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Whats story on recent Airfix 1/24 aircraft kits and going out of production so fast?


One 48

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Genuine question if anyone knows? ... no angst or anything please, just need to know.

Airfix re-booted their old 1/24 Superkit series from the 70's with the 1/24 Mosquito (did they ever do a glass nose one?) then came a Typhoon ... couple of models I think? car door and bubble top? Then Hellcat ... None of these I can find to buy brand new anymore?

Honestly curious as to why that is ,,, would like to buy their Hellcat especially and that was a semi recent release, wasn't it? ... I mean, their old 70's 1/24 Superkits I bought as a kid are still in production it seems, so it cant be down to worn out moulds already, can it?

Who owns the moulds for the newer Airfix 1/24 Super Kits now?

I dunno?

Look fwd to the new 1/24 Airfix Spitfire of course, but one wonders how long it will be around? Not everyone can afford to buy first release or even pre release bargains, just well heeled enthusiasts who buy many they will never build ... bit like I used to be before my massive sell off I suppose :)

I fear if we dont grab an Airfix 1/24 Spitfire upon release, there will be no chance in the future apart from scraps and second hand Ebay ETC? Is that the way of it now?

I ask this respectfully ... please :)

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I don't imagine any one from, or related to, Airfix will give you a straight honest answer, they're not that kind of business for a start (nor are the parent company Hornby), despite Simon Kohler's PR junket of recent years...

 

...but here's my £0.02 on it.

 

Airfix produce them in low numbers because they know a) they can bump up the price a lot and b) because they know they, and 3rd party retailers, won't have them sitting on the shelves gathering dust.

 

I believe it's called artificial scarcity and plays on fear of missing out (FOMO).

 

And of course you have your scalpers and "investors" who will hoover up as many as they can, then sell them on for their own "premium".

 

What that all adds up to is basically if you're not there on day 1, with a bag full of cash, you don't get.  And even if you are there on day 1 with a bag full of cash you still might not get because of scumbag scalpers and "investors".

 

So, yeah, that is the way of it now.

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I personally don't think that's quite fair. I think the reality of it is that 1:24 kits are pretty niche purchases, even in a model industry propped up by stash hoarding and FOMO behaviour (I suspect a large proportion of the kits produced never get made). Old or new tool, it's a large time and frankly cost investment to consider buying one, and neither is it a particularly appealing size of box to find a place for to sit indefinitely. Neither is it a size that probably sells very well online, given the prohibitive cost to post, even locally. 

 

I'm sure Airfix, or any other kit manufacturer not interesting in going out of business, would sell as many copies of a kit as they possibly could, there's just not the demand to make large numbers of these. It would be stupid to artificially create significantly fewer than they suspected they could sell, just as it would be stupid to churn out tens of thousands when there just isn't the demand for them. Gearing up for a re-release no doubt carries with it significant costs, so trickling these out in small batches makes little sense either.

 

The truth is, I've seen a good number of hellcats and typhoons on shelves gathering dust, often at a significant discount, which suggests to me that Airfix certainly didn't make too few. 

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Hornby own all the tools for their 1:24 kits.

 

Some subjects are more successful than others.  I've seen both the Mosquito and Typhoon being sold at what I thought were relatively large discounts some time after release, so probably not a case of too few being made.

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@Ngantek Like you said, it's not fair.  Business often isn't fair.  And sure, 1/24 kits are a niche.  It's Airfix's premium range. 

 

Let's look at it like a luxury car company, let's say Ferrari.  They have a number of main catalogue models which they churn out on a regular basis, but every now and then they produce a premium model with a more hefty than usual price tag, that only x amount of people will be able to get their hands on.

 

Same with 1/24 kits.  Like you said Airfix know the demand, so they only make x amount of the kits because they know that's how many they'll sell.  I wasn't saying they intentionally make too few kits.  They make just enough...

 

Artificial scarcity isn't just intentionally not making enough of something, despite it's recent use in that sense.

 

If shops/third party retailers still have some left on the shelves some time later, that's down to them overestimating their end of the demand chain and buying too many from Airfix.  However, how many of those shops/third party retailers, with the 1/24 kits still available, are the big one's that everyone knows about, your Jadlam's, EModels, Hannants etc.?  Very few I'd wager.  You have to go hunting around quite a bit, unless of course you absolutely know "Bob's shop" in "somewheretown" still has one...

 

Anecdotes of a few small shops/traders etc. having stock left doesn't give you much of the wider picture.

Edited by RobL
Edited for clarification of thoughts and typos
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If it helps - or doesn’t - at just about every show I’ve been to this year and last, there were quite a few hellcats and typhoons  in 1:24 at various traders.

 

 

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Model manufacturers produce their kits in batches. They don't keep a specific kit in production all the time. The initial production run volume (and price) is calculated against a variety of criteria but primarily is intended to ensure they get their 'return-on-investment' (research and development costs) plus a pre-defined profit margin.

 

If a kit sells well and covers those costs, they are more likely to do a second batch. If it doesn't sell well or sells slowly, then they are less likely to produce more because it indicates that the market can't absorb more of that kit.

 

Remember that ultimately the kit manufacturer sells primarily to wholesalers and distributors so it is those pre-orders that help to define the number of kits in a production run. Those wholesalers/distributors know their local markets best and their decisions on how many units to order in advance of the kit's release can have a big impact on local availability.

 

In short, the reason you are not seeing lots of the newer 1/24 kits in the retail environment is probably because the initial production runs have been sold (or largely so) and there is insufficient demand (from the distributors) for large follow-on orders at the moment. It is also quite possible that Airfix may never do another production run of some or all of those kits if they believe the market can't absorb another 4-5000 units (or whatever they deem to be their minimum viable production run). A company like Airfix has a vast range of moulds in all scales to choose from when it comes to re-releases, so they can select the ones that are most likely to give the best return rather than feeling obliged to re-release a particular kit just because it hasn't been around a while.

 

Nobody (manufacturer, distributor or retailer) wants to keep large stocks of kits in a warehouse for long periods because it costs money to do so. The manufacturer can't afford to stockpile kits 'just in case' and neither can the distributor. It's a commercial decision in any industry and the plastic kit market is no different. Storing a manufactured product is typically estimated to cost 25% of its total value for every year that it is stored (be it white goods like cookers and dishwashers or a humble box of plastic model parts).

 

 

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14 hours ago, RobL said:

Airfix produce them in low numbers because they know a) they can bump up the price a lot and b) because they know they, and 3rd party retailers, won't have them sitting on the shelves gathering dust.

 

I believe it's called artificial scarcity and plays on fear of missing out (FOMO).

A) Not really. Big kits are not cheap - not so much the plastic, but the rest - including transport. you can ship 500 small kits for 10 giant ones. And that is not taking into account the tooling cost that is both higher and must be recouped over a much smaller number of sales because 1/24 isn't for everyone.

B ) Definitely. Ghosts of Nimrods past and all that. Ever check how many big Trumpeter kits remain on shelves? Airfix aint stupid. 

 

No they are not out to 'get you' .

 

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15 hours ago, One 48 said:

Look fwd to the new 1/24 Airfix Spitfire of course, but one wonders how long it will be around?

Looking at the release cadence Airfix uses for most of their stuff (and have told us via their events & presentations):
1 release year, a repop in 2-3 years' time, if the kit & previous sales allow it another rebox with altered parts 2-3 years after that.  Then it'll be withdrawn from the current catalogue for a period ( I heard 8-10 years bandying around) until it comes back again if commercially viable. 

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The 1/24 kits have been rotated in and out of the Airfix range in an irregular basis ever since they started producing them.

https://www.scalemates.com/search.php?fkSECTION[]=Kits&q=1%3A24+airfix*&fkTYPENAME[]="Full kits"&fkCOMPNAME[]="Airfix"&fkGROUPS[]="Aircraft"

Generally kits are in production before they go on sale and production has ended when they are on sale. 

If stocks remain a kit might stay in the catalogue for more than one year, and kits may remain generally available after they are no longer in the catalogue if wholesalers/distributors still have stock, but manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and retail outlets would all prefer kits to sell out in a relatively short time period, as stock on shelves is dead money, turnover generates profits.

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