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AIRFIX 2022 HIT OR MISS?


trickydicky210

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6 minutes ago, cherry268 said:

These firms still must make a profit on the kits so Airfix's profit margin must be quite high.

As a kit retailer, maybe, but Airfix's costs include designing, developing, manufacturing, shipping and storing each kit, whereas the retailer buys stock at a price and sells it. A lot of their costs like people, premises and advertising are (more or less) the same no matter how many kits they sell, so they can choose to make less money on each kit and sell more of them, or make more money on each kit and rely on other factors to make you choose them (range, service, locality...)

best,

M.

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I agree the price hike is on top of one the back end of 2021 pushes the range up into other competitor  territories for Airfix, where modellers expect more for their cash in way or quality and detail (I'm ignoring the short short QC issues which hopefully will be addressed before it become so common place its expected)

 

However, are we all basing the price comparisons on competitors '2021' prices to the Airfix '2022' catalogue?

 

Global prices have gone through the roof as we all know for materials and shipping, not to mention impeding inflation rates, are they just not pricing sensibly knowing what the near future looks like, and should we expect the rest of the market to also push theirs up over the course of 2022?

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1 hour ago, cherry268 said:

What i don't understand is that as soon as the new releases are out then retailers like Jadlam and Jumblies are advertising them with 10% discount. I never buy from Airfix, OK I don't get the first ones but I can wait if it saves me money 

These firms still must make a profit on the kits so Airfix's profit margin must be quite high.

Airfix would soon lose all their retailers if they undercut the RRP to sell them cheaper than high street and on-line retailers.

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1 hour ago, cherry268 said:

What i don't understand is that as soon as the new releases are out then retailers like Jadlam and Jumblies are advertising them with 10% discount. I never buy from Airfix, OK I don't get the first ones but I can wait if it saves me money 

These firms still must make a profit on the kits so Airfix's profit margin must be quite high.

 

53 minutes ago, cmatthewbacon said:

As a kit retailer, maybe, but Airfix's costs include designing, developing, manufacturing, shipping and storing each kit, whereas the retailer buys stock at a price and sells it. A lot of their costs like people, premises and advertising are (more or less) the same no matter how many kits they sell, so they can choose to make less money on each kit and sell more of them, or make more money on each kit and rely on other factors to make you choose them (range, service, locality...)

best,

M.

 

 

Another thing to consider is that when a retailer offers an as-yet unreleased kit with a 10% (or whatever) discount, they know exactly how many they need to order.  If I'm a retailer and I get 50 orders for a new kit that will arrive in May, I order 55, safe in the knowledge that 50 of them are paid for.  I don't have to do any work to bring that money in, so 90% of something I don't have to take any risk for is worth a lot more than my normal margin.

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This year will cost me quite a bit, as there are new tool subjects, some reissues and some Vintage Classics that I want. I'll pre-order them from Sprue Brothers or Scalehobbyist and get better prices that way.

 

Other years have seen me distinctly underwhelmed (the Hellcat, for example - nice enough, but not at that price for me), so I waited and am now happy. Who knows what next year will bring, eh? Maybe a 1/48th FG.1/FGR.2 Phantom with the correct vents and ramps 😉.

 

 

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Reading the above - and there are some fair points on both sides of the pricing debate - I’d like to mention something on costs inflation generally 

 

As some know I’ve just finished a house build that ran from about October last year. I was speaking with the main contractor who said we had been really lucky. To build the same house today identically right next door at same labour rates the increase in material costs would force a price increase on the materials side of 30-35%.  It’s down to several factors, shipping costs from abroad being but one. 
 

It’s bound to impact the hobby in similar ways. In fact way back in the last century wasn’t there some crisis that hiked kit prices, especially Japanese ones now I think on it?  I seem to recall much upset back then too

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I've just posted a comment very similar in the thread on the Buccaneer. At the end of the day costs are going up continually across the board. 2 years ago, a shipping container cost in the region of £3-5000 each, those same containers today are costing upward of £15-20,000 each, add into that the manufacturing increases, tooling increases, fuel costs, etc. Airfix (and indeed any kit maker) still need to pay staff, heat and light their offices, (and we all know what's happening to those bills!), pay for marketing, etc. Some costs seem to be spiralling beyond anyone's ability to control them. Is it any wonder that kit prices seem to be going up so much when the basic costs to manufacture and transport them are so astronomically high at the moment? Those costs have to be passed on, they are just too high to be absorbed by any company.

 

@JohnT Yes I agree, it will impact the hobby, and sadly may not have much choice in the matter if we wish to continue with our past-time!

 

Sadly price rises in all walks of life are a fact and are here to stay for quite some time. In my household we have a weekly shopping budget. In the time we have been married (15 years) this has doubled in cost from £40 per week to £80 per week. Some weeks we spend less, some more - all evens out. But even now, we may have to adjust that again. I don't work, so have to rely solely on the wife salary. That is just about keeping pace. But  at some point it's not going to - probably when the electric & gas charges increase later this year! But we'll adapt and adjust as needed.  Fuel for cars has risen sharply - it's getting more and more difficult to run both cars - again, we manage. The point is that there are costs and increases that we cannot avoid, same as with companies. Sadly, most companies have to pass on those cost increases to their customers, they may absorb some costs, but they will not be able to absorb all those increases. If they consistently absorbed costs, and didn't pass them on, there would very quickly be no more company!

 

For all the kits I'll be wanting this year (most of Airfix 1/48 releases, the 1/24 Spitfire, a couple of Revells releases, quite a few of Eduard's, and from Academy etc) I'll be saving up to afford the purchases I want (some of them direct from Airfix, offset by 10% club members discount :thumbsup:). 

 

Well that's my tuppence worth of comment on the matter - but as far as I'm concerned the 2022 releases announced so far are most definitely a major hit from my perspective!

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1 hour ago, JohnT said:

It’s bound to impact the hobby in similar ways. In fact way back in the last century wasn’t there some crisis that hiked kit prices, especially Japanese ones now I think on it?  I seem to recall much upset back then too

Anyone who lived through the Seventies will remember inflation, brought about by the 1973 Oil Crisis and fuelled by massive labour unrest. While the circumstances are different, we are seeing another large inflation event occurring and there's really not an awful lot we can do as individuals. 

 

My stash will last me my lifetime, so I don't NEED to acquire more kits, although I would LIKE some. If I want something bad enough, I'll save and pay for it.  

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With a bloated stash I'm getting quite fussy about what I buy now,. However, in previous years there's always been something in Airfix's new range that has tempted me to buy.  So far there's nothing this year I want, so on that basis it's a 0/10 for me.

As for prices? Well, as I'm not tempted to buy it doesn't matter! 

 

Edited by 3DStewart
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For me, this year's releases are a clear direct hit. Not a big fan of Spits but I'll  get these, the Bucc is great but I'm surprised no one is making a noise about

the Anson, she's my winner.

 

Edited by mackem01
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Some interesting and inevitable discussion on the subject of pricing. I completely understand the background costs associated with producing something like a highly-detailed, new-tool 1/48 Buccaneer, but.. 

 

When I started plastic modelling at a very tender age, my first few kits were from Airfix (a Bf109 in pale blue plastic was No1!). Airfix and Matchbox served me well for years, mainly because they were generally simple kits that could be put together quickly - very important, IMHO, for juvenile attention spans - and, crucially, were available at genuine pocket money prices. Airfix's big selling point was that young people could buy and build them without great difficulty.

 

Fast-forward by 40-odd years and what do we have? A company that focusses on the requirements of experienced modellers who want top-quality detail, engineering and fit, and who generally have a little more pocket money available. But what about those youngsters who are the future of the hobby and who can step instantly into almost any virtual world that interests them? If they want a choice of Airfix kits of subjects that they recognise, then a 1/72 Spitfire or Mustang will set them back £12. Want something a bit more recent? A Harrier, which they won't see in the sky in the UK, will cost them (or their parents) £24. Pocket money? Really? And which non-modeller parent will want to spend £24 on something that they will see being covered in gluey fingerprints and may well be abandoned as the kit is overly-detailed and too highly engineered for early modellers? The older, traditionally simple releases for 2022 are fairly esoteric subjects that are unlikely to interest youngsters, and they still cost £11 or more.

 

I'm very pleased to see new, highly-detailed kits, but my view is that Airfix no longer caters for young modellers as it used to. Yes, there are other manufacturers that offer simple kits at better price points (eg Hobbyboss 1/72), but how often do you see those in high street shops compared with the Airfix red boxes? Goodness knows, it's hard enough to find a high street kit stockist anywhere these days...

 

Price rises seem to be inevitable, but if the manufacturers don't see a market for simpler and cheaper kits of contemporary subjects to attract the younger generation then I fear the hobby will starve itself into an ever-smaller customer base and associated ever-higher prices within a couple of generations. ☹

 

Jon

Edited by Jonners
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33 minutes ago, Jonners said:

If they want a choice of Airfix kits of subjects that they recognise, then a 1/72 Spitfire or Mustang will set them back £12. Want something a bit more recent? A Harrier, which they won't see in the sky in the UK, will cost them (or their parents) £24. Pocket money? Really?

It is very hard to compare values and prices across time. The Mars Bar index used to be a good way until they stopped producing them. But if we consider that an average chocolate bar costs about £1 these days, then a Spitfire = 12 chocolate bars. a Harrier 24. I suspect over the years that hasn't changed much ... certainly seems roughly a similar value to when I started buying kits 50+ years ago.  

 

Average pocket money in the UK for a 13 year old is just under £10 week. I recall at that age big kits were birthday/xmas presents. I could buy smaller Airfix and Matchbox with pocket money, but not on a weekly basis, so perhaps nothing has changed that much.

 

44 minutes ago, Jonners said:

Price rises seem to be inevitable, but if the manufacturers don't see a market for simpler and cheaper kits of contemporary subjects to attract the younger generation then I fear the hobby will starve itself into an ever-smaller customer base and associated ever-higher prices within a couple of generations.

Maybe - but that prediction has been made for years. It is a changing market though, and youngsters have computers and games that us oldies never had .... would I have bought kits if I did? Don't know. I think in the recent Hornby TV series, it was pretty clear across the board that the focus of the group is on serious collectors. 

 

Cheers

 

Colin

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7 minutes ago, ckw said:

it was pretty clear across the board that the focus of the group is on serious collectors. 

That was the focus of my (admittedly long-winded) point, Colin: who will be the future serious collectors if they aren't enticed to start as junior assemblers?

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11 minutes ago, ckw said:

The Mars Bar index used to be a good way until they stopped producing them

Still made in the UK - and can still be purchased in multiple places. They've stopped in the US, but still available here in the UK where they were invented (apparently in Slough!)

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56 minutes ago, Jonners said:

But what about those youngsters who are the future of the hobby and who can step instantly into almost any virtual world that interests them? If they want a choice of Airfix kits of subjects that they recognise, then a 1/72 Spitfire or Mustang will set them back £12.

 

Jon

 

I'm always heartened when I see the £5 offers in Lidl and Aldi in the build up to Christmas, this seems a good toe in the door for young modellers to try the hobby. It always riles me a little when I see middle aged blokes proudly boasting they've just picked up a dozen from their local store for themselves. Think of the little children! 😄  (Although my local Lidl had a Revell offer this year - tractors, cars and ships. Have they lost the deal with Airfix?)

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1 minute ago, treker_ed said:

Still made in the UK - and can still be purchased in multiple places

Yes - but significantly down sized. The 'standard' bar (80g?) is not made anymore hence ruining the mars bar index

 

Cheers

 

Colin

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9 minutes ago, Jonners said:

That was the focus of my (admittedly long-winded) point, Colin: who will be the future serious collectors if they aren't enticed to start as junior assemblers?

Yes and its a good one. Though I don't think its kit prices that are the problem - its distribution. My heart sinks whenever I go to Hobbycraft as the kit and accessories section seems to get smaller with less variety each time. 

 

On the other hand, though its not something I know a lot about - the wargaming stores seem to be doing OK, and basically its just modelling on another theme, so the skills aren't lost.

 

Cheers

 

Colin

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1 hour ago, Jonners said:

But what about those youngsters who are the future of the hobby and who can step instantly into almost any virtual world that interests them? If they want a choice of Airfix kits of subjects that they recognise, then a 1/72 Spitfire or Mustang will set them back £12. Want something a bit more recent? A Harrier, which they won't see in the sky in the UK, will cost them (or their parents) £24. Pocket money? Really? And which non-modeller parent will want to spend £24 on something that they will see being covered in gluey fingerprints and may well be abandoned as the kit is overly-detailed and too highly engineered for early modellers? The older, traditionally simple releases for 2022 are fairly esoteric subjects that are unlikely to interest youngsters, and they still cost £11 or more.

It's not just youngsters, either. I've got several of those Harriers that I bought when the kit was last on release (up to 2016): they cost £12.99. That's an 84% price rise. Even if I was still working (I'm not, I've retired on an occupational pension) my salary wouldn't have risen by a tenth of that. I understand the pressures that are driving a steep increase in kit prices but consumers are under financial pressure too. Like a lot of older modellers I have a stash that's already bigger than I'll ever be able to work through, including the vast majority of the subjects that I'm likely to want to build. I'm not going to lay out eye-watering sums for a new kit because it's a bit "better" (perhaps because it's got more internal detail that doesn't interest me), like forty quid for a C-47 when I've got three unbuilt Italeri ones. By the same token, I'll pay what I judge to be a realistic asking price for a reissued "classic" kit if it's capable of producing an acceptable model of a subject that I want to build and if that's a more cost-effective option than any alternative route.  If all of those conditions aren't met, for example by an Airfix SM79 priced at £20.49, I won't buy it. I'll consider a new kit in my preferred scale of a subject that I don't have in the stash but would like to build, so, for example, I bought an Airfix Beaufort when it was released. Again, it depends on the price and the Beaufort's now nudging the boundary of what I find acceptable for a twin-engined WW2 aircraft.

 

I'm not denying that Airfix, and indeed other companies, have valid reasons for following the marketing strategy they've adopted. But I've got valid reasons for my purchasing strategy too and it seems that increasingly the two don't coincide. I'm sure they don't need my business but equally I can get by without them. Hopefully they've judged correctly and the market they've chosen to focus on will sustain them.

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Kids toys are not cheap, unless you are buying cheap toys, and the series 1/2 and starter kits still represent good value for money for the time and enjoyment they provide. The amount of detail in larger kits are are a million miles away from the kits many of grew up with are require a large investment in time and can't be thrown together like old kits cold over a weekend.

 

Staff and associated costs are probably far higher for a UK based firm than they are for companies in Eastern Europe many of whom are able to get tooling made in house or locally avoiding the extortionate costs of international shipping.

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I'm getting increasingly frustrated at Airfix re-doing all the kits that I bought first time around to use as suitable alternative to keeping gold bullion, ie I have a Matchbox Victor, 48th original Airfix Buccaneer, original Valiant, 48th Javelin and now I'm concerned Airfix will redo a 48th scale Jaguar or re-release a TSR2 or Nimrod, I mean, it's just not on, I've even got a Whirlwind dammit 🤣 

 

For me the items released seem to show a company healthy enough with a wide range of subjects and scales catered for, nothing for me but I'm notorious for buying maybe 1 kit a year so hardly surprising but the K2Y van maybe my weak spot this year. It's good Airfix creates this level of anticipation and interest and not only on forums but YouTube too, appears to me way more than any other manufacturer - in the UK at least, even Revell can't compete with this level of exposure and personally I think it's great, something to look forward to in a miserable January.

 

As for prices, meh, everything is going up, it's the way of the world, foreign lands that used to make T-Shirts for 20p (just a figure of speech, nothing back up to that) are long gone as quite rightly they want a slice of the action - a better standard of life. How do we even know that other manufactures aren't on the cusp of hiking their prices either? Airfix have to try and anticipate prices for the coming months and years for everything involved with plastic kit manufacture and adjust accordingly and we all know at the moment your best bet is a crystal ball to how the world will be in 6 months let alone in a year so it's hardly surprising for me

I could argue too that modern kits are way more involved and sophisticated and this reflects in putting the things together, more time to do it equals out better value? I bought a Thunder 1/35  Scammel Pioneer 2 years ago, the price horrified me at first - £64.99 but then saw the parts inside and that horrified me even more 🤣 It'll take me months to build it and I only went in to get a Airfix Classics Scammell 🤣 but in terms of time taken it's much better value for my time. 

 

The point of pocket money kits mentioned earlier is valid too, £10 a week is 20 times what I got, hell, I even baulked at paying £10 for a round of 4 drinks at one time 🤣 so there isn't any real difference, now just as then if you can afford to buy one straight off, good, if you have to save up or budget to get it then that's fine too, I've done it both when I was at school and now so nothing has changed.

 

At the bottom line humans like complaining more than anything else (probably! 😏 ) so that must mean Airifx must be doing the right subjects as all the moaning is about prices because there isn't anything else to moan about! 🤣

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3 hours ago, Paul Bradley said:

Isn't this why they are doing the Quickbuild series? And the simplified starter sets? 

Exactly why they are doing those. The starter sets are very simplified sets - For the Bugatti it's only 39 parts! Includes paints, glue & a brush. Not exactly taxing to put together that few bits of plastic! For the Spitfire it's even les - 26 parts! But it's based on the more complex 1/72, just extremely cut down (it was featured on the recent Hornby - A model World series on Yesterday channel). The Bugatti is £14.99, and the Spitfire is £11.99. Whilst I don't have kids, from what I understand of the pocket money that a lot of our friends give their kids, believe it or not, they could well afford to get these (maybe not both, but they could get them!)

 

Which of course get's them hooked, and leads them onto the harder stuff to which we are all much more addicted to:evil_laugh: 

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