Hasegawa must be on crack...

[XV571]

Incidentally, I have heard that there will be no more F-4Gs as the mould for the specific parts was destroyed in an accident. True? If so, I'm surprised that some enterprising resin manufacturer hasn't leapt into the breach.

Not unless Hasegawa found a couple of hundred F-4G sprues lying around somewhere last year . There was a limited edition release with the same box art as the 1/48 about this time last year (in fact Graham at Relish Models has one left):

http://www.relishmodels.co.uk/hasegawa-1-7...ii-egypt-i.html

Still, it would be nice to have a conversion set for the F-4E since they're much easier to get hold of.

[Doug]

I know the prices stink Doug but really!!

Do please show some decorum in the LMS

Wot me! I always show decorum in my LMS, that's why they keep throwing me out and having me arrested!!!!

Doug.

[RussTnailZ]

Ah! ,but are you getting a Ferrari, Hasegawa might be very nicely moulded but I question wether they are any more accurate than other manufacturers kits. Was in a local model shop this very morning, where there were on sale kits from Hasegawa, Airfix ,Revell , Academy and several others, very interesting to compare kits and prices, Hasegawa running at nearly double the price of equivalent kits from the others. I picked up the new Airfix 1/48 Me 109 for £13.99, very nicely moulded, well detailed and compared to several scale drawings in my possession, very accurate, now on this very forum we have seen a post where a new Hasegawa FW 190 is priced at £64.99.

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.p...c=52754&hl=

Is this I ask four times the kit that the Airfix 109 is, because it's four times the price, is it four times as accurate, I think not. Why ,in the LMS this morning I could have bought a 1/24 scale 190 for £54. I think,presonally that Hasegawa are getting carried away with their own image and will ultimately price themselves out of the market.

Yes there is the odd one or two were you can find as good or better for less but on a whole they generally tend to be the better kit. Personally total accuracy doesnt matter so much to me so i will only buy Hasegawa if i cant get the kit i want made by any other manufacturer. I totally agree with you about them getting carried away but like i said once people start turning to other manufacturers they will drop there prices again its all supply and demand

Russ

[Enzo the Magnificent]

I totally agree with you about them getting carried away but like i said once people start turning to other manufacturers they will drop there prices again its all supply and demand

Sadly, in a number of cases there is no other option. Bf109G/K for instance. I had hoped that the Unimodel 109Gs would provide a viable alternative but sadly they don't. Maybe Zvezda will.

[RussTnailZ]

Sadly, in a number of cases there is no other option. Bf109G/K for instance. I had hoped that the Unimodel 109Gs would provide a viable alternative but sadly they don't. Maybe Zvezda will.

Same for me with the 48 Seaking but i refuse to pay 60 quid so its a case of unless someone buys it me as a gift it shall remain on the shop shelf till they return back to the real world.

and if you think hase are bad you should check out the prices of model factory hiro products. I want a bike they make in 1/12 scale now if tamiya made it in this scale it would be around the £30 mark but click the link below and check it out

http://www.hiroboy.com/catalog/product_inf...roducts_id=2467

not even the option of a gift on this one im affraid id love it but at that price its definately staying put

Russ

Edited July 21, 2010 by RussTnailZ

[Stoo]

Russ, MFH are all limited/special run resin, metal and rubber kits though?

A hand-made oak dining room table set always costs a lot more than MFI/Ikea MDF jobbie

[RussTnailZ]

Russ, MFH are all limited/special run resin, metal and rubber kits though?

A hand-made oak dining room table set always costs a lot more than MFI/Ikea MDF jobbie

Yeah very true but still for a model kit its a tad excessive to say the least

£80-90 i would accept with the quality of it but £220 im not ready to have my pants pulled down just yet lol

Russ

[Stoo]

The crazy prices are those Tamiya partially built things: http://www.hiroboy.com/catalog/product_inf...roducts_id=2734

Very expensive and none of the fun!

[RussTnailZ]

The crazy prices are those Tamiya partially built things: http://www.hiroboy.com/catalog/product_inf...roducts_id=2734

Very expensive and none of the fun!

Thats insane and there sold out too

Russ

[Stoo]

Playing the "What's the most expensive kit Hannants have?" game Hasegawa wins again!

http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/HALTD1

That Dora gun and the Spruce Goose 1:72 kit give it a good run though

[Shar2]

Playing the "What's the most expensive kit Hannants have?" game Hasegawa wins again!

http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/HALTD1

That Dora gun and the Spruce Goose 1:72 kit give it a good run though

Yeah! but, the Dora rail gun is flippin's massive, nearly 6ft long IIRC. I would love to get my hands on one, not that I've got anywhere to put it.

[Master Zen]

Something is going on wrong in this World.

Incredible kit subjetcs, incredible scales, incredible high technology accessories...

and incredible prices to pay ...

Tonka

But that's the thing, there's nothing incredible at the scale and nothing incredible about the high-technology on what is essentially a 1980s kit with an extra sprue costing THREE times more than the original.

This is insulting. Truly insulting because even using Yen rates, it's horribly overpriced to what the standard F-16D costs. Revell gives you a Lancaster - at Hasegawa quality - for half that price!

According to HLJ the standard F-16D costs 1,200 JPY, the Sufa is 2,600. Over twice.

[denstore]

Playing the "What's the most expensive kit Hannants have?" game Hasegawa wins again!

http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/HALTD1

That Dora gun and the Spruce Goose 1:72 kit give it a good run though

Remember that the Akitsushima is a resin/multimedia kit. And a very nice one too. I have it, and it's probably the nicest resin kit I've ever seen. Not a single part is disformed or badly casted. The whitemetal parts are excellent, and the 5 frets of etch are absolutly top notch. Compared to the other resin kits I've seen, this is the only one that I really thought was worth the price.

Edited July 21, 2010 by denstore

[Dads203]

Does this mean that my stash of 40+ unmade Hasegawa kits have gone up in value?

Edited July 22, 2010 by Dads203

[Wayne]

Sadly, in a number of cases there is no other option. Bf109G/K for instance. I had hoped that the Unimodel 109Gs would provide a viable alternative but sadly they don't. Maybe Zvezda will.

Slight derailment, so excuse me. Enzo, i'm not familiar with the Bf109G/K kit you're referring to because we have very little Hasegawa available in South Africa (starting to understand why!), but there is an Academy Bf109G-14 I bought myself the other day, and it looks to be a nice kit. Again, i'm not sure about the accuracy, but the kit seems well made with some nice detail in it, and it was very reasonably priced. I got it for ZAR 99.95, which if you convert works out at around 9 pounds.

Wayne

[Enzo the Magnificent]

Slight derailment, so excuse me. Enzo, i'm not familiar with the Bf109G/K kit you're referring to because we have very little Hasegawa available in South Africa (starting to understand why!), but there is an Academy Bf109G-14 I bought myself the other day, and it looks to be a nice kit. Again, i'm not sure about the accuracy, but the kit seems well made with some nice detail in it, and it was very reasonably priced. I got it for ZAR 99.95, which if you convert works out at around 9 pounds.

You're quite right. I had forgotten about the Academy kit. I think I'll have to try one. Thanks for the heads up!

[Stoo]

Remember that the Akitsushima is a resin/multimedia kit. And a very nice one too. I have it, and it's probably the nicest resin kit I've ever seen. Not a single part is disformed or badly casted. The whitemetal parts are excellent, and the 5 frets of etch are absolutly top notch. Compared to the other resin kits I've seen, this is the only one that I really thought was worth the price.

Indeed, that's the point I was making about the Model Factory Hiro kits (although I can't vouch for the quality in the way you can with the Akitsushima kit)

I do think however, that some of the prices of modern 1/72 kits in general is reaching somewhat crazy levels, especially as that's the scale most kids start with.. I was having a look last night, and there was very little to choose from under £10 for F- series planes, many manufacturers are creeping ever closer to £20 :/

[Wayne]

You're quite right. I had forgotten about the Academy kit. I think I'll have to try one. Thanks for the heads up!

No problem, glad I could help.

Wayne

Edited July 22, 2010 by Wayne

[Pilgrim_UK]

 If the foreign companies price themselves out the 1/72 market then the homegrown companies like Airfix will grow stronger which is not a bad thing. As the next generation of modellers/fathers will buy the cheapest kits to start out with.

Maybes ayes, maybe naws.

[goose]

well lets be fair airfix are getting better, so as long as they dont trump up the prices, it will be more power to them!

and sod the rip off merchants! :shithappens:

Edited July 22, 2010 by goose

[Alan P]

Is the concern more "model kits in general are getting too expensive" or simply "I wouldn't pay that for kit XYZ, it's not worth it!"

Let's say I see an upcoming kit and I really want to buy it. I look it up and whoa! It's way out of my price league. There may be various reasons for this.

For me, I find this is usually because the kit is too large, complex or multimedia for my budget, even though it looks soooo good! - in this case i would just have to shrug and walk away - it has happened many times in my modelling life! And i would not necessarily argue with the pricing of the examples of highly engineered, multimedia, limited run kits that have been mentioned so far.

But in this case (going back to the original post), I think Master Zen is absolutely right! A rehashed 80s vintage kit with an extra sprue that effectively doubles your money? Not worth it in my book, especially as there is likely to be a widely acceptable alternative in the market pretty soon!

I can understand why people get fed up with pricing when it is of this type - premium pricing to promote a sense of product supremacy, when it isn't.

[denstore]

Indeed, that's the point I was making about the Model Factory Hiro kits (although I can't vouch for the quality in the way you can with the Akitsushima kit)

Sorry about that. I must have been to tired or something.

But in general, people must start to accept that there will be more and more "expensive" kits on the market. Todays kits are geared to an adult public, and we will probably se a continuing raise in prices.

I do think however, that some of the prices of modern 1/72 kits in general is reaching somewhat crazy levels, especially as that's the scale most kids start with.. I was having a look last night, and there was very little to choose from under £10 for F- series planes, many manufacturers are creeping ever closer to £20 :/

Sad to say, but it's probably the way we are heading. Prices will go up. And even if they do, people will probably buy kits. But as usual, my largest complaint is about the importer.

[denstore]

But in this case (going back to the original post), I think Master Zen is absolutely right! A rehashed 80s vintage kit with an extra sprue that effectively doubles your money? Not worth it in my book, especially as there is likely to be a widely acceptable alternative in the market pretty soon!

That extra sprue might have cost Hasegawa as much as the whole kit did back when it was initially made. And they will not have the ability to sell as much of this kit as they did with the original kit.

Add to that new box and new decals. With todays development, production and wage costs, I would say that the raise isn't that strange.

[AnonymousFO98]

Okay lets talk economics.

Would I be right in thinking that inflation rates apart from Zimbabwe are low.

Interest rates are also low.

There is, or recently has been, global recession.

Not up to date on the Japanese economy but my impression was that it was having not immune to the recent global economic events.

The first indicates that costs are not increasing at the same rate that Hase's kits are getting hiked.

Low interest rates suggests that investment costs are reduced.

Recession means there is less money sloshing around. Slightly reducing demand, only slightly due to the somewhat avaricious tendencies of the modelling community to see kits as must have, even if they sell wife and kids to the slavers.

Wage costs are not likely to be pushing prices up.

Exchange rates we know about but since Hase prices seem to be going up everywhere, the Yen must be doing well at the moment.

It would also suggest that the domestic price has been stable while the round of price hikes has been effected. Also if the Yen is strong, then the imported materials would be cheaper for Hase to purchase.

I can't see that a sprue for the torpedo and a new decal sheet is going to cost that much Magnus. If it is then it is Hasegawa's own fault for their boxing strategy. Whatever faults the likes of Airfix have in comparison, they offer multiple decal options and plenty of stores. That means lots more research, usually by a factor of three or four per release as Hase only ever do one option per box. Also because Airfix usually provide plenty of stores, they don't have to go through the process for the odd kit here and there that needs ordenance. Now they have a german topedo if it gets used on another kit, it will be interesting to see if that kit's price goes up proportionally less than the Fw190 has.

Maybe it is time for Hasegawa to rethink their boxing policy. As I indicated demand for kits is fairly elastic and will stretch when prices increase. ie Demand falls away less quickly.

But elastic doesn't mean that there is no breaking point. Yes we know that Hase don't give a toss about the export market. It's time we gave them the finger if they and their distributors wish to treat us with distain.

Finally this is going to impact on the hobby suppliers. How long can even Hannants sustain buying kits that people can't afford. They are not going to continue having stock gathering dust tying up a lot of cash, to then flog off at a loss. Be interesting to know how many Sea Kings they have sold for example.

[Julien]

Playing the "What's the most expensive kit Hannants have?" game Hasegawa wins again!

http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/HALTD1

That Dora gun and the Spruce Goose 1:72 kit give it a good run though

CHUFF!

I like the way Hannants say "even at this price we expec t this to sell out. It is "Limited". "

ha ha ha

Julien