Why aren't all model kits awesome?

[Greg Myers]

Because it's awesome ? http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/08/30/gundam-recyled-runner-statues-sees-completion/

[Nitro Neil]

I guess I always assumed it was up to me to make them awesome.

Without the builder, they are all just boxes with pieces of scrap plastic inside. The fun part for me is making something out of whatever it is I have been given. The important thing is the journey, not the destination.

[Brett Barrow]

Because it's awesome ? http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/08/30/gundam-recyled-runner-statues-sees-completion/

See - even the leftover sprues have potential...

[Brett Barrow]

"Well the quick and dirty answer is the main demographic of automotive modeling at the moment is old, cranky, and above all else cheap."

We could've locked this after James' reply. Round2, Revell, etc. know what they can sell, and at what price points their kits will and won't sell, so why add more expense and produce a product your target consumer won't buy?

What you see at model car shows, club meetings, and internet message boards is NOT the main demographic of automotive modeling.

Hate to burst anyone's bubble, but casual modelers (1 or 2 kits a year bought @ retail prices) pay the freight in this business. But what do I know, I just do it for a living...

[Ace-Garageguy]

Why aren't all women beautiful, or why isn't everyone smart? Why are some real cars slow and dorky? Why are most models built into gluebombs? Why are we here?

[Chuck Kourouklis]

So as not to pull this conversation off course, item two at this link addresses anybody saying it's all up to the builder:

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?app=blog&module=display&section=blog&blogid=55&showentry=107

Let's forget the reissue angle for a minute. Simply isolating new tools, if we compare different genres of kits, the level of "awesomeness" among current military kits is rather more consistent than it is in current auto tooling.

This is a truth irrespective of anybody's personal philosophy on "fixing" kit problems, and it's more responsive to the initial post to point out that things are this way because the AFV guys will tolerate higher prices vastly over mediocrity, whereas it's usually the exact opposite with car modelers.

Forget detail and just focus on accurate proportions for a moment: a car body shell accurate in all three dimensions is now essentially a 3D scan away. But while the cost of that technology is dropping, it might not be dropping fast enough to suit your cost-benefit analysis when you know your prospects will only spend so much, and that most of them might not even notice where you're wide of the target anyway.

Not to be Duff's broken record, but there we are.

[Tom Geiger]

Ok, that was a generalization. You might find something that sells for the same price today as it did in 1962 if you look long enough, but you get my point.

Since stamps were mentioned... the price of a letter rate stamp in 1962 was 4 cents, and it's 46 cents today!

[Harry P.]

Chuck, I read the comments referenced in your post. Pretty much agree right up and down the line... you can't disagree with logic! I think one particular line you wrote sums it all up very well:

"What's the purpose of an online forum about car models if not a free exchange of information about car models?"

I would amend that to say information and opinions... but that minor nit picked, that one line says it all. For the life of me, I can't understand why people join in on an ongoing conversation and try to stop said conversation with the usual "there's never been a perfect kit" type of response. I think we all know there's never been (or will ever be) a perfect kit... or a perfect anything, for that matter. That concept is understood and at the same time, irrelevant to any conversations regarding a kit's pros and cons.

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Why thank you, Mr P! That's a very good suggestion and duly noted!

[johnbuzzed]

Why aren't all women beautiful, or why isn't everyone smart? Why are some real cars slow and dorky? Why are most models built into gluebombs? Why are we here?

We are "here" because we're not "there". We are here because we are not somewhere else. We are here, because we are here. And, in the words of the immortal Mike Brady: "No matter where you go, there you are."

"Roll the bones..."

Edited March 6, 2013 by johnbuzzed

[MAGNUM4342]

What you see at model car shows, club meetings, and internet message boards is NOT the main demographic of automotive modeling.

Hate to burst anyone's bubble, but casual modelers (1 or 2 kits a year bought @ retail prices) pay the freight in this business. But what do I know, I just do it for a living...

If one may ask Mr. Barrow, which kit company do you work for? And are you any relation to the infamous Barrow brothers Clyde and Buck?

[John Goschke]

I can't think of any field of human endeavor where all of it is "awesome." Can't expect model cars to be any different. All the modern technology aside, in the end each model is a work of sculpture. Some sculptors are more talented and have a better eye than others. Some manufacturers may not be able to afford the best talent or may not want to invest the time and money for the number of revisions it would take to get a kit close to perfect (or acceptable, in some cases) before release. Those manufacturers can almost always count on the consumers who are willing to pay a low price for a mediocre product, rather than spend more for an excellent one.

[Harry P.]

Those manufacturers can almost always count on the consumers who are willing to pay a low price for a mediocre product, rather than spend more for an excellent one.

That's the real bottom line right there. Model car buyers are more price-sensitive than armor modelers, and are willing to put up with lower quality kits in exchange for lower prices. And the model car manufacturers know it.

[Brett Barrow]

If one may ask Mr. Barrow, which kit company do you work for? And are you any relation to the infamous Barrow brothers Clyde and Buck?

I work in wholesale distribution of hobby products, with a part time gig in a large hobby shop on Saturdays (and I've been in the business for over a decade). So I sell all kits, both at wholesale and retail - cars, tanks, planes, ships, paints, glues, etc... I have a pretty good idea as to who buys what.

I'd rather not say who I work for, since I'm not here as a representative of the company, but as a hobbyist myself. If the company gives me a title or a job responsibility were PR is part of my job, I'll start identifiying myself as such. I use my real name, so it's no big secret, I just don't want what I say to be taken as a statement from my employer. What I say here is 100% me.

And the Barrow Boys are distant relatives, so the family claims. When my grandfather was drafted during WWII they just had to make him a BAR gunner! My older brother's name is Clinton, so of course he got the cool "Clyde" nickname growing up...

[berr13]

Getting back to the "awesome" aspect for a minute, how does a kit get to the release point with obvious errors? My prime example is the '57 Chevy kits by Revell. Both models have the brake pedal to the left of the steering column. How does that happen? Did anyone look at an actual car? I really like the models, and it's an easy fix, but really...

[Harry P.]

Getting back to the "awesome" aspect for a minute, how does a kit get to the release point with obvious errors? My prime example is the '57 Chevy kits by Revell. Both models have the brake pedal to the left of the steering column. How does that happen? Did anyone look at an actual car? I really like the models, and it's an easy fix, but really...

That's a question that's been asked here many times. Sometimes there are such obvious mistakes, you have to wonder how the model ever made it to production without anyone seeing the mistake.

Different manufacturers work in different ways, so there's no one single answer. It's a combination of things... human error, bad judgement, apathy, corner cutting, the "good enough" mentality, etc. If it were possible to trace every mistake back through the chain of command and figure out exactly, step by step, how or why the mistake made it through to production, you'd probably get a different answer every time. It's a frustrating thing to keep seeing new models coming out with obvious mistakes, but it's a problem that's not likely to go away anytime soon.

[Guest Johnny]

What do you expect for 29¢???

Something awesome ?

and to someone out there it was or is!

[Brett Barrow]

That's a question that's been asked here many times. Sometimes there are such obvious mistakes, you have to wonder how the model ever made it to production without anyone seeing the mistake.

Different manufacturers work in different ways, so there's no one single answer. It's a combination of things... human error, bad judgement, apathy, corner cutting, the "good enough" mentality, etc. If it were possible to trace every mistake back through the chain of command and figure out exactly, step by step, how or why the mistake made it through to production, you'd probably get a different answer every time. It's a frustrating thing to keep seeing new models coming out with obvious mistakes, but it's a problem that's not likely to go away anytime soon.

It's become one of my favorite sayings, but it holds true - As long as humans are involved in the process of making models kits for profit, there will be mistakes, omissions, and concessions...

[Casey]

When humans are involved there will be mistakes

Fixed it for ya.

[Brett Barrow]

And would anyone care to know the last time I sold one of those "awesome" new-fangled $50+ armor kits to someone under the age of 30? I don't know, maybe never. But I'll sell 6-12 Revell orAMT car kits every Saturday just to modelers my own age or younger, probably about half of which are school-age kids. I get a at least a couple car modelers in every Saturday who are buying their first kit, or they're getting back into the hobby after a long period of inactivity. Age and the "discerning enthusiast" factor are not shifting American car modeling they way they are other genres, they're still loads of younger, casual modelers buying American car models (and sci-fi models). Your clubs may be aging, the show attendees may be aging, the population of these message boards maybe aging, but the demographic buying American car models at retail is not fading or aging nearly as fast as the military genres are. American car modeling is not dying anytime soon.

[72 Charger]

Im glad that the model companys are still rererelasing the older kits as I missed them when they first came out and Im still looking for alot of them ! What I find fustrateing somtimes is some collectors that keep kits in cupboard for 50 odd years and then try to get mega money for them later on this is surpose to be a hobbie and its surpose to be fun and personaly I love it !

[niteowl7710]

And would anyone care to know the last time I sold one of those "awesome" new-fangled $50+ armor kits to someone under the age of 30? I don't know, maybe never. But I'll sell 6-12 Revell orAMT car kits every Saturday to old cranky white guys because we all know there are never any kids in this hobby anymore with all their new fangled electronic doodads and instant gratification.

Fixed it for ya, so you don't get a pile of hate mail from the arm-chair hobby super-secret insider experts we have around here.

[Tom Geiger]

We seldom stop to realize its a miracle that the tooling of the kits of our youth still exist! Tooling that's survived in unorganized warehouses, untouched for 30-50 years. Business must have been very disorganized for this to happen. It wouldn't occur today with business benchmarks of managing every dollar of asset and square foot of facilities. And I don't think that we'd all be involved in the hobby today if this didn't happen. We all have rebought the kits of our youth, it's all about nostalgia and reliving those old days!

[berr13]

For me, often I will purchase a rereleased kit so that I can improve on my first attempt. Lemme tell ya, every night I get on my knees and pray for, among other things, a second chance at the MPC Roger Lindamood '68 Charger funny car...I owe that one big time!

[Guest Johnny]

My son who is 32 just the last few years got back into modeling. Back when he was first into it it was the models of the cars he was seeing and driving with the low, wide, spoke wheels and fart can exhaust big wing with ground effect packages.

Guess which models trip his trigger today? Yep, the old stuff too many here are running down, the re-pops of those old 60's releases I was building as a kid!

The Military stuff will keep fading away as we age. I used to build it when I was younger but lost interest when I got into 1:1 cars.

The younger guys just were not exposed to the same Military experiences we were. Now I don't mean in but the Veterans of WWII we grew up around with their stories, the John Wayne war pictures along with all the rest of the old war movies. We lived it in the backyards and vacant lots as kids, playing army. My kids never did it at all. The only war they really knew of was Vietnam and that was extremely limited and did not have the same impact. It wasn't popular or celebrated like the BIG war was with us.

Sure there were a couple good series released in the last decade on WWII and a few good movies that showed a more detailed and grizzly account. But it did not have the impact on today's younger generation like it did us.

Video games about the war are big business but those kids have no interest in the scale plastic about the same subject which is shown in the low release as well as low sales of anything of the modern Military released.