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1/32 Spitfire Mk.Ia (mid), and (early) from Kotare


Kagemusha

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2 hours ago, VMA131Marine said:

Not in Japan they don’t. The most expensive Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire retails for the equivalent of $90.69 in Japan but the “street price” is $70-$75. That’s a far cry from $199.

 

I was talking about the retail price in the US, obviously you can get it cheaper from Japan. I can get some Airfix kits cheaper in Japan. Maybe the Kotare kit will be more than $109 retail in the US but I though thats what its going to be. But if Tamiya released the Spitfire today the price would be slightly higher.

 

If you can get the Tamiya kit shipped for less than $20 then you could get it for the same price ( based on retail, obviously the Kotare kit will be available  for less as well ) but here in the UK we have to add 20% to that and a £12 fee.

 

The later Tamiya boxings retails for £135 here in the UK and as Don149 has pointed out Hannants have just added the price of £110 for the Kotare kit which is what I was expecting as a minimum but hopefully there will be a few retailers here doing some deals.

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Well, I bit, as I have been waiting for a really good Mk 1 in this scale for a long time. Have the Hornchurch vs the Luftwaffe decal sheet, so lots of marking options as well as the no doubt excellent kit decals. The price is on the high side, but it looks to be the business.

 

I couldn’t bear to spoil those beautiful lines to display an engine anyway.

 

cheers

 

Steve

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Reading the descriptions of the various details of early, mid and late Mk.1 production, it does appear that the team at Kotare have done their homework and researched the changes well.

 

But I write this knowing that they were hectic times, with changes being made that we are now unsure of the date, and not everyone will agree!

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15 hours ago, Tbolt said:

 

I was talking about the retail price in the US, obviously you can get it cheaper from Japan. I can get some Airfix kits cheaper in Japan. Maybe the Kotare kit will be more than $109 retail in the US but I though thats what its going to be. But if Tamiya released the Spitfire today the price would be slightly higher.

 

If you can get the Tamiya kit shipped for less than $20 then you could get it for the same price ( based on retail, obviously the Kotare kit will be available  for less as well ) but here in the UK we have to add 20% to that and a £12 fee.

 

The later Tamiya boxings retails for £135 here in the UK and as Don149 has pointed out Hannants have just added the price of £110 for the Kotare kit which is what I was expecting as a minimum but hopefully there will be a few retailers here doing some deals.

Agreed about the discount. I have a pre-order with Hannants so I'm expecting a 10% discount otherwise what is the point of a pre-order? So we're talking maybe £99 but then it makes sense to but 'something else useful' at the same time to benefit from free  postage! I will buy one but I'm not sure about a second as its certainly not cheap compared to Revell, et al but then we don't expect Revell quality (no offence to them, they are perfectly good). It's certainly not at the "I'll buy 5' price point but, in this day and age, maybe it's a realistic price? 

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2 minutes ago, Simon Cornes said:

Agreed about the discount. I have a pre-order with Hannants so I'm expecting a 10% discount otherwise what is the point of a pre-order? So we're talking maybe £99 but then it makes sense to but 'something else useful' at the same time to benefit from free  postage! I will buy one but I'm not sure about a second as its certainly not cheap compared to Revell, et al but then we don't expect Revell quality (no offence to them, they are perfectly good). It's certainly not at the "I'll buy 5' price point but, in this day and age, maybe it's a realistic price? 

 

I haven't pre-ordered but hopfully SMS or eModels will do it for 10-15% off.

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2 minutes ago, Tbolt said:

 

I haven't pre-ordered but hopfully SMS or eModels will do it for 10-15% off.

That's my thought and emodels are a 10 minute drive away for me! I might email them to see what their plans are? I don't recall seeing 15% off but you never know!

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3 minutes ago, Simon Cornes said:

That's my thought and emodels are a 10 minute drive away for me! I might email them to see what their plans are? I don't recall seeing 15% off but you never know!

 

Yes it's normally seems to be around 10%. I wish MJW would get them in as they are a minmium of 15% off, but I doubt they will get this kit in.

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Apparently any traders buying this from Hannants don't get the usual trade discount, so only make 10% profit once VAT is paid. So you probably won't see too many discounts floating around, otherwise there's nothing in it for retailers.

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2 hours ago, IT_Man said:

Apparently any traders buying this from Hannants don't get the usual trade discount, so only make 10% profit once VAT is paid. So you probably won't see too many discounts floating around, otherwise there's nothing in it for retailers.

 

Pfft. Fork out a grand in liquid cash for ten of them, sell all ten and you've got £100 gross profit before business running costs. You'd be better applying for a job at the local Tesco than dealing in these 🙃

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2 hours ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

 

Pfft. Fork out a grand in liquid cash for ten of them, sell all ten and you've got £100 gross profit before business running costs. You'd be better applying for a job at the local Tesco than dealing in these 🙃


Jamie. It’s obvious you run a business. I never cease to be amazed at folk that are astonished at things like taxi fares and work out if a trip costs £X then multiply that by number of trips a day and the driver is well off!  Once costs of running a business comes off the net taxable will be minimal 

 

Based on figures above of a 10 per cent margin a retailer whose margin is only 10% gross will find his costs - wages, electricity, insurances, building taxes etc etc etc will more than wipe that gross margin out. In other words he/she gets about £10 on a sale and pays out £20 plus to do the sale. How fast does he go bankrupt?  
 

I think there won’t be a crowd wanting that business. I suspect buying direct is more the business model Kotare are looking at. That could be because they have worked out what the maximum the buyer will pay and looked at manufacturer costs and concluded that there isn’t enough fat there to feed both them and a retailer as well. 
 

Lastly I do hope they are successful and go on to do an early Mk1.  And if looking for a good scheme perhaps a 603 City of Edinburgh Auxiliary Squadron machine?  “Auld Reekie” the mount of Pat Gifford. He was the first pilot to shoot down an enemy bomber in British airspace in the Second World War when he brought down a Ju88 attacking Royal Navy ships in Firth of Forth on 16 October, 1939.  So perhaps a decent subject for a kit. There is a lot more to Gifford and it’s well worth a read at the 603 history.  


 

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7 hours ago, IT_Man said:

Apparently any traders buying this from Hannants don't get the usual trade discount, so only make 10% profit once VAT is paid. So you probably won't see too many discounts floating around, otherwise there's nothing in it for retailers.

 

Why would any trader buy from Hannants then? If Hannants are the UK importer for Kotare then I guess they don't want to sell to anyone else.

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1 hour ago, Tbolt said:

 

Why would any trader buy from Hannants then? If Hannants are the UK importer for Kotare then I guess they don't want to sell to anyone else.

 

I may be wrong, but it could be that they can't buy from Kotare at wholesale prices, to then be able to sell on to retailers at full trade discount. Or perhaps Kotare can't produce enough kits to make that viable.

 

I may get one of these eventually, but stash cupboard already overflowing 😆

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7 hours ago, IT_Man said:

I may get one of these eventually, but stash cupboard already overflowing 😆

 

Sam here! I'm going to have start selling a few kits that I'm never going to get to soon to free up some room ( and cash! ).

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8 hours ago, IT_Man said:

 

I may be wrong, but it could be that they can't buy from Kotare at wholesale prices, to then be able to sell on to retailers at full trade discount. Or perhaps Kotare can't produce enough kits to make that viable.

 

If they can't I don't see how they would make any profit.

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I emailed Hannants last night and Nigel Hannant has now replied. Basically 

 

1) The dollar/pound value has dropped 30% so no chance of a 10% pre-order discount 

2) He thinks the £109.99 price is locked for preorders but is likely to significantly higher when the kit actually arrives

 

From the horses mouth !

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25 minutes ago, Simon Cornes said:

I emailed Hannants last night and Nigel Hannant has now replied. Basically 

 

1) The dollar/pound value has dropped 30% so no chance of a 10% pre-order discount 

2) He thinks the £109.99 price is locked for preorders but is likely to significantly higher when the kit actually arrives

 

From the horses mouth !

Maybe horses can't read Bank of England historical rate charts?

The September values of GBP against NZD were identical one year ago, identical two years ago. identical three years ago,

hardly changed from four years ago ...........

Yes GBP has deteriorated against the USD but why would that effect the UK price?

 

 

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26 minutes ago, Simon Cornes said:

I think Kotare - like Wingnut before them - priced in US dollars

Okay, but the NZD has only deteriorated by about 12% against the USD against its value three years ago. 

 

I'm just sceptical about the 30% figure.

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17 minutes ago, elderly said:

Okay, but the NZD has only deteriorated by about 12% against the USD against its value three years ago. 

 

I'm just sceptical about the 30% figure.

You could be right but if Hannants are going to charge £110 then that’s that. The question is whether anyone will sell it for significantly less than that and will the price actually be more than £110 shortly after Hannants stock arrives? The usual guessing game!

I’ll buy one but then see what happens before I buy another. Hannants maybe right, they might be £125 by Christmas!!

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