price matters

[djway3474]

Well I think the answer lies on the hobby stores shelves.

New AMT kits $13 none left on the shelves. Buyers are buying multiple copies.

New Revell kits $20 and there are some left on the shelves. People are only buying one copy each.

There is for all things a supply and demand pricing curve and there is a tipping point where sales drop dramatically.

Not to be harsh but looking around the parking lot at a model car contest you don't see a lot of high buck new cars. That tells me that many of us, myself included, may not have a lot of disposable income. Probably why we build models and not the real thing. That being said pricing may be a critical point.

AMT has it right with their pricing. Revell may just be over the edge.

Lets not forget oil, the base of plastics has dropped back down so the materials cost is back down.

Then there is the liscensing issue which may make model companies have to pass on some issues but they may need to negoiate harder. Auto companies may need to reconsider this issue as a free advertisement instead of a revenue streem but I doubt that will happen. They don't seem that bright LOL.

[Guest Davkin]

If you are finding AMT kits for $13 they must be old stock. The current kits from Round 2 are going for $18+.

David

[mademan]

quality> amt

thats pretty decent still... the hobby shop here has 10+ yr old stock @ upwards of 24.99 a kit.

I dont worry much about that stuff though cause all I build is Johan cadillacs and resin cadillacs, so right off the run im looking at 50+ $ a kit

[Uncle Mike]

If you are finding AMT kits for $13 they must be old stock. The current kits from Round 2 are going for $18+.

David

I went into D's Music and Hobbies yesterday, (NOT a discount house!) and picked up a new sealed '51 Chevy convertible kit for $14.99. All AMT kits were $14.99- $16.99. This is Merced, CA. (right across the lot from Mervyn's Dep't store, who just went out of business.)

[gasman]

The higher price of kits has been discussed over and over again. at my main LHS all the Revell kits are now $19.99, all of the AMT kits are $14.99, plus a 10% discount on all of them.

Edited February 24, 2009 by gasman

[Guest Davkin]

You guys are lucky then. None of the hobby shops here are selling kits that cheap. Some of the current Revell kits are going for $18 and some for $23, (not sure what the difference is.) but none of the current AMT kits are selling for less than $18. I saw the Lindberg '61 Impala kit the other day and they also had it at $18. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I beleive kit prices have been too low for a long time. I want everybody involved to make enough money to stay in business, from the manufacturer to the LHS. If that means higher prices so be it. Paying higher prices is better than not having the kits available at all.

David

[Marc @ MPC Motorsports]

Sure, price matters. I hate to see the prices of new kits go up, but EVERYTHING these days costs more than it used to. I'm also glad that Revell is coming out with new releases and Round2 appears to be having some success with their business model. But models still are selling here in Tulsa, OK.

Like mademan posted above, I typically purchase and build vintage kits, resin kits, or restore old built kits. With a kid in college, my hobby funds are limited, so I spend wisely but typically purchase what I want, within reason. After grokking the new Revell '68 Mustang Cobra Jet (a nice kit BTW), I decided to purchase the Missing Link resin '68 Mustang fastback transkit. I already have the AMT Shelby GT500 donor kit to go with it. Still cheaper than working on the real thing! I won a builder AMT '67 Camaro annual on Ebay and with new Modelhaus parts for it, I'm in for about $75 on this one.

I don't smoke or drink alcohol, so styrene is my only vice. I rarely buy new kits unless they are for parts to upgrade a vintage kit. Even with the increases in paint prices, a couple of cans of Tamiya paint costs what a six pack and a pack of Camels does.

I'm out of storage space for new kits, which also limits what and how many I can purchase. But if Tamiya were to start doing American muscle cars with the level of detail of the Enzo, AMG McLaren or the new Skyline and sell them for $50 MSRP.....hmmm.

In closing, I realize that I'm in the minority here and that most modelers have been impacted by the economic conditions much more than myself. If I were to absorb a pay cut or, God forbid, lose my job, there would be drastic changes in my personal spending. I doubt I would be spending ANY money on the hobby and probably would liquidate part of my collection.

But how many of us get more of a buzz by going out and purchasing every kit that comes down the pike rather than building something they already have? It's the "thrill of the hunt". I know I'm more productive at the bench when I'm in the "acquisition mode". And, how many of us have more kits than we'll ever build in our lifetime? Guilty!!!

If a new kit is a "must have", figure out a way in your budget to buy it. If not, buy a couple of cans of paint and go home and build something you already have. With over 700 styrene and resin kits in my inventory, that is what I'm trying hard to do.

[Harry P.]

The price of everything goes up as time goes by... sometimes a little at a time over an extended period, sometimes there's a sudden jump over a relatively short period... but the bottom line is, everything costs more than it used to. We don't get a loaf of bread for 29 cents anymore, and a dime cup of coffee now goes for several dollars in the yuppie coffee shops.

There's no sense moaning and complaining about the high price of model kits. Nothing wil be accomplished by doing that. No manufacturer is going to lower their prices because people post complaints about them. When in the history of retail has the price of something ever gone down because consumers demanded it? Never, that's when. It just doesn't do a darn bit of good to complain about prices... you just have to decide whether or not the price of a kit is worth it to you, and buy it or take a pass.

[Art Anderson]

I guess I'm the old guy here. I can still remember when AMT 3in1 kits went from $1.29 to a pricey $1.39, with nothing at all added to the kits, just a one year later series of cars (1959 vs 1958), and then up to $1.49 in 1960 (for the Corvettes and Thunderbirds, which got opening hoods and engines--not a bad deal, an engine for a dime?). By 1964, 3in1 kits were still being pre-priced at $2.00.

Now, 1964 was 45 years ago, and if a $2.00 kit from then is now $24.00, what else can you think of that has gone up by a factor of 10 in that time frame? Let's take a look here: Real cars, wage rates, housing (and that was way more than 10X until the market bubble burst a year or so ago), clothes, movie tickets, sports event tickets, even gasoline prices for a little while last year at this time.

I've heard this sticker shock tale for decades with model car kits, and I don't worry about it. I either pay the price, or I don't, and that is the bottom line. But one thing is for certain, I sure want to see LHS's keep on keeping on--when they go away, there goes our supply, and quickly so.

Art

[Fletch]

To give you an idea of the way things are here in Portland, last November I had my LHS order 2 Revell '50 Ford F-1 kits for me. They came in at $17.75 and I was happy to pay it. The middle of last month I went in and they had restocked after the Holidays. The shipment they received had the '50 Ford kits in it, they were now $21 each. Needless to say I was happy that I had picked up a couple of them last year.

I went in yesterday and they had gotten a couple more '50 Ford F-1s in the price is now $25. Someplace, someone has lost their mind. The cost of the molds for a kit now 12+ years old has long been amortized. There is absolutely no valid reason for that kind of price hike in 2 1/2 months. I fully understand that a mfg needs to have capital for new projects but, Revell is starting to price themselves out of the domestic market. If I were inclined to pay that kind of money for a kit, I would expect the quality to match the price.

I guess they are pushing us to build what we have upon our shelves, seeing how I have already paid for that plastic it makes them $0 when I build from my collection instead of buying new.

ARE YOU LISTENING REVELL?

[Fletch]

I either pay the price, or I don't, and that is the bottom line. But one thing is for certain, I sure want to see LHS's keep on keeping on--when they go away, there goes our supply, and quickly so.

Art

Art, you are 100% correct, even though we're all complaining about the price of kits today there is one part of the Model Car Industry that is even more at out mercy then the MFG's and that it the LHS. Without our purchasing kits their doors will eventually close. The LHS can't remain open with just sales of paint, glue and magazines.

The fact that most of the BIG BOX stores are no longer carrying plastic kits where else do we have to go to get the latest offerings form the "Little Three". Most of us don't have a national chain hobby shop near by. Even if we have a Hobbytown or Hobby Lobby near by most of these are franchise stores and if we don't support the LHS where do we turn? The internet? I don't know about you but, I like to have something in my hand when I spend money. I'm not overly thrilled in waiting for UPS to deliver my latest purchase.

I have been building since I was 6, that's 47 years ago. I remember going to the LHS in Redondo Beach CA with my cousin, we each had $3. We both bought a kit, glue, paint and still had money left over. So, to walk into my LHS and see a kit that was $10 when it was released 14 years ago now priced at $25 makes you go "What the .......?"

Unfortunately, now I have to consider do I pay the electric bill or buy a new kit. The events of the past year have changed how we look at our hobby budget. More of the budget goes for the day-to-day household expenses then ever before.

[Aaronw]

To give you an idea of the way things are here in Portland, last November I had my LHS order 2 Revell '50 Ford F-1 kits for me. They came in at $17.75 and I was happy to pay it. The middle of last month I went in and they had restocked after the Holidays. The shipment they received had the '50 Ford kits in it, they were now $21 each. Needless to say I was happy that I had picked up a couple of them last year.

I went in yesterday and they had gotten a couple more '50 Ford F-1s in the price is now $25. Someplace, someone has lost their mind. The cost of the molds for a kit now 12+ years old has long been amortized. There is absolutely no valid reason for that kind of price hike in 2 1/2 months. I fully understand that a mfg needs to have capital for new projects but, Revell is starting to price themselves out of the domestic market. If I were inclined to pay that kind of money for a kit, I would expect the quality to match the price.

I guess they are pushing us to build what we have upon our shelves, seeing how I have already paid for that plastic it makes them $0 when I build from my collection instead of buying new.

ARE YOU LISTENING REVELL?

That is exactly my complaint, it is not the price so much as the jump. To be honest $20 for most car kits is an ok price that I wouldn't really complain about, but a kit I could buy last year from Tower for $12 now going for $20? How do they justify nearly doubling the price of an existing kit in one increase.

[Guest Davkin]

How do they justify nearly doubling the price of an existing kit in one increase.

Revell has new owners. My guess is they looked at the books and decided the old business model wasn't going to work anymore. If Revell was making good money at $12/kit at Walmart do you think they would have sold out to Hobbico? I beleive RC2 and the old Revell were operating on a flawed business strategy, high volume with narrow margins. That's just not the reality of this market anymore, hasn't been for a long time. The Walmart deal was just delaying the inevitable and when Walmart stopped stocking model kits the volume really dropped and RC2 went out of business and Revell was sold to Hobbico. I'm not saying Hobbico is totally justified in the new prices, it could be they are padding the prices to test the market and maybe low sales will make them reduce the prices a bit, but then again maybe they've found the sweet spot and the prices will stay at the current level for some time, we'll see. It doesn't really bother me much, not because I have bucket loads of money, just the opposite in fact, I had already become very picky in my model buying, (only buying an average of one, maybe two/month) and the higher prices, (or lower prices for that matter) won't change that. If I was buying a couple kits/week like I used to then I'd be experiencing some sticker shock.

David

[Scott - Elm City Hobbies]

Also, something else the new owners of Revell have done, or are doing, is, due to the lack of quality control with their manufacturing plants in China, they have decided to move the manufacturing back to the US.

Higher labor cost = Higher Kit Costs

Strange thing though......a year ago I couldn't give away a Revell '64 Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt kit for $14-$15CDN.......fast forward a year, and I can't keep in stock the new '64 Ford Fairlane kit, which is the same kit, with a few new parts in it for the stock version....at $24CDN.

Figure that one out!

[mademan]

I just won an auction for a Jo-han 66 caddy customizing kit, with the cost of the kit, an shipping im already in for $101.00...... before I start building it.

I dont even bother with the new kits, there is nothing appealing to me, no one makes a decent cadillac..... you have the the ugly "custom" riced out STS-v ,the old monogram 59 seville,... and the new escalades... lindbergs hopper 77-79, and thats about it.

big body gm stuff is limited, 70 impala, lindberg 61 impala both versions, amt 62 bubble, and the donk 63 impala... not alot to chose from. ill stick to my vintage kits.