Round 2 April 2025

[Tabbysdaddy]

 

 

[RSchnell]

If I had a shot everytime he said "jump in" I'd be fitshafed right now. LOL. In all seriousness, looks like my wallet is safe yet again!

[lordairgtar]

Since I would have issues with painting the red trim on a bat mobile, I'm happy the pre finished version is coming and my wifey will make good use of the Herby VW

[LennyB]

Best thing here is the water slide decals for Herbie.  The original stickers never went on well.  
 

[Khils]

🥱

   ...zzzzzzzzz

[Radretireddad]

Have patience dear brethren. According to what we heard at DAAM there’s more new stuff moving through the pipeline.

[blubaja]

Those 1/24 look terrrrrrible. I think that saleen in an old motormax tool. 

[slusher]

4 hours ago, lordairgtar said:

Since I would have issues with painting the red trim on a bat mobile, I'm happy the pre finished version is coming and my wifey will make good use of the Herby VW

I want Herbie but won’t mind a bit to build a snap and prepainted kit once in a while myself. I hope Batman makes it to Hobby Lobby..

[stavanzer]

A Swing & A Miss , for me.

The Herbie is very nice, but without the optional VW parts that I know are in the tooling it's not worth buying, even a the Hobby Lobby 40% off.

And that is provided I ever see those kits at H.L.

I know the Disney Lic probably plays a part in it being a Single Option kit, but I am not willing to spend my money on single build option kits any more. The Green Hornet was the last one of those.

I'll hold out for what is behind Door #2, Next Quarter.

[Chris in Berwyn]

4 hours ago, Radretireddad said:

Have patience dear brethren. According to what we heard at DAAM there’s more new stuff moving through the pipeline.

The new 54 percent tariff on goods coming from China will make kits super pricey.  I wonder if R2 will hold off on development for a while as a result.  I also wonder if there is enough kit tooling expertise in US to bring production here.  I believe Salvinos designs and molds kits in the US. 

[Robberbaron]

3 hours ago, blubaja said:

Those 1/24 look terrrrrrible. I think that saleen in an old motormax tool. 

I believe every one of those is a MotorMax origin.

Not sure what's going on here, is Round 2 just getting these private labeled from the same manufacturer as MotorMax or was there some kind of purchase of the brand?

[niteowl7710]

8 hours ago, Chris in Berwyn said:

The new 54 percent tariff on goods coming from China will make kits super pricey.  I wonder if R2 will hold off on development for a while as a result.  I also wonder if there is enough kit tooling expertise in US to bring production here.  I believe Salvinos designs and molds kits in the US. 

Designs and injects...but the tooling itself is done in China.

[Mr. Metallic]

14 hours ago, Chris in Berwyn said:

The new 54 percent tariff on goods coming from China will make kits super pricey.  I wonder if R2 will hold off on development for a while as a result.  I also wonder if there is enough kit tooling expertise in US to bring production here.  I believe Salvinos designs and molds kits in the US. 

There's plenty of people and equipment in the US to support injection molding. There is tons of plastic injection molding being done in the US. I speak from experience. The thing is will it be any cheaper than the imported product for our hobby once you factor in the higher labor costs here?

[mikos]

2 hours ago, Mr. Metallic said:

There's plenty of people and equipment in the US to support injection molding. There is tons of plastic injection molding being done in the US. I speak from experience. The thing is will it be any cheaper than the imported product for our hobby once you factor in the higher labor costs here?

The real question is will bringing back the tooling and equipment back to the states and having U.S. labor working at a U.S. factory making the product be as profitable for the company.  That answer would probably be a big no.  The supply chains from China have been fully matured and the factories over there are in full production with cheap labor.  Like the tariffs many think will encourage more production in the U.S., that ship has sailed 45 years ago.  We’re are a service based economy now.  And, I’m afraid that if we get too belligerent with China, they could hold the tooling hostage or do some other retaliatory response and make it difficult, if not impossible, to take the tooling out of the country and have it produced somewhere else. 
 

Edited.

Edited April 3 by mikos

[Mr. Metallic]

21 minutes ago, mikos said:

.  And, I’m afraid that if we get too belligerent with China, they could hold the tooling hostage or do some other retaliatory response and make it difficult, if not impossible, to take the tooling out of the country and have it produced somewhere else. 

Once tooling is in China, it doesn't leave. This has been a "policy" for at least a couple decades now. So anything that is there will remain there, regardless of the tariff situation. 

But we should probably get back on topic so it that this doesn't get political and locked down.

[Perspect Scale Modelworks]

Disappointing. I find it interesting how AW gets a lot of cool stuff, so it's not a licensing issue. I guess they don't think they would sell many of those subjects in kit form 🫤.

[slusher]

On 4/2/2025 at 9:53 PM, stavanzer said:

A Swing & A Miss , for me.

The Herbie is very nice, but without the optional VW parts that I know are in the tooling it's not worth buying, even a the Hobby Lobby 40% off.

And that is provided I ever see those kits at H.L.

I know the Disney Lic probably plays a part in it being a Single Option kit, but I am not willing to spend my money on single build option kits any more. The Green Hornet was the last one of those.

I'll hold out for what is behind Door #2, Next Quarter.

I wonder when around 2 is going to put out some kits ,  the first quarter has been all about some diecast. They have some kits they could be putting out.

[Ragtop Man]

Just to be clear, once tooling goes to China, it stays in China.  Any enterprise undertaken in China is done in parntership with an enterprise connected to their gubbmint. They are not the most open minded people in the world for such things. 

For the future of the hobby, hope that cooler heads prevail.  I don't know all the economics of what cost would get assesed, but I don't foresee a 54% increase in the retail price - but it would sting, it would slow sales and it would definitely cause the chains to revisit a lot of what they keep on the shelves. 

 

[niteowl7710]

1 hour ago, Ragtop Man said:

Just to be clear, once tooling goes to China, it stays in China.  Any enterprise undertaken in China is done in parntership with an enterprise connected to their gubbmint. They are not the most open minded people in the world for such things. 

For the future of the hobby, hope that cooler heads prevail.  I don't know all the economics of what cost would get assesed, but I don't foresee a 54% increase in the retail price - but it would sting, it would slow sales and it would definitely cause the chains to revisit a lot of what they keep on the shelves. If a kit costs $8 to manufacture and they charge $14 wholesale that's a 57% margin. To maintain that ratio with a 

 

54% seems like a bargain given it's now 125%. Given there was previously 0% tariff on toys (which is where models fall as far as USCBP is concerned), it's a straight doubling of the production cost rather than an incremental fraction. There's a profit ratio built in there between what it costs them and what they sell at wholesale. The tariff would be on that wholesale value and that price would have to be adjusted in whatever way is needed to maintain that original profit ratio. If a kit costs $8 to make and is then sold wholesale at $14 that's a 57% margin. To maintain that ratio with a 125% tariff the production cost increases to $18 and the margin takes the wholesale to almost $29. Which puts the MSRP around $60 and shelf price around $45.

Revell might be able to slide around all of that by shipping their kits piece meal and then boxing them in Germany and claiming thats their country of origin. But Round2 & Moebius are staring down the barrel of a policy disaster, to say nothing of the actual importers of Chinese military based stuff (Meng, Border, et al). We're already seeing pre-orders being canceled on upcoming items at places like Squadron.

[stitchdup]

guys, take it back to the releases please. I am sure round 2 et al. will let us know whats happening when they know. i suspect the delays are due to the tariffs as the stuff that was already on the boats jumped in price after leaving china so those will show the new prices first. nobody wants the price to change after delivery like the stuff on boats. companies are going to delay shipments until its settled again.

[stavanzer]

Just now, stitchdup said:

guys, take it back to the releases please. I am sure round 2 et al. will let us know whats happening when they know. i suspect the delays are due to the tariffs as the stuff that was already on the boats jumped in price after leaving china so those will show the new prices first. nobody wants the price to change after delivery like the stuff on boats. companies are going to delay shipments until its settled again.

Yes, please stop with the Tariff worries.

The story changes every day, sometimes every 12 hours. By the time somebody shares an opinion on the "Tariffs" there is a 50% chance that the whole story has changed.

Pre-Panicking before we see what is actually changing does nobody any good, least of all Modelers who just want to purchase kits.

[niteowl7710]

5 minutes ago, stitchdup said:

guys, take it back to the releases please. I am sure round 2 et al. will let us know whats happening when they know. i suspect the delays are due to the tariffs as the stuff that was already on the boats jumped in price after leaving china so those will show the new prices first. nobody wants the price to change after delivery like the stuff on boats. companies are going to delay shipments until its settled again.

Tariff changes don't apply to items shipped prior to the tariff going into affect. I don't want to parry with a mod, but don't try to correct people if you don't understand how the process works.

Reference - Working for nearly 30 years in International Logistics specializing in Air & Sea Cargo, Cross-Border Automotive Parts Movements between Canada/US/Mexico including In-Bond Trans-U.S. and  International Postal shipments.

[niteowl7710]

11 minutes ago, stavanzer said:

Yes, please stop with the Tariff worries.

The story changes every day, sometimes every 12 hours. By the time somebody shares an opinion on the "Tariffs" there is a 50% chance that the whole story has changed.

Pre-Panicking before we see what is actually changing does nobody any good, least of all Modelers who just want to purchase kits.

It's not pre-panicking the 125% tariff is in effect as of 12:01am yesterday. I hope someone comes to their senses, but to be fair China isn't doing anything to help in this International Game of Chicken we've been invited to be unwilling participants in...

I cede the floor, please go back to discussing these two thrilling SnapTite kits that have been around for 20+ years and are available second hand in plentiful quantities at much lower prices than these new boxings.

[Volzfan59]

I’m just not going to stress over these tariffs. 70+ countries are lining up to renegotiate their deals, communist China will fall in line or be on the outside looking in.

just like my reply on a bass fishing forum, that’s my other vice. I’ve got enough lures, soft plastics, terminal tackle, rods and reels to last me the rest of my life. At the rate that I build model kits, got enough in the stash to last a couple of years. If I need to replace something, or something new comes out that I want, I’ll get it.

[Zen]

Hmmm...... wonder what Round 2 is doing in April?