The great hasegawa pricing challenge!

[viscount806x]

On a total aside how many times IT WAS NOT A HANNANTS SCAM! it was the payment company.

Julien

Apologies and prostration, this is very true and no offence was meant to Hannants who generally do a good job on our behalf although it didn't feel like it at the time my cards were compromised. I merely used the 'Scam' reference to refer to the same label used by a previous contributor. It was, I believe, a clearing bank lapse in security.

[Wolfpack]

I think age has a lot to do with the attitude to Hasegawa's pricing. I am of an age when I can remember buying Airfix kits for 1s 6d (7.5p). A few of years ago, I thought to treat myself to the Revell 1/32 FW190D, I still have the Airfix magazine where it was advertised new for 17s 6d (87.5p). A second hand stall was offering one for TWENTY QUID. Needless to say, I didn't bother.

I can also remeber Mars bars, thick, chewy, and a real 'scoff' for 6d (2.5p) and they're now 37p (7s 6d). Talk about inflation!

W

Edited December 26, 2011 by Wolfpack

[marty_hopkirk]

Apologies and prostration, this is very true and no offence was meant to Hannants who generally do a good job on our behalf although it didn't feel like it at the time my cards were compromised. I merely used the 'Scam' reference to refer to the same label used by a previous contributor. It was, I believe, a clearing bank lapse in security.

I used the word 'thing' in quotation marks. which is entirely different than the word scam.

Marty...

Edited December 26, 2011 by marty_hopkirk

[Nick Millman]

I can also remeber Mars bars, thick, chewy, and a real 'scoff' for 6d (5p) and they're now 37p (7s 6d). Talk about inflation!

W

Doesn't 5p = 1/-? So it would be 2.5p! I remember them as much bigger and heavier than the modern ones too and as you say very chewy. I wonder if anyone has preserved one? It would make an interesting comparison.

[charley420]

A 37p marsbar??? i wish

[Jon Kunac-Tabinor]

while current Hasegawa prices do seem very high, am I alone in thinking that Hasegawa prices have always been on the high side anyway? Certainly when I was a teenager in the 1980s, Hasegawa always seemed expensive, and through the 90s and noughties too.

Even allowing for that - i must admit that todays prices just seem eye-wateringly excessive, especially as many of the kits themselves are now quite old, though Airfix have been selling some of their geriatric toolings quite happily for years, at prices which TBH are criminal for what you get in the box - £6 for the hawker typhoon for instance; so i guess its not just Hasegawa.

cheers

Jonners

[fidgeh]

But surely this is just another facet of the UK 'screw what we can out of the punters' philosophy - isn't everything in these fair isles expensive compared to most other places on the planet?

[Dave Fleming]

Whilst the omeny markets/exchange rates can factor in to the equation, Hasegawa's homeland prices have risen a lot as well - search HLJ or similar for some of their older kts and comapre the Yen price now with the Yen price then

[JeffreyK]

It's not so much the issue with new kits being expensive - new kits benefit from new technology, new research, higher level of detail etc. etc. and all that has to be paid for in times where EVERYTHING is expensive - labour, energy, raw materials, transport and all that. I certainly don't like it but I accept it...Still cheaper to buy a near £50.00 or even near £100.00 kit than a new golf club, a car hifi upgrade or a season ticket at the football club (I think).

An issue with Hasegawa in particular is their gigantic price increase every time they re-release an old kit. Quite often, especially with their jet kits they don't even contain new decal options - they're exactly the same as the original release but more expensive. I keep buying Hasegawa kits since they cover a lot of "my" subjects (20 out of the 66 kits in my current stash are Hasegawa) but I can't remember the last time I bought a new kit straight from the retailer. I buy them on Ebay (unsurprisingly second hand prices have risen in line with the retail price), via this forum or at shows. The only place I buy Hasegawa from the retailer directly is in Japan. Either in person or I have them sent to my parents-in-law over there and collect them in due course.

So in essence: paying £79.99 for a state of the art kit of a subject that really interests me - perhaps yes after some consideration and checking for the cheapest retail price. £79.99 for the re-release of an old kit? No thank you, I'll keep looking for second hand.

J

[Paul Bradley]

But surely this is just another facet of the UK 'screw what we can out of the punters' philosophy - isn't everything in these fair isles expensive compared to most other places on the planet?

US prices - Mars bars, imported from the UK, $1.25 - or 80p; PG Tips, 80 count, $11 - or 6.50; Heinz Baked Beans, can, $3.50 - or 2.25. That's import pricing for you - specialty goods shipping in relatively small quantities will costs more when you have to ship them half way round the world, have someone distribute them and ship them to your sales point. Same for Hasegawa.

And don't forget that the pound buys you less Yen now. All adds up. Hasegawa kits were always expensive, right from the early Seventies when they were first imported. If you don't like the price, just do what I do - don't buy them. Simples.

[ReccePhreak]

Let me add my 2¢ from across the "pond".

I have a good sized stash of 1/48 Hasegawa Phantom kits, bought over the years. My oldest boxing has a Japanese price on it of ¥1800, while the newest reissue has a price of ¥3800. That's a 211% increase! Has all consumer products increased that amount, in the same period of time? I think not. I wish I could say that my pay has increased the same amount, but it's not true.

I agree that it's not just the manufacturers' fault, like Hasegawa, Trumpeter, HobbyBoss, Italeri, et al. It's also the distributors, and anybody else in the "chain", from manufacturer to consumer. Whatever the reason, with the current economic downward trend (all over the world, I might add), coupled with my stash size and what it costs me to actually live, I will be buying fewer kits than before. Fortunately, because of my current stash size and the fact that I now almost entirely build 1/48 & 1/32 photo-reconnaissance aircraft, there are almost no more kits on my Want List. It's all mainly aftermarket.

Larry

[Ghostbase]

Interesting thread and this subject crops up from time to time...

I have been purchasing kits since the mid 70's and just took a look through the stash to see what Hasegawa kits I have kept and see what they cost.

My earliest was a 1/32nd F-104G purchased from Beatties in the late 70's (probably 1979) for £13.99. That would have been a lot of money to me back then! Just for fun, using the DollarTimes inflation calculator HERE and substituting sterling for dollars the current cost of the F-104G would be around £45.29. Go onto the Hannants website and the updated kit sells at £47.99. However this is fairly old stock so does not represent current prices. Be interesting to see what the impending Italeri release retails at.

The 1/72nd RF-101C 'Polkadots' cost £9.95 in 2001, that would be £12.53 today. I have a 1/72nd Cessna A-37A which I believe I would have purchased in 1978, it was £0.70 which is now £2.47. Also 1/72nd B-47E for 12.99 in 1983 which equates to £29.18 today.

My only other more recent Hasegawa purchases were a 1/72nd A-3B Skywarrior which I remember was priced significantly higher than I would normally pay for this sized kit (but I had to have it!!) and a selection of the 1/48th F-104 Starfighter kits before they disappeared about three or four years ago; I was paying £17.99 in the Manchester Modelzone, that would be £18.77 today according to DollarTimes but not sure I agree with that. In reality the 'new' CF-104D Starfighter 'Canadian Air Force' goes for £39.99 on Hannants which does seem a bit of a hike in just five years.

I think it is fair to say that, for me, purchasing a Hasegawa kit is only done when I want something specific which cannot be sourced through another manufacturer and I have been prepared to pay a premium price for it (RF-101C, B-47E, A-3B) and I suspect that their current business model is based upon this. Don't forget that two recent Airfix releases - the Sea Vixen and the Valiant - currently retail for £39.99 each so if Hasegawa is at the premium end of the market then £60+ per equivalent kit does not seem so odd in comparison.

Have to say, won't catch me paying these sort of prices but then I very rarely have so really no change

Michael

[techniquest]

I think there are any number of factors involved in the inflated prices. It also seems as though Italeri are cashing in on the Hasegawa act: compare the price of the Kinetic EA-6B Prowler (£34.99) to the Italeri re-box (£59.99) (see Hannants).

For me the answer is simple: I won't buy what I can't afford - and I can't afford to pay these kinds of prices. I already have a bunch of Hasegawa kits in the stash, mostly bought second-hand or from HLJ a few years ago, and I'm lucky enough to have built up a total stash (not just Hasegawa) of more than enough kits to keep me going, probably more than the remainder of my useful lifetime will allow me to build. For me, part of the fun in the whole model hobby is looking around model shows, airshows and so on for bargains, and also buying & selling on ebay. I don't need to worry about how much a new Hasegawa kit costs

I can also remeber Mars bars, thick, chewy, and a real 'scoff' for 6d (5p) and they're now 37p (7s 6d). Talk about inflation!

I think you'll find that today's standard Mars Bar is little bigger than an original 'fun-size' bar!! I would also suggest that 'Wagon Wheels' need to be re-named 'Skateboard Wheels' in keeping with the shrinkage of their overall diameter!

Edited December 26, 2011 by techniquest

[Seahawk]

I think you'll find that today's standard Mars Bar is little bigger than an original 'fun-size' bar!!

.. quite apart from having the density of a Milky Way. Let's remember, a Milky Way was "the sweet you could eat without ruining your appetite" whereas a proper Mars Bar had failed if it didn't!

[smuts]

only Hase kits I've brought this year were from HLJ at Telford saved a very big 72 quid on the UK price for the two kits , did anyone else notice very little Hase kits at SMW........WRITINGS ON THE WALL.

Andy

[AirfixAndy]

...... I would also suggest that 'Wagon Wheels' need to be re-named 'Skateboard Wheels' in keeping with the shrinkage of their overall diameter!

Take it you aint heard the golden excuse of ......"Wagon Wheels have supposedly shrunk in size as time has progressed, but Burton's Foods Ltd have denied this. It has been suggested that the supposed shrinkage is due to an adult's childhood memory of eating a Wagon Wheel held in a much smaller hand "

Andy

[chadders]

I picked up the 1:48th Hase F-22 from Wonderlands Stand at SMW for a more realistic £39.99 from £72.99. The question that has to be asked is if they can be sold at that price once why not all the time?

[Julien]

I picked up the 1:48th Hase F-22 from Wonderlands Stand at SMW for a more realistic £39.99 from £72.99. The question that has to be asked is if they can be sold at that price once why not all the time?

Probably because they had loads left, and to the £40 in the bank is worth more than £72 in the warehouse. They probably lost on those.

Julien

[633squad]

Take it you aint heard the golden excuse of ......"Wagon Wheels have supposedly shrunk in size as time has progressed, but Burton's Foods Ltd have denied this. It has been suggested that the supposed shrinkage is due to an adult's childhood memory of eating a Wagon Wheel held in a much smaller hand "

Andy

When thw BBC were making "life on Mars" they found a 1970,s "curly wurly" wrapper which was about twice the size of a modern one. The chilhood memory reason is one that is rolled out regularly to explain this.

Cheers

633

[AirfixAndy]

Last Hasegawa I bought was the Op Telic boxing of the Tornado F3.....£20, a couple of years ago.

Price now , with different decals...£34.....nearly double the price.

Something is not right somewhere.....

Andy

[Rob P]

Fortunately, Hasegawa haven't released anything I've wanted since the Tornado's and F-111's in 1990. Having started building again after a *ahem* number of years break, imagine the surprise I got when looking for a Tornado F3! £9.99 for the one in the stash, £35 on the new boxing!

Oh for the old days when their Harrier and Jaguar were £4.99 and the rest of the range not a lot more.

Mind you, can't live in the past when Series 1 Airfix kits were 49p and Series 2 were 99p. I still remember my outrage when Series 2 went up to £1.09, 9p above my pocket money!

Hey it's life, we all get a wage, and everyone wants an ever increasing slice.

[Jon Kunac-Tabinor]

Just had a flick through the hannants site, searching for 1/48th kits of Hasegawa aircraft, and the interesting thing is the lack of consistency between various boxings of the same type.

I'm guessing that "special editions" are more expensive, but other than that there seems to be very little logic to the pricing, with variations of up to £30 between different boxings. Go figure that!

Jonners

[Welkin]

I am glad that I am not a cynic, or I might think that we were being screwed by a corporate mentality that can't see that today's profit motive might possibly be having an adverse effect on tomorrow's market.

[nirvanagr]

I think that the cheapest suggestion for hasegawa's lovers, is the Greek importer Kalfakis. www.kalfakis.gr

Just take a look at his page and compare the prices.

[bentwaters81tfw]

Some good prices there, thanks for that.