How does Tamiya do it so quick?

[Jon Cole]

Well, I see in the "Reviews" section that the Scooby BRZ kit is out.

How... did they churn out a kit of that so quick?

Everything else (with slight exaggeration) takes years to reach the shelves! The domestic brands... years. But Tamiya, they seem to produce a kit within a few months.

I seem to recall the same quick production with Tamiya and the (then) New Beetle.

[martinfan5]

Dont forget the Toyota FT86 is out as well, I have no idea, but I will say its nice to have a kit of a car come out a few months after the 1:1 comes out on the market.

[scalenut]

they don't farm out work overseas .. it's all in house as far as I know.

that cuts out a ton of time

[martinfan5]

they don't farm out work overseas .. it's all in house as far as I know.

that cuts out a ton of time

Dont forget, they are not tying up tons of resource's and money releasing old kits over and over and over and over again

[MAGNUM4342]

It's my understanding that most kit companies, due to licensing and such, are working with the automotive companies well in advance of the auto's release to the public. In other words, just because a new model 1:1 car comes out in the fall, doesn't mean Tamiya wasn't designing the kit in the spring when the manufacturer started running them down the assembly line.

[rmvw guy]

Maybe they don't have so many lawyers in Japan working on legal problems, copyrights and so forth holding things up

[martinfan5]

This is just a guess, I wonder if Toyota/Subaru where working with Tamyia on the kits so they could be released to coincide with the 1:1 debuting.

The reason I bring this up is, the Toyota version, both the EU/NA version have now been released on Grand Turismo 5 game, the FT86 came out a few months ago on the game.

[Agent G]

Dont forget, they are not tying up tons of resource's and money releasing old kits over and over and over and over again

Actually Jonathan they have.

Armor models have mostly been re releases this year. Some are very old tools.

They've been fairly stagnant as far as new armor goes here lately as well. They were truly the cutting edge for a decade, now new releases are few and far between. The last was a Israeli Sherman. The actual tank I consider fairly obscure with a short service life. That was a all new tool? Really Tamiya?

Not sure about aircraft, as I don't build them, but I dont recall anything new there either.

G

Edited July 6, 2012 by Agent G

[Scuderia]

This is just a guess, I wonder if Toyota/Subaru where working with Tamyia on the kits so they could be released to coincide with the 1:1 debuting.

The reason I bring this up is, the Toyota version, both the EU/NA version have now been released on Grand Turismo 5 game, the FT86 came out a few months ago on the game.

I go with this scenario. Japanese maker, japanese kit maker, strong hobby country still. Makes sense to me.

[martinfan5]

Dont forget, they are not tying up tons of resource's and money releasing old kits over and over and over and over again

Actually Jonathan they have.

Armor models have mostly been re releases this year. Some are very old tools.

They've been fairly stagnant as far as new armor goes here lately as well. They were truly the cutting edge for a decade, now new releases are few and far between. The last was a Israeli Sherman. The actual tank I consider fairly obscure with a short service life. That was a all new tool? Really Tamiya?

Not sure about aircraft, as I don't build them, but I dont recall anything new there either.

G

G, I forgot about that side of Tamiya, my mistake

[Vince Nemanic]

For years the Japanese manufacturers have released their 1 to 1 scale cars in the home market 12 to 18 months before exporting them. That way engineering bugs can be worked out when the recalls affect only Japan. Thus, Tamiya may have had over a year to tool up their model.

[Lownslow]

because theyre on the up and up with the new new

[Dr. Cranky]

My wild guess is that it has to do with market priorities and what they think is going to sell well.

[martinfan5]

Even though I have the Aoshima version on pre order, I just order the BRZ version last night, I want to do comparison between the two, I know the main difference is the Aoshima version has an opening boot lid, not sure if there is any engine detail, but it does have an opening hood

I wonder how long its going to take before someone from the aftermarket is going to make up scripts to make on a Sicon FRS

[Agent G]

Jonathan if you only build autos, you wouldn't know about those things.

I'm just making the point that even the almighty Tamiya has fallen back a bit.

G

[martinfan5]

Jonathan if you only build autos, you wouldn't know about those things.

I'm just making the point that even the almighty Tamiya has fallen back a bit.

G

And that is true Wayne

[niteowl7710]

Tamiya has released a number of new tooling boats and planes in the past few years...but beyond that the Japanese kit manufacturers also don't engage in 12-24 month long tease festivals either. They don't announce new tooling until it's a few months away from coming to market. I'm sure both Aoshima and Tamiya knew they were doing something the the FR-S/86/BRZ as soon as the real car was green-lighted, but didn't go on blabbing about until all of the tooling is cut and it's about to go into production.

As other have mentioned in this thread, Japan is still a solid market in the hobby, and I don't believe the manufacturers have to deal with "big box" wholesalers (Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Hobbytown USA, etc) like Revell and Round 2 do. Therefore they don't have to tease subject matter to the purchasers to see if there are enough pre-orders to justify production.

[Greg Myers]

On Tamiya and tanks, there are just so many.

[Agent G]

Chinese companies are getting into the hobby in a HUGE way now. Dragon Models Limited (DML) is issuing new tooled kits of everything but autos at least every other month. We joke on the armor forum that the kits are so specific you can build nearly one of any tank, from anywhere, in the last 70 years.

G

On Tamiya and tanks, there are just so many.

[media=]

300 + now right?

G

[Aaronw]

As I recall the 2005 Ford Mustang and 2006(08?) Dodge Challenger kits came out pretty close to the actual cars being available. I guess that is possible when the auto maker cooperates and the model company thinks they will have a sure thing on their hands. How long did it take for Tamiya to do a Prius? Probably not the same kind of confidence in sales as a sexy new sports car.

[Junkman]

Well, I see in the "Reviews" section that the Scooby BRZ kit is out.

How... did they churn out a kit of that so quick?

Wrong question.

The right question is, what takes others so long?

What are they waiting for?

And the best question: Why are they waiting?

[martinfan5]

Wrong question.

The right question is, what takes others so long?

What are they waiting for?

And the best question: Why are they waiting?

Theres a saying that fits I think, the clean version, poop or get off the pot

[Junkman]

Theres a saying that fits I think, the clean version, poop or get off the pot

LOL, wiser words were never written.

[Draggon]

I wonder if perhaps the Japanese auto makers like the fact that a company is making models of their cars, versus the US automakers look to it as a way to squeeze the last drop of blood from a turnip. Then again, what is licensing like in Japan?

[Deathgoblin]

I would even venture to guess that the car companies might be sharing 3D models of the cars with Tamiya, which would make scaling a lot easier. They could almost literally break the car down into assemblies and put it on sprues and just dump it into a CAM unit to make the dies.