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Revell Under New Management after Hobbico Bankruptcy


jargonking

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On 1/12/2018 at 07:33, Chimpion said:

I believe Toys R Us in the US filed for chapter 11 recently - maybe Hobbico have been burnt by them not having to pay their bills. Clearly there was trouble before, but this might have been the last straw.

 

I can't speak for other locations, but the Toys R Us store in my hometown hasn't sold plastic model kits of any kind for at least a decade, maybe longer. They don't have plastic model kits on their website either - not even Star Wars kits.   :(

 

Cheers,

Bill

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14 hours ago, Botan said:

 

From the other hand, many (smaller?) companies do otherwise to increase sales. I guess it works roughly like that: LHS or distributors would buy 15 kits, but with 4 different boxes they may have to buy each ones, so for example 4 x 5 = 20 kits total. I guess more niche producers aims for modellers, who want specific variants/schemes, when mainstream producers, supplying toy shops etc. aims for people who want just a Spitfire, Bf-109 and on.

Smaller companies sell to enthusiasts - that is e.g. why 10 different Meteor boxings find their customers. 

However not all enthusiasts buy several models of the same plane. 

 

I personally do not build that much and would prefer to have one built model of a certain type rather than building several Hurricanes or Meteors. At the same time I personally would be interested in finding a kit suitable to build a very specific modification - e.g. I would not buy a generic Spitfire but I'll look for Spitfire mk.Ia to for a BoB version or Spitfire mk.IXe with clipped wing to build an IDF example. So Revell's offers would be a miss for me. 

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On 1/14/2018 at 10:04 AM, Chimpion said:

Exactly. If you already have a version A of a plane, to work out if it's worth making a version B you need to know how many will buy both, or will buy the B but wouldn't buy the A. People who would rather have the B, but would buy the A anyway and don't want two types of this plane don't help the business case for type B at all.

 

 

You don't actually have to sell them all at the same time.

 

Make version A.... sell it for a few years... new boxing arrives of version B... sell that for a few years... then C... then you rebox A once it's being sold on eBay for twice its retail price... then repeat... etc etc

 

This seems to me a far more lucrative strategy than sell A... rebox A... rebox A again...

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On 14-1-2018 at 5:04 PM, Chimpion said:

Exactly. If you already have a version A of a plane, to work out if it's worth making a version B you need to know how many will buy both, or will buy the B but wouldn't buy the A. People who would rather have the B, but would buy the A anyway and don't want two types of this plane don't help the business case for type B at all.

 

You are both right, Esci did a lot of different versions of the same kits which i liked and it was a good quality for the period..

And even they are gone.....

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54 minutes ago, azureglo said:

@Procopius Suddenly your investment in 1/72 Hunter Futures seems very well advised...

 

Sadly(?), Revell claims to be unaffected, so my unacceptable face of capitalism needs must wait another day to unmask.

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5 hours ago, Procopius said:

Sadly(?), Revell claims to be unaffected, so my unacceptable face of capitalism needs must wait another day to unmask.

Hmm I remember the chairman of Lehman Brothers saying the same thing in 2008...now excuse me while I move my Hunters and 1/72 F104C to a humidity controlled nuclear shelter.

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15 hours ago, Botan said:

Revell/Hobbico should create a new cryptocurrency, a ScaleCoin, which could allow fast, worldwide treading of Revell kits.

 

Idea is not mine though. Kodak to Launch Cryptocurrency: Stock Soars on ICO News

 

8 hours ago, mhaselden said:

 

Hmmm....one wonders if that bandwagon is driverless????

Personally i see that bandwagon being full of straws to grasp at.

 

Going back a while the DotCom boom saw mad people paying hugely over the odds for companies who the old rules didn't apply to. Best described as ill-advised.

Next version saw the financial markets pull a similar (almost identical) trick to inflate property prices. It was a 'new environment, electronic frontier, money for all, frenzy. Over a long weekend that was also shown to be false.

Latest version has seen companies 'growing' by multiple takeovers. The new bigger enterprise will make great profit at minimal cost due to efficiencies, synergies, six sigma performance, yadda yadda yadda. Now we are seeing that bubble starting to burst. Especially in the UK on Monday.

In all versions some of the warnings are identical. Borrowing against future savings claimed, some of capital raised used to restructure current finance, big payouts at executive level (quite frankly based on nothing other than 'we're worth it'), and, most damningly, when the company decides to enter a new (to them) market expecting vast returns.

Out of the whole mess at Hobbico I think Revell Germany will emerge pretty intact and in pretty good shape. They are very strong in their domestic market, had costs under pretty good control and a decent number of tools that are still saleable kits. They also have some noticeable gaps in their ranges that they could expand into if they prove to be worthwhile.

@Procopius  Hunter futures may be good but don't take a long term position, the window will be weeks not years.

 

 

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On 1/13/2018 at 8:31 AM, Eric Mc said:

My aware ness of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection is actually more to do with my interest in the civil airline scene. There is hardly a US airline that, at some time in its past, been in and out of Chapter 11. Sometimes the airlines survive and continue to trade. Other times Chapter 11 marks the beginning of the end.

Snap!  The smidgin I know comes from reading Flight International in the 1980s.

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The IPMS Deutschland has a very up beat statement from Revell GmbH (in German which I read reasonably well) saying in effect that they will be 'carrying on regardless' and will be in their usual place at Nuremberg (the toy fair) displaying their wares for the coming year.

 

Does anyone know if the recently released Spitfire Vb is new or a re-issue (wiederauflage)?  At the risk of legal action I would say beware.  A number of faults including lack of gull wing (curious as the lower wing is one piece) rear fuselage too shallow etc.

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20 minutes ago, Denford said:

The IPMS Deutschland has a very up beat statement from Revell GmBH (in German which I read reasonably well) saying in effect that they will be 'carrying on regardless' and will be in their usual place at Nuremberg (the toy fair) displaying their wares for the coming year.

 

Does anyone know if the recently released Spitfire Vb is new or a re-issue (wiederauflage)?  At the risk of legal action I would say beware.  A number of faults including lack of gull wing (curious as the lower wing is one piece) rear fuselage too shallow etc.

Reissue based on the new mkii tool from 2016, has a different slew of issues to the old mkV

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It's good to see Revell Germany will continue to produce kits, would be even better if they produced some new tool kits instead of re-issuing other manufacturers kits!!

Maybe they should follow Airfix's lead and produce some modern kits of their own nationality being a die hard Luftwaffe buff it would be great to see some of the Luftwaffe second line types appear ( preferably in 48 scale :whistle: ) such as the Bucker Bu 131 & 133, Fw44, Go145, He46, He60, Ju86, Do23 etc.

The Czech companies seem willing to produce such kits albeit in 72 scale so there is a market out there for them!!

Oh well I can dream:sleep_1:

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I guess bi-planes would be not such a big seller. A new Ju-188 in 1:48 scale would be more interesting I think - they could share the work with ICM. And while their at it they could release other He 111 versions as well - based on the ICM moldings (maybe they will loose the Monogram molds now????).

Should they loose the Monogram molds it would be nice to replace some of these with new tools: B-25J, A-20. A new B-17, B-24 and B-29 would be great but first they need to get out of this. But lets face it: Most of all I wish they would stop using these awful boxes.

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On ‎20‎/‎01‎/‎2018 at 3:49 PM, andyh59 said:

It's good to see Revell Germany will continue to produce kits, would be even better if they produced some new tool kits instead of re-issuing other manufacturers kits!!

Maybe they should follow Airfix's lead and produce some modern kits of their own nationality being a die hard Luftwaffe buff it would be great to see some of the Luftwaffe second line types appear ( preferably in 48 scale :whistle: ) such as the Bucker Bu 131 & 133, Fw44, Go145, He46, He60, Ju86, Do23 etc.

The Czech companies seem willing to produce such kits albeit in 72 scale so there is a market out there for them!!

Oh well I can dream:sleep_1:

A worthy list of subjects although you surely mean preferably in  1/72:P.However I would also like to see the excellent Junkers JU-290 and, FW-200 kits make an appearance also. I simply won't pay the often ludicrous prices for these kits second hand. Good to know the HE-177 is to be reissued so, I guess there is hope for the others!!

 

Allan

 

 

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Can we not turn this thread about the health of the company into yet another wishlist please?  They're circling the drain, so probably the last thing on their mind is new toolings :shrug:

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Remind me again, which bits are in trouble? Revell Germany have done some very nice kits for a good price in recent years but a lot have ended up discounted. There seems to be a lot of Star Wars kits coming from them at the moment but are they selling. If bandai had unfettered access over here ..... They coudl do no worse re-boxing them like the Zvede Start Destroyer - hoping thst will get discounted.

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17 hours ago, Plastic Bonsai said:

Remind me again, which bits are in trouble? Revell Germany have done some very nice kits for a good price in recent years but a lot have ended up discounted. There seems to be a lot of Star Wars kits coming from them at the moment but are they selling. If bandai had unfettered access over here ..... They coudl do no worse re-boxing them like the Zvede Start Destroyer - hoping thst will get discounted.

Revell got the licence fro Europe which is why they are producing the kits and Bandai cant officially sell here as their licence is for the far east. Lucas and now Disney have whole teams of lawyers enforcing these agreements. Thats why even some far east sellers wont post to Europe with these.

 

Julien 

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On 1/23/2018 at 11:16 AM, Julien said:

Revell got the licence fro Europe which is why they are producing the kits and Bandai cant officially sell here as their licence is for the far east. Lucas and now Disney have whole teams of lawyers enforcing these agreements. Thats why even some far east sellers wont post to Europe with these.

 

Julien 

That is understood but does the licensing cover re-boxing? I'm probably not the sharpest tool at the picnic but if Revell reboxed and sold them in Europe then Bandai would benefit from the deal, if the licence is a percentage of the sales they would benefit, Revell would get a cut of the sales and we get the SW kite of our dreams and support 2 fine companies as well. The irony of the company now failing in such short order after it trumpeted it's take over of Revell to foist more of their core business to a wider world is not lost on me either even though I am one sandwich short in the kitchen drawer.

 

Likewise a similar deal on the Japanese Anderson models.... I know I know.... ITC or whoever will not sanction the sale of anything related to the series that would boost interest in them and lead to more sales for them.

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