Bomb'ed Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Just looked on net merchants, very nice new Tamiya F-16. A bit steep in the pounds department....bugger me!!!!! http://www.netmerchants.co.uk/product.php/...157324730f01e4e Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skii Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 ruddy 'ell Mind you - think of all that aftermarket stuff you won't need to buy.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 If by "credit crunch" you are referring to the free-fall of the Great British Pound against the US Dollar & the Yen, I'd say both. I bought the Tamiya F-16 when it first came out & it retailed for about £24. Now the RRP for the new kit with some different bits & decals is about twice that. The Yen is also worth about twice what it was back then compared to the £, but the retailers seem hell-bent on maintaining margins, without (it seems) any thought that they're going to lose a lot of sales because people resent the price hike. If you're interested, you can import it yourself for £37.22 via luckymodel.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousFO98 Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 tad cheaper at Relish http://www.relishmodels.co.uk/tamiya-1-48-...-adversary.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlet Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Quite fancied having a go at one of those, but at that price they can stick it where the sun don't shine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Ogilvie Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 (edited) Not my scale - but all the new stuff I'm interested is pricey as well - as has been said - weak pound. Am sure I'm not alone in starting to go throuh the back catalogue again (the loft insulation) - and it's actually quite therapeutic! Iain 32SIG http://www.skywriters.net Edited February 26, 2009 by 32SIG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenDragon Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Well that plan is cancelled then! No way I'm paying that for a 1/48th F-16! I'm building from the stash for a while. Paul Harrison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Dragon Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 £37.00 from Luckymodel.com including postage. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Quite fancied having a go at one of those, but at that price they can stick it where the sun don't shine. Sideways! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedfellows Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Tip, get the cheaper kits then find the jamming pod and acmi pods from somewhere else and buy aftermarket decals for the aggressor and top gun markings!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little-cars Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 If by "credit crunch" you are referring to the free-fall of the Great British Pound against the US Dollar & the Yen, I'd say both. I bought the Tamiya F-16 when it first came out & it retailed for about £24. Now the RRP for the new kit with some different bits & decals is about twice that. The Yen is also worth about twice what it was back then compared to the £, but the retailers seem hell-bent on maintaining margins, without (it seems) any thought that they're going to lose a lot of sales because people resent the price hike.If you're interested, you can import it yourself for £37.22 via luckymodel.com Mike, This not ment to get at anyone, just thinking the situation through and adding in some discussion points. I think you are bieng a little unfair on UK based retailers. Most of us are honest and want to make a living at some time in the future. And, the old saying, if you don't use us you'll loose us, is perfectly true in this case. The japanese exchange rate has been falling from 200yen to 140 to the £ since last summer. It is the tamiya importer put the prices up at the first of the month between 25% and 40% I here they three shipping containers of kits that the couldn't sell, before the price rise as they would be selling at a loss. I also know that some wholesalers had not been passing on price rises while the currency was bouant, but now feel they have no choice. Also as the Japanese economy is poor at the moment some manufacturers have also hidden a price increase late last year, not sure if Tamiya was one of them. This has always been a market with a standard retail markup, retailers expect to get a reasonable return on their on their investment/risk, or there is no point having a business. This kit would be bought in for a standard price of about £32.50 inc vat. The retail price is already discounted from list and excluding vat is £38.27, not far from the figure you mention, and you should be charged vat and a customer clearance charge, if everyone follows the law. But on full price for the kit this giving the retailer less than £10 profit. If they retailed the kit for the price you quote they should be making £4 per kit (12%). My way of looking at kits is to only buy stock is that if I wouldn't pay the retail price for the kit, as I wouldn't expect anyone else to, so don't stock it. I stock Tameo 1/43rd car kits, but the new standard releases have gone to over £70, from a little over £40 three years ago, so they are now to order only, I wouldn't pay that, so am not stocking them at the moment. Also, remember the hidden costs, kits sometimes sit on shelves for years (there are loads of stashes up for sale at the moment), labour costs are higher over here, rents are expensive over here, paperwork and accountants costs etc.... I was on the lookout for a shop last year to allow me to grow, but the figure don't add up. The cheapest small shop space locally would cost me about £6K a year someone to man and grow the shop part time at least £15K. If I wanted to do it properly double those figures (bigger shop and two mmebers of staff), then multiply that figure by four to work out the turnover needed to cover the costs, that's £170,000 of tools and kits a year to tread water, and not take a penny myself ! After seeing the turnover of most of the model shops that have been for sale recently, it's a joke. So I'm staying at home for the next two years at least, as I want to be here when everyone starts smiling again. Another ( possible ) but important follow on from this whole arguement, is that UK retailers pay the base costs for all but a couple of the model shows clubs attend. Prices have gone up for us at shows, (table rent, travel costs), if there are less trader around, as we expect this time last year we may find that a number of shows won't be able to cover their costs next year and will then cease to exist. Paul Modeller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Mike, This not ment to get at anyone, just thinking the situation through and adding in some discussion points. I think you are bieng a little unfair on UK based retailers. No offence taken Paul... My beef was more importer based though, rather than retailers (although I did say retailers at the time ), the modelling variety of which have a reasonably tough time even when things are good. While we're talking of Luckymodel though, I've noticed of late that they seem to have upped their shipping prices so there's not much incentive to buy from them at the moment. On the VAT & customs clearance charges, I think they increased the limit last year, so a single kit should get through unscathed... I seem to recall a new £105ish limit, although I wouldn't like to swear to that in a court of law. I'm going to bed now, but I'll be sleeping wearing my tin foil hat. Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not after me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlet Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 I'm not having a pop at the British retailers either, as you rightly said 'use us or lose us', (without you we'd be well in the ) but at the manufacturers who need to price their kits realisticly and keep an eye on the distributors who from what I've read seem to dictate market prices. Another example of an unbelieveable price rise is the re-issue of the ancient Tamiya Centurion, with a few added extras, retailing at over £100. At this rate there is going to be a lot of kits sat in containers un-sold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebos Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Definitely some 'weird' prices out there. The new box He 111, if you accept the kit itself is £20 (just about acceptable), you're paying another £30 on top just for a sheet of etch! Crazy. Some of the prices for Eduard's etch sheets seems to have doubled, £20 for a 1/72 set etc. What concerns me is the potential hit this could have on sales. The big expensive kits always seem to sell, but for the average modeller on a budget the justification just won't be there and the last thing this hobby needs is a big drop in sales as everyone dives into the stash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little-cars Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 I don't think you can really blame the distributers, they make a reasonable mark up, and do have to wait to get their money back. An average shipping container of kits costs around £50000, they have to pay for it, then wait up to three months before it arrives (assuming it's not thrown overboard!). Pay the import duty and VAT, at least another £15000. Then they have to check in the order, then send it out to the shops, and in another month or so later they will start to get paid. China has just about killed the handbuilt 1.43rd resin car model marker. There was a french company provence moulage in france who produced kits for about £30 and hand built models for about £100. Then some bright spark decided to get them made and built in China. The hand built models were retailing for a little over £20. PM decided to put it's handbuilt prices down to about £60 and the kit prices up to £40, the kit buyers didn't buy as the prices were to high, the resin diecast collectors didn'r buy as the price was also high...the company went bust. The current situation is that chinese hand builts have now gone up to more like £45 each as labour costs and exchange rate changes have put the prices up. Now the handbuilt collectors are having second thoughts about collecting them again due to price! The problem is that a while ago we all we started to believe that everything had to be the cheapest possible, so most production moved to China. China was only to happy and looking at things was initially using it to grow the economy not pay the bills. So we had loads of very large very cheap kits. Now China is charging a reasonable ammount for it's goods the price from the factory has gone up and this is multiplied as things go through the chain, add to that the exchange rate changes, most notably the yen dropping by 40% and manufacturers have no choice but to put up the price. The real problem is that these price rises havn't yet hit us in other areas of our shopping life such as white goods, TV's etc... I suspect shops are still selling the christmas stocks. My guess is that we will see such price rises in everything from the far east by the middle of the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike7451 Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Just looked on net merchants, very nice new Tamiya F-16. A bit steep in the pounds department....bugger me!!!!! http://www.netmerchants.co.uk/product.php/...157324730f01e4e FFS!You need to get over here & clean the egg banjo off my lap top which went all over the screen when I saw the price!! Lurvery kit btw,it's the only F16 I like as imho they are soo common they are boreing! Merv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabspat Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 I was'nt gonna get the new Tamiya F-16 kit as i did thought it was rather expensive, but after looking abroad with shipping and such i was'nt saving that much. So i went with Graham at Relish can't argue with his price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnM Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 On the VAT & customs clearance charges, I think they increased the limit last year, so a single kit should get through unscathed... I seem to recall a new £105ish limit, although I wouldn't like to swear to that in a court of law. The £105 limit relates to duty; the VAT limit has remained at £18. My own view is that importers and retailers have put their prices up to maintain their profit margins. It will be a few months before they realise that they are not making any profits and will have to amend prices down accordingly or just shut up shop. I'm buying now either at 2008 prices (still some items in stock if you look around) or in sales i.e. Ian Allan's two day sale with 25% off. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Thanks John... I can't trust my memory most of the time I'm just not buying if I can help it now. Even less if the price makes my eyebrows go closer to the sky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChelseaFC Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 (edited) The problem is that a while ago we all we started to believe that everything had to be the cheapest possible, so most production moved to China.China was only to happy and looking at things was initially using it to grow the economy not pay the bills. So we had loads of very large very cheap kits. Now China is charging a reasonable ammount for it's goods the price from the factory has gone up and this is multiplied as things go through the chain, add to that the exchange rate changes, most notably the yen dropping by 40% and manufacturers have no choice but to put up the price. The real problem is that these price rises havn't yet hit us in other areas of our shopping life such as white goods, TV's etc... I suspect shops are still selling the christmas stocks. My guess is that we will see such price rises in everything from the far east by the middle of the year. absolutely spot on and this is basically caused the mess the world is in with an imbalance of trade, as im involved in the export business we have been saying this for years, it was never going to be sustainable. For the foreseeable future (hey well thats how things used to be) we are going to have to get used to higher prices on most imports but what has to be remembered thats not actually a bad thing as its the only way to rebalance Edited February 27, 2009 by ChelseaFC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChelseaFC Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 While we're talking of Luckymodel though, I've noticed of late that they seem to have upped their shipping prices so there's not much incentive to buy from them at the moment. shipping/airfreight is all based on the USD... so its bound to go up, DHL/UPS from start of Jan pushed their prices up 10% in the UK we have been spoiled last few years, shipping costs used to be much higher but really for the last 20 years they have come down in real terms Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little-cars Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 My own view is that importers and retailers have put their prices up to maintain their profit margins. John, If you can point one out to me I'd be amazed. The world has changed, it's hit modelling early as the wholesale turnaround is quick and the retail markups give most retailers no margins to cut. If you see 25% off, that's normally a retailer substituting profit for cashflow, if they can afford to do it, shouldn't you be complaining that they are only doing it dor two days ? If you look at this exchange rate graph: http://www.exchange-rates.org/history/JPY/GBP/G Most kits that were in stock at Telford would have been bought at 200yen to the £ as they would have been paid for in August. The current batch were paid for about Novemver at between 135 and 140 to the pound, add the manufacturers own price rises in and you should be able to see why prices have gone up. A £30 kit would have gone up to about £43 with just the exchange rate rise, add in the manufacturers price rise of I would guess some thing like 5% and that takes it up to £45. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merlin101 Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Just seen the F-16 kit in question for £48.99! Pity as i got a previous boxing by Tamiya for £32!! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Mullen Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 My favourite kit Hasegawa 1/72 F-14A Tomcat #00544 I bought many of these back in 2005/2006 from HLJ for 1600 Yen (ignoring postage) Cost 2005 was £8.09 (Exchange rate = 197.7282) Cost 2006 was £7.82 (Exchange rate = 204.6263) Cost Today would be £11.38 (Exchange rate = 140.562) Total difference = 41% increase due to currency changes However there has been a price increase on the box (most Japanese kits have the price in Yen on the box), from 1600 to 2000 Yen - a 25% increase So now realistically, if I want to buy another kit, it will cost £14.26 - 2005 to 2009 increase of 76% Of note is the new Tamiya F16 kit being some £48 RRP (here in the UK), and the previous boxings being £27-29. The Yen price of the New kit is 600/200 Yen more than the other two releases, which gives the following #61102 - Tamiya 1/48 F-16C (Block 32/52) Falcon "Thunderbirds" - box = 3800 Yen should equal £28 RRP #61101 - Tamiya 1/48 F-16C (Block 25/32) Fighting Falcon ANG - box = 4200 Yen should equal £31 RRP #61106 - Tamiya 1/48 F-16C/N "Agressor/Adversary" - box = 4400 Yenshould equal £32 RRP Where they are advertised at the same store, they show the RRP as being £30 on the prior releases, but £49 on the new kit. I say wait until they have to order a new batch of the previous release F16s and see the price jump on these also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob the lanc lover Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 when the tamiya 1/32nd scale f4j comes back in the shops it has gone up £20 to £85 from £65 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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