Darin Bastedo Posted June 17, 2011 Posted June 17, 2011 A few years agao Jada jumped into the plastic kit market with a few simplified, but well engineered kits and then nothing. I wonder if these initial kits didn't sell or if they just lost interest?
Junkman Posted June 17, 2011 Posted June 17, 2011 (edited) What kits did Jada put out? One of them was the 05 Mustang GT and there was a 06 Corvette and the Camaro Concept. Maybe more. Edited June 17, 2011 by Junkman
Harry P. Posted June 17, 2011 Posted June 17, 2011 If you have MCM #151 (July 2010), there is a build-up feature of the Jada Mustang kit in there.
Zoom Zoom Posted June 17, 2011 Posted June 17, 2011 The kits were 10X better than their awful boxart would have led one to believe. Photos on the boxes were of their diecasts which do not share tooling w/the plastic kits. I'd say the obnoxious, juvenile and toylike packaging was the biggest reason that they were avoided and not taken seriously. They were clearly aimed at younger builders, but in a way that turned off older builders. With photos of well-built models and perhaps not having the Jada-compulsory cartoon wheels, they might still be going... Had a club member not brought one to one of our club meetings (a Camaro), I would have never bothered. I've built the Camaro and Mustang and found them to be great; good proportions and detail inside and out...aside from the weird suspension/tubs for the ginormous wheels. The Camaro has a better body & interior than the AMT kit, for sure. I got the Mustang because I was tired of waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for Revell...and it was so good I never had to get the Revell kit. The only kit that has odd proportions is the Corvette. The Ford GT has some of the proper fender creases that the Polar Lights kit totally missed. The only thing I can't figure out is how to get the Ford GT engine cover to fit properly w/the body and rear bumper. Seems to be an odd way to get those parts together. I would welcome them doing more cars. As you can see, they don't have to be built w/cartoon wheels/tires. The wheel openings are stock.
Zoom Zoom Posted June 17, 2011 Posted June 17, 2011 How often do you get a new kit and are blown away by what is inside vs. your perception of it beforehand? Almost never? Once I had seen the Camaro, I knew that they were good (and I was also almost incensed at how soft and inaccurate the AMT kit was, in terms of body and interior detail, in comparison)...and when I saw the first Mustang at a Hobby Lobby, I snatched it up, figuring what was inside the box was nothing like the boxart. I was so pleasantly surprised to see how well they had done the kit, I made sure a couple friends got the other Mustangs that were at that store. I truly think had they marketed the kits differently; as in offered them w/"normal" wheels/tires as an option, had more accurate boxart that would appeal to a wider swath of model enthusiasts, they could have succeeded. I would have NEVER bought one based on the boxart alone. Which is a shame; such good work on a product hampered by boxart that just "didn't get it". Not like Jada is alone in that; American model companies just don't seem to have their hearts into boxart that inspires. So often it does the opposite. Then there are Japanese kits that are just awful, but people buy them because of great boxart...oh the irony
Chuck Most Posted June 17, 2011 Posted June 17, 2011 American model companies just don't seem to have their hearts into boxart that inspires. So often it does the opposite. Then there are Japanese kits that are just awful, but people buy them because of great boxart...oh the irony Oh, yeah. I can't tell you how many times I passed on the AMT Concept Camaro just because of that awful box art! Pretty much all of the RC2-era box art was awful, even if the kit was pretty good. The Lindberg/Model King Triumph GT6+? Terrific box art, even though the kit is a catastrophic mess in terms of detail and breakdown!
Harry P. Posted June 17, 2011 Posted June 17, 2011 Specifically in this case, the misleadingly-bad box art diecasts totally short-sold the product inside. Which is pretty sad, because it means that the company didn't even understand it's own product or who it was aimed at. I think they understood exactly who the kits were aimed at: kids. But the reality is, these days kids don't buy model kits. Adults do. They knew who their target market was... it's just that their target market was the wrong target to market model kits to these days.
Harry P. Posted June 17, 2011 Posted June 17, 2011 However, if any of us had to jump the hurdles kids today face if they want to build (rules regarding spray paint sales, the fact kits aren't front-center at grocery stores or department stores, modern parents being unwilling to let kids play with "dangerous" glue, paint, and sharp objects... All true. Which is exactly why Jada missed the boat by marketing these kits to kids. Kids are not a viable target market anymore, for all the reasons you listed. Jada misread the current market. They targeted these kits to model-building kids... a market segment that simply doesn't exist anymore in any kind of numbers.
Junkman Posted June 18, 2011 Posted June 18, 2011 See, the kits were never available in Europe. It is exactly the box art that kept me away from ordering them from the States - I thought they just injected plastic into their diecast molds. Ill-fated marketing, which I bet cost them countless sales. Now, since you are showing pictures of buildups, I realize what I missed.
Jon Cole Posted June 18, 2011 Posted June 18, 2011 So now the tooling is sitting out there... somewhere. I would think it wasn't immediately destroyed after the initial run. Now someone (here?) needs convince them to either sell the tooling to someone who knows how to market the kits, or reissue them with new box art. Otherwise, what an effort for what must have been a marginal return.
Chuck Most Posted June 18, 2011 Posted June 18, 2011 So now the tooling is sitting out there... somewhere. I would think it wasn't immediately destroyed after the initial run. Now someone (here?) needs convince them to either sell the tooling to someone who knows how to market the kits, or reissue them with new box art. Otherwise, what an effort for what must have been a marginal return. Considering the cost of tooling (tooling for a full detail kit nowadays runs, what, about $200k?) against the current cost of scrap metal prices, I doubt they'd scrap the tooling after such a limited run, especially when it appears the kits did not sell well. If they broke even or took a slight loss, I'm fairly sure we'll see a second run, if only so Jada can make something off its investment. Odds are we'll see them again, only a question of when and by what manufacturer. Then again, maybe Jada's execs looked at the numbers, thought "Well, my, my... we kind of got hosed on that deal!" and opted out of the plastic kit biz forever. Still, I'd think selling the tooling would be a better option than scrapping. Not an expert on the ins and outs of such things, but from where I sit, I'm fairly convinced the tooling is still out there, awating a date with the injection molding machine.
TurboKitty Posted June 18, 2011 Posted June 18, 2011 the picture of the white Camaro in this thread is gorgeous! It makes me regret that I traded my Jada Camaro kit to somebody on here last year, now I wish I could get it back :/ I am almost positive that I saw a few of these kits at Kmart around Christmas last year, but a trip there today only resulted in various Revell kits for the most part. I'd love to get the Jada Camaro & Shelby GT500 kits now LOL.
brett Posted June 18, 2011 Posted June 18, 2011 some of us built them . While the wheels aren't everyone's choice I quite like them and wouldnt hesitate to get more of them if I could. Threads here http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=34639&view=findpost&p=352256&hl=jada&fromsearch=1 http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=34745&view=findpost&p=353781&hl=jada&fromsearch=1 http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=40216&view=findpost&p=416717&hl=jada&fromsearch=1 http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=39665&view=findpost&p=409706&hl=jada&fromsearch=1 http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=39793&view=findpost&p=411399&hl=jada&fromsearch=1
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