I bought what I had thought to be a Tamaya kit and when I removed the wrapping, the instruction sheet was by Italeri. In very small print on the box,it said “vehicle parts are by Italeri”. I went to Barrel Depot to buy a turned metal barrel and found no barrels for Tamaya, just for Italeri.
How can Tamaya sell a product which is not of their manufacture? Is this common for them? Has anyone else had this issue with Tamaya.
Thanks for the help.
Earl
These days companies share molds. I know some of the ProModeler kits are Hasegawa mouldings. I’ve not heard of this with Tamiya but it’s possible.
Old molds never dye they just change owners!
This is false advertizing to me.
Thanks Chris,
This is the first encounter which I have had like this. I would have thought better of Tamaya.
I just finished that kit couple of monthes ago it was a good kit, this is a common practice among manufactures reboxing each others kits. By the way the Barrel Depot barrel will fit the kit. ACESES5 [snWcm] Have fun this is a good one
I bought the barrel, I knew that I would make a mess of trying to join a 2 piece barrel with glue. Did you use the tracks that came with the kit? I’m now looking for detailing parts and reference info.I’m thinking of trying to do an interior. Thanks for your input, I sure do appreciate it.
Earl
The first known example of Tamiya releasing an Italeri kit goes back to the late 1980s. Tamiya’s first HMMWV kit, the Hummer w/M242 Bushmaster, was an Italeri kit issued only by Tamiya.
More recently Tamiya used the new Italeri Staghound armored car in their own box, but at least they put the Italeri label on the box this time. (below the yellow box).
On Tamiya’s website, they mention the kit “in collaboration with Italeri” they’ve released the 1980s M109 along with their 1980s M113 ACAV figures sprue and now charge more for the kit than the two went for separately.
Skybow used to issue a separate link track system for the M109 series. I believe they are now owned by AFV Club. AFV Club does now make a true new M109 series not based on Italeri’s old kit.
Hi Rob,
It’s always good to get your input. Yes, when I opened the Tamiya box and found the Italeri kit inside, I was stunned. I have the AFV Club M109 which I am saving until I get my spray gun mastered. Until then I will push on until I fell that I am ready for the big boys. By the way, on another matter Did you build the Staghound Mk.I? It looks like it would be an interesting model.
Best regards,
Earl
That’s interesting, I will need to check that out, thanks for the tip.
Earl
Hello Earl!
I look forward to see you build that M109.
Recently I tried to get a 1:72 Kiowa chopper andfound out it’s nly available as Tamiya rebox of the Italeri model. They were made for the Japanese market and imported on a small scale by Hannants from UK. Dang, that kit went like all over the world before it ended in my stash!
Good luck with your project and have a nice day
Paweł
I haven’t gotten around to the Staghound, but I knew it was an Italeri kit inside. Within the box, there are two differences between the Italeri version and the Tamiya rebox; only the Italeri kit includes a turned metal barrel, and the Tamiya kit includes a set of British crewmen from the Force Recon Bren carrier.
Tamiya has also reboxed Fine Molds WW2 Japanese tank models, a CMK Czech tank and a few other non-Tamiya armor kits.
Pawel my friend,
Taking my time with the M109, have the chassis ready for primer. I would really like to find the motor and interior for this and install it before I get too far on the turret. I checked out the Kinetic tracks which you mentioned but I could not find them. I’ll go back to the site to recheck, I may have done something wrong. I don’t recall the interior color, but I seem to recall that it was an off white. Still looking for the 50 cal and M14 rifles for this. The Italerie 50 does not look too bad, but I would like to see if there is a better aftermarket available.
Enjoyed your tale of woe concerning the Kiowa Chopper, it seems to me that you have to buy something of interest as soon as it is released in this hobby.
Stay well,
Earl
Rob,
Is this becoming a common thing with Tamiya?
Earl
Yes, it is. Tamiya does not release enough armor to keep up with Dragon, the current leader in kit releases per yer. In order to maintain some sort of semblance of competition, they began releasing other companies’ kits under their label to make it look like they have a larger line than they really do.
Don’t get me wrong, when Tamiya releases a real, new kit of their own, it is top notch. It’s just that their original new releases are too few and far between.
It’s shameful that Tamaya has to stoop to misleading buyers as to the true contents of their kits.
Thanks for your response Rob.
Earl
The box top of these new Tamiya kits clearly have the logo of the kit’s original manufacturer. But this only really helps if you are looking at the box top at a store. It’s not any different than the old Testors/Italeri armor kits we used to buy in the 80s. The yellow box was from Testors, but we clearly knew it was an Italeri kit inside.
Thanks Rob,
I always appreciate your inputs they are fair and unbiased. The Staghound was one kit that I was thinking of buying, but I get the impression from your comments that it is an older kit with no updates to the original.
Thanks again Rob and have a great day.
Earl
The Staghound isn’t an older kit. It is relatively new and one of Italeri’s better kits. I just point out that the Italeri and Tamiya kits are the same (except for one with a metal barrel & the other with figures) so go for the better deal. Both kits were released near simultaneously.