62 replies to this topic

[Harry P.]

OK... it's been a while since I needed some Testors Metalizer spray paint (I don't use "model paint" in general, I use Duplicolor, Krylon, etc.)... but Testors Metalizer is the only metalizer spray paint that I know of, so off to Hobby Lobby.

$6.19 a can???!!!!

$6.19? For a tiny 3-ounce can of spray paint? Holy crap! Luckily I had my 40% off coupon.

Sheesh... at this rate we're all gonna go broke in this hobby.

[mikemodeler]

Harry,

All sprays have gone up in price quite a bit lately. Tamiya sprays are $7 & up at most of the LHS around here.

At least HL has the coupon.

[Dr. Cranky]

LOL, welcome to modern times, Harry. Yes, and it's only going to keep going up.

[Harry P.]

LOL, welcome to modern times, Harry. Yes, and it's only going to keep going up.

I know stuff in general is going up everywhere, but seriously! Last time I bought a can of metalizer (just a few months ago), it was $4 or so. A 50% price hike?!!!

[Art Anderson]

Harry, Harry, Harry!!!!!!!!!

53 years ago, 1959, when Pactra first sprang 3.5 oz rattle can paints on me at the ripe old age of 15, the price was a whopping 59-cents a can (for comparison, '59 AMT 3in1 kits sold for $1.29 -- Annual Series kits, and the first of the Trophy Series, the '32 Ford roadster was a horrendous $1.49--but a new Chevy Impala convertible, fully loaded was about $3,600!).

Fast forward to today: A rattle can of model paint at $6.19? 10.50X the 1959 price. $1.49 for a then-state-of-the-art model car kit (1959)? Try $21 plus today. And that fully tricked out '59 Impala convertible? How many 2013 Impala's you want at upwards of $35,000?

Inflation, my friend, inflation.

Art

[Harry P.]

Inflation, my friend, inflation.

Art

True.

But when it hits you in big chunks like that, it's really apparent. It's like a person who only buys a car every ten years and doesn't really pay attention in the meantime... so when he goes car shopping, the cars all cost 50% more than they cost the last time he bought one.

I wonder what the stuff will be going for the next time I need some? Should I start saving up now so I can afford the next can?

[Dr. Cranky]

Normally this is the point where we begin to think this is the reason why kids stay away from the hobby, that they can't afford it, etc . . . and then you realize they pay 39-69 (sometimes more) for a video game.

It's an expensive hobby, but so is everything else out there. The system is set up to keep people spending, spending, spending.

[Maindrian Pace]

It's not that this all this stuff is now worth more, it's that your dollars are worth less.

-MJS

[Chas SCR]

That is why it saves going to true automotive urethane paint. More bang for the buck.

[wisdonm]

The price increase comes from devaluation not inflation. Inflation is prices being pushed up buy demand exceeding supply. This clearly is not happening, except for some rare older kits.

Devaluation is the price increase caused by the debasement to the underlying value of a currency by it's government. Ie. printing money out of thin air, because they can. Their plan is to pay everyone, someday. The money just won't buy anything. Devaluation, not inflation.

Gas, in most places, still sells for less than 20 cents per gallon. That is, if you pay for it with two pre-'64 dimes that can't be debased by printing presses.

[Shardik]

The price increase comes from devaluation not inflation. Inflation is prices being pushed up buy demand exceeding supply. This clearly is not happening, except for some rare older kits.

Devaluation is the price increase caused by the debasement to the underlying value of a currency by it's government. Ie. printing money out of thin air, because they can. Their plan is to pay everyone, someday. The money just won't buy anything. Devaluation, not inflation.

Gas, in most places, still sells for less than 20 cents per gallon. That is, if you pay for it with two pre-'64 dimes that can't be debased by printing presses.

Actually, the definition of inflation is an increase in the money supply (IE. printing money out of thin air). This, of course, results in higher prices and devaluation of the currency. Bear in mind, that prior to the (illegal) establishment of the Federal Reserve in 1913, The buying power of the U.S. Dollar had been absolutely stable for 200 years. Now it's worth slightly less than what a nickel would have bought back then. Thank you, Ben Bernanke (and all your predecessors)!

[LoneWolf15]

Look at it this way , Tinman !

A spray can of metallizer goes a long way towards realism and you're able to paint quite a few parts with it before you're ready for another , right ?

With what you spend on those kits of your's ( ya nut ) don't your babies deserve the very best that money can buy , hmmmm ? Lol !

The bottles are cheaper , break out the airbrush ! I figure it this way , given the time and effort we all put into this addictive black hole we refer to as a hobby , high maintenance is our prerogative ! Explaining it to the significant other ? Now that is a whole different ballgame ! Lmao !

[Harry P.]

With what you spend on those kits of your's ( ya nut ) don't your babies deserve the very best that money can buy , hmmmm ? Lol !

Well, when ya put it that way...

[Joe Handley]

All of Testors' and Tamiya's products have gotten more expensive in since January, Tamiya in particular.

[martinfan5]

I have notice the cost increase the Model Master Lacquers (only paint I used from Testors in a can)

Adding to what Dr Cranky said, about kids and video games, new video games are selling for $60, I know for a fact that I have spent more then $60 on just one build , so the cost could just be one thing keeping the kids away.

I think sometimes half of my hobby money goes to paint

My sticker shock is when I look at the price tag on kits at the LHS , and what really gets me is how a kit that was first issued say 30 years ago or longer has a price tag of close $30, I am pretty sure that from the time the kit was first released, and the countless reissued times, the model company has made their money back on the kit, or not, what do I know

Edited by martinfan5, 12 October 2012 - 10:50 AM.

[MrObsessive]

It's not that this all this stuff is now worth more, it's that your dollars are worth less.

-MJS

Sad, but very TRUE!

[Ace-Garageguy]

I have to say that the price of metalizer doesn't bother me all that much, as I don't paint any complete cars with it and it tends to give me the results I want for a long time. On the other hand, $14 to $20 for all the materials to do one really nice model paintjob seems like a lot, sometimes.

[Austin T]

Normally this is the point where we begin to think this is the reason why kids stay away from the hobby, that they can't afford it, etc . . . and then you realize they pay 39-69 (sometimes more) for a video game.

Hate to bring this up but by the time you buy a model the paint,glue,BMF your in the same range.All a console needs is that disk,unless you have to pay for online play.Their about even.

"My sticker shock is when I look at the price tag on kits at the LHS , and what really gets me is how a kit that was first issued say 30 years ago or longer has a price tag of close $30, I am pretty sure that from the time the kit was first released, and the countless reissued times, the model company has made their money back on the kit, or not, what do I know" My hobby town is chargin 45 bucks for the Moebuis Tim Flock chysler kit,I swear there are times when I think Mike (Store owner) is smokin something.Also I have found he is 20-40% higher then everyone else in models.

Edited by Austin T, 12 October 2012 - 11:37 AM.

[TooOld]

The last time I drove for an hour to Hobby Lobby the kits were priced from $25.99 to $ 29.99 and the only paint they had were MM and One Coat Laquers .
Not worth the trip even with a coupon ! My LHS has a much better selection of kits priced from $21.95 to $25.95 and he has every brand of paint , even Metalizers ! Oh yeah , he's only a 10 minute drive from my house !

[Paul Bunyan]

in some parts of the country, you have to be 18yo to buy the paint..