I buy / sell a lot of plastic items for business reasons. The prices have been going through the roof and supplies have been short. I have to believe there will be a significant rise in kit prices very soon (:>
It's not just plastic. All sorts of industrial materials are seeing price spikes. I doubt it will be very long before the consumer feels it in his wallet.
Stephen Bierce
It all goes back to energy costs. I just got my Gas & Electric bill for Last month and I'm still in shock. It was $120 higher than any previous G & E Bill. I guess they will blame it on Hurricane Katrina, but if the energy companies continue to post these obscene record quarterly profit statements there will be one hell of a backlash in November.
Bill Shuey
Our resin Beech Super King Air 200 sells for $40.
It's made for us in Hong Kong. If we had released it just five years ago we could have sold it for $30. If the decals hadn't been so expensive it would have been $25.
As it is we clear about $2 per kit :-(
Tom
Blame it on the War too. Steel and Titanium is being bought in large quantities for our Army to repair and uparmor their vehicles. Other important metals are in high demand too because of the War and the attempted reconstruction of Iraq and the tsunami reconstruction. Energy is important but not the whole story.
Stephen Bierce
insanity or labor of love? (yes, way rhetorical question.)
Well, my interest in the hobby has been waning of late. Other hobbies call....
No, I'm not about to dump my entire collection of unbuilt kits but I have decided to offload quite a few. The decision was made recently when looking through a local model magazine where the prices for new kits (even reissues) have almost doubled in the last 12-18months.
Although this is great hobby and I've got a lot out of it, and will continue with it in a smaller way, I just cannot fathom how the manufacturers expect to gain any new market. Kids aren't willing to spend $50 (local pricing) on a "toy plane" or "toy car". It really is becoming a hobby for the older generation.
Anyhow, I'm not wanting to sound all doom and gloom but I am off to a model display tomorrow where I hope to offload some of my kits thus funding the new hobby.
PS. If you see this Bill B, I apologise for not responding to your email. Will do so shortly and sort things out.
Looks like the bigger the stash the smaller the crash for the hobbyist, although everything from paints, brushes and filler to spare blades and tape will only just keep rising.
In terms of backlash Bill I'm afraid it won't happen, the vast majority of consumers will gripe and groan and still pay [hopping up on soap box now and placing halo over head] - there have been low energy alternatives for most things around for ages and consumers haven't taken them up in the face of continuing rises, so I don't hold much hope. It's only when the energy stops and everything else associated with it stops that the general public will take notice. That's what happens when you build a society based upon wanton and unconsidered consumerism and reproduction [steps off soap box to cat calls, covered in tomato skins, old cabbage leaves and cat faeces, halo jammed around thighs holding hands tightly against buttocks] . . .
Andrew
Yes.
Tom
it's a neat ac.
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