Italeri 2022 catalogue - new, reissue, repop, rebox etc.

[Andre B]

11 hours ago, Piotr Mikolajski said:

 

Well, Italeri was selling old Supermodel kits very cheaply for a while. And they were quite popular, because beginners could buy something bigger for less money.

 

Of course Italeri has to take into account the rising prices of raw materials, energy and so on, but all the old moulds have long since paid for themselves. In the case of many of them, using prices as for a modern product is foolishness, because these kits simply do not sell and you can see them in the distributor's warehouse still after a few years.

 

On the other hand...

 

...look at the Revell 1/72 scale P-51D Mustang. They are still fooling people with this "stonage kit" that is far from good and priced as a modern kit. And they must sell a lot of them as it can be seen everywhere...

[gavingav1]

11 hours ago, Piotr Mikolajski said:

 

Well, Italeri was selling old Supermodel kits very cheaply for a while. And they were quite popular, because beginners could buy something bigger for less money.

 

Of course Italeri has to take into account the rising prices of raw materials, energy and so on, but all the old moulds have long since paid for themselves. In the case of many of them, using prices as for a modern product is foolishness, because these kits simply do not sell and you can see them in the distributor's warehouse still after a few years.

Funnily enough i checked on ebay to see if any of the supermodel were available at decent prices, the Italeri CANT Z.506 Airone is still available from old new stock at the price of £37 !!!, thats a lot of money for a nearly 40 year old kit .

[Giorgio N]

Some of the Esci 1/72 kits are in several aspects (like mould quality and sharpness) better than brand new kits from other companies, not a problem in selling these for the price of a new kit. Others are not so good and a few should have been permanently retired...

 

 

13 hours ago, Piotr Mikolajski said:

 

Well, Italeri was selling old Supermodel kits very cheaply for a while. And they were quite popular, because beginners could buy something bigger for less money.

 

Of course Italeri has to take into account the rising prices of raw materials, energy and so on, but all the old moulds have long since paid for themselves. In the case of many of them, using prices as for a modern product is foolishness, because these kits simply do not sell and you can see them in the distributor's warehouse still after a few years.

 

Italeri tend to sell the most popular subjects for relatively good prices. Different story for other less common subjects, probably they feel that potential buyers would spend more to get the only kit of that particular WW2 Italian type, reason why some old '70s kit when reissued tend to be quite expensive while their SM.79, to name a kit of similar size, has an RRP of roughly £15, that for a modernish tool of a  WW2 bomber is not bad. Many other Italeri kits have remained at very affordable prices for many years, others have been very expensive from the start. Or at least expensive for what they offer

 

I should add that part of the price hike Italeri suffered in the last few years is also the result of a number of tax measures introduced in the Country a few years ago that increased costs for industries of all kind. It is not easy to be competitive for a company based in Italy at the moment, fortunately there are now measures that will lower the burden on the productive sectors but it may take time to see the effect of these.. and of course for us end customers prices will likely stay where they are

[Dave Swindell]

16 hours ago, Piotr Mikolajski said:

but all the old moulds have long since paid for themselves

So once the cost of producing the tooling has been amortised prices should be reduced? That's never going to happen.

 

Tooling costs don't end when the toolmaker has finished cutting metal - after a production run the tool will have to be prepared for storage, moved to a warehouse, stored, transported back to a production facility, and serviced and repaired as necessary. Each production run will require tool set up, test shots and removal from the machine, all these incur costs and the older the tool, the more these are likely to be. Then there's revised / updated artwork for packaging, instructions, decals advertising & promotion. Plus the costs of actually producing the kits. Then there's the investment required for design and tooling of the replacement kit you want. 

 

Kit producers aren't going to re-issue a kit unless they perceive a market for the kit at the price they intend to release it at, and that price needs to include an element of profit if the company is to survive and produce kits for the future.

 

Whether you feel a particular kit is worth the asking price depends on you, and you have the option of purchasing at the asking price or not. 

[Piotr Mikolajski]

12 hours ago, Andre B said:

...look at the Revell 1/72 scale P-51D Mustang. They are still fooling people with this "stonage kit" that is far from good and priced as a modern kit. And they must sell a lot of them as it can be seen everywhere...

 

Well, this kit is really old but I can't call it priced as modern kit. Here in Poland it costs 4,48 GBP / 5,37 euro / 6,09 USD. This is a third of the price of modern models before the current wave of increases.

 

15 hours ago, gavingav1 said:

Funnily enough i checked on ebay to see if any of the supermodel were available at decent prices, the Italeri CANT Z.506 Airone is still available from old new stock at the price of £37 !!!, thats a lot of money for a nearly 40 year old kit .

 

26 GBP here, I guess even with new prices it still should be for less than 30 quids. This is "upgraded" kit - PE sheet is small and negligible but at least decals are decent. Certainly not cheap but this price seems to be OK, this kit is large after all.

 

14 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

Some of the Esci 1/72 kits are in several aspects (like mould quality and sharpness) better than brand new kits from other companies, not a problem in selling these for the price of a new kit.

 

The only one I can think of is the F-5 Tiger, which by the way I don't think has been relaunched. But here lies another absurdity of Italeri's releasing policy - such good kits are sold very rarely, instead of being on permanent sale or at least regularly reissued.

 

14 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

I should add that part of the price hike Italeri suffered in the last few years is also the result of a number of tax measures introduced in the Country a few years ago that increased costs for industries of all kind.

 

Thanks for this information. This indeed explains very well the surprising price increase of Italeri models some time ago. I see that the Italian government loves business so hard that business has trouble sitting down.

 

13 hours ago, Dave Swindell said:

So once the cost of producing the tooling has been amortised prices should be reduced? That's never going to happen.

 

As you can see from the example of the P-51D from Revell, given above, this does happen. This P-51D is no exception, old Frog or Heller kits, among others, are reboxed by many companies and cost little money.

 

By the way, no one is saying that the price should drop immediately after the mould pays for itself. We are talking about old Italeri and ESCI kits here, so this is not that case at all. If a model is decades old and has already aged, it's really hard to justify a price comparable to a modern newly tooled kit.

[Andre B]

4 hours ago, Piotr Mikolajski said:

 

Well, this kit is really old but I can't call it priced as modern kit. Here in Poland it costs 4,48 GBP / 5,37 euro / 6,09 USD. This is a third of the price of modern models before the current wave of increases.

 

 

26 GBP here, I guess even with new prices it still should be for less than 30 quids. This is "upgraded" kit - PE sheet is small and negligible but at least decals are decent. Certainly not cheap but this price seems to be OK, this kit is large after all.

 

 

The only one I can think of is the F-5 Tiger, which by the way I don't think has been relaunched. But here lies another absurdity of Italeri's releasing policy - such good kits are sold very rarely, instead of being on permanent sale or at least regularly reissued.

 

 

Thanks for this information. This indeed explains very well the surprising price increase of Italeri models some time ago. I see that the Italian government loves business so hard that business has trouble sitting down.

 

 

As you can see from the example of the P-51D from Revell, given above, this does happen. This P-51D is no exception, old Frog or Heller kits, among others, are reboxed by many companies and cost little money.

 

By the way, no one is saying that the price should drop immediately after the mould pays for itself. We are talking about old Italeri and ESCI kits here, so this is not that case at all. If a model is decades old and has already aged, it's really hard to justify a price comparable to a modern newly tooled kit.

 

In Sweden I've seen prices for the Revell P-51D higher than for an Airfix or Tamiya P-51D...

[Piotr Mikolajski]

7 hours ago, Andre B said:

In Sweden I've seen prices for the Revell P-51D higher than for an Airfix or Tamiya P-51D...

 

Do you have taxes that high? In Poland this model has always been very cheap, it's one of the beginner kits because of the price.

[Andre B]

50 minutes ago, Piotr Mikolajski said:

 

Do you have taxes that high? In Poland this model has always been very cheap, it's one of the beginner kits because of the price.

 

It's not about taxes. It's about retailers that doesn't knew what crap they are selling. And the want to earn money...

 

Airfix P-51D goes for 99 SKr compared with an Revell P-51D for 129 SKr...

 

https://cdon.se/hobby-fest/revell-p-51d-mustang-172-monteringssats-flygplan-med-fast-vinge-34-styck-p54481086?gclid=Cj0KCQiA8vSOBhCkARIsAGdp6RR83TnGXFXkX1_HkBgy_StQ3fiIbJLGFeYcpzp1DTYiiEoSQ9SpZCsaAgqKEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Piotr Mikolajski]

It always seemed to me that if I ran out of words because of the prices of models, that reason would be different from what I see here.

[Andre B]

Just now, Piotr Mikolajski said:

It always seemed to me that if I ran out of words because of the prices of models, that reason would be different from what I see here.

 

The crappy Italeri P-51D with swedish decals goes for 165 SKr...

 

https://www.radiostyrda-modeller.se/default.asp?mod=product&cat_id=310,485&product_id=4964

[Piotr Mikolajski]

This Mustang costs almost twice as much as in Poland. Admittedly, I see a Swedish version, which means it's probably a locally available edition with extra decals, so that explains a bit.

[Andre B]

4 minutes ago, Piotr Mikolajski said:

This Mustang costs almost twice as much as in Poland. Admittedly, I see a Swedish version, which means it's probably a locally available edition with extra decals, so that explains a bit.

 

The Italeri P-51D when found in Sweden is usually a few Skr more expensive compared with the better Airfix and Tamiya kits. Even getting it from Poland is more expensive...

 

https://www.super-hobby.se/products/F-51D-Mustang.html

[JFM148]

On 09/01/2022 at 12:09, Piotr Mikolajski said:

 

If they had prices indicative of their age, they would indeed be quite a good buying option. Unfortunately, Italeri very often prices them as if they were newly developed kits. In such cases it often makes more sense to hold off on the purchase and wait until someone makes such a model from scratch. Maybe it will be still a bit more expensive, but it will surely be much better.

The fact is many modellers don´t care about perfect cheap models.  They care of availability of certain type of models. 

This is already a very cheap hobby.  I totally understand many can't afford it.   Try PS5+Software, Trains, or even a decent annual package of Streaming TV is more expensive than plastic modelling. 

Now, the hard question to ask is Who is going to make a better Viking S-3 1/48?  Or a new range of WWII Italian bombers in 1/72?  Italeri has a niche on this market.   Italeri has real kits for what many are looking for. Not promises of future great releases.  If they are expensive, old or inaccurate, is the only game in town until somebody offers better options, but I don't think so.  Since I work in Finance, it is hard to get returns on a small niche market needing a big investment.  The new companies are focusing on the next perfect Mustang or Spitfire, not a line of new Italian fighters in 1/48.

[JFM148]

14 hours ago, Piotr Mikolajski said:

As you can see from the example of the P-51D from Revell, given above, this does happen. This P-51D is no exception, old Frog or Heller kits, among others, are reboxed by many companies and cost little money.

 

By the way, no one is saying that the price should drop immediately after the mould pays for itself. We are talking about old Italeri and ESCI kits here, so this is not that case at all. If a model is decades old and has already aged, it's really hard to justify a price comparable to a modern newly tooled kit.

Again, these kits are the cash cows that cover for the losses in other items not so popular (or future releases).  It is wrong to see company profiting by single kit molds.  The company runs as a whole, and basically spread its costs in such a way there is a profit and avoid losses.  That is why some of the most sought after Italeri kits have a higher price than others.   People seem to understand this dynamic for Eduard/Tamiya, but are critical for companies like Revell, Airfix and Italeri. Curious...And they don´t mind the price either.

 

Now with Frog kits, do you see better quality decals?  New boxings? Even new instruction sheets?  Now you know why they are so cheap.   

[Piotr Mikolajski]

1 hour ago, JFM148 said:

The fact is many modellers don´t care about perfect cheap models.

 

  Well, once again - nobody is talking about perfect cheap models. We are talking about old models that do not meet modern quality standards and are priced like they were just designed with all the bells and whistles.

 

1 hour ago, JFM148 said:

They care of availability of certain type of models.

 

 Contrary to popular belief, most buyers do not care about this. What buyers do care about is having some reasonable choice, that the model is reasonably cheap, that it is not complicated to build.

 

People who need to complete the equipment of lesser-known air forces are few. If there were a lot of them, there would be no "will this project pay for itself" problem.

 

The fact that Italeri is the only one with any proposals does not automatically mean that their pricing is right. The more the model deviates from modern standards, the less willing it will be to be bought even by those who lack it in their collection.

 

Many of these proposals have not been on sale for years, so Italeri has a monopoly from which it makes no profit. And we are not talking about a cycle of "a model has been on the market for 40 years, so every 3-5 years we introduce a limited series into the catalogue for 1-2 years". We are talking about an actual absence from the market for several years.

[JFM148]

So, Italeri's pricing is unfair because theirs are "old" molds with no "modern quality standards" and they have no right to get higher prices for having the only game in town?    Because people interested in the Italian Air Force are few?   The more the model deviates from modern standards, the less willing it will be to be bought even by those who lack it in their collection???   Where can I see that information?  Prices on eBay for Italeri's hard to find models say otherwise. That is a fact. 

 

Italeri have UNIQUE kits nobody else is willing to produce whatsoever.  That is another fact.  The third fact is that Italeri is distributed by Tamiya in Japan.  Why distribute old models from somebody like Italeri?  Tamiya has old models too not to the "modern quality standards" like many tanks in their range.  Why they would even bother to have a new range of Zeros in 1/48 when theirs are from early 1970's? ...And really nice kits BTW. 

Edited January 11, 2022 by JFM148

[bootneck]

Someone mentioned that ESCI moulds where taken on by Italeri, is that true?  If so, has anyone heard of the Esci 1:24 scale Land Rover, with soft top. being produced or planned by Italeri?

 

cheers,
Mike

[JFM148]

1 hour ago, bootneck said:

Someone mentioned that ESCI moulds where taken on by Italeri, is that true?  If so, has anyone heard of the Esci 1:24 scale Land Rover, with soft top. being produced or planned by Italeri?

 

cheers,
Mike

Hello Mike, it looks like Italeri has the ESCI mould.  Take a look at this link.  Revell also released its own version...Click here: Revell Rover.

 

Regards

[Shane]

9 hours ago, Andre B said:

 

It's not about taxes. It's about retailers that doesn't knew what crap they are selling. And the want to earn money...

 

Airfix P-51D goes for 99 SKr compared with an Revell P-51D for 129 SKr...

 

 

 

This is in part because very likely many Swedish modellers believe that ALL Revell kits are superior to Airfix ones because of the manufacturer's name.  We all know that every company has stars and dogs in their catalogue and brand alone is not the measure, yet you still see knee jerk reactions to questions of the net every day

 

Shane

[Yes_Man]

I am practically begging Italeri to repop their Short Stirling Mk.I. It's left quite the noticeable hole in my 1/72 RAF Bomber Heavies collection and they go for silly money whenever they show up on various reseller sites. I know it's not a perfect kit but I would much rather work on that than put the effort into the Airfix kit I have stashed. I have their Stirling Mk.IV in the stash too but let's be honest everyone wants the actual operational combat mark.

[bootneck]

17 hours ago, JFM148 said:

Hello Mike, it looks like Italeri has the ESCI mould.  Take a look at this link.  Revell also released its own version...Click here: Revell Rover.

 

Regards

Hello JFM,

that Revell Rover is the hard top version, which Italeri has others as you show in the link.  My query was if anyone had any information about the soft top version being released.

The Land Rovers that I used whilst in the armed forces were all soft tops and I am hoping to build some of them; with the intention of building the different types I used over the twenty years with them.

cheers,
Mike

[IT_Man]

Start of some news from Italeri appeared on Hannants this morning:

 

IT1461 - Macchi MB 339 P.A.N. 60th Anniversary Special Livery 1/72

IT3663 - Mercedes G230 Feuerwehr 1/24

IT3957 - Volvo F-12 Intercooler (Low Roof) With Accessories 1/25

IT6589 - M109/A2-A3-G Rubber Tracks 1/35

 

Edit: it seems like the PAN MB339 includes three kits.

Edited January 18, 2022 by IT_Man
Updated info

[AMB]

On 1/6/2022 at 10:06 PM, tony.t said:

I'm hoping the 1/32 modern ground support personnel set finally emerges.

 

Tony 

 

 

 

Do you mean their 1/32 NATO pilots set, that they listed several years ago that  still hasn't been released?

Edited January 18, 2022 by AMB

[Sebastien]

Weren't they supposed to release a new tool 1/48 Jaguar GR1 a couple or three years ago?

 

S.

[IT_Man]

2 hours ago, Sebastien said:

Weren't they supposed to release a new tool 1/48 Jaguar GR1 a couple or three years ago?

 

S.

 

Time flies, think it was announced in 2012, stayed in the catalogue for a couple of years then disappeared without comment. Wonder if the arrival of the KittyHawk kit made them change their mind?