Question about cost of models.

Parts count...but I would think that the labor market costs would offset that.

But we keep buyin' 'em. So they'll keep pricin' 'em.

Parts count is a big factor. Hasegawa kits like the Stuka, 109G/Ks, and Ki-84s are relatively simple kits. You don't get weapons options, dropped flaps, completely detailed engines, working control surfaces, etc. As noted, similar simple kits by Trumpeter like the MiG-3 and Wildcat are reasonably priced. However, aircraft like the A-7, Su-27, MiG-29 and F-105 are much larger, more complex and detailed, and come with multiple weapon sprues. In fact, some of these kits have more parts just for ordnance to hang under the wings than Hasegawa has for an entire kit.

Dave

Rufus wrote in news:fb5hg.1006999$xm3.251415@attbi_s21:

SBD 1/2 227 parts 139.95 SBD 3/4 257 parts 139.95 SBD 5 250 parts 139.95

Stuka 216 parts 63.95

Twice as much for what?

Frank

Brings me back to - we keep buyin' em...

Their armor runs $20-35 and they have a few cheap ships. 1/350 Liberty and Sullivans both $30, the former worth it the latter worth $5 at best.

1/700 carriers approx. $30, don't if they're worth it. 1/350 North Carolina is $130 MSRP but is really a $40 kit since all the armament is junk and there's a lot of correcting to do. Hornet has major hull shape problems, the 1/350 Essexes are OK though. The Lexington has some fit and enginerring issues but above the flight deck is completely wrong. I shudder to think what mess they'll make of the DE they're releasing.

I haven't seen many 'cheap' kits from Trumpeter. I think they're stickin' it to the bourgeois capitalist pigs. JMHO.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

=== Why do they charge what they charge? To put it in a nutshell, and be blunt about it, because they can!!!

Ray Austin, TX ===

We gotta remember what we learned in economics class at school. Remember elastic demand vs inelastic demand? Just like gasoline. If we are willing to pay ANY price for something, soon the price will go there.

Hey, for all of us in US, we are a capitalistic country that expouses how great capitalism IS! We can't get upset then when companies in other countries catch on :-)

Check the parts count and also the otherwise very expensive etched brass and resin parts often found in Trumpeter kits that are optional extras (if you can find them for the other brand kits) refer to the Trumpeter kits and (Lionroar amongst other) accessories for Hasegawa kits at

and when checking prices deduct the GST and refer to exchange rate tables. regards Alan T. Alan's Hobby, Model & RC Web Links

Don Stauffer wrote in news:evfhg.16$ snipped-for-privacy@news.uswest.net:

Yes but there is something called a price point in capitalism. It's a point where the quantity sold vice the markup balances. I believe they'd sell a lot more if it was priced much lower. The Stuka doesn't seem a lot different from the SBD, 208 vs 227. Yeah it bums me that I won't buy the SBD or TBF (unless I find an extraordinary deal). But it does seem they would sell quite a few more if they lowered the prices to a more competitive level.

But hey it ain't a neccessity.

Frank

All I know is, for that kind of money ,I could buy at least 5 or 6 other kits to add to the huge pile that I'm never gonna build.

...which is certainly another way to look at it. I'd rather spend more money on fewer kits that I really want, and may also actually get around to building before my demise.

I fully agree. There have been many kits I did not buy 'cause I thought they were overpriced. We as consumers need to realize that ultimately we have the final say over prices. If we stop buying kits that are too expensive, the prices will eventually come down. Those firms that continually overprice their kits will go out of business. Some firms hope to make money by selling a few kits at huge markup, others by selling many kits at lower markup. We ultimately decide who stays in business and who does not.

Also a lot of Trumpeter kits have been marked down after the next "generation" appears, the TBF-1C was almost 1.000 DKK before and now I bought onr for less than 700DKK - still a lot, but also a big kit with lots of details.

Also a lot of Trumpeter kits have been marked down after the next "generation" appears, the TBF-1C was almost 1.000 DKK before and now I bought onr for less than 700DKK - still a lot, but also a big kit with lots of details.

Don wrote (in part)

come down. Those firms that

Good idea Don, but no cigar!

If this process worked as advertised, then Mach 2 and Combat Models would have been out of business a long time ago.

I think all that really happens is the smart ones don't buy the kit, but at the inflated prices they sell enough to make money regardless of us.

Like many, I find the current prices of kits to be almost beyond belief, but then I find most current prices that way. Maybe another way of looking at it is to take the hours of enjoyment (??) a kit provides and divide it by the cost of the kit. I suspect the resulting hourly cost of the kit would compare very well with other forms of entertainment.

Now the real head shrinking question we all should try to answer is why do we buy kits and just stuff them into the stash with no real plan to build them? At my age I have no business buying any more kits as I have many times more than I will ever get built. But so far that has not stopped my buying more. Do you suppose it is a bit like the woman's shoe thing?

Norm

Hey Mr. Ghost:

The Halinski 1/33 SBD is a brand new cardstock model designed with the latest CAD/CAM/CAE technology. See prototype build pictures at ......

Cost .... about $15 I think .... 1,700 parts. Do a good job of it, and you have a replica equal to if not better then the Trumpeter model.

If a few of you plastic modelers started buying/building/contesting the Polish paper models, maybe Trumpeter might get more realistic on their pricing.

I like the paper models because they come in magazine format with marvelously bright 4-color offset printing. Since all the painting is done for you, the sub-assemblies look as they will when the model is finished. The current research accuracy of these models, with their paint schemes and weathering, is top notch.

I suggest, Mr. Ghost, that you buy the Halinski SBD sight unseen, since the cost is so reasonable; and you can hardly go wrong financially. Hopefully you will also stop your whiny complaints.

..../V

There's probably a better chance that a woman will wear all of her shoes at least once. ;)

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.