Sci-Fi suggestions for major firms (plus a rant)

Modeling Subjects Science Fiction
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In many “most wanted” polls for kits, Sci-Fi subjects are poorly represented. Judging by the contributors to this forum, there are a significant number of Sci-Fi modelers out there. So, why are Sci-Fi kits so scarce?[?][?]

Some model companies are headed in the right direction but the snail’s pace of their progress is frustrating.[V] Here are a few examples of what I mean:

Bandai: Currently releasing some cool kits of Star Trek ships. My complaints: I have little interest in pre-painted kits. They seem too much like toys. Bandai’s prices are pretty high for me.

FineMolds: Currently releasing nice Star Wars kits
My complaints: The kits are EXTREMELY difficult to get for a fair price. Plus, most of their topics have been done before, even if badly, by ERTL.

Polar Lights: Currently offering ST: TOS Enterprise kits and have plans for the D-7, NX-01 and the Scorpion attack craft from ST: Nemesis.
My complaints: Again, I don’t much care for the toylike quality of pre-painted kits. PL made a great decision to produce the NX-01 as a large scale glue and paint model. Then they will follow up with the tiny and, in my opinion, insignificant and forgettable Scorpion? Bad move… but I’ll buy one anyway.

Revell-Monogram: Allowed their Babylon 5 license to languish in obscurity after producing only 3 kits, two of which were identical except for the decals.[xx(]

It is really hard to tell if these companies are doing any market research before they decide on what to manufacture. If they do, they haven’t asked me!!![:(!] Here are a few things I’d like very much to see from these companies. You may say, “Look to garage kit companies for these”, but that isn’t the point. I’m afraid that most modelers don’t have the time, resources, or money to hunt down a second-rate resin kit because the major companies don’t want to take the risk.

My wish list:
Reman dreadnought from Star Trek: Nemesis
Klingon Negh’Var dreadnought from “All Good Things” and DS9
Nebula class cruiser from ST: TNG (not a conversion kit)
Any of the following from Babylon 5: Whitestar, Shadow cruiser, Minbari Sharlin, Earthforce Omega Destroyer, Narn G’quan, Centauri Primus, Vorlon cruiser (can you tell I like B5?)

So, what do the rest of you want? And how do we make ourselves heard by the manufacturers?

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I am rather fond of B-5 myself. But I really like the PL TOS “E” kit. It requires some work to get right (seams filled, etc). But, is also easy enough to allow my Autistic son to do one without interferring with work in progress.

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On the other kits I’m working on (If it makes any sense).

I’m not sure if I know what I’m talking about. I’ve really got to get a decent exhaust fan for airbrushing.

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I see your point, Tim. Of course, I didn’t mean that there isn’t a market for the kits these manufacturers are making; I have two of the Polar Lights Enterprise myself, but I really want something “new”, not just re-toolings of old subjects.

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I’d still like to see a good version of the Cygnus from The Black Hole. Cleaning the sprues would be a bear, but who cares!
The Scorpion sounds pretty cool, though. Great looking ship.

I think the big problem with getting new Sci-Fi stuff in production is that Manufacturers are not willing to pay the huge royalty fees that go along with making those kits. Can’t say I blame them.

demono69

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Where do I start?
Decent Models of the craft from the Gerry Anderson TV Series - most of the efforts to date have been overpriced caricatures
NSEA Protector from Galaxy Quest
Martian War Machines from the 1953 War of the worlds that are not overpriced and undersized.
Valley Forge from Silent Running

I could go on all day!

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Just about every kit you’ve all mentioned is available in resin. I wouldn’t call any one of them second rate either. Pricey sometimes, but reasonable most of the time.
The problem I see most common is scale for most sci-fi stuff. Nobody can stick to one or two scales…

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I would like to have, in plastic, are:

The X-301 and the X-302 from Stargate, 1/48 scale.

a 1/350 scale Sulaco warship from Aliens

1/200 scale Nautilus from Disney
1/200 scale Seaview

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As mentioned previously, alot of those request are available in Resin. It does seem that besides Polar Lights, most of the major players have left us Sci-Fi modelers high and dry. I’ve seen dry spells before. Hey look at all the Trek kits coming out PL’s NX-01 looks to be a great kit (over 200 parts) and while the Bandi pre-paints my not be YOUR cup of tea, they may be just fine for others. Plus, Fine Mold’s line is growing. Yea, a little pricey, but choices are limited. IF you want the kit bad enough and can swing it…bite the bullet.

My wish list? hmmmmmmmm

Delta Flyer
Disney Nautilus
The Time Machine
Supercar
Decent size Y-wing
Accurate Millenium Falcon (listening Fine Molds?)
XL-5
New Romulan Warbird from Nemesis

Just a few…
Rogue

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You mention the real reason for the lack of sci-fi kits, the licensing (or cost of). I hear this is the reason why AMT/Ertl dropped the licenses for Trek and Star Wars. Plus a lot of sci-fi kits go out of favor once the show is over (Voyager kits for one, Phantom Menace for another).

Don’t blame Ertl for the bad Star Wars kits. Model Plastics Corporation (MPC, a division of General Mills Fun Group that also owned Kenner, who did all the movie Toys) did all of the original Star Wars kits from New Hope through Return of the Jedi. We should thank Ertl for reissuing kits at decent prices instead of paying collector’s prices for former MPC kits. Check this month’s Star Wars Insider for information on all these Star Wars model kits.

Ertl purchased MPC around 1988 and AMT/Ertl’s original Star Wars kits include Phantom Menace kits, the two-pack TIE fighter set, Death Star, ProShop X-Wing, vinyl figure kits, Shadows of the Empire kits and re-tooling the Millenium Falcon into a cutaway kit and the Star Destroyer into a fiber optic kit. I’ve probably missed a few, but you get the idea. Some of these later Star Wars kits were of decent quality. The TIEs were nice as was the Trade Federation hover tank and Anakin’s Pod Racer, arguably some of Ertl’s best sci-fi kits to date.

As far as difficulty in getting Fine Molds kits, ordering direct from Japan through Hobby Link Japan (http://www.hlj.com) cuts the cost of a single kit in half and takes about 3 weeks to one month to arrive. If you have buddies into sci-fi modeling, go in with a group order and save on shipping. I’ve found their shipping to be more than reasonable and better than doing buisness with some companies based here in the states. I bought two FM X-Wings for $34 delivered. The same kit goes for $40+ a piece at my local hobby shop or on Ebay.

BTW, the PL TOS Enterprise isn’t pre-painted, includes numerous waterslide decal options as well as stickers for the kids. A real high quality kit for around $10.

Edit: My daughter just finished the Gungan Sub for our IPMS club build “It Floats” theme. Another nicely detailed kit.

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Well said, Rob.

Memeau, I understand your feelings about prepainted kits, but to equate the Bandai series of Star Trek kits to “toys” does a serious disservice to those excellent kits. Plus, there is nothing stopping a modeler from repainting them, if unsatisfied. You’re right about the price, though: they ain’t cheap.

Speaking of toys, I reckon the proliferation of SF toys in the market tends to keep the production of quality model kits low, particularly for trendy subjects like Star Wars and Star Trek.

Stuff like the Valley Forge or a Martian War Machine just wouldn’t sell in today’s market, I’m afraid. Heck yeah, I’d buy both of them (at least three Martian War Machines!), but I bet you couldn’t fill a school bus full of youngsters today who have even seen “Silent Running.”

And that’s why there’s the big cottage industry of “overpriced” resin kits out there now.

By the way, I have the old Lunar Models Martian War Machine, and I think it’s great! At 16" wide, I don’t think it’s undersized at all. It was my first foray into vacu-formed and resin multi-media kits, but it went together no problem and looks pretty sweet sitting there on my shelf! The lighting kit was pretty dodgy, though. Better off doing that yourself!

But I digress…

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Ravenstar Studios will be releasing a 1/1400th scale TNG Romulan Warbird and the Valdore from Nemesis. Sadly, though, he’s discontinuing his Trek line by the end of the year. Time to scrape some cash together!

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Okay, okay… I admit that some of my opinions may not have been fair to the kit manufacturers. That is the risk that one takes when making generalities.

Nevertheless, I want to thank you all for sharing your thoughts here. If we don’t talk about it, how can we learn about it?

-Mark

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Absolutely!
I think you started a great topic, Mark.
I don’t think any of us would say there are enough high quality, reasonably priced kits of the subjects we love.

Now, how do we let the major companies know what we want? Direct mail?

When I was at the Shizuoka Hobby Show last May, I had a chance to talk to Mr. Suzuki, president of FineMolds. He was really receptive and very interested in what I had to say about science fiction kits, particularly concerning Star Wars kits, obviously. He was quite surprised to hear that I personally wasn’t too excited about the new Slave I (perhaps my least favorite Stars Wars design, but that’s just me!), but he listened with great intent when I expressed extreme enthusiasm for a fantastic new Star Destroyer or Millennium Falcon (my two favorite designs from the Star Wars universe). He gave no hints as to what was to come (we already knew about the Tie Interceptor, also a design I’m no so crazy about!), but seemed very interested in my opinions.

If more people could speak directly to the folks in charge of the major (or not so major) companies, perhaps they would realize that there is a market out there, and more importantly, they would realize what that market wants.

Any other ideas?

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Thanks, J-Hulk! I appreciate your kind words.

Indeed, how do we let the manufacturers know what we really want? And, directly related to that question, to whom do they listen? They must perceive a demand for the kits they sell, otherwise they wouldn’t bother making them. So… who tells the big guys that another Enterprise or Slave I would sell but an AOTC AT-TE wouldn’t?

Curious…

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Just a thought, With the rash of movies coming out do you suppose there will be new kits coming out too? Looking forward to the new Thunderbirds live action! and I really hope they kit some of those ships! and that Limo!

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Does anyone know the fate of Halcyon? They did quite a few kits from the Alien / Aliens movies - lots of Alien figures, the Space Jockey, Sulaco, Narcissus, Drop Ship, A.P.C. and the Nostromo. You can still find these on eBay, but the last time I saw a mint Nostromo it went for over $200.
Halcyon’s molds are hopefully still around somewhere, it would be nice if one of the major mfg’s could pick these up and do some re-issues.

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That’s a very good question…I loved their Predator 2 kit, as well as the Alien series stuff.

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Sigh…I remember buying an X-wing kit for $8.00.

The problem is simply the fact that model making is a cash driven enterprise. And while I would be more than likely to purchase nice releases, the average modeler probably wouldn’t. Plus, the fanboys have a tendency to buy toys rather than a kit they could put some love into. So if you are going to make an investment would you want a 100% return on money or 10,000% on a model with a more universal appeal?

What is really needed, is for a true sci-fi afficianado (with large sums of cash :smiley: ) to decide to become the Moses of model making. Gear up a company to produce GOOD kits at reasonable prices without trying to squeeze every cent out of the product, but do it for the LOVE of Sci-fi modeling.

And yes…I realize I’m not in Kansas anymore.

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Quick! Everyone who can, go out and buy tickets for the next U.S. Powerball Lottery! One of us is bound to win the jackpot and, Voila!, instant model company!!!