Positives to come from the Revell Deal?

[Dave Van]

That Monogram UP Big Boy loco was msrp around $10 but RoG was $30......for a tool long paid for....that 'fee' to import is to high for me......and do not see that going away./

[bobthehobbyguy]

2 hours ago, niteowl7710 said:

Well one thing is that Blitz didn't shut anything down, it would be the Bankruptcy Administration for what's left at Hobbico that pulled that move. I know it strikes everyone as harsh, and the way they handled it at least was, but they have one job - liquidate Hobbico and collect a huge fee. Part of that is shedding all the payroll of the employees.

This makes sense. The deal has not been finalized. Don't see how the group has the right to made this decision until things are final.  Once things are final we are going to hear something until then we will have to wait.

[highway]

5 minutes ago, Dave Van said:

That Monogram UP Big Boy loco was msrp around $10 but RoG was $30......for a tool long paid for....that 'fee' to import is to high for me......and do not see that going away./

I don't know where you get your information, just like stating in the other thread all new tooling is in 1/25th scale when there have been examples from more than just me disproving that, but that kit cost me under $20. As for the import costs, they don't bother me especially since my interests far exceed vehicles built in the 60s and 70s and sometimes my only choice to get newer modeled heavy trucks or even modern cars is to get foreign manufactured kits. Even in some subjects that there are US kit options for such as the Lamborghini Countach, sure I have Revell's latest reissue of the ex Monogram kit that is a decent kit, but compared to the Aoshima kit I recently purchased for $45 it makes the US kit look like junk.  

[Dave Van]

Gotta keep up.....I went into detail on the scale thing other tread. My info come from working, freelance, for Monogram, then  RM since 1980's as I had access to most NASCAR shops, I had credentials. Last project I did work on was 1957 Ford. 

That Big Boy for $20 was more than likely the marked down price.....I never saw it in a retailer for that....even close out at Hobby Lobby was $22.....thanks!!

[highway]

1 hour ago, Dave Van said:

Gotta keep up.....I went into detail on the scale thing other tread. My info come from working, freelance, for Monogram, then  RM since 1980's as I had access to most NASCAR shops, I had credentials. Last project I did work on was 1957 Ford. 

That Big Boy for $20 was more than likely the marked down price.....I never saw it in a retailer for that....even close out at Hobby Lobby was $22.....thanks!!

No, it wasn't a mark down and just because you never seen it for that doesn't mean anything to me but feel free not to believe I DID PAY UNDER $20 FOR IT IN A REAL HOBBY SHOP and not Hobby Lobby either just like I don't believe your stories of being an "expert" in NASCAR, working for the model firms, or being a financial analyst like I've seen you claim in the past few days.  

 

[Dave Van]

8 hours ago, highway said:

No, it wasn't a mark down and just because you never seen it for that doesn't mean anything to me but feel free not to believe I DID PAY UNDER $20 FOR IT IN A REAL HOBBY SHOP and not Hobby Lobby either just like I don't believe your stories of being an "expert" in NASCAR, working for the model firms, or being a financial analyst like I've seen you claim in the past few days.  

 

If I valued your opinion half as much as you value mine I'd prove my work in all fields....but I don't so no need. Thanks for playing at any rate!!

Ignore button pressed.....

 

Edited April 16, 2018 by Dave Van

[Xingu]

If you guys want to continue to argue, take it to PM or email, leave the rest of us out of it.

 

[Greg Myers]

[Rob Hall]

I have approx 400 Revell, Monogram, and Revell of Germany kits in my stash...(between the house and storage)...so I have enough for a while...will be interesting what gets released in the rest of 2018.   There were a couple of the announced future releases I'm interested in (the '69 Boss 302 and Ford GT LM). 

[Draggon]

I've been thinking this since I heard Revell had closed. If the Revell kits are produced in China, unless the new owners maintain operations in the U.S. would it not significantly add to the retail price having to ship the kits to Germany and then again to the U.S.?

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 minute ago, Draggon said:

I've been thinking this since I heard Revell had closed. If the Revell kits are produced in China, unless the new owners maintain operations in the U.S. would it not significantly add to the retail price having to ship the kits to Germany and then again to the U.S.?

RoG will almost certainly establish an American distribution point. In that case, Chinese-made product could still be shipped direct to the States.

[Bushpounder]

The 2018 Revell catalog says it all - re-intro, re-intro, re-intro, cooperation, cooperation, cooperation. The line is tired. Look at the gaps from when model production ceased on some items:  Look at dragsters! Nothing new in almost 20 years. Funny cars, pro-stockers, haven't been made in YEARS! New products are needed. Not new tooling, NEW products. The German business model is usually pretty good. I do not see them destroying molds and all these other knee-jerk reactions I am reading in forums. I don't see them making more Ferraris for the American markets. I see them embracing this new market (to them) and if they listen to the market, start new releases. Will they cost more? Probably, but maybe they need to, to advance the line. One reason - licensing issues. If they want to release a new Funny Car in John Force colors for example, they need to get his blessings, his sponsor's blessings, and on and on. That will cost Revell, so that will pass to the buyer. I'm ok with that. Lots of moving parts to moving forward. Being they seem to have been in trouble and for sale for a while, not much effort was put into them in the past few years. Let's see where it goes from here Looking at the 2018 catalog again, they were gone already to me.

Don

Edited April 16, 2018 by Bushpounder

[mikemodeler]

According to some, there is nothing good to come from the purchase of Revell by a German investment firm.

Patience is a valuable tool and should be used by us modelers until some firm, official news from the new owners is made public. Speculation and personal opinions only add to the confusion and misinformation.

[High octane]

I was able to talk to Ed Sexton, formerly of Revell USA until last Friday when the axe fell at the Milwaukee NNL # 26 last Saturday and it was mentioned that the Ford GT car should be out this coming August but only time will tell.

[niteowl7710]

1 hour ago, High octane said:

I was able to talk to Ed Sexton, formerly of Revell USA until last Friday when the axe fell at the Milwaukee NNL # 26 last Saturday and it was mentioned that the Ford GT car should be out this coming August but only time will tell.

The...new?...improved? Tower lists it as a Late September release with a price tag of $47.95 on the AG side of the ledger.

[Lovefordgalaxie]

On the kits prices, you guys are in paradize and don't know it. 

$35 for a kit?? I'll buy 10 a week.

I'm used to pay the equivalent of $55 for a kit, plus shipping.

The Moebius kits are in the $74 range. 

One can of Tamiya spray paint can cost 15 Dollars here. 

ALL kits and supplyes are imported from The U.S., Germany, or Japan. ALL of those products (with the exception of Tamiya) are made in China, and see a double overseas shipping to get here. 

If I lived in the U.S., I'would have model kits galore. 

If Revell closes their office in the U.S., you guys will start seeing prices jumping sky high. 

If that happens, My fear is that Round2 will kick the prices up too (to keep things even ya know), and that will turn the company into a kamikaze. 

Now, if that doesn't happen, and Round2 keeps the current prices, modelers will actually buy more from them, and if they are smart, we can actually see that new toolings, and subjects (not to mention some jobs for the U.S. workers) comming from... Round2!!

Imagine Round2 alone with affordable kits, with the sales lost by Revell, and with cash to spend on new stuff. 

[niteowl7710]

Well we in the States don't pay Customs on models regardless as to where they're manufactured. When the Yen gained a bunch of ground against the dollar in the Spring of '17 it was actually cheaper to buy Tamiya kits from my LHS than it was to direct import them via HLJ.

The same thing goes for RevellAG kits. I'm not sure where you people are regularly getting hosed at, but I haven't paid more than $28 for any automotive kit going back to the SLS AMG kit which I think was $33 out of my Brick & Mortar LHS.

Frankly if the U.S. kits were "price matched" up $5 to around $30-$33 they could put a little more R&D into them and stop gaffing the proportions. 

Belkits has quietly proven you can charge upwards of $60 for a model if you make a good kit of something people want. I see a lot of people - all over the Interwebs - acting like Revell hasn't made any new xyz or too many abcs, out of some malice rather than the budgetary reality they won't pay the freight. Then out of the otherside of their keyboard demand to know "Where will we get our cheap kits at?"

 

Edited April 17, 2018 by niteowl7710

[Force]

15 hours ago, Bushpounder said:

Look at the gaps from when model production ceased on some items:  Look at dragsters! Nothing new in almost 20 years. Funny cars, pro-stockers, haven't been made in YEARS!

Don

Revell-Monogram didn't hit the market at the best time with the Nitro drag racing kits as they evolved dramatically from in the mid 80's when they issued the first FC and TF kits until the last issues they did in 2002.
Revell did not keep up with the evolution as it was faster than they managed to do updates and the last issues of the TF dragster from 2002 and the FC from 1997-98 wasn't really accurate to what they ran at the time, if they had done all the necessary updates back then at least the TF kit would be pretty much up to date even now 16 years later with a couple of small things added
The Pro Stockers was a bit easier as they didn't change that much and they kept up pretty good over the years until they stopped doing them.

So a new Top Fuel Dragster kit wouldn't be that hard to do from the last version of the tooling, some small updating to the chassis, new puke can, a belly pan, update the engine to todays specs with a setback blower, new fuel pumps and fuel systems, MSD Pro Mag 44 magnetos new valve covers with spark plug covers, new wings (one piece front and three element rear), new wheels, a head shield for the roll cage and maybe a DSR canopy as an option. 
The Funny Car kits are pretty much the same, some updating to the engine like on the TF, new oil and fuel tank, new puke can and belly pan, update the chassis and new bodys...and of course wheels as they haven't been good since the Weld Pro Star wheels in some of the Olds Funny Car kits, after that they did the disaster by combining the nice Weld Pro Stars they had with Center Line Convo Pro rims...not that good of a result.
The Pro Stockers are another thing, I believe they have to be totally redone with all new tooling to do an accurate Pro Stock kit.

Revell just issued new tooling full detail NASCAR kits last year and those haven't been around that much lately either, but now with the new ownership we have to wait and see what will happen.

Edited April 17, 2018 by Force

[mikemopar70]

I'm sorry for the Revell employess who lost their jobs with the deal, best wishes to all of them!

For us modelers, i think it will help developing new products, because Hobbico's Financial situation refraint Revell to get budget for developpement, i'm pretty sure of that!

 I don't think the new owner spent over 3 millions $$$ to acquire the company, only to close it like this!

And i think Revell doesn't tool enough of what we can affordly drive today, you want to hook yougnsters, bring them a model of the car they own. or at least can afford!! And not only Honda Civics, there's a lot of domestic cars that have never been tooled, not to forget all the more recent pickups that are so popular!  

I remember all of the annuals in the past, Amc Pacers, Plymouth Dusters, Pontiac Grand Prix, Chevrolet Chevette and so on...

I never understood why Revell didn't brougt us the Hellcat Challenger, or the Z-28 Camaro, they already have the tooling base for these and they are really popular!

I live in Quebec, Canada and i can tell you that the model car hobby here is better now than it was even 25 years ago!!! lots of younger modelers 20-30 years old, boys and girls, have joined the family, thank's to Facebook!! And it's still growing!!

I don't think this hobby is dying, it only need a bit of refresh! Of course, bring us accurate models of the cars we want, never repeat the 1990 Mustang mistake for example, tool them right before releasing! 

I have a stash of over 700 unbuilt kits, but being excited about new releases to come, is part of the motivation to build for me, keep them coming, i'm gonna keep buying them!!

Let's see what will happen next!   

 

[youpey]

i feel horrible for the people that lost their jobs in this. i would never wish that on anyone, and i hope they have a quick time in finding something even better.

i speak about revell, but in reality there are quite a lot of other modelling companies that have this issue as well

with that being said, hopefully something changes at revell with the quality of their models. They release these old molds at a premium price, and i for one am quite sick of paying for outdated and inferior products. 

as a modeler i am super happy to have a specific car that i very much wanted to build, but I have overlooked or tried to correct the mistakes in the mold or in the casting of it, so i could build that particular car. in reality though, we are paying 2x, 3x,4x,10x or more for the same model 10 or 15 years ago or longer. then you look at companies like tamiya, where you know 99% of the models will not have fitment issues, or bad warping issues and will build up to a nice looking model with little skill needed. i have had revell kits that have such poor fitting pieces, that i have had to put it in boiling water to reshape. in reality, i should have returned that model to the store and not given my money to revell. 

As a modeler for over 30 years, i should have said no to buying these inferior products a long time ago.

with that said, bring on the next rebox of a car/truck that i really want to build and i will give you my money, regardless of how poor the quality it because everyone knows that i will. 

 

[Sixx]

I just hope Revell doesn't disappear, coz in my opinion, they have produced my favorite kits...Who else puts out cars & trucks from the 30's thru the 60's...American cars? Yes, there are others...AMT, & Moebius...probably more, those two popped in my head right now, not a fan of most foreign cars, my display cases are full of Detroit iron! My all time faves are the 41 Willys Gasser kits...49 Merc, 50 Olds, 57 Chevy 150, 55 Bel Aire, the whole series of the 32 Ford's and now the 29/30 Ford kits! 

Don't wanna forget who did the best drag kits...or a few pro-mods! Does anybody think any foreign company would do a top fuel dragster? I dunno, I think it sucks what happened, people lost their jobs, might lose an awesome kit manufacturer...but I'm just venting, won't know anything till the dust settles...

[Mr. Metallic]

first, let me say I'm sorry for the Revell employees that did lose their jobs.

Now, here's a couple thoughts on statements made here. I'm not going to speculate at all about what could happen because that's not helpful to anyone at this early juncture. I'll simplytry to clear up some of the muddy thoughts that have been presented here so far. disclaimer- I am no expert.

1) Yes, RoG kits that are imported into the US are more expensive. However, when you look at RoG tooled kits that are reboxed and sold in the US they are comparably priced to other items in the Revell line.

2) Many of the new tools produced by RoG in the last 5-10 years have been lauded as Tamiya-like in quality, fit and accuracy. Imagine if they brought those standards to new subjects of US vehicles.

[lysleder]

Positives to come from all of this?

Good predictions are hard to make, and especially about the future  -  I'll stay out of that for now.

If it were to happen that the new Revell (GmbH) does not serve the American marketplace well, and there are glaring fields of high demand left untended. Then that may give Moebius, Galaxie, Pegasus and whomever space to grow and prosper.   Just a thought..  

[Matt T.]

1 hour ago, Mr. Metallic said:

Many of the new tools produced by RoG in the last 5-10 years have been lauded as Tamiya-like in quality, fit and accuracy. Imagine if they brought those standards to new subjects of US vehicles.

Bingo. New Revell kits will not have glaring proportional issues. Quality will improve. Those are my predictions. 

[aurfalien]

Hi,

Well, whats been said here about Ferrari kits for sure.  Wouldn't that SWB release be awesome!!!

I'm excited and hope it's not premature.