Heller bust

[iainpeden]

According to Hannant's hot news sheet today, Heller have gone bust with no buyer.

[sofiane1718]

Maped bought Heller-Joustra:

https://www.google.fr/search?q=mattel+joustra&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=oM0IV6ydOcmPU7aZoOgB#tbm=nws&q=maped+joustra

Edited April 9, 2016 by sofiane1718

[SleeperService]

I'm very glad they (may) have survived. They have a very interesting range but suffered as new releases were rare recently. I hope the Petit Gris makes it out soon.

[alex]

I hope that they manage to bring the modeling "back to school", as Maped is a big player in school supplies.

Alex

[chrisov]

Hope so too.

And just as the 1/72 707 and 1/48 Mirage IV set to make a return.

Cheers

Chris

[Graham Boak]

I hope that they manage to bring the modeling "back to school", as Maped is a big player in school supplies.

Alex

Be careful what you wish for. Heller have a long history of cheap kits intended for a younger market. Remember Cadet? Bobkit? They are not generally regarded as their finest work, and like many other companies have found that chasing a younger audience has meant a cheaper but simpler product that generally is comparatively crude and doesn't do well in the market. There's a fine line to tread between doing good but simple kits, and appearing to patronise. Consider the way that even good kits for their time, like the Black Box series from Heller from the 70s, are now sneered at and tossed aside by many younger modellers on this board.

[dazinio]

Recently built there Citroen DS3 WRC and C4 WRC, easy builds but still enjoyable I'd better grab the 1/16 Citroen DS while I still can oh and maybe the Renault 5 group B oh and the Red Bull DS3 WRC oh and......

[gavingav1]

i love heller but it is very hard too justify buying anything from them nowadays, their ships in 1/400th are the wrong scale-1.350th is the norm, most of the aircraft and 1/35th tanks are ancient toolings , its a shame as when they produce a new kit it is fantastic like the 72nd new tool sherman, which is probably one of the best 72nd armour kits out there and packed with options, i hope they do survive but they need to be "airfixed" and revived .

[Tomppa B]

What baffles me is that Heller left the Mirage to be kitted by non-French companies. One would think that new tooling kit for such an iconic aircraft would have been a priority. Also it seems that the Mirage versions by other kit makers have sold quite briskly although somewhat expensive. Well, at least Heller had the sense to re-release its big scale motorcycles like the 750 Laverda.

[The wooksta V2.0]

i love heller but it is very hard too justify buying anything from them nowadays, their ships in 1/400th are the wrong scale-1.350th is the norm, most of the aircraft and 1/35th tanks are ancient toolings , its a shame as when they produce a new kit it is fantastic like the 72nd new tool sherman, which is probably one of the best 72nd armour kits out there and packed with options, i hope they do survive but they need to be "airfixed" and revived .

Rot! Some of their 72nd aircraft are still well worth getting. Their Vampire for a start is still better shapewise than more recent offerings, the Ar 96 has only recently been eclipsed by the SH kit, no one else does a Mistral AFAIK. Their Bf 108 is half the price of the Fly kit. The Ar 196 is the only decent one available in the scale, whilst their Gladiator was the gold standard for many years until the Airfix new tool was released. Now I think about it, many of their 72nd kits are still pretty decent - Bf 109C, Bf 109K, Me 163B, He 112B, Ba 349 Natter/Fi 103 Reichenberg combo, Fi 156 Storch, Hawker Tempest V. And don't forget that they've done many French aircraft that others have yet to kit.

[dfqweofekwpeweiop4]

Every time I see the title in this thread, I just think of Hell-er Bust! Which is a Mustang of the 352FG flown by Edwin Heller.......

thanks

Mike

[Panzer Vor!!!]

The galleons and sailing ships were fantastic models

[Seahawk]

Rot! Some of their 72nd aircraft are still well worth getting. Their Vampire for a start is still better shapewise than more recent offerings, the Ar 96 has only recently been eclipsed by the SH kit, no one else does a Mistral AFAIK. Their Bf 108 is half the price of the Fly kit. The Ar 196 is the only decent one available in the scale, whilst their Gladiator was the gold standard for many years until the Airfix new tool was released. Now I think about it, many of their 72nd kits are still pretty decent - Bf 109C, Bf 109K, Me 163B, He 112B, Ba 349 Natter/Fi 103 Reichenberg combo, Fi 156 Storch, Hawker Tempest V. And don't forget that they've done many French aircraft that others have yet to kit.

Exactly. But let's remember that a number of their classics are still available via SMER:

http://www.tigerhobbies.co.uk/index.php?route=product/search&search=smer&page=2

[occa]

i love heller but it is very hard too justify buying anything from them nowadays, their ships in 1/400th are the wrong scale-1.350th is the norm, most of the aircraft and 1/35th tanks are ancient toolings , its a shame as when they produce a new kit it is fantastic like the 72nd new tool sherman, which is probably one of the best 72nd armour kits out there and packed with options, i hope they do survive but they need to be "airfixed" and revived .

One can only hope they go a similar way as Airfix does

[John Thompson]

Exactly. But let's remember that a number of their classics are still available via SMER:

http://www.tigerhobbies.co.uk/index.php?route=product/search&search=smer&page=2

But for how long? It depends whether Smer are doing their own molding or merely repackaging kit components purchased from Heller. And even if they have the Heller molds on hand, those being Heller property they'd now be in the same legal limbo as Heller itself.

John

Edited April 11, 2016 by John Thompson

[gavingav1]

Rot! Some of their 72nd aircraft are still well worth getting. Their Vampire for a start is still better shapewise than more recent offerings, the Ar 96 has only recently been eclipsed by the SH kit, no one else does a Mistral AFAIK. Their Bf 108 is half the price of the Fly kit. The Ar 196 is the only decent one available in the scale, whilst their Gladiator was the gold standard for many years until the Airfix new tool was released. Now I think about it, many of their 72nd kits are still pretty decent - Bf 109C, Bf 109K, Me 163B, He 112B, Ba 349 Natter/Fi 103 Reichenberg combo, Fi 156 Storch, Hawker Tempest V. And don't forget that they've done many French aircraft that others have yet to kit.

each to their own ,but the me-163, storch and tempest have been done better by academy, you admit yourself that the ar-96 and gladiator have been recently bettered , the 109's are 40 year old tooling with no interior details, i dont want to suggest there kits are useless but in this day and age they are past their sell bye date unfortunately.

[Graham Boak]

Given that people still buy older and worse Airfix/Matchbox/Frog/Revell kits when they become available, I don't see why Heller "black box" kits should have untouchable status. There are many many kits produced more recently that are worse.

[JosephLalor]

Given that people still buy older and worse Airfix/Matchbox/Frog/Revell kits when they become available, I don't see why Heller "black box" kits should have untouchable status. There are many many kits produced more recently that are worse.

Indeed. Heller's P-47N was a blooper, but I think their Tempest V's still a gem and beats the Academy kit in outline accuracy. To my mind the latter suffers from a paddle bladed prop and a swept forward look to the wings and tailplanes.

[dfqweofekwpeweiop4]

Indeed. Heller's P-47N was a blooper, but I think their Tempest V's still a gem and beats the Academy kit in outline accuracy. To my mind the latter suffers from a paddle bladed prop and a swept forward look to the wings and tailplanes.

Ah but it depends what's important to you, you would expect the Academy Tempest to have superior detailing and fit (not built the Heller one, so I am speculating). Sometimes it can be more fun to build something that maybe isn't quite accurate but builds up better with not much fuss, rather that something that might be more accurate but more difficult. Heller do make some interesting subjects though, especially the pre and early WW2 French stuff.

thanks

Mike

[SeaVenom]

They did have some nice old ships but where were the new toolings of exciting stuff? Stuff that hasn't been done before? They just seemed to rely on their back catalogue.

I'm not surprised they've gone bust again but let's hope they can rise from the ashes.

[Dave Fleming]

Rot! Some of their 72nd aircraft are still well worth getting. Their Vampire for a start is still better shapewise than more recent offerings, the Ar 96 has only recently been eclipsed by the SH kit, no one else does a Mistral AFAIK. Their Bf 108 is half the price of the Fly kit. The Ar 196 is the only decent one available in the scale, whilst their Gladiator was the gold standard for many years until the Airfix new tool was released. Now I think about it, many of their 72nd kits are still pretty decent - Bf 109C, Bf 109K, Me 163B, He 112B, Ba 349 Natter/Fi 103 Reichenberg combo, Fi 156 Storch, Hawker Tempest V. And don't forget that they've done many French aircraft that others have yet to kit.

The Fouga Magister is rather nice too.

Their Tempest is more accurate than the Academy one, especially as you don't have to fill all those stupid unrealistic panel lines.

The Academy Storch has weird square section struts (and those engraved panel lines). My 109C had intenal detail

[Seahawk]

The Academy Storch has weird square section struts (and those engraved panel lines).

And I found the detail parts (balance weights, struts, etc) were heavier on the Academy kit. I do have an Academy Storch but any more will be Heller/Smer.

[Panoz]

each to their own ,but the me-163, storch and tempest have been done better by academy, you admit yourself that the ar-96 and gladiator have been recently bettered ,

Not to mention that you need to have connections in Argentina to get the Heller ones.

PS Heller Storch is better...

[172flogger]

i still hope for these reeditions:

- Super Broussard turboprop

- Art En Ciel

-1/100 Concorde prototype

[John @ Models R Go]

Didn't they hold the record for a plastic kit with the most parts (Le Soleil Royale) until the Soar Art Dora came along?