I have not cared much for modern jets as a modeling subject for some years, but I caught the bug. So, I was browsing the 1/48 offerings on Squadron last night. Hasegawa has always been on the upper end, but how is an F-18 $80. The old, inaccurate F-15? It’s pushing $80. Academy kits in the $50s the F-22 $75!!! Is it a scarcity issue? I remember hearing that Hasegawa kits are becoming harder to get a hold of. That doesn’t explain the prices of some of the other stuff. Import cost maybe?
I think that the kit manufacturers have finally realized that as hobbyists, we’ll spend whatever it costs to buy the shiny object that attracts our attention. That, and a generally higher level of disposable income than in years past equals higher prices.
Smart shopping the way to go these days as there’s always an online sale somewhere.
Modelers are getting older and have more disposable income and will shell out the $$$ for the kits. If no one bought them they would either quit making them or get cheaper.
As a number of posts on the FSM forums discuss purchasing the latest high end kit, I am inclined to agree with Hermech and Dre.
I am not in agreement with Hermech, Dre, and Goose. It think those who actually buy expensive kits are in the minority. I believe most of us are cost conscious and buy within the low end.
The costs is higher because it is costing everyone involved more to go from design to store shelf.
And, I am sure the drought in Illinois has something to do with it, I just cant tie to it yet. [;)]
Could be why Hobby Loby dropped all the good stuff and went to all Revellogram stuff. (Don’t shoot me Hans V. Hammer)
I am sure the drought has somehting to do with it too, that or the price of gas or a wind blowing in the east or some other nonsense thing
Part of it is the base price from those companies, of which Hasegawa appears to be particularly greedy. I can go over the cost of their F-15E vs Revell’s F-15E until I am blue in the face. It is what it is. Part of it is the importers. MRC is notorious for a big price mark up when they take over importing a product line such as Italeri, etc. According to the guys at one LHS who are well informed in the plastic model world, Trumpeter is getting away from their old distributor for just that reason. And part is the higher cost of living today, especially transportation costs.
Of the many modelers that I associate with face to face at IPMS and AMPS, I would say that those on a budget are more numerous than those with high levels of disposable income to spend on this hobby and the latest uberkit. At least locally. When the new Tamiya kits such as the 1/350 Yamato ($300+), 1/32 Spitfire ($100+), or 1/48 Zero ($50+) come out at the LHS, there are usually a few of those on the shelves to be had- they don’t sell out. But when Revell issued the PV-1 Ventura ($25-$30), those were sold out at all the LHS within days. As were the restocks. Eduard’s Weekend Edition kits are a similar tale- the Profipack MiG-21 sits on the shelf while the Weekend Edition of the same subject is sold out in days.
As my teacher friend would say, this is merely anecdotal evidence, but I suspect that it reflects the hobby as a whole fairly well.
I agree with stikpusher. As a retiree living on a budget, I have cut way back on buying new kits and am building those that have been in my stash for years and years. This all happened shortly after retirement when I found out that the “Golden Years” that I expected was really “Fools Gold” now. Income stays the same but prices (like taxes) keep going up and up. My stash will outlive me, but there are soooo many other kits out there that I would like to build. [:'(]
Jim [cptn]
Don’t forget to that plastic is a petroleum product. Crude oil prices have been exorbitantly high for years. It was only a matter of time before it affected end products like plastic. Transportation cost have gone through the roof again because of fuel prices.The newer technology in kit making while easier is very expensive as well. These super kits we are growing to love come at a cost. Now, as far as 35 year old Tamiya, Revell and Monogram kits costing 30-40 or more bucks, to me that’s just taking advantage of the market.
My Hobby Lobby carries a semi decent Tamiya 1/48 scale aircraft selection. I am not familiar with the online prices of those kits, but the HL prices seem steep to me. Their armor selection has tailed off to a handful of kits, always vastly overpriced.
I do recall seeing the 1/48 scale Tamiya P-51 (D?) Tuskegee Airmen kit for $42 yesterday. I do not know if that is a high, low or competitive price though.
Incidently, I grabbed the old Monogram 1/48 AT-6/SNJ Texan for $10.19 on impulse.
You guys left out LICENCES! That Goodyear logo on your tires ain’t free and kit prices go up the more $$$ the licencers want. Heck a few years back I heard Sikorsky was suing model manufacturers over licences on kits long out of production.
I don’t recall seeing Tamiya 1/48 aircraft kits in the Chicago area Hobby Lobby, but I also haven’t looked lately.
Unfortunately, the Hobby Lobby armor kit selection around here is also down to a very few old kits by Tamiya and Academy.
BTW…Rob: I think you probably brought a tear of joy to Han’s eye by buying that Monogram kit[whstl]
Hence how some companies are sidestepping that issue, Navy A-6E attack bomber, or US 1/4 ton military cargo truck.
That helps explain why Revell has "Officially Licensed " stickers on some of their 1/48 aircraft kits.
If you still have them in your HL snag them with the cupon, or wait till they clearance them out. I built half my stash that way
I read an article the other day talking about marketing strategies. They used a whiskey brand as an example (Chivas Regal). Basically the product they produced was akin to Mad Dog 20/20 and was priced as such. They weren’t getting the sales results they wanted so their solution was…to jack the price wayyy up. The idea being people would be more inclined to buy their poor product since the price on the bottle led the buyer to believe he/she was buying top shelf booze…the idea worked like a champ. Still the same bottle of rot-gut but at 60-year-old scotch pricing. To me that is what we’re seeing out of some of the “higher end” suppliers. I like Tamiya, nothing against them, but I only buy their kits when the deal is just right. Now Eduard on the other hand is doing it right. Their latest kits are exquisite right out of the box but they take it a step further by offering 3 versions :Weekend, Profi and Royal Class for various levels of spenders. I’ve picked up a couple of Royal Class offerings and don’t for 1 second feel cheeted by what I actually get in the box (That aluminium mug from the -109 is the only thing I drink my coffe out of now.). To me Eduard is setting the right business model for others to follow but so long as people willingly pay Tamiyagawa prices we won’t see them drop any time soon.
Thats called a Giffin Good. (I teach HS economics); and I bet the theory does play out to some degree in the modeling world basded on some comments I’ve seen around here. Some people will buy things when price jumps because they feel they are getting a better product, or status symbol, because of the name on the box.
I think import has a lot to do with high prices. I hear a lot of complaints about Italeri prices in the USA but over here in Europe Italeri os on of the cheaper brands. Same goes for academy.
Speaking of Tamiya they just raised everything in their line up 10% august 1.
Thad
My brother was in Korea over the summer. On my request, he visited the Academy factory store and he said kit prices are very comparable to the US. Very little savings on the latest Academy models. He returned his purchases after he looked into the cost of shipping home the kits. They would have turned out to be more expensive than buying them here. I guess kit prices are up everywhere.