Danno Posted August 9, 2014 Posted August 9, 2014 Interesting comments Cliff. But, I'm sure companies like Round 2 do some research on what's going to make them money, and what will not. I personally will not be buying MPC's new Dukes kit. And yes I would love a model of a '70 Charger. Make mine an R/T with a 440 single 4 barrel under the hood. At the same time I know they will sell a lot more Dukes of Hazzard snap kits, then a non TV based, fully detailed 1970 Charger kit. Go to Round 2's web site. Look at the number of TV related snap kits they offer. I'm guessing they do know what they are doing. And not wasting their money. Scott True that.
Dave Posted August 9, 2014 Posted August 9, 2014 I must have the attention span of a gnat because I am looking forward to this kit. I build a lot of snappers, quick, easy, weekend project. The quality of snap kits is improving, look on any table at a show, lots of them out there and looking great. Also, maybe a casual builder sees this kit , remembers the show, tells his kid about and they build one together. Sometimes, well lets face it, most times everyone here is crazy critical about models, its like a reality show, If you'll excuse me I am going to snap something together and have FUN!
SteveG Posted August 9, 2014 Posted August 9, 2014 IMO... They have, indeed, wasted their funds, limited or not. Why waste whatever those funds are, on a snap GL kit? Why spend say, $100K, to tool up a snap kit, only to make a profit of $250K, when they could spend $250K on a full detail 70 Charger kit & probably make a profit in the millions? Why waste money on a minority "purchaser" like a kid, rather than actually spending money on the hobby's REAL target market? Makes NO business sense to me... Other than the fact they're squeezing every last cent out of their Warner Bros contract for the GL, before it expires? Instead of investing in new-tooling/technology/kits & progressing they're investing in rubbish. They're not going forward... They're going backward. Utter stupidity ? As for adding extra parts ( Revell's Chargers ) ... Hell, why not! I'd be more interested in that than a snap GL kit. I don't have the actual numbers but I'm pretty sure the top selling model car kits of all time include the original G.L. Charger, the Monkeemobile and The Red Baron kits. If you figured $5.00 kit profit which I'm guessing is very optimistic you would have to sell 200,000 of a single kit to make your first million. I'm not aware of any new tool model car kit designed in this Century that sold anywhere near that amount of volume. If you added up all the sales of every release of Revell's '68-'69 Charger kit since the late '90s I doubt it would add up to even a quarter of that. Even it you toss a new conversion to a '70 model I'd bet you still never see those kind of sales. I've never been a fan DOH TV series or the more recent movies but I'm predicting the new G.L. snap kit will do very well for Round 2 and hopefully those profits will be used to bring more full detail kits to us die-hard modelers. If you've seen any of recent the Autotrader commercials showing the G.L. Charger then clearly there is still interest.
tim boyd Posted August 9, 2014 Posted August 9, 2014 (edited) I don't have the actual numbers but I'm pretty sure the top selling model car kits of all time include the original G.L. Charger, the Monkeemobile and The Red Baron kits. Yes...Steve is correct....best selling kits reportedly included the Monkeemobile (over 7 million sold), Ala Kart & original AMT '57 Bel Air Trophy Series (more than 5 million each), and the Dukes of Hazzard kit (listed by some sources as reportedly the best selling kit of all time at 11 million units IIRC. Other sources add the Revell Charlies Angels Van (!), the original AMT '32 Ford Roadster Trophy Series, and the various MPC "Blackbird" Trans Ams (several million apiece). So count me firmly in the camp that the new DoH snapper will prove to be an outstanding investment for Round 2. And as Steve points out above, if just a tiny fraction of the youngsters out there give it a try, it will be one of many contributing factors to the coming "third golden age of model car building". TIM Edited August 9, 2014 by tim boyd
CJ1971 Posted August 9, 2014 Posted August 9, 2014 Don't get me wrong guys, I love the DOH just as much as the next person. I grew up watching it, have every season on DVD & all the movies, so I am a fan ?? The GL is the MAIN reason I love Mopars & got into this hobby. Have NO doubt about that. I've built many GLs... Yet still don't have 1 on my shelf... All were given as presents or sold ? Lol. Tim, while I respect your knowledge & service to our hobby, I too have been involved, to a certain degree, with a Japanese kit manufacturer, who right now is making/kitting some of the best detailed & quality kits going around. So I have some idea about cost/profitability in the process of what's viable to kit up/sell. I honestly think the main reason behind this kit being made/sold is because RC2 have to recoupe their $ after paying big $ for licensing. Look at most of their kits... Movie/TV cars... There's a lot of cash involved in licensing. ? As for being a big seller? Most, if not all, of the comments made here, are by guys living in the US, right? Except me of course ? Is every kit manufacturers target market only the USA? Shouldn't it be the whole World? Kids across the globe? I honestly can't speak for the kids in the US, but down here... In that target market age group... 7-14yo.... It's Lego, Lego, Lego or outdoor activities. Not many, if any know about the GL/DOH... Tim, I DO love the hobby, I'm glad I'm in it, I at times do have the attention span of a gnat, but we're a different breed from the kids of today. We grew up without all the leisure activities involving laptops/pads/iPhones/Xbox/Sony ps etc.... It's a totally different World these kids are living in today. Snap kits or any model kits just don't do it for them. If I owned a model company I'd be targeting my MAJOR clients, for bigger profits & I wouldn't give even an after thought to the minority clients.... Simple.
tim boyd Posted August 9, 2014 Posted August 9, 2014 (edited) Cliff...appreciate the comments and perspective. My direct experience with the kit manufacturers dates from current back through the mid 1970's, and it is (as you suspect) primarily U>S> market focused, so it's not too surprising we have different view on this. But personally, I'm sticking with my thoughts on the subject. My thoughts are also tempered by the fact that we as the "in deep" side of the hobby have it pretty good right now (with new kits, and retoolings of old kits to return them to their original versions) And more, much more, is in the works. With that part of the market being covered reasonably well, it makes sense (and here I'm speaking as a Marketing Executive, not as a model car builder) for the domestic kit manufacturers to invest some resources in the entry level portion of the hobby marketplace. . I might be more where you are coming out if our side of the hobby was being neglected as it has been, at times, in the past. Time will tell, I guess. In the meantime, please pass along "cheers" to all my Australian mates down under! TIM Edited August 9, 2014 by tim boyd
1972coronet Posted August 9, 2014 Posted August 9, 2014 Wouldn't it be great if Round2 (et al.) were to market their snap kits toward the elementery schools ? Let's call it a "leave-your-electronic-leashes-OFF-for-an-hour-day" or some-thing to that effect . Firstly , if Round2 were to donate the kits to the schools , they'd certainly receive a tax write-off or tax credit , in addition to providing the most inexpensive and fully-effective Public Relations investment conceived ! Any-one else with me on this ?
CJ1971 Posted August 10, 2014 Posted August 10, 2014 Tim, ditto mate ?? I, as do many other members, appreciate your thoughts, not only here, but in a lot of other forums both domestic & international. That being said I'll still stick to my guns ( internationally ) that tooling up snap kits for the younger market is futile, in this modern age. I've witnessed it first hand & the hobby, for the younger generation/s isn't just dying slowly, it's pretty much taken it's last breath. My LHS, which proclaims to be the biggest in northern NSW ( Newcastle ) is a fully stocked Hobby Shop with R/C, diecast, toy, train, plastic ( all - military/naval/auto/sci-fi ) sections, as well as supplies. I personally haven't bought ANY kits from them in well over 2-3yrs because they're outrageously priced, ( the auto section anyway ), American kits twice as expensive as EBay/On-line & the Japanese kits like Tamiya as high as $75-85au!! Absolutely outrageous! I go there mainly for small supplies & I usually pop in regularly, once or twice a month, weekday or weekend. I have yet to see 1 child in the snap-kit age bracket, either looking at the plastic kits or buying any. Not 1 single kid. Not in the 5+yrs I've been going there. I've seen them in the R/C section, the trains section & of course the toy section, but not once in the plastic kit section. This is how/why I've formed my opinion/s. So hopefully you can understand ?? Do you know how many American ( Revell/Amt/RC2/Mobeius/MPC ) kits I've purchased in the last 2-3yrs? 1. The recent 70 Cuda kit. I bought 6 of them. Haven't yet built 1 & I'll probably buy a few more ? In the same period of time I've bought Aoshima's Aventador/Roadster/GT86/BRZ/Murcielago SV, Tamiya's La Ferrari, Fujimi's F12, Aventador, Veneno & several older Ferrari kits... That's just off memory because I'm not at home right now to go through my stash ? ... Not to mention all the paint/supplies/after market wheels etc. Obviously I make a decent living & have money to spend on kits I want/in my preferred subject field. I WANT to spend money on my hobby, I'd like to buy more American kits, but not on snap tite Skill Level 1 or no interest kits. As happens often, here & on all other boards/forums, threads are started & go on for page after page, on "what would you like to see kitted " ( autos )... & there's a current thread right now in the General Section about What wagon would you like to see kitted?, of which I've added my 2c... It's already 5? Pages long with umpteen numbers of wish wagons... Even if the 2 subjects I posted are never kitted ( highly likely ) there are others that I'd be interested in & would buy... But who's listening... Which kit manufacturer is LISTENING to the MAIN customers of this hobby? Which one wants our money for the subjects we're all begging to be kitted? & not in 2yrs or 4yrs or 10yrs time.... But on the shelf for sale in 12/18mnths.... RC2? Revell? ?? Now I can't speak for the rest of the world but I can for Australia.... Most kids in the snap kit age bracket aren't encouraged to be indoors on weekends/school holidays. Nearly all are in some type of sporting activity, be it surfing, swimming, cricket, footy ( NRL/AFL/ARU ), soccer, skate-boarding/scooter etc. We're lucky down here in that we have, generally, really good weather all year round. Our culture is an outdoorsy culture... Get out & get about ?? This all comes down to the parents/guardians... They're the ones responsible for their children's leisure activities. The hobby, down here, is virtually dead, in that age bracket. This is why I see no future or business sense in investing in that age bracket ( for kits ). There's no real future in it. My reasoning is solely based on what I actually see-hear-read... Therefore if I was an Excutive at a model company I'd be pleasing my majority customers & making as many new/modern kits as possible, while there's still money to be made in this industry, & running al the way to the bank. ?? Sorry I've gone on a bit, but as I said, just my opinion ?? Tim. BTW... Your 2015 Mustang.... Fabulous! Cheers mate, Cliff
Joe Handley Posted August 10, 2014 Posted August 10, 2014 I'd consider buying this kit for myself, probably won't build it directly into "The General", but it has some other Hollywood car possibilities, such as the Charger destroyed by that Terrentino movie, the pre General Lee, General Lee (basically the Geneal Lee painted black), the same car driven by George Clooney as a bad guy in Air Wolf, then there's the Moonshine still equipped orange Charger from the Alternative Fuel Race episode of Knight Rider, the blue Charger from the Smallville that Tom Wopat was on, and finally John Schneider's General as well as the borrowed beater Charger as Traveler from his movie Collier and Company, Hot Pursuit........and those are all without even changing the rims!
Thatswhatshesaid Posted August 10, 2014 Posted August 10, 2014 Hard core adult modelers aren't the only target market for model companies. How many times has the 'how do we get kids involved in the hobby' topic come up? Yet when a new snap kit is released it is dismissed as 'rubbish'. Ignoring the younger market would be a big mistake. It's like a grocery store carrying milk but not bread. You'd be missing a lot of business.
CJ1971 Posted August 10, 2014 Posted August 10, 2014 Hard core adult modelers aren't the only target market for model companies. How many times has the 'how do we get kids involved in the hobby' topic come up? Yet when a new snap kit is released it is dismissed as 'rubbish'. Ignoring the younger market would be a big mistake. It's like a grocery store carrying milk but not bread. You'd be missing a lot of business. What if there was a bakery next door? ??
spkgibson Posted August 10, 2014 Posted August 10, 2014 Snap. "All New Tool" http://www.round2models.com/models/mpc/dukes-hazzard-charger "Brand New Tool." Snap. "All New Tool" http://www.round2models.com/models/mpc/dukes-hazzard-charger "Brand New Tool." I buy at least one, that body looks beautiful, I'll make the Dirty Mary Crazy Larry Charger out of it I already have the decals for it.
MoparWoman Jamie Posted August 10, 2014 Posted August 10, 2014 Just because the box art looks all nice an fancy, doesn't mean the kit inside it will look or be anything like what is really on the box art.
pack rat Posted August 10, 2014 Posted August 10, 2014 Hard core adult modelers aren't the only target market for model companies. How many times has the 'how do we get kids involved in the hobby' topic come up? Yet when a new snap kit is released it is dismissed as 'rubbish' Exactly. Some people seem to think that we on this forum and others like it make up the vast majority of the model car market, and as long as the companies cater to us things will be fine. Not necessarily so. Just because the box art looks all nice an fancy, doesn't mean the kit inside it will look or be anything like what is really on the box art. For an entry-level snap kit it looks fine to me.
Danno Posted August 10, 2014 Posted August 10, 2014 I'll just bet this thing will sell like wildfire and surprise the bejeezus out of all the skeptics and cynics.
Danno Posted August 10, 2014 Posted August 10, 2014 You never know, Lee. (As long as they have the flag!)
ianguilly Posted August 10, 2014 Posted August 10, 2014 I'll at least buy two of these, like to see how it compares to the old mpc mold.
johnbuzzed Posted August 11, 2014 Posted August 11, 2014 Who's to say that no adults will go for this kit? If this kit is at all accurate (especially body lines and contours), I'll probably buy and build at least one. Not with the graphics, but in the kit colors with the kit components. Paint detailing and BMF can add a lot to a basic, simple build like that. And, even as an somewhat advanced modeler (in both age and experience), there is no reason why I (nor any of us here on this Forum) shouldn't be able to have fun with that kind of build. How many of you "adult" modelers have never bought and built a snap kit?
unclescott58 Posted August 11, 2014 Posted August 11, 2014 Who's to say that no adults will go for this kit? If this kit is at all accurate (especially body lines and contours), I'll probably buy and build at least one. Not with the graphics, but in the kit colors with the kit components. Paint detailing and BMF can add a lot to a basic, simple build like that. And, even as an somewhat advanced modeler (in both age and experience), there is no reason why I (nor any of us here on this Forum) shouldn't be able to have fun with that kind of build. How many of you "adult" modelers have never bought and built a snap kit? Shhhh. Your not suppose to tell! Build a snap kit?! Not a great advanced modeler like I! Scott
Brett Barrow Posted September 6, 2014 Posted September 6, 2014 Guess what? Kit has the Confederate flag, on both waterslide and peel n' stick sheets. Nice looking kit except for the funky wheels.
ianguilly Posted September 6, 2014 Posted September 6, 2014 Pics? Saw the kits at a swap meet today but held out.
Brett Barrow Posted September 6, 2014 Posted September 6, 2014 Didn't buy one, just opened one up at work.
Snake45 Posted September 7, 2014 Posted September 7, 2014 I don't care about General Lee, don't care one way or the other about the CSA flag, and have never seen an episode of Dukes of Hazard in my life. If this is a decent looking (accurate) model, I'll buy one or two just to get a '69 Charger on my shelf. I happen to like curbsides, especially for subjects I like okay but aren't my very favorites.
randx0 Posted September 7, 2014 Posted September 7, 2014 So after 4 pages does anyone have one ? If so , pictures please .
Joe Handley Posted September 7, 2014 Posted September 7, 2014 (edited) So after 4 pages does anyone have one ? If so , pictures please . Not yet, I'll put one on order for myself when I get to work tomorrow. Quick edit; just sent one of my bosses a text asking her to order one under my name! Edited September 7, 2014 by Joe Handley
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now