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Posted

Yeah, kind of weird. Original kits aren’t even what I would call rare or valuable. 
Maybe they found a crate of old kits that never made it to market...

Posted
10 hours ago, Modelbuilder Mark said:

Wow, that is a VERY limited run. Even if the profit was $15 a kit for Round2, that is only $7500.

Here's the info from the website. but that HAS to be a typo. Kit runs cost way more than that!

A sweet ’n’ lowdown show stopper. Originally custom built for the Firestone Super Stones sweepstakes.
 

KIT FEATURES:

• 1/25 Scale, skill 2, paint and cement required
• Loaded with custom options
• New pad printed Firestone Super Sports tires
• New/large chrome vector wheels
• Expanded decal sheet with colorful options
• Vintage style packaging
 Limited to only 500 kits!
 Only available at Auto World Store!

Posted
3 minutes ago, Dave Darby said:

Here's the info from the website. but that HAS to be a typo. Kit runs cost way more than that!

A sweet ’n’ lowdown show stopper. Originally custom built for the Firestone Super Stones sweepstakes.
 

KIT FEATURES:

• 1/25 Scale, skill 2, paint and cement required
• Loaded with custom options
• New pad printed Firestone Super Sports tires
• New/large chrome vector wheels
• Expanded decal sheet with colorful options
• Vintage style packaging
 Limited to only 500 kits!
 Only available at Auto World Store!

I agree, or MAYBE they mean that Autoworld is only getting 500 kits.....not a run of 500.

Posted
3 minutes ago, Modelbuilder Mark said:

I agree, or MAYBE they mean that Autoworld is only getting 500 kits.....not a run of 500.

Well it does say "(Auto World Exclusive)"

Posted (edited)

Neat..never had this Courier variation.   AW has done these AW exclusives before, there was some strange dragster a year or two ago IIRC, and one of the shortened Beetles...

Edited by Rob Hall
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Dave Darby said:

Well it does say "(Auto World Exclusive)"

True, (I forgot about the "only available at Autoworld" statement) then that would mean the profit for Autoworld would shrink even more. What would they as a retailer make, $10 a kit? But even at that, it could be released separately, and the only thing exclusive to Autoworld would be the Stones decals. Ultimately, my point was that if the 500 is not a typo, it is hard to imagine how they could justify the run. Almost like they found a stack that had been shot, and made a deal to decal/box them, so they did not really have a production run IF the 500 exclusive is accurate. It would be nice if Round2 had someone on these forums that could/would actually answer questions like these.  I mean, it has been discussed for YEARS that a production run needs several thousand kits to make it worth the run. 

Edited by Modelbuilder Mark
Posted (edited)

I someone privately doing this issue like Model King does?  500 is a very small amount.

 

Edited by GMP440
Posted

Well guys keep in mind they're reissuing the Ford Courier in it's "Minivan" version with I guess what one would consider it's "fleetside" bed as a normal "new" kit.  So while you have the tooling up and running, it's effectively no cost to toss the stepside bed insert in and run off 500 of them in that tooling configuration.  The main costs would be the box, decals, and new wheel tooling - presuming they're brand new-new, and it isn't borrowing the Vector wheels from something else.

Posted (edited)
9 minutes ago, niteowl7710 said:

Well guys keep in mind they're reissuing the Ford Courier in it's "Minivan" version with I guess what one would consider it's "fleetside" bed as a normal "new" kit.  So while you have the tooling up and running, it's effectively no cost to toss the stepside bed insert in and run off 500 of them in that tooling configuration.  The main costs would be the box, decals, and new wheel tooling - presuming they're brand new-new, and it isn't borrowing the Vector wheels from something else.

This is what I was talking about above. Only the variant is exclusive, but the kit as a whole is getting another run. Still a very thin margin tho for 500 kits, unless the goal is the hope that each buyer will throw a few more things in the cart. 

Edited by Modelbuilder Mark
Posted
4 hours ago, Modelbuilder Mark said:

This is what I was talking about above. Only the variant is exclusive, but the kit as a whole is getting another run. Still a very thin margin tho for 500 kits, unless the goal is the hope that each buyer will throw a few more things in the cart. 

Probably a loss leader to get people to go to AW store, hoping they become regulars 

Posted
19 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

Probably a loss leader to get people to go to AW store, hoping they become regulars 

That is my guess. I would like the truck in fleetside, and have no concern for the Stones decals. 

 

Posted

I just ordered and paid for one. I bought a new Courier in 1978. Yellow long bed with lift kit and larger tires and custom paint. What an under powered pick up. At the time I bought it I did not realize it was a Mazda.

Posted
6 minutes ago, cobraman said:

I just ordered and paid for one. I bought a new Courier in 1978. 

I bought five of them!  Back then I was working for a large home developer and I got to buy all the vehicles. This was the home warranty department fleet.

Posted
5 hours ago, Modelbuilder Mark said:

This is what I was talking about above. Only the variant is exclusive, but the kit as a whole is getting another run. Still a very thin margin tho for 500 kits, unless the goal is the hope that each buyer will throw a few more things in the cart. 

But AutoWorld is owned by Round2, it's their own in-house distribution, so they're not selling them at wholesale, and if you're one of the 500 people who buy one you're paying the entire $32.99 + shipping.

Those Minivan Couriers are more than likely wholesaling from Round2 to first level distributors (think Stevens, Horizon, Hobbytyme, Hobby Lobby, etc) for around $17 or so, and then you as an end user pay for the middle men to mark up. 

Posted
20 hours ago, niteowl7710 said:

But AutoWorld is owned by Round2, it's their own in-house distribution, so they're not selling them at wholesale, and if you're one of the 500 people who buy one you're paying the entire $32.99 + shipping.

Those Minivan Couriers are more than likely wholesaling from Round2 to first level distributors (think Stevens, Horizon, Hobbytyme, Hobby Lobby, etc) for around $17 or so, and then you as an end user pay for the middle men to mark up. 

Thanks for letting me know that, I never paid attention to the fact that Round2 owned Autoworld, never bought from the website.

While that certainly does improve the profit margin, there is still a cost to set up the production run, and I still believe they are counting on those buyers to buy other stuff at the same time. I know when I order something on line, I hate buying one item for the shipping, so I typically buy a bunch of stuff at once to offset that shipping. The limited run acts as an enticement to "act now" as it were, for folks such as myself that might otherwise hold off. 

I just want them to offer more tire parts packs for the other versions of tampo printed tires they have been releasing. 

Posted
On 11/23/2020 at 12:14 PM, Rob Hall said:

Neat..never had this Courier variation.   AW has done these AW exclusives before, there was some strange dragster a year or two ago IIRC, and one of the shortened Beetles...

I bought a couple of the strange dragster.. kind of a stretched Barracuda if memory serves me, in a special plastic color.. buried somewhere in my model warehouse!

Posted
On November 23, 2020 at 6:54 PM, Rob Hall said:

There was a 4x4 version kitted, That would be nice to see reissued.  The one I built as a kid was the Monroe long bed fleetside 2wd. 

I have the "Bush Baby" still sealed along with the "Monroe Handler" (open) and the last version. So, I have plenty of Couriers to build. IIRC, the Monroe Handler is a long style side bed. I was surprised that it's a 2wd instead of a 4wd

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