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De Agostini in the news....


eslu2011

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Spotted this article on the Daily Mail website this morning:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2895714/It-s-financial-dark-parents-strike-900-build-Star-Wars-spaceship-toy.html

Apart from the (as always) low standard of reporting by DM, my main issue with this is the ridiculous comments from people who clearly do not have a clue. I am currently subscribed to the Mclaren mp4/23 build and will be subscribing to the mp4/4 once complete. The people commenting that this company are conning people because they will NOT give you a complete kit and the others hoping the company go out of business really annoyed me.

Although the kits are expensive, the price is clearly shown where advertised and the website is very clear.

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Did I miss the point here? I've just re-read the article and can't find where buying this is compulsary? If you don't like the price, don't buy it!

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2895714/It-s-financial-dark-parents-strike-900-build-Star-Wars-spaceship-toy.html#ixzz3NqYG4drK

Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Sums it up TBH

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I'm afraid I agree. 100 issues at £8.99!! Nearly £900 for that.? Why on earth would anyone want to throw £900 at that?

And who is forcing you to buy it? I know alot of people who have the same reaction to £30 for a box of plastic bits

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£900 for a kit is steep.... however in the case of the McLaren (for example) I know of only one company who offer a fully made model and they charge £2500 for the privilege...

Now as a modeller I would rather collect all the parts over two years paying in tiny instalments and build it myself for 35% of the fully made example.

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A hobbies a hobby and people will spend what they can afford.

Think of it this way, if your hobby is fishing, reels can costs thousands. If you enjoy playing the guitar, they can be equally expensive. I'm sure if they were able to get something that isn't ordinarily available for £40 a month over two years they would jump at it.

Just because modeling is a niche hobby does not mean that companies such as deagostini are fraudsters and deserve to go out of business and that I, as the consumer are "stupid" for subscribing to them.

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What a load of B.S.! This is the time when someone needs to work out how much it costs a smoker who goes through a pack-a-day over those same 2 years (nothing against smokers, just an example). The falcon would seem like an absolute bargain.

Draz

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Spotted this article on the Daily Mail website this morning:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2895714/It-s-financial-dark-parents-strike-900-build-Star-Wars-spaceship-toy.html

Apart from the (as always) low standard of reporting by DM, my main issue with this is the ridiculous comments from people who clearly do not have a clue. I am currently subscribed to the Mclaren mp4/23 build and will be subscribing to the mp4/4 once complete. The people commenting that this company are conning people because they will NOT give you a complete kit and the others hoping the company go out of business really annoyed me.

Although the kits are expensive, the price is clearly shown where advertised and the website is very clear.

I saw the advert for this model on the TV the other day, in between parts of a Stargate SG1 episode on Pick, whilst eating my breakfast, and nearly choked...

I have to say that from the viewpoint of a modeller who has a very very very very tight budget £900 seems very much like a rip off when you can probably source model kits that are about as big and could turn out better for far less, it might not be Star Wars, but you can even get a very well detailed 3ft studio scale USS Enterprise NCC-1701 Refit kit for about £100!!

As for the company conning people, I wouldn't say that, but they are taking the yellow stuff a little, imho. But that's as much down to the people who buy these things as it is the company, they know they can get away with it...

Having said that if people want to spend £100's on a model that may be of debatable quality compared to other kits that may be out there, part by part with a risk (however small that may be) of not completing the model, then that's their prerogative.

Edited by Raven Morpheus
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I always find the uproar about the cost of these partworks baffling, 9 quid a week? That's about equivalent to a pint of beer in the pub and a packet of 20 fags.

I don't drink or smoke so spending £9 a week on a model that I will enjoy for a lot longer than the boose and ciggies is a no-brainer. And I can always sell the model at the end, you can't sell a pint a beer after you have enjoyed it.

As has been said, horses for courses.

Cheers,

Stuart

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This model is of zero interest to me, but I agree with the above.

If it were a part-work of a Ferrari 250 GTO, I'd part with the £9.00 a week like a shot.

Yet many 'moaners' will 'splash' their money up the pub loo wall, or stink ordinary mortals out with smoke, and have nothing but a headache and an empty wallet to show for it.

How much is a season ticket for Footie? - the most brainless activity ever invented.

Also as said above, each to their own.

I have no doubt there are a few here who think I'm nuts for being a Pocher fan......

Roy.

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It's funny you should say that Roy, because I am in the camp of smokers who enjoy a drink down the pub whilst watching a game of footy! I too, have zero interest on Star Wars but do take issue with this companies perceived "taking the yellow stuff" reputation.

I am an F1 fan so am extremely interested and excited to have a sub for the Mclaren. I fully intend on taking out a new sub on one of the other models as soon my current one is complete.

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I'm one of those who has signed up for this. It is a huge commitment in money and time (as in it'll take 2 years to get the parts) and as such I had to think long and hard about it.

I had been thinking of getting the 1/72 scale Fine Molds Falcon, but struggled to justify the cost (£300 to £400 depending on where you source the kit and what AM goodies you add) for a single model. When I first saw the advert for the part works 1/43 Falcon I was intrigued but really put off at the £900 cost. That said, I did some research and realised that if I wanted a good model of the Falcon there were not too many options and the DeAg option could be the way to go. To help decide I bought the first issue to see what the parts look like. Quality wise the parts are good and quite detailed, but from a personal perspective most parts will need a complete repaint and maybe some details reworking, but that is all part of the model making fun. DeAg are using MR's ILM Falcon 3D scans and other resources for the parts, so details and accuracy should be high.

The real decision comes down to price. I could / would not fork out £900 for a model in one go, but spreading the cost weekly makes this viable. In the end I decided I could afford the £9 per week for something that will hopefully be an impressive model once complete.

There is a thread on this over in the SF discussion forum:

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234958206-deagostini-build-the-millenium-falcon/

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At the end of the day, ANY part-work kit is likely to be expensive in the long run but it offers the chance to buy something that maybe couldn't normally be affordable.

When I subscribed to the McLaren a few years back, a friend said to me 'why not just but an expensive kit with a credit card, and pay it off in stages?

That way you get ALL the kit, now.'

Fair point, but with the vast majority of part-work kits, you are getting a model that you can't buy anywhere else.

.....and I'd still give the proverbial eye-teeth for a part-work 1/8 Fezza 250GTO......

Roy.

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Let's hope that it sells better than the Hatchette Publications 1/16th Sherman Firefly part-work, which came out late last year. That one lasted a very unimpressive four issues! And I bought the first two issues (and then couldn't claim a refund on them, ho hum!)

Cheers.

Chris

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Funny you should mention the McLaren Roy, it just got released here in Australia. What are your thoughts on it? I must admit, it is very tempting :)

It's a superb kit.

I went a bit potty on mine adding extra details and stuff, but even built 'as it comes' it's a seriously impressive model.

Being an F1 car, it's BIG.

The Ferrari in the 2nd pic is 1/12 scale!!!

My advice - get it.....

Roy.

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P1010091_zps0f1f8b53.jpg

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I subscribed to both the Victory model and the McLaren, no disappointment in either. No-one has mentioned yet that it is also a magazine subscription too. In particular the information and history I learned from the Victory model was worth about 25% of the total cost, I still enjoy using the magazines as reference material for the whole Nelson era.

DeAgostini were also very quick in sorting out any damaged/missing parts which happened during the Victory subscription, mostly due to the Postman at that time ramming the packets through my letterbox. Please don't take that as a generalisation about postmen as this was down to a specific postie and all the others since DO take care!

Should they publish another partwork of interest to me then I will have no hesitation in giving them some more of my money. I will NEVER subscribe to Hachette again though, to me they are all that is wrong with subscription services.

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