WNW - Another SOLD OUT

[redcap]

Just been on the WNW site and the Albatross Dva (OAW) is now showing SOLD OUT. So along with the Fokker DVII's, that's all the Albatross scouts gone as well now.

 

Gary

[colin]

These are better than shares, my holdings increasing all the time

[Howlindawg]

They're still available from the EU warehouse.

Just sold out in NZ and USA.

[Beardie]

Afraid that is no longer the case. If you look at the button where you would click to buy it says 'Sold Out' now and you press it you can't buy. They just need to update the rest of the listing to 'Sold Out' is all. In a way I am glad. I just got one of the last ones delivered to me and it shows that I am not the only one still buying. The more that sell out the better the chance of more kits being released so lets see those other kits selling out folks

[Beardie]

I reckon that, along with the Gotha, the Junkers J.1, SE.5a, Sopwith Pup (RFC), Pfalz D.IIIa, Bristol F.2b and early Roland C.II must be on the endagered species list.

[Howlindawg]

8 minutes ago, Beardie said:

Afraid that is no longer the case.

 

Oh well - I've got mine anyway.

[Beardie]

I rather suspect that, despite all the grumbling about the current 'new' prices once they have all gone the grumbling will be about having missed out.

[Beardie]

Just had an email from Anthony Upton at Weta, I was contacting him on another matter and asked while I was at it. The Albatros D.Va(OAW) is officially SOLD OUT.

[Bigglesof266]

I don't think so. A couple of days ago when I checked the OAW Albatros D.Va was indicating "low stock". The last few, or couple, selling worldwide unusually exacerbated by the current 'panic buying' by segments of modelling forums audiences WNW to Weta etail source awareness providing its own self push-sell momentum isn't generally indicative IMO, the caveat YMMV.

 

The effect current circumstances and pricing had upon me was immediate incitement to abandon the notion of WNW kits rather than buy, and comparitively my available budget could be considered generous regardless of how I choose to spend it on notion of value vs desire. *For me*, Eduard and Dragon know the market as self evident from their rise to prominence. They cater sufficiently to my interests and predilections at pricepoints I am prepared to be gouged - maximum.

 

It seems more to me like the future for WNW should they continue is to become a exclusive and niche segment product like Golden Age Models Ltd are in 'O' gauge model railway, albeit on a much smaller scale if sticking to WW I subjects only just as GAML's 'O' gauge would be if it stuck with only post 1923 Grouping and excluded Nationalisation and beyond.

 

 

[Beardie]

It is a difficult and specialised field and is clearly motivated by the personal interests of the companies owner Sir Peter Jackson. I think it could be considered as part of his 'legacy' along with the Vintage Aviator project. Clearly he is using his wealth to fulfill his boyhood desire to have great models of World War One aircraft and, if I can enjoy those self same models because of it I am happy.

 

 

I do also suspect that other manufacturers are watching with interest to see if modellers are willing to spend the kind of money that is neccessary to develop great models or prefer to spend £30 or £40 on an average model and then £100 on all the resin, photo etch and decals to achieve the model they want.

 

As I have said before, each to their own and personally I know what I am going to do.

I am going to grab at least one copy of every kit that is available as and when I have the loot and hope that Wingnut Wings produce some more types to give me the most complete, 1/32 scale collection of WWI aircraft possible. I very much doubt that, should the company not make enough money to continue, the molds will ever see the light of day again. Sir Peter has done what he set out to do and I can't imagine, judging by the manner in which he conducts business, he would ever be prepared for his molds to be used to produce kits that fall short of the Wingnut Wings package.

 

There may be 'panic buying' as you say, in fact I am happy to hear it if it is true, as I believe that the prospect of more new models appearing depends on sales of the currently available kits and I think that the price asked for them is fair enough for a 'total package' kit.

 

[Bigglesof266]

I hope WNW do continue for the sake of the genre. I do love what I've seen of the excellence of their product.

 

To summarise the gist of my post and perspective, WNW have simply priced themselves beyond what my budget's desire is prepared to pay, and that of all but a very niche market demographic within the WW I interest sub-genre. I'm pretty sure PJ knows that of his product in his decision.

 

I can't imagine why WNW won't do kit re-runs of existing moulds, decal prints with pre-existing masters, and similar artworked boxings from a pragmatist perspective though, other than that I'm aware that has been declared 'never going to happen,.. cast in stone' for some reason I've not heard any explanation for. Perhaps the reality is, the genre's existing market niche for WNW product has already been sold into pretty much to saturation rendering it commericially unviable for sale into of another xxx units per type re-run?  

 

Do I feel resentment, or missed out that I prefer Eduard's kit level of detail and fidelity in 1/48? No. No more than I admire Pete Waterman's good fortune to be able to indulge in and house his magnificent 'O' gauge layout, which is undeniably, out of the affordibility realm of even the above average model railway enthusiast. I am more satisfied with the level of accuracy and detail afforded in current "OO" gauge no less, can afford it without stressing the budget, or wrist wringing triage.

 

That said, more power to those focussing on WW I WNW kits as I iterated in another thread if that's what brings them their greatest personal satisfaction and enjoyment.

[Beardie]

I do find the cost side of things tough as I have had to save up or sell things (like all my pre-existing stash) in order to buy them but I don't believe at all that they are 'ripping off' or 'gouging' modellers. I would tend to consider paying £50 for a Roden 1/32 kit more of a rip off to be absolutely honest.

 

If you take say the Roden DH.2 kit it costs around £50 here in the UK. Add Eduard PE £15 and then you will probably need AM decals (not sure if these are available or not but say roughly £15-£20) as in my experience Roden decals are prone to self destruction, so you will end up paying £80+ and still have nowhere near the package that, if it wasn't sold-out, Wingnut Wings were charging, after the price increase around £90 for including shipping and VAT.

[Howlindawg]

On the other hand Beardie, an Eduard 1/42 Roland C11 ProfiPack goes for under £15.

That's a really nicely made kit with PE included and very decent decal options.

 

I think the WNW are slightly over priced for what you get when taxes and shipping costs are added.

The Weta dollars and  new cheaper shipping option goes some way towards addressing that.

 

I'm fortunate - I can afford to indulge myself but I do choke at the cost of some of the larger kits.

The way I look at it is this; I'll probably only build two of these kits a year so even at €200 for two kits it's not a massive yearly budget for a hobby.

[Beardie]

I have built a couple of the Eduard C.II's myself and they are nice kits  Eduard were a groundbreaker when it came to WWI kits and far superior to Roden and were my original 'go-to' brand for my kits but they are now moving away from the Genre I believe plus the 1/32 scale to me, rather than making them more 'toy-like' as has been said to me gives a more majestic model. I worked out my build scheme as being perhaps four WnW kits per year and that works out at roughly £500 a year in kit costs or roughly £10 per week which is pretty cheap for hours of amusement plus, hopefully, a lovely model at the end of it. I don't drink these days but that is what four pints of beer if you are lucky? Seems a better deal to spend it on Wingnuts

[Howlindawg]

2 minutes ago, Beardie said:

I don't drink these days but that is what four pints of beer if you are lucky?

Seems a better deal to spend it on Wingnuts

 

Yup!

[Bear Paw]

We don't have to buy them? Everyone has priorities and we can choose how and what we care to spend money on.  My only concern is that the WNW kits start to become a commodity in there own right and not bought for making into models. That would be a waste.  

Then the non model making stockpilers start to cash in on their 'investments'.  

Ultimately they are worth what people will pay for them.  

Andrew. 

 

PS does anyone want to buy an Albatros DVa by WNW  

Edited September 28, 2016 by Bear Paw

[Stashaholic Steve]

14 minutes ago, Bear Paw said:

My only concern is that the WNW kits start to become a commodity in there own right and not bought for making into models. That would be a waste.  

Then the non model making stockpilers start to cash in on their 'investments'. 

 

I think that the recent steep price increases have made WNW kits much less of an attractive "investment" than they were a year or two ago, as the "collector" prices that folks appear to be willing to pay on eBay haven't increased to match.

 

So once you factor in eBay fees (which are also higher than they once were), the "profit margin" per kit is much narrower. A W.29 went for 200 Pounds as a "buy it now" recently, but that's the exception rather than the rule.

 

My feeling (but I may be wrong) is that kits will now start to sell out less quickly as fewer and fewer guys buy multiples of one kit on the basis of "speculate to accumulate", although guys who stocked up in say 2012/13/14 will still be turning a healthy profit on kits they bought back then.

[Beardie]

That is certainly true. There isn't the feeding frenzy over the sold-out kits there was a while back and they are actually selling in general for similar figures to an equivalent currently available WnW kit. There are quite a few of the currently available kits that must be due to sell out though like the SE5a, Pfalz and Bristfit. I have wondered if, perhaps the 'halfway' point, when half of the range is 'Sold out' will be the trigger at which they release new kits.

[colin]

Well they seem to have slowed down with new releases just lately, hope it's no a running down the stock to finish production end of.

Yes PJ is very rich and can afford to indulge his hobbies,but he's also probably surrounded by people advising him on his investments, as others have pointed out there's only so much we are prepared to spend before we say enough.

That includes his hobbies as well as ours

[Stashaholic Steve]

10 minutes ago, colin said:

Well they seem to have slowed down with new releases just lately, hope it's no a running down the stock to finish production end of.

 

The last one was towards the end of last year. Nothing at all so far in 2016. And aside from the Camel (which we will probably get around Christmas time) it appears that nothing else is currently "in development" either.

 

Have to say that I take these as ominous signs, and I am not optimistic about the long-term future of WNW. But I would be happy to be proved wrong.

[Beardie]

I think at this point I should make some of the text of my last exchange with Richard Alexander available on here. I don't see that he would have any reason to lie about the future of the company if it was indeed due to run down. (His words are in the bold blue)

 

International exchange rates are something else that has affected us as well. Because our models are priced in US$ the changes in exchange rates over the years means that generally the cost for NZ based customers has risen less than 10% over the 7 since we released our first 4 models. For example, in April 2009 our US$59 SE.5a cost NZ customers NZ$99, in September 2016 our US$79 SE.5a costs NZ customers NZ$107. This of course means nothing to people outside NZ but it may help explain why/how the US$ prices needed to change so we could continue to create new models because all our research and design in done here in NZ.   

To this end, we finally needed to cease paying for everyone's international postage earlier this year (after offering 7 years of free postage).
 

 

Lastly I wonder if you could tell me if there are kits of other marques in development at the current time? I think there is real concern in the modelling community that we might not see any more new kits which would be a great shame. I truly do hope this is not the case as there are many I would love to obtain and build.

Yes we have lots of new models being developed for future release and so long as people remain interested enough in what we do we will continue to create new models.
 

 

I hope you don't think me impertinent in asking all these questions as I am in awe of the quality of your product and I don't object to the price as I do think they are worth it. I just wish that I was in a better financial position to afford them and also that I could find an RE8 and Sopwith Triplane to buy that wasn't being sold for many times it's original price on the second hand market.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Martyn Wilson

Hopefully if we continue to create high quality models they will still appear to be good value for money to those that appreciate them.

 

I would say there is some hope for the future

 

I have to say that I am no longer looking for and RE8 or Sopwith tripe as I by chance happened on a splendid fellow who has agreed to let me have copies of both at a splendid price

[FZ6]

I'm hoping WNW carry on for many years. They have set a new benchmark for 1:32 WWI Aircraft models. I know Roden's 1:32 kits were initially well received when they were released but they seem to have been  eclipsed by WNW and once Wingnuts burst onto the scene Roden's 1:32 WWI rrelease schedule tailed off quite quickly.

There have been few manufacturers willing to dip their toe in the water where 1:32 WWI aircraft were concerned since WNW became available. Special Hobby and Amodel have done a few. There are the aforementioned Roden kits, Alleycat released a Bristol M.1C and Aviattic have a  very nice looking Ansaldo A1 "Balilla" about to be released as well but that's about it from what I am aware of

 

I wonder if some  manufacturers have decided that WWI isn't a big seller for them or if they feel they can't compete with the quality of the products that WNW are providing......

[Beardie]

Well I certainly don't think anyone else could make a kit of any of the aircraft so far modelled by Wingnuts and actually produce a better kit. I have the Special Hobby Nieuport 16, Nieuport 11, Bristol M.1c and Morane Type N and I would say that they have tried very hard to produce a package that is on it's way to being what could be considered a 'budget' version of a Wingnut kit and at a very good retail price. The Roden offerings would have been considered nice kits if you were used to the 'average' models that are generally available but don't even come close to the standard or sheer downright beauty of the Wingnuts.

[Beardie]

Bit of an odd one. Was just peroosing the Weta site and it appears that you can pre-order the Albatros D.Va(OAW) from all their Warehouses. The exact wording is: Temporarily sold out in our NZ, US and NZ warehouses. Pre-order now at all warehouses, limited stock, shipping date to be confirmed.

I am guessing they have either discovered some more stock or have, for whatever reason made another production run.......very curious.

[FZ6]

I noticed that last week. It's still showing as sold out on WNW website though