234 replies to this topic

[martinfan5]

Well Moebius Models really stepped up to the plate with their "53 Hudsons and '55 Chrysler offerings.I recently built the Chrysler and it was the most trouble free and nicely detailed kit I have made since the Revell '56 Nomad.

Not to mention their LoneStar kit, and the I am sure the ProStar will be just as nice as the LoneStar

[raildogg]

I am hesitant to add my thoughts but, here goes. I do agree, many a kit owes it's beings to old molds done with, old technology. The fact that they still sell in great quantities eludes me. Yes Tamiya and Aoshima are superior but they are pricey. Moebius is ahead of the pack with their offerings and may get a bigger share, but the limited selection is the downside. Unless the major makers start retooling for a more savy group, those kids that they marketed to back in the day are grown up now and want more, we can still expect the same old kits being, as bad as they ever were, to continue to hit the shelves. Todays kids have gaming consoles and don't know how to work their hands, so why buy something that you have to put together, and then not play with it. Just my two cents.

Edited by raildogg, 04 March 2013 - 10:29 PM.

[philo426]

Unless they upgrade the chassis,engine and interior parts while using the older body if the proportions are good.

[mr moto]

I am confused. I think all model kits are awesome.
 

 

I like your point of view! Just think if we didn't have them at all!

[Harry P.]

 

I like your point of view! Just think if we didn't have them at all!

 

We'd all be scrapbooking... 

[Johnny]

Sorry to burst the bubble, but each and every model kit ever produced is "awesome" to someone!

[MAGNUM4342]

Sorry to burst the bubble, but each and every model kit ever produced is "awesome" to someone!

Even a poor kit beats scrapbooking!

[Greg Myers]

Sorry to burst the bubble, but each and every model kit ever produced is "awesome" to someone!

[Harry P.]

 

Sorry to burst the bubble, but each and every model kit ever produced is "awesome" to someone!

 

 

What do you expect for 29¢???  

[Rob Hall]

 

We'd all be scrapbooking... 

or pursuing some other dead/dying hobby like stamp collecting, coin collecting, trainspotting, collecting dust, etc...

[sjordan2]

or pursuing some other dead/dying hobby like stamp collecting, coin collecting, trainspotting, collecting dust, etc...

 From Wikipedia: "Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is one of the world's most popular hobbies, with the number of collectors in the United States alone estimated to be over 20 million"

 

From The Wall Street Journal, Sept 2012: "About 7 million to 10 million people in the U.S. are serious coin collectors, experts estimate, and many regard their collections as investments in the same vein as antiques, fine art and wine."

 

Further, model car kits represent only part of the output of companies like Revell, Airfix and Minicraft, who have substantial kit offerings in aircraft, military and ships, etc. It would be interesting to know figures about which segment is the most popular. I would assume (yes, I know) the product mix would have a lot to do with corporate decisions about where to allocate investments for new kits.

 

Perhaps we car modelers tend to overestimate the importance of our interests in the scheme of things.

Edited by sjordan2, 05 March 2013 - 10:08 AM.

[Greg Myers]

 

What do you expect for 29¢???  

 

 

Something awesome ?

[Harry P.]

 

 

Something awesome ?

 

Well, that's what 29¢ worth of "awesome" looks like! 

[Greg Myers]

 From Wikipedia: "Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is one of the world's most popular hobbies, with the number of collectors in the United States alone estimated to be over 20 million"

 

From The Wall Street Journal, Sept 2012: "About 7 million to 10 million people in the U.S. are serious coin collectors, experts estimate, and many regard their collections as investments in the same vein as antiques, fine art and wine."

 

However, Skip, just like model building, they are dying hobbies. I was involved in  stamp collecting here in Arizona and can tell you the number of collectors, clubs and shows has dropped immensely over the years.

[Harry P.]

or pursuing some other dead/dying hobby like stamp collecting, coin collecting, trainspotting, collecting dust, etc...

 

Stamp and coin collecting are hardly "dead or dying" hobbies. They're probably among the most popular hobbies in the world.

 

Collecting dust, on the other hand... not a lot of people into that, but as far as cheap hobbies go, you can't beat it!

[Rob Hall]

I don't think I've ever known anyone my age or younger that admitted to being into stamp collecting.   In the modern era of electronic communication stamps just seem to be a quaint artifact of a past era.

Edited by Rob Hall, 05 March 2013 - 09:53 AM.

[fallonred]

A lot of kits currently http://www.teenbar.net/showthread.php?1506-magazine-page-teen-homepage-health&p=3256#post3256 being sold are reissues, which means the molds were engineered and created many years ago, and the model companies are just reusing the old molds to crank out "new" kits to sell. These old kits were originally designed when the largest chunk of model car buyers was kids, who didn't really care all that much about accuracy and detail... they liked lots of chrome parts and decals. So we see a lot of sub-par models on the shelves today that were actually designed ages ago.

 

We also see brand new model car kits that also leave something to be desired. Sometimes the manufacturer made a mistake, sometimes they cut corners. And some manufacturers just seem to care more about detail and accuracy than others do. It's a real mixed bag out there... you will find model car kits ranging from nearly perfect to barely more than junk. They're all out there.

 

As far as why kits are so "expensive," that's a matter of personal opinion. I don't find the average car model kit to be all that expensive ($20-40). Some people might think that a model kit should still cost 5 bucks, but model kits, like everything else, have gone up in price over the years. For some reason, there are a lot of model car builders who are incredibly cheap and complain about price. Maybe those guys are today's adults that remember building model cars when they were kids, when the kits cost just a buck or two... and they can't understand why a model kit doesn't still cost only a buck or two. After all, the basics of manufacturing a kit haven't changed... you still need to cut the tooling, you still need injection molding machines, you still need packaging and distribution... if they could make kits for two bucks back then, why can't they do it today?

 

But the fact is, nothing that sold in 1962 still sells for the 1962 price in 2013. People today make 2013 wages, not 1962 wages, and all related business costs have also risen accordingly. It would be unrealistic to expect a new refrigerator or a new car to cost what it did 40-50 years ago, and model kits are no different.

Forgive me for been skeptical, but are you really positive about that ? thks

Edited by fallonred, 05 March 2013 - 09:54 AM.

[Michigan Madman]

Not to mention their LoneStar kit, and the I am sure the ProStar will be just as nice as the LoneStar

I won't doubt that- heck, the Great Dane trailer is a jaw-dropper, and as Tim Ahlborn said it's 'just a trailer'.

[Harry P.]

 In the modern era of electronic communication stamps just seem to be a quaint artifact of a past era.

 

But that has no bearing on whether collecting them is popular or not. Antiques are also quaint artifacts of a past era, but millions of people are into antiques.

[Harry P.]

Forgive me for been skeptical, but are you really positive about that ? thks

 

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.