Matt wrote:
>It might seem trivial, but is there anyone else disgusted with the
>latest pricing of some of these kits? Here there's probably $2.00
>worth of plastic, and maybe $2.00 in white metal. Plus $.50 for
>decals. And we're paying around (after the exchange) $15-20 for a
>small kit! Oh sure, let's hear the exscuse "but it's a limited run".
>Give me a break. That's how they snare us in! And of course we have
>to buy it, because no one else will make it. It's the same with the
>$40 Hannover. There is no way that the "younger generation" can get
>into WW1. Sure, they can buy the old Revell's and Airfix's, but
>these come on and off the market so often, there might be times where
>the only things available are the Pegasus'. I'm convinced C.Gannon
>is making it big. When charging in upwards of $40 for his Blue Max
>line, and the cost of the latest Pegasus, it's kind of easy to see.
>
>Sorry. Just had to rant and rave. I'm tired on not being able to
>buy "everything" because it's out of budget.
>
Me too my friend. And with the single exception of the Hannover (which I got
about 5 bucks cheaper
than you have it in the US, the prices of things here are way,way, worse.
Would YOU pay $45 for
a DML kit?
However... I have a couple of pals here who have started up a newish
concern manufacturing
aftermarket model aircraft parts and (at last) a full kit.
The equipment they bought set them back $85,000, a fairly common sum to
start a small business. Of course they took out a loan, so they are paying
interest on the loan as well. Manufacturing is done in a shed on a farm
outside Brisbane (no rent, so that's no cost) by the two partners, so they
have no other labour cost. Their kits contain metal, resin and vacform
parts plus big decal sheets and terrific instructions. Decals are made by
another local firm, vacform parts in NZ by Falcon.
Their first kit is on the market at $90+. I'd love it since its a 1:48
Caribou, and I spent lots of hours in them in my Army days (even refused to
jump out of one once :-0 ) but its way too expensive. Just the same (and I'm
no mathematician) it looks to me as if they will really struggle to make
ends meet for years and still have something left over for food.
I have grumbled (naah, bitched) about the high cost of kits (Pegasus
Albatros D.III at US$25 . !!! ) but when reality sets in I have to admit
that most manufacturers have a choice. They can sell at what _are_ high
prices in what is a small market, or they can go broke, like even the
biggest (Airfix) have done.
Sometimes I damn near cry to see kits of aircraft I'd _love_ to build go
into the hands of people who will collect but never build them, while I
simply can't afford the money. But it would be much, much, worse _not_ to
see the kits on the shelves at all.
End of _my_ rant. Maybe someday prices will fall back to the hallowed days
of my youth when most new kits cost "2 bob"
(20 cents to you) but I'm not waiting for it.
Shane