Is Revell watching this thread, too???

[Buildsince93]

1. As I believe I mentioned earlier in this thread, Revell probably won't be doing any kits of new pickups anytime soon because the last time it did (the previous generation Silverado and F-150), it was burned by poor sales. The Lightning version of the F-150 apparently sold well enough for Revell to reissue it (it's still in their product line), but the plain-Jane F-150 kit was a sales dog. Same deal, pretty much, with the Silverado, which was reissued, but only in street-machine form. Like I said, never say never. But, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for an announcement.

ok I agree with you to a point, but that was 12 years ago trucks were not the popular vehicles that they've become in the last few years

if the fact that they can make 3 cars out of an olds a chevy and Pontiac whatever without any big money spent holds true than why wouldn't it for the trucks that they HAVE the tooling for?

[Buildsince93]

 Revell probably won't be doing any kits of new pickups anytime soon because the last time it did  it was burned by poor sales. 

Not sure I agree with that. From my vantage point, trucks have always been popular, both in 1:1 and in scale. Could be why Revell has a kit line that's simply called "Trucks."

ok so which is it? Either trucks are popular or they aren't? I'm not trying to start a fight and this is said with no attitude toward you, but seriously anybody could clearly see that since 99 when they last made a new truck kit trucks have become far more popular with the general public than they were from 99 back, from my vantage point (working in the auto industry) it's plain to see that there are way more trucks suv's and these crossover things than there ever was on the road pre 99.

I just think it's a waste to not even explore this territory considering there's more truck options now than ever.

The kits I listed would not even be a "new tooling" it would simply be a refresh of tooling they already own

if they can have 80 different mustang kits why can't they do even one truck?

Again this is said with no attitude toward you or anyone else just my observation

whether revell or anybody else does a truck kit is whatever it won't stop me from building and simply put there's way more important things to worry about than arguing with someone I don't know over this

Dante

Edited September 23, 2009 by DanteJayG

[Luc Janssens]

Maybe Revell could market those two as "senior citizen specials," and run ads for them in AARP magazine! Or, they could include "Early Bird Special" coupons with every kit! ;)

I think you're on to something...I'm thinking easy snap assembly and molded in color (but no stickers) ....hmm seems the (model car) hobby's gone full circle now, cuz it started out with unassembled promo's....

[charlie8575]

now imagine too that an agreement was made with Walmart to again stock Revell and AMT kits and that truck kit was there for purchase. here you have loyal shoppers who previously bought model kits and knew what they cost before in Walmart stores. they find the truck kit, say a '09 F-series and are immediately excited! man this kit has everything, i can build a lowrider, a lifted 4x4 and Pappy's work truck, all in one box. then he sees the price as marked even at a discounted Walmart price point of $32 and promptly put's it right back on the shelf where he found it. his kid gets an overpriced box of Lego's and he settles for a current issue of 4-Wheel and Off Road magazine and a grape soda. 6 months later the kit is in the clearance section marked down and Walmart again has opted out of model kits sales. by now it's dropped in price enough that the previously mentioned shopper can justify buying it, but it's too late. slow sales of the kit have already caused Revell to discontinue it from the catalog and next years line-up.

Dave

You've made a very interesting point, Dave, and a very valid one. The price point has gotten out of perspective, and not just for models, but a lot of products.

A lot of the problem is that too much focus is being placed on immediate profit, rather than long-term profits and growth; pricing like that, even allowing for the costs of materials, extortion from Ford (in your example,) and the product liability insurance companies, and so forth, a kit of moderate complexity wouldn't cost more than about $7 to make, once you factor in packaging, shipping, and additional costs of the tool and design.

Assuming a 40% margin on each kit, that's $2.80, so the manufacturer would sell to a wholesaler or mass-marketer at $9.80. From there:

1. The wholesaler will mark-up about 40% also, or, $3.92, making the cost to the hobby shop $13.72. This would also be the approximate cost that Wal-Mart would charge. Their volume has them matching (or in come cases, undercutting,) the wholesalers for the hobby industry. This predatory pricing is what has caused a tremendous amount of trouble, but that's another rant and rave for another day.

2. From there, the hobby shop will generally add about 40%. We'll figure 40% to keep the example consistent and that that's also about the right mark-up. $13.72 will result in a mark-up of $5.49, with a retail of $18.98.

Now, if the profit margins were all cut in half, this would be the resulting prices:

Cost: $7.00 (We'll assume for this example that's the fixed, sunk costs, in other words, they'll stay this and be stable.)

Let Mk1 be the manufacturer's markup

Mk1=($7.00)(0.20)=$1.40

$7.00+$1.40=$8.40.

Let Mk2 be the markup the wholesaler, discount store or mass merchandiser charges, and is built from the manufacturer-direct price.

Mk2=($8.40)(0.20)=$1.68

$8.40+$1.68=$10.08

Let Mk3 be the markup the hobby shop charges to the customer.

Mk3=($10.08)(0.20)=$2.02

$10.08+$2.02= $12.10

By cutting the profit by 20%, you decrease price to the consumer by roughly a third. Economic theory suggests that sales will increase roughly by the amount of the price decrease. Alhough less profit will be made on each individual sale, sales will increase, thus having little or no actual effect on the net profit.

As we've seen, especially with Revell's announcment when it was bought up by Hobbico and began profiteering by increasing its wholesale price (Mk1 in my example,) by a whopping forty percent, sales, while brisk for many of the products, which are quite good, are still down, partially because of the economy, partially by Hobbico's ridiculous restrictions on distribution, which tend to artifically inflate prices, and partially from the short-sightedness of recouping too much profit upfront. While it might lead to more tools, which is good, the continued errors of judgement, which has been clouded by visions of dollar bills, rather than good distance vision, will still ultimately cause a backfire and failure.

For those of you wondering on what I base my statements: My degree is self-designed, and consists of twenty-four credits in industrial arts, concentrated in manufacturing, and another sixty or so credits in economics and business administration. While I'm no expert in any one area, I do have enough of a general background to be able to analyize information, determine the problem, and propose solutions, outlining what will happen if they are/are not followed.

Charlie Larkin