Tamiya Aoshima

[Hartness53]

Can someone tell me why Aoshima and Tamiya kits cost so much and how they rate against other companys such as Revell or AMT. Thanks Christian

[BIGTRUCK]

Quality and subject matter........ superior in quality to the cheaper kits , some have photo etch , higher detailed tires, prep work is a breeze, just to name a few things...Hasegawa and Fujimi are also upscale kits..

Edited October 31, 2007 by BIGTRUCK

[Nick F40]

Mainly because they have the not so mainstream cars and trucks. Their tooling is a lot more precise also. They seem to know how to package and put parts on trees and make well manufactured parts and for that you have to pay a little extra but its worth it. Revell and AMT and them lately just come out with models that arent really thought out to much in my opinion but have some really nice cars. I mean if you look at Tamiya's RC cars to, they always were real realistic especailly the Bruiser, that had leaf suspension, front engine and tranny mont and it was scale looking. The main thing is thought and build/molding process is more finer.

[Brendan]

The group has pretty much answered the second part of your question, but for the first part, the reason why they cost so much is that you are paying for the shipping/freight fees for them to be delivered from overseas and also the retailers have to do a mark up as well to make a profit. It's the same way if you look at the Revell kits over in Japan, the price is almost doubled or even tripled.

[Zoom Zoom]

They're also higher priced because they're imported from Japan vs. China. Revell/AMT kits are much more expensive overseas where they are imported vs. our home market. In Japan a Revell or AMT kit will cost at least as much as a Tamiya/Aoshima kit, sometimes much more. For instance the Revell '70 Mach I kit that's about to hit the market here for $17.99 is 3800 yen in Japan, about $33 at today's exchange rate, and almost as much as the best Tamiya kits (their Enzo is 3800 yen), more than the 2500-3500 yen price of Fujimi Enthusiast kits. Imports/tariffs/duties add to the cost of items that are imported.

[Steve D.]

SOMETIMES they are worth it , ahhhh but other times they are not .Best thing to do is ask here online about a particular kit you have questions about .

One kit that comes to mind is the 1/25 scale Fujimi Cobra , Although priced much higher , It cant hold a candle to either the AMT or REVELL kits . While on the other hand most Fujimi kits are the balls.

Hope this helps,

Take care and see you around the clubhouse ,

Steve D.

[Mike]

Aoshima and Tamiya are imported kits, so the cost to ship is factored in I'm sure. Clean molds with (in my experience so far) little to no mold lines. The parts fit is fantastic as well. There are great Revell and AMT kits, don't get me wrong, but I've yet to come across one that goes together with the ease that Aoshima or Tamiya offer. The one downfall to Tamiya and Aoshima kits are they are mostly curbside kits and not full detail with engines.

[Modelmartin]

The importer is an added mouth in the food chain. For Domestic kits there is the manufacturer, distributor and retailer. For imported kits there is Manufacturer, importer, distributor and retailer. There may be some import duty involved but I don't know for sure about that.

Once I saw on the shelf at the LHS a Lindberg Bugatti Royale, a Gunze Sangyo release of the same kit, and then the Revell Germany Import version of the Gunze release! Each one was marked higher! I think the Lindberg was in the $10.00 range and the Revell Germany import was $25.00

[Joe Handley]

as far as your example for the supra goes, look @ regular 'ol Revell stuff vs. Revell of germany. revell AG is normally (around here) 2x as much for the same EXACT content as US stuff.

I've always thought that was funny, only difference is euro market specific decals and instructions then a new box.