OMG !!!

[Mike 1017]

I was pondering a trade for a Tamiya DBS Aston Martin. Much to my surprise the lowest price that I could find is $ 160.54 Highest $318.25 free shipping from Japan. I have nothing even close to in my stash to make a reasonable offer.

Why are these kits so,so expensive?

Mike

Edited 14 hours ago by Mike 1017
wrong word

[Bainford]

I believe you are experiencing Murphy's 1st Law of Model Kit Purchasing; The availability of good deals on OOP kits is inversely proportional to your desire to have the kit. Curiously, this occurs for each of us individually. I believe this supports the 'many universes theory' of quantum physics. 

Edited August 17 by Bainford

[sidcharles]

wait until you price the "detail-up" kit & aftermarket wheels 'n' tires.

[meechum68]

So I am in the middle of a few orders from Japan, and I have 1 maybe 2 that is gonna get hit with the tarrif junk.... so im apprehensive on anymore orders to my shops in Japan I have bought from.  (Keeping in mind, I am buy via Amazon, so not sure if I will have to deal with the tarrif junk)  

So if things go that tariff way, I will have to buy a few of the rarer import kits local and eat a higher cost vs the lower cost I am paying now.  

I hope you can find that kit at a great price though!  

[Ace-Garageguy]

11 hours ago, Mike 1017 said:

Why are these kits so,so expensive?

Because you want one.

[meechum68]

4 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Because you want one.

^^^ He's not wrong!

 

 

[Chris V]

Before you get too shocked by the price of the Ebay listings currently available, you should always make sure to look up the previous auction results (filter the search results to see ended/sold listings). This will usually give you a much more accurate idea of the approximate market value and rarity of the model. 
Some sellers simply keep re-listing the same kits over and over at some ridiculous “Buy it now”-price in hope that an unexperienced buyer will eventually pay the asking price.

Having said that, the prices of even fairly common and recent kits can sometimes skyrocket, once they’re out of production - As I think many of us have found out the hard way…

 

 

[rattle can man]

To sellers on that auction site, anything OOP is rare and expensive. Just be patient and someone will post one at a more reasonable price.

[Mike 1017]

17 hours ago, sidcharles said:

wait until you price the "detail-up" kit & aftermarket wheels 'n' tires.

I looked at them $100.00 and over

[sidcharles]

hah! a mere pittance.

[Xingu]

Look for the Doyusha kit. It is a simple curbside but it might work for you.

[niteowl7710]

On 8/20/2025 at 6:17 PM, Xingu said:

Look for the Doyusha kit. It is a simple curbside but it might work for you.

I presume he means DBS, the 2000s era Aston. Tamiya didn't do a DB5. 

More over for everyone else, the kit is so expensive because it was already nearly a $100 kit in the U.S. when it was new. It was during the era when Tamiya was pricing their kits here nearly 100% above the in-country price. The kit is OOP, and with the significant expense of the Aston Martin licensing it's almost assuredly one of the Tamiya kits that will never be reissued again. 

[Brudda]

I was taught the laws of buying kits from a fellow modeler. Be patient. Go to IPMS and NNL events . There will be a swap meet there. Sometimes you find great deals and sometimes some guys are very proud of their stuff. I only buy the things I like and most of the time I will find it cheap. But it takes patience. I followed a mpc Toyota 2000 GT for about a year and a half. It started out at $120 but a year later I bought it for $40.  Same vendor. I just bought some Jo-Han kits for $20 each at the latest swap meet. The guy was not a modeler and just wanted to unload them. So if your patient sometimes you can get that killer deal.  My buddy Mark has deep pockets and buys model factory hiro kits new , Like 6 at a time. He waits for a year then unloads them when they are out of production. A $600 kit for example he will sell for $1000 up, depends on the market. Most of the time he makes a lot on three kits and the rest are free. That’s what I like because he will give me a spare kit.( like a 1/12 Daytona coupe I recently received) But as Ace said (because you want it.)  Just an example of supply and demand. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

5 minutes ago, Brudda said:

 ...I only buy the things I like and most of the time I will find it cheap. But it takes patience...

That's me.

I just laugh at the prices some of these folks are asking, like they think they'll be as rich as Bezos after selling 20 kits.

Yes, patience, grasshopper.

 

[Brudda]

Yup patience is the answer. Another story, I was at the Fremont IPMS event a few years ago and there was the Buick grand national kit from monogram. It was is a big box with other kits. A big $5 price tag on the Buick. At 10 am. Well my buddy told me to wait until 4. So I did. A chance because it might sell. Well it did not and I walked by at 4:15 and the seller said ,( I need to sell the Buick and I do it want to take this big box of models home) so I said how much? He said ($20 for the whole box of kits), could not pull $20 out fast enough. I had 15 kits plus my grand national Buick. I traded them away for the things I wanted. I traded  6 kits for a 1/32 trumpeter me109 kit. I sold that kit for $60. And the other kits I traded , some on this site. Soooo you can come out ahead. With patience. 

[sidcharles]

but i want it NOW!!!

[stitchdup]

Just now, sidcharles said:

but i want it NOW!!!

the price just doubled! and if you do buy it, 2 more will pop up with a buy it now of less than the original sales price. 

thats how i ended up with a kit that cost more than many cars I've bought but how many 1/24 vw scirocco kits were made? I would be annoyed but it has my 1/24 vw kits almost complete, and at the time i was earning good money. I'm still kicking myself for not buying the cheap ones too 

[Chris V]

It's a gamble when to buy and when to wait - especially in those cases where licensing issues are effectively prohibiting any future reissues of even fairly recent kits. I've often kicked myself for passing on good deals in the past, and regretted spending fortunes on kits I've later been able to pick up for a song and a dance.

I know it's been discussed elsewhere on this forum, but an explosive increase in the cost of licensing is the reason why no Ferrari kits have been issued in recent years. It felt like an absolute steal when I was able to pick up a Hasegawa 1958 Ferrari Testa Rossa for the equivalent of $ 100 a few months ago...

[Mike 1017]

16 hours ago, niteowl7710 said:

I presume he means DBS, the 2000s era Aston. Tamiya didn't do a DB5. 

More over for everyone else, the kit is so expensive because it was already nearly a $100 kit in the U.S. when it was new. It was during the era when Tamiya was pricing their kits here nearly 100% above the in-country price. The kit is OOP, and with the significant expense of the Aston Martin licensing it's almost assuredly one of the Tamiya kits that will never be reissued again. 

You are right I meant the DBS. I am going to edit now

[Bugatti Fan]

It it ain't tariffs or inflated EBay seller's prices the car company bean counters will get you with their licencing fees on kits.   LOL.

I'm not desperate enough to pay well over the odds for any kit.        Plenty of alternatives out there to build.

[catpack68]

Good luck on finding one for good price.I’ve had two in the last several years and I paid less than $80 each for both. I got lucky.I sold the first one for $130 because a fellow model had to have it.I plan on building the last one I have.

Edited 11 hours ago by catpack68

[Brudda]

I love the ( I want it now guys!) I do not wheel and deal much in this hobby but when I see a deal I do go for it. Like yesterday I bought a Jo- Han collection of maybe 150 models. I had a friend pick them up in a truck, The guy had them for years and his new bride said get rid of them or I’ll throw them out. Oh they were $5 each. With just one call I sold them to a guy in the Bay Area. $30 each. Even that’s a deal. But if you play it right, this hobby can be just about free. My wife loves it because I used to vintage race my 66 Shelby and that was $3000 to $5000 a weekend. Now I still have nice cars but they cost. I learned how to be patient and buy right from a fellow modeler. My modeling money (as I call it) is  around a $1000 in the black. This is a great hobby. 

[sidcharles]

the new bride was probably not selected for her appreciation of scale plastic assembly kits.

[SpeedAndViolence]

3 hours ago, Brudda said:

Yesterday I bought a Jo- Han collection of maybe 150 models. I had a friend pick them up in a truck, The guy had them for years and his new bride said get rid of them or I’ll throw them out. 

Sounds like the beginning of the most awesome display of a soul crushing, one-sided relationship.