Fujimi 1/72 aircraft kits...

[Whirly]

Don't know if Aircrfat-Modern is the right place to ask, but it is were my interest in Fujimi kits lies. They tooled many good kits over the '90s but they seem really impossible to find now: browsing through the internet it doesn't seem a problem of availability in certain areas of the world but just that they stopped producing them. As far as I know the company is very well alive ( see their site http://www.fujimimokei.com/ ) only no more focused on these products. It's a pity they aren't capitalising on their assets, I think they would sell well without any need for re-boxings or new decals like Hasegawa keep doing every month. Anybody knows more about the reasons?

Just wondering...

[Des]

Guessing that it might be about finding importers as quite a few shopkeepers seemed to have a bad experience with Fujimi kits during the late 80s/early 90s.

 

Using their 1/72 kits as an example as their 1/48 (sometimes 1/50) scale kits did not quite have the same level of competition and in my experience were a bit rarer to see on the shelves anyway.

 

Back in the late 80s and 90s 1/72 kits like their A-4 , F-4 , RAF/RN Phantom, Cutlass , F-86 , MiG-21 , CH-46 , Sea King and CH-53 family series were at the top of their game for quality but they were very expensive compared to everyone else.     Other kits such as their F-16 were perhaps comparable with Hasegawa but again much more expensive although the latter had yet to reach their current pricing policy.        Some of their older products such as the F-8 were not quite the same quality as their later kits but were priced as if they were and were definitely overly expensive for what was offered.

 

From my own experience some smaller model shops especially were encouraged to stock Fujimi at that time on the basis of their quality but found them very hard to sell on the basis of the cost and although I bought quite a few of their A-4 / F-4 / UK Phantoms / MiG-21 / F-16 / F-86 / CH-46 / Sea King around then these were invariably after they had been reduced to clear and from shops vowing never to stock them again.

 

I have noticed in recent years that some of the different 'families' pop up from time to time and it is quite amusing that the selling price now is often less than the selling price had been when the kits were first released but I have imagined that the infrequency of their release was maybe related to their previous reputation.

Edited June 13, 2019 by Des

[tempestfan]

When their late 80s kits were originally released, they were expensive (for a pupil/student like me back then at any rate) at around the equivalent of € 16 to 18 € for e.g. the Spey Phantoms but it could be argued that they offered value for money. They somewhat priced themselves out of the market when small kits like Ju 87s and F-86s rose to the equivalent of 25 €. But then this may have been fully or partly due to their German importers. Certainly other ranges like Hase and Italeri also had sharply increased prices from around 2002 onward here.

[Giorgio N]

No idea what the reason for Fujimi limited interest in aicraft kits is today. Their latest products were the F-15E, that was heavily criticised, and the F-35, that was quite well received.

Have to say that companies like Hasegawa have followed a similar path, moving into other subjects like sci-fi and issuing only a few new aircraft, if any.

Fujimi kits have always been hard to find outside Japan and I guess that the high prices didn't help them selling kits in Europe and the US. In any case many of their kits are still in production and can be found easily enough from Japanese online dealers. Unfortunately the Skyhawks seem the hardest to find

[Whirly]

I agree on the limited distribution of Fujimi kits, even when they were first issued: I well remember the crazy prices you could see in the local model shops, at least of the few boxings that were imported.

Now however the aircraft and helicopter kits seem to have disappeared from the market even in Japan: try to find an F7U Cutlass or one of the many boxings for the CH-46/KV-107 or the SH-3. They can be found in the webshops pages but they are always out of stock, and the same if you search through Fujimi's website, they are listed but not available. So they simply seem to have not been in production for a long time.

[Giorgio N]

1 hour ago, Whirly said:

I agree on the limited distribution of Fujimi kits, even when they were first issued: I well remember the crazy prices you could see in the local model shops, at least of the few boxings that were imported.

Now however the aircraft and helicopter kits seem to have disappeared from the market even in Japan: try to find an F7U Cutlass or one of the many boxings for the CH-46/KV-107 or the SH-3. They can be found in the webshops pages but they are always out of stock, and the same if you search through Fujimi's website, they are listed but not available. So they simply seem to have not been in production for a long time.

 

I never worried too much about the Cutlass as there seem to be quite a few on the second hand market. I noticed what you say with the SH-3, as there seem to be very few around. The SH-3 is however rumoured to reappear this year in an Italeri box, together with the Sabre and the Phantom FG,1, so maybe at least for these there's hope to have them easily available in Europe again. Would be nice to see more collaborations between Italeri and Fuimi, the italian branded boxes will probably cost the same as the Japanese ones, but at least they will be available.

 

[72modeler]

As Giorgio has stated, Fujimi is re-releasing many of their kits at very reasonable prices; if you do a search for 1/72 Fujimi on the HLJ website (See link below.) you can see what's available. It's disappointing that they have not yet re-released their excellent A-4, A-6, and A-7 kits, which have been very highly regarded, but have put out many of their WW2 and some  jet kits like the U.S. and JSDAF Phantoms and Harriers. The F7U is an excellent kit, and I have all three boxings, but was never a big seller, it seems. The A-4's were done in almost all versions, as were the A-6's  and A-7's. It remains to be seen what the long-announced but still not yet released A-6's will look like- hopefully they will have a positionable slat and flap option!

Mike

 

https://hlj.com/?SID=us7b9fnu8p7r99i62ddi5e5o66

[CT7567]

3 hours ago, 72modeler said:

It remains to be seen what the long-announced but still not yet released A-6's will look like- hopefully they will have a positionable slat and flap option!

Mike

 

https://hlj.com/?SID=us7b9fnu8p7r99i62ddi5e5o66

Not sure which A-6 kits you may be referring to here (the HLJ link doesn't route to a specific product page).  To the best of my knowledge Fujimi's Intruder series covered all the major variants (A-6A, KA-6D, A-6E, and EA-6A). One of the family's few flaws is the provision for dropped slats but no flaps - a configuration not possible on the real airframe.

[72modeler]

7 minutes ago, CT7567 said:

Not sure which A-6 kits you may be referring to here (the HLJ link doesn't route to a specific product page).  To the best of my knowledge Fujimi's Intruder series covered all the major variants (A-6A, KA-6D, A-6E, and EA-6A). One of the family's few flaws is the provision for dropped slats but no flaps - a configuration not possible on the real airframe.

I think I was referring to all of the versions they released, none of which had extended slats or dropped flaps as an option- with Trumpeter's kits being so hit and miss, I was hoping if/when they appear, they will offer that option, which would pretty much be the only real improvement over the Fujimi releases, which I recall were pretty highly regarded by reviewers. Guess I wasn't all that clear- I do have all of the boxings of their A-4. A-6, and A-7 kits...glad I got them while they were still available, and figured it was better to get them all so I would have whatever version/s I wanted to do when the time came. 

Mike 

[CT7567]

5 minutes ago, 72modeler said:

I think I was referring to all of the versions they released, none of which had extended slats or dropped flaps as an option- with Trumpeter's kits being so hit and miss, I was hoping if/when they appear, they will offer that option, which would pretty much be the only real improvement over the Fujimi releases, which I recall were pretty highly regarded by reviewers. Guess I wasn't all that clear- I do have all of the boxings of their A-4. A-6, and A-7 kits...glad I got them while they were still available, and figured it was better to get them all so I would have whatever version/s I wanted to do when the time came. 

Mike 

Ok, I think I follow you now - you were referring to the future *Trumpeter* Intruder family (your earlier post didn't say this).

 

As noted above, all the Fujimi A-6s do include slats, but no flaps.

[72modeler]

4 hours ago, 72modeler said:

It remains to be seen what the long-announced but still not yet released A-6's will look like- hopefully they will have a positionable slat and flap option!

This didn't imply future release? I'm losing my touch!  BTW, I was in error- after checking my Fujimi A-6 kits, CT was correct, as they do offer positionable slats, but not flaps, as he pointed out. my mistake!

Mike

Edited June 14, 2019 by 72modeler
added text

[Whirly]

21 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

 

I never worried too much about the Cutlass as there seem to be quite a few on the second hand market. I noticed what you say with the SH-3, as there seem to be very few around. The SH-3 is however rumoured to reappear this year in an Italeri box, together with the Sabre and the Phantom FG,1, so maybe at least for these there's hope to have them easily available in Europe again. Would be nice to see more collaborations between Italeri and Fuimi, the italian branded boxes will probably cost the same as the Japanese ones, but at least they will be available.

 

So it seems to depend on the subjects, strange though that the most sought after are not re-released by Fujimi. Let's see if this deal with Italeri will become reality.

Out of curiosity , what japanese dealers were you referring to in a previous post? I know Hobby Link, Plaza Japan and HobbySearch (1999.co.jp) but nothing more which  a non-japanese speaking like me can browse through...

Thank you

[72modeler]

You might try the Sprue Brothers or Freetime Hobbies websites.

Mike

[tempestfan]

Didn’t Testors rebox Fujimi in the States some 25 years ago? I seem to recall them from the Squadron ads in FSM. Would likely be only of use for US residents on the second hand market, though.

[e8n2]

Testors did a numer of reboxes, mostly those that also pertained to the U.S. Military.  I don't remember the Fujimi F-4s being reboxed, and that also includes the British Phantoms, but they never did the F-86s either.  The F-4s that were reboxed by Testors were the Italeri kits.  The A-7 family, some of the CH-46s, and most if not all of the F7Us were reboxed.

Later,

Dave

[stevehnz]

On 6/16/2019 at 1:16 AM, Whirly said:

I know Hobby Link, Plaza Japan and HobbySearch (1999.co.jp) but nothing more which  a non-japanese speaking like me can browse through...

https://plamoya.com/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=0&keyword=fujimi+airplane+1%2F72

I have used these guys before with no hassles. Their pricing can be all over the place, it looks like they apply market pricing to rarer kits but others are quite decently priced & their shipping is OK too.

Steve.

Edited June 17, 2019 by stevehnz

[Whirly]

Ouch! they surely know what they are selling! Anyway thank you for the tip, I bookmarked them in case I really need one of the kits they have in stock.

[Phantome]

Fujimi consistently re-releases some of their classic boxings and you can tell if they're suddenly more widely available on eBay, etc. However, it certainly is the case that what you get in the UK is a tiny proportion of the catalogue. Which is a shame since their Spey Phantoms are still the best in the game as are their Cold War USN aircraft (A-4, A-6, A-7). Although old, some of their Japanese WW2 aircraft are superior to their Hase equivalents and in some cases like the Jill and Judy are the only injection-molded ones on the market.

[e8n2]

On 6/19/2019 at 3:21 AM, Phantome said:

in some cases like the Jill and Judy are the only injection-molded ones on the market.

AZ has done several kits of the Judy.  I haven't built it yet, but it is in the stash.

Later,

Dave

[andyf117]

Content withdrawn - I will NOT be threatened by a moderator, simply because I queried the actions of another...

Edited June 27, 2020 by andyf117