bradleygolding Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 If Airfix actually released some kits made out of plastic, that would be a start! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albeback52 Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 1 hour ago, Plasto said: Perhaps the dozens of releases means they are dipping into the untapped old tooling bank: F86-D, Shooting Star, Beaver, Anne Boleyn et al.... Discuss... Most likely we will see some of these. The F-86D, F-80 and Beaver were actually very nice kits. I'd like to add the F-84F Thunderstreak, B-26 Marauder and F-2H Banshee to that hypothetical list. On the down side though, we'd be paying contemporary prices for these 30 -40 year old kits. That is something I do have an issue with and, I know I won't be the only one Allan 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 6 minutes ago, Albeback52 said: Most likely we will see some of these. The F-86D, F-80 and Beaver were actually very nice kits. I'd like to add the F-84F Thunderstreak, B-26 Marauder and F-2H Banshee to that hypothetical list. On the down side though, we'd be paying contemporary prices for these 30 -40 year old kits. That is something I do have an issue with and, I know I won't be the only one Allan I'd say the F-84F is well past its best. There is a market for a modern F-84F/RF-84F in 1/72nd although I don't think they'd come from Airfix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightersweep Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 3 hours ago, Albeback52 said: What you and your wife do in the privacy of your home is on a "need to know" basis !! And, we don't need to know!! Come to think of it, I do go out of my way to be a naughty boy! Plasto; Agreed! There are dozens of Airfix kits I would be more than happy to see re-released. Beaver, Cessna Bird Dog, Cessna 02, Piper Cherokee, Beagle Bassett, SRN1, Morris Marina, Austin Maxi, Lotus Cortina, Vauxhall Victor etc etc. I still have a lot of time for a big chunk of thier back catalogue. They really should coinsider a "Classis Range" like Revell did. Everyone knows just what they are getting then. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhoenixII Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 18 hours ago, shatters said: But without the new releases, where will next year's sales come from ? Phil Phil, as Col say's, below. Plus, just how BIG is yer stash???? 16 hours ago, Col. said: The existing range I'd guess. That Spitfire Vb from the early 70s kept getting pumped out until recently even though there was 'better' kits on the market so must have been selling. Agreed! Blimey, some of the moulds that have been in use recently are OLDER than me..........just! Chating with Trev Snowden, he said while still working for Airfix, he'd seen in ALL of the moulds from Trun when they got back to the U.K. with the exception of the SR53. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plasto Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 6 hours ago, Albeback52 said: On the down side though, we'd be paying contemporary prices for these 30 -40 year old kits. That is something I do have an issue with and, I know I won't be the only one Allan So too expensive.... But potentially the ‘right’ scale... 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickydicky210 Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 5 hours ago, fightersweep said: There are dozens of Airfix kits I would be more than happy to see re-released. Beaver, Cessna Bird Dog, Cessna 02, Piper Cherokee, Beagle Bassett, SRN1, Morris Marina, Austin Maxi, Lotus Cortina, Vauxhall Victor etc etc. Anyone recall Airfix's failed plan to reissue old kits - cant recall the name, but ended about a year ago, the Beaver was one which didn't make it, think it was the Basset that made it, shame as it was a good idea, just not enough interest or too expensive, a bit of both i suspect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shatters Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) 2 minutes ago, trickydicky210 said: Anyone recall Airfix's failed plan to reissue old kits - cant recall the name, but ended about a year ago, the Beaver was one which didn't make it, think it was the Basset that made it, shame as it was a good idea, just not enough interest or too expensive, a bit of both i suspect. Kitstarter it was called, not sure how many Bassetts were ordered, but the odd one turns up on ebay. Phil Edited January 1, 2018 by shatters Punctuation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickydicky210 Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 I do think kit manufacturers should state the tool age on the box so you know what to expect once the boix is opened. I like the idea of the Airfix Classic range, keep it simple, no new schemes, just print the decals to todays standards and provide a paint conversion chart from the old Airfix numbers (if applicable). 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightersweep Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 The big problem that I had with Kickstarter, initially at least, was the choice of subjects. I just wasn't bothered by the historical figures or the birds. Nothing against them, just not my cup of tea. By the time things got more interesting with the Beaver and Bassett, the whole thing had seemed to lose momentum....plus it was a bit on the pricey side. I really wouldn't mind paying contemporary prices if the kits had good decals, and it would beat paying some of the current eBay prices for some of these kits with everything there being seemingly "Vintage and Rare"! I'd love to build the Islander/Defender again, but I'm not paying £30 for it! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris57 Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 2 hours ago, fightersweep said: The big problem that I had with Kickstarter, initially at least, was the choice of subjects. I just wasn't bothered by the historical figures or the birds. Nothing against them, just not my cup of tea. By the time things got more interesting with the Beaver and Bassett, the whole thing had seemed to lose momentum....plus it was a bit on the pricey side. I really wouldn't mind paying contemporary prices if the kits had good decals, and it would beat paying some of the current eBay prices for some of these kits with everything there being seemingly "Vintage and Rare"! I'd love to build the Islander/Defender again, but I'm not paying £30 for it! You've obviously not been shopping in the right places, I've moved two Islanders on in the last year at much less than that. One I think at Gloucester show and maybe the second at the Nats. Sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plasto Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Kitstarter fell flat for a number of reasons. But it generated a lot of ‘interest’ some of which was from collectors wanting things like the SLR toy rifle , ‘Fireball XL5’ and the ‘pumpkin headed’ Boyscout figure released as they cost a fortune on eBay. To more grounded requests like reissue the 1/48 Buccaneer. At the time Airfix didn’t seem to know what old tooling was viable or not. So they launched with things they knew they could produce such as Anne Boleyn and blue tits. When a quick look at any model forum or their own sales would tell them that 99.99% of modellers probably wanted 1/72 aircraft.. As such the whole thing fizzled out and left a good example of how not to run a co creation campaign via social media.. The question is how much of the old tooling is still viable? I wonder because if say the B-26 tooling was still able to be used I wonder why they haven’t when they have older tooling stuff in the range... Possibly it’s just a lack of resource to sort it out. Airfix accounted for about 12% or 6 million of Hornby’s total revenue . Where Model railroad was close to 50% and slot cars were greater than 20% if my quick maths is accurate. Of that 6 million 23% was via UK national retailers and 21% via UK independent retailers. Interesting figures to put Airfix as a business into context. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntPhillips Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Lets not forget that some of the recent toolings are no longer in the current portfolio, and could quite easily be repopped with or without new marking options. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the Sea Vixen in particular fairly soon, if the prices on the Bay are any indication there is a demand for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plasto Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 2 hours ago, trickydicky210 said: I do think kit manufacturers should state the tool age on the box so you know what to expect once the boix is opened. I like the idea of the Airfix Classic range, keep it simple, no new schemes, just print the decals to todays standards and provide a paint conversion chart from the old Airfix numbers (if applicable). You’d have to invest in new box art and re-vamp the instructions to being them into line with the current standard. If you launched a stand alone ‘Airfix Classics’ range you’d have to market that separately to the current stuff which is inconsistent to building a unified brand which has been the strategy Hornby have used to date. So while to tooling costs are well and truely amortised for a classic kit there is still cost involved in releasing it. Add to that production costs etc it would likely cost as much as a newer tool kit which brings us back to Airfix thread caveat number 1... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plasto Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 2 minutes ago, AntPhillips said: Lets not forget that some of the recent toolings are no longer in the current portfolio, and could quite easily be repopped with or without new marking options. Yes that’s quite true... Valliant and the Javelin also I guess.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightersweep Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 1 hour ago, chris57 said: You've obviously not been shopping in the right places, I've moved two Islanders on in the last year at much less than that. One I think at Gloucester show and maybe the second at the Nats. Sorry Which is fine if you can get to the shows. 'Fraid it's not too possible for me. If you had put them up for grabs in the sale section here, I would have happily thrown my cash at you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 An Airfix "Classics" range is a good idea. As has been said people will know what they are getting and we will hopefully see some of those kits which haven't been re-released for a very long time, to which I would add the CH-53 and Seasprite to those already mentioned. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truro Model Builder Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 14 hours ago, trickydicky210 said: I do think kit manufacturers should state the tool age on the box so you know what to expect once the boix is opened. Airfix now do this. There is usually a little info panel on the side. The one for the 1/72 AV-8A (which is within easy reach) states: 'Model Design & Tooling (c)2013 Decal Schemes & Pack Design (c)2015' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britman Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Remember the Matchbox 'window ' boxes that you could see a glimpse of the contents? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris57 Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 11 hours ago, fightersweep said: Which is fine if you can get to the shows. 'Fraid it's not too possible for me. If you had put them up for grabs in the sale section here, I would have happily thrown my cash at you! Unfortunately with nearly 900 kits to dispose of originally, using the For Sale section wasn't really viable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 13 hours ago, Plasto said: ...Possibly it’s just a lack of resource to sort it out. Airfix accounted for about 12% or 6 million of Hornby’s total revenue . Where Model railroad was close to 50% and slot cars were greater than 20% if my quick maths is accurate. Of that 6 million 23% was via UK national retailers and 21% via UK independent retailers. Interesting figures to put Airfix as a business into context. This is the first time I've seen raw numbers to put Airfix into context as part of the Hornby business. It's rather sobering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightersweep Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 25 minutes ago, chris57 said: Unfortunately with nearly 900 kits to dispose of originally, using the For Sale section wasn't really viable. Just one of those things. If there's one thing I excel at, it's missing the boat! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelraynz Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 (edited) So the uk market makes up a minority 44% based on those numbers - if so; i really hope they continue to expand the scope a bit beyond british ww2 aircraft, (or atleast aircraft that had multiple operators) - as I know from the retail side in NZ that the RAF ww2 subject niche saturates REAL quick! People get the initial released because of the "wow! new kit!" factor and then it DIES.(I've yet to see a second wind on swordfish or lancs nomatter how many marks are put out) And unfortunately your left with wholesalers trying to dump their stock on you! Still fingers crossed for 8th!! Edited January 2, 2018 by Modelraynz Spellz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plasto Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Yep numbers from the 2017 Annual report. The upshot is I guess Airfix makes good margin. Where as Slotcars don’t make as much. Interestingly they sell more through national retailers in the UK than the independents. National retailers being toy shop chains, Argos etc... Places I guess a enthusiast modeller possibly doesn’t shop. More revenue is earned down that channel in the UK than ‘normal’ model shops.. So you have a part of a larger business that accounts for 12% of its revenue and of that the majority of sales are via national retailers to potentially non enthusiast buyers. Would you focus your efforts on esoteric subjects??? Discuss.. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 3 hours ago, Britman said: Remember the Matchbox 'window ' boxes that you could see a glimpse of the contents? Airfix bagged kits, Airfix blister packs. Yes, Matchbox weren't the only ones Shane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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