Matt Bacon Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 According to Revell Germany's spokesman, Ferrari has withdrawn its brand license, so Revell can't at the moment make any Ferrari kits (which means that the 250SWB reissue is canned yet again...). Revell is not the only one, either. We also know that FIAT Group withheld the license for Airfix to use the Maserati name, scuppering the re-release of the 1/32 Indy. I guess this means that either:FIAT Group/Ferrari want too much money for their brand licenses and model kit vendors can't afford to pay them and make money on the kits.FIAT Group/Ferrari has decided on an exclusive deal with one vendor (though how they could make more money that way than with all the kit and diecast manufacturers paying license fees on all their sales volume, I don't care to guess)Ferrari is going to make its OWN kits.It's all a negotiating tactic. Don't suppose anyone knows if Chrysler has withdrawn its brand license from US makers? (Which would suggest that it's a FIAT thing, not just Ferrari and Maserati) If Tamiya releases an FXX-K at Nuremburg, that'll be an interesting clue. Anyway, bad news for the hobby, I reckon, since Revell's Ferraris have been the best affordable kits of most of their subjects! Grrr... bestest,M.
aurfalien Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 Wow, total bummer!Could some one explain why they would do this? Fears of brand thinning or counterfeit?Too bad brand licensing is soo broad and includes scale models as I'm assuming brand licensing includes anything with a moniker/name of a company used by 3rd parties?Funny, I was just looking to see a release date for a Tamiya FXX K.
Crazy Ed Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 Interesting. It follows the Model Factory Hiro announcement of a couple of years back where they stated the end of their Ferrari Kits.
niteowl7710 Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 As far as Chrysler goes, the Foose branded pre-painted Challenger SRT-8 was already announced by Revell as a January release.Isn't Ferrari supposed to be spun off into a free standing company from Fiat? Perhaps that's why all the licensing has to be re - written again.Also FWIW Fujimi is reissuing 4 of their Ferrari kits this month (F430, F430 Challenge, Super America, and 355 Challenge) and is listing a 1/20 F-1 Ferrari kit for reissue next month. Has Revell of Germany gotten caught with their pants down over this SWB kit AGAIN???
aurfalien Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 Interesting. It follows the Model Factory Hiro announcement of a couple of years back where they stated the end of their Ferrari Kits.Ola,Actually they only killed the 1/24 offerings. They did release a 1/12 Ferrari 330P4 about a year or so ago. Man that thing is droolocious!
aurfalien Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 (edited) Isn't Ferrari supposed to be spun off into a free standing company from Fiat?Wow, cool info. I just hit Wikipedia on this and it appears Ferrari was bought by Fiat in the late 60's?Now they are splitting to be true Ferrari, bravo!I think there is one Ferrari family member on the board, hope that name sake lives on in more then just brand. Edited January 15, 2016 by aurfalien
Mr. Metallic Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 Didn't this same thing happen back in the late 90's with Ferrari, where they withdrew all their licensing and made Tamiya the "official" producer of Ferrari kits?
TonyK Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 I was thinking the same thing. Seemed even Hot Wheels was part of the controversy. Or maybe Hot Wheels was going to be the only licensed Ferrari product?
aurfalien Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 The Ferrari site has built up models for a lot of money. They do look very nice though.I certainly hope this pause on brand lics is only so that they can re write all that fromage of theres due to splitting from Fiat.
PowerPlant Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 (edited) According to Revell Germany's spokesman, Ferrari has withdrawn its brand license, so Revell can't at the moment make any Ferrari kits (which means that the 250SWB reissue is canned yet again...). I KNEW IT!!! What an anti-climax... Licensing issues in the last minute yet again... Why do they keep doing this? And the entire time I was suspicious about it, despite your claims you've seen the kit done and ready for the market at the Telford show... I really have to learn to stop getting my hopes up about these announcements until I see hard plastic on the shelf. I guess it's back to searching for an affordable Italeri kit... Edited January 15, 2016 by PowerPlant
niteowl7710 Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 I don't believe Tamiya was ever the ONLY official model producer, as Fujimi still made a number of road cars as well as F-1 kits during that time as well. That might also be a situation over licensing agreements and where they cover. Anyone who paid attention and witnessed the debacle over Bandai's Star Wars kits being banned from U.S. Distribution and even removed from U.S. friendly Japanese distributors like HLJ because Revell possesses the SOLE licensing rights in North America and Europe knows how that game is played.
BVC500 Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 I hope Tamiya's license isn't affected. I would think that since the announcement of the FXX K is imminent (given the Tamiya blog posting), they've already secured the license.
stavanzer Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 It is all Sergio Marchionne's Fault. Greedy so&so, just want's to "monetize" all the brands he retains control of.There is your problem.
Luc Janssens Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 (edited) Why do they keep doing this?Because they can?!It's their intellectual property and if one tries to make money from that, they will decide on the size of their slice of the pie (or Pizza), cuz it's not, that they need model companies to sell their cars, model and toy companies need the Ferrari myth and legacy, to sell a ton of SKU's (product) worldwide....Though the least one can say is, that this occurrence will illustrate, how much of a creative mind the product developers are.....Interesting times for sure... Edited January 15, 2016 by Luc Janssens
PowerPlant Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 Because they can?!It's their intellectual property and if one tries to make money from that, they will decide on their cut, cuz it's not, that they need model companies to sell their cars, model and toy companies need the Ferrari myth and legacy to sell a ton of SKU's (product) worldwide....Though the least thing one can say is, I'm sure that this occurrence will illustrate, how much of a creative mind the product developers are.....Interesting times for sure... I understand, of course, I guess I should have elaborated my question... I meant, why does Revell make any announcements at all if they are not absolutely SURE they can and will in fact release the kit?In fairness, announcements were as vague as they can be, but still... And it's not the first time it's happened with this particular kit.
Luc Janssens Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 I understand, of course, I guess I should have elaborated my question... I meant, why does Revell make any announcements at all if they are not absolutely SURE they can and will in fact release the kit?In fairness, announcements were as vague as they can be, but still... And it's not the first time it's happened with this particular kit.Just guessing here, cuz I don't know anything from that game of "chess"Maybe the corporate lawyers from both parties, had a text which only needed a signature, but the head honcho wanted more, to put more weight to his name within the company, cuz it doesn't matter how good or bad you are, ones name has to be circulating withing the company's management team, to get promoted...
Crazy Ed Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 Wow, cool info. I just hit Wikipedia on this and it appears Ferrari was bought by Fiat in the late 60's?Now they are splitting to be true Ferrari, bravo! It was the Ferrari 512S that cost Enzo control of his Company. He sold the majority share to finance making the 25 required for Homologation. It'll be interesting to see how Ferrari's going to do on it's own. I wonder if it's going to effect their F-1 effort.
MrObsessive Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 AAARRRGH!!!! I knew it!! One of my favorite kits ever from Italeri, and at the 11th hour they lower the boom and tell us it won't happen! THANK GOD I have at least one unbuilt one to hang onto.......One that I happened to win on Yahoo Auctions Japan BTW. Sigh...............we went through this before and now here we are again! I tell you what.............I'm bound and determined to save my pennies and get this. I've fallen in love with it and I just gotta have it my collection, and yes to build! I better grab it because Lord knows it'll be gone, never to be produced by ANYONE ever again!
aurfalien Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 (edited) It was the Ferrari 512S that cost Enzo control of his Company. He sold the majority share to finance making the 25 required for Homologation. It'll be interesting to see how Ferrari's going to do on it's own. I wonder if it's going to effect their F-1 effort.Wow, cool info. The 512S was/is a killer machine fo sho.I thought how Montezemolo was treated by Marchionne was very very poor and after an amazing career even.So good that they are shedding Marchionne or whoever is in charge now/future and will be able to be true once more.Long live Ferrari is what I'm sayin. Edited January 15, 2016 by aurfalien
PowerPlant Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 (edited) Just guessing here, cuz I don't know anything from that game of "chess"Maybe the corporate lawyers from both parties, had a text which only needed a signature, but the head honcho wanted more, to put more weight to his name within the company, cuz it doesn't matter how good or bad you are, ones name has to be circulating withing the company's management team, to get promoted...Yeah, I figured as much, but still, jumping the gun like that and announcing the kit without having sealed the deal with Ferrari seems quite unprofessional of Revell - twice now! Edited January 15, 2016 by PowerPlant
Luc Janssens Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 I'm sure the path they take when tooling an all new kit, is a much more cautioned one, after-all one doesn't sink in 250K for an all new kit, without a rock solid contract and then it's still a (calculated) gamble, will the sales tank, go ballistic, or something in-between, while the licensors cut, is carved in stone, you can only guess or rely on past track records of similar items.One can say whatever you want, about the spin doctors at company x, y, z....but I don't envy their job.
Dave Van Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 This happened back in the 1980's at some time. That time it was a licensing stand off when Ferrari wanted too much $$$.Bet it something like that again......and when no one steps up to pay the fee.....things will cool off. But if it doesn't it COULD be a good thing.......tooling dollars will have to be spent elsewhere......which could benefit the hobby overall more than another red horse kit.
Matt Bacon Posted January 15, 2016 Author Posted January 15, 2016 ...it takes a lot longer to prepare to mould styrene than it takes to sign a contract.My guess would be that the "business case" for re-issuing that tooling, based on existing knowledge, made sense : "Hey... we have these moulds already, so all we need to do is allow some money for marketing, and some new boxes, and some new decals, and we'll go on paying Ferrari what we paid before for licenses, and hey, presto, we can sell a kit for €24.99. Now, not so much...And suddenly, someone at the newly-independent Ferrari decided that every individual model of a Ferrari car has to pay €5.00 for using the brand. If you're selling die-casts at $187.75 a pop that's bearable. If you're selling plastic kits at $18.75 a pop, that's all she wrote.We should all start invoicing Ferrari each time we build and display a model, on the basis that we're marketing their brand for them. Far from everyone can afford to buy a Ferrari. But if they are serious about capturing the hearts and minds of kids who might ONE DAY buy a Ferrari, then the F1 team ain't doing the job for them any more. Forward thinking-brands like Mclaren and Tesla will let a million models bloom, because in a decade's time, they'll be the influential brand, not Ferrari.bestest,M.
oldcarfan Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 To me, it's more of a curiosity as to why they are doing this. I haven't bought a Ferrari kit in years. Not since the early 2000s any way. The 1980s 288 GTO is still my favorite.
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