theraif Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 i haven't built any thing new or bought any thing for years. i knew prices have gone up but dam some of the kits lol good thing i got a few kits in stock to start with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldnslow Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Hobby Lobby, 40% off coupons, will ease the pain a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AC Norton Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 raif, the days of a cheap hobby are over........each build can get quite expensive. paint, supplies, the model itself.....great for some of us that do have a small stash...glad I have.....the ace......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranma Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 I just cashed in a gift card at Wal- Mart.Com had will have a New 60 impala kit at my local store for me to pickup on the 27 th of august. Total cost ? a whopping $16.38! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawk312 Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Hobby Lobby, 40% off coupons, will ease the pain a little. What he said!! Also, I`m not sure how long you have been away from the hobby, but the quality of the new kits, at least IMO, is much better than 15-20 years ago, Comparing Revell`s first attempt to the AAR or the `69 Camaro with the latest `70 Cuda and the current Camaro kits, I would gladly pay double for the latter as opposed to the former. I think it is a good time for our hobby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southpier Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 that. have fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deathgoblin Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Glue Bombs! Much cheaper than new ones. Just gotta be careful about how badly they got "bombed". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1930fordpickup Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 i haven't built any thing new or bought any thing for years. i knew prices have gone up but dam some of the kits lol good thing i got a few kits in stock to start with How far over in the east of ohio are you? Model car show coming up in the Toledo Area that will ease your pain. It will be a show and a swap meet all in one. You do have to pay to get in but many kits will be there for cheaper prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddyfink Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Kit shows are a great place to buy the basics for cheap. Save the money for the big ticket kits! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danno Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Try to buy a gallon of gasoline for what you paid 15 - 20 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Glue Bombs! Much cheaper than new ones. Just gotta be careful about how badly they got "bombed". With some of the glue bombs I have, I think I'd be better off selling them for eBay prices and buying an unbuilt kit or resin copy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete J. Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Just be glad that you are building cars!New kits of other genera's:Ships- Tamiya Yamato- $453 retail - on sale at $280Aircraft - Tamiya Corsair - $199 retail - on sale at $123Armor - Tamiya Sherman - $75 retail - On sale at $51The fact that you can still walk out of a store with a model car in you had for a $20 bill is really not bad! Now you can spend more, but then you get what you pay for. You can easily drop a couple of C notes and a top end kit with extra parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 want to talk about how much you are going to be in for to restore or even refurbish a well kept jaguar xk120? models are mere pocket change. jb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38 Crush Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 Glad I have my own hobby shop at home. With over 2000 kits collected over some 60 years I'm still OK for awhile. Price wise that is!!! I think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepp Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 (edited) Here's how to stretch your hobby dollar: take more time to build each model. Not only will the model be better, you won't spend so much. A $40 kit plus $20 in paint/glue/etc. = $60 If you put in 60 hours to build it, it only costs a dollar an hour. You can't find much entertainment for that amount AND have something great to look at after you're done. Spend 120 hours on it and the cost is only fifty cents an hour. Edited August 24, 2014 by chepp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samdiego Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 (edited) I've seen new stuff at Hobby Lobby closing in on the $30 mark. It may be worth it for the new kits, but how does the non-expert tell the difference? I think they need to start indicating the tooling vintage. I paid more than $25 for the Grumpy Jenkins release of the '66 Nova not knowing that the kit itself represented everything wrong with '90s tooling and then the decals were bad. They needed to have a white underprint for the yellow and this wasn't done. Round 2 offered a replacement sheet but they haven't and won't correct the problem I saw this coming when Walmart picked up the HOK paint line. A three or four part system that took the model car paint job into the $25-$30 arena. Add that to a thirty dollar kit and you've completely killed the "lawn mowing money" fueled hobby that I loved as a kid. So the manufacturers cry the blues over the decline in kid participation and still keep hiking up the price. Edited August 24, 2014 by samdiego Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southpier Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 I've got projects going so long the manufacturer should be sending me residual checks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Model building is very cheap compared to most Hobbies. I think kits are fair priced and better at HL with a 40 percent coupon... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnU Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Have you checked the price of a new video game lately! $$$$$! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 I've seen new stuff at Hobby Lobby closing in on the $30 mark. It may be worth it for the new kits, but how does the non-expert tell the difference? I think they need to start indicating the tooling vintage. I paid more than $25 for the Grumpy Jenkins release of the '66 Nova not knowing that the kit itself represented everything wrong with '90s tooling and then the decals were bad. They needed to have a white underprint for the yellow and this wasn't done. Round 2 offered a replacement sheet but they haven't and won't correct the problem I saw this coming when Walmart picked up the HOK paint line. A three or four part system that took the model car paint job into the $25-$30 arena. Add that to a thirty dollar kit and you've completely killed the "lawn mowing money" fueled hobby that I loved as a kid. So the manufacturers cry the blues over the decline in kid participation and still keep hiking up the price. It's a different world from when we were kids. In the 1970s I mowed lawns and got $6 a lawn. Today kids get $30 or more. Kinda coincides with the kit prices you mentioned. In fact a friend of mine who worked in a hobby shop had the observation that our herd was cheap, didn't want to spend a lot on a model. He said the young guys who did come in would buy a Tamiya Japanese car kit to build a tuner, spend another $50 on Pegasis wheels and accessories, paints and supplies. He said they had no problem dropping $100 or more to build a model. As far as indicating vintage tooling, you do have a point but most of us don't consider the 1966 Nova vintage (gasp! In my world they just issued it! ) There was one issue with it when it first came out, they had molded the rear view mirror into the windshield. The hobby complained and it was immediately fixed. This kit was considered land mark new technology when it came out... full detail chassis and platform interior with separate side panels to aid in detailing. If you want to see old tooling, go buy the AMT '62 Buick. You'll be amazed at how simple this kit is. Round 2 had started to indicate vintage on their new releases, they were putting images of the kit trees on the bottom of the box so people would be able to see what they're getting. There is a vast difference in some of the tooling over the past 50 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samdiego Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 (edited) The kit prices I remember from central Ohio in '70 hovered at the $2-$2.25 level for a bit. I'd already established the kit a week pace I still pretty much maintain. With a can of spray at $.59 - $.69, for 6 bucks you could get two kits and two cans of paint. Now that's closer to $70. I can't think of much state of the art stuff from the 90s that maintains that status today. To me the 90s represent companies taking the cheapest way whenever possible. Conversely, they were obviously capable of amazing tooling back in the 60s. The AMT Double Dragster is a milestone in my book. Terrific engraving and one of the most value packed kits ever. Especially if you can catch them on clearance at Hobby Lobby. $13 I think. The Tom Daniel kits were chunky but razor sharp. Revell's early 60's dragsters like the Tony Nancy and Mickey Thompson cars are still impressive. But when I see 90s features like random hashmarks instead of legible gauges and blobs for carbs, I gotta question throwing down for that era of tooling. Edited August 25, 2014 by samdiego Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deathgoblin Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Actually, I don't think the prices are as terrible as they seem to be. When I first started driving, gas ran about $.69 a gallon around here. The average model kit at the time ran about $10. Gas has more than tripled, but the price of kits has barely more than doubled. And occasionally, you can catch kits for $10 or less on clearance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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