjects are always on sale, new releases are always higher priced and soon drop unless demand remains high. I have been waiting for a price break on the Airfix Mosquito and may pounce on this deal.
Bang for the buck:
Aircraft model - $40, 20 hours to build at my speed Cost $2.00/hour (plus I have a model at the end.)
Movie - $10 for 2 hours - $5/hour
Nascar race - $80 for 4 hours - $20/hour
Having a kid - $250,000 through college for 22 years - $1.96/waking hour (plus you have a kid at the end)
Draw your own conclusion about which other activity rivals modeling in “bang for the buck”.
Seriously, though, new kits draw on improved engineering and molding technology. Higher development costs divided by fewer and fewer modelers equals higher prices. That’s not going to change unless a widespread interest in modeling suddenly reawakens.