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Post by oriel63 on Oct 28, 2010 12:04:20 GMT
I have just been looking at the prices, recommended retail prices (RRP), for the latest Hasegawa 1/72 aircraft kit releases. I understand that prices go up at a steady pace on a regular basis, but some of the price rises are very steep indeed and in some instances simply outrageous. The latest release of the Lockheed P-2 Neptune has a RRP of £44.99. Given this is a very old mould and despite any special decal that may be included, this price is over-the-top. An F-4J is priced at £34.99, a P-3C at 32.49 and an F/A-18E at £29.99. It seems to me that the model buyer is being asked to support the Japanese economy to an unacceptable degree. Given that you get less for your money from Hasegawa kits these days, ie lack of weaponry aircrew etc, I consider the price rises unjustified. This is especially so when you compare Hasegawa's models to the Korean and Chinese produced products which are now better quality and generally contain a good selection of things-under-wings. E-bay is my prefered choice these days when I wish to aquire Hasegawa models produced with moulds from the 20th Century.
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Post by The Hooded Claw on Oct 28, 2010 12:24:26 GMT
I suspect what you're dealing with here is not actually a price increase more the fact that the pound is worth sod all in comparison with the Yen.
Three years ago the £ was at £1 = circa 250 Yen Today we're at £1 = Circa 120 Yen.
Doubles the price of any given item immediately. Because it is costing more the duty goes up and the VAT also. Apparently Yen prices in japan have gone up about 10-15% only the rest is actually the state of our economy I'm afraid.
THC
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Post by GR1 on Oct 28, 2010 16:49:07 GMT
Don't get me started on this.... whilst I take THC's point, I still can't see the justification - particularly where it's an existing kit with a new decal sheet... Coincidentally, I posted the following as an email to a few modelling chums this very morning...
"New 1/48 Hasegawa Harrier (re-issue of existing moulds with new decals) = £45
New 1/48 Revell Eurofighter Typhoon (new moulds for 2-seater) = £19
I think that the only stores provided in the Harrier kit, other than a pair of tanks and the unique gun pods, are a couple of Sidewinders. The Typhoon comes with a shedload of ordnance!
I know both can be had more cheaply but something just doesn't add up..."
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Post by seb on Oct 28, 2010 17:14:04 GMT
Oriel, you do have point, but: Hasegawa have always been relatively expensive and their favorite trick is to take an old mold, add new decals pack it in a box with a different illustration and up the price a bit. Plus the poor old £ has gone the other way. BTW Kingkit.co.uk is selling Neptunes at £20...
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Post by raiford on Oct 30, 2010 18:21:35 GMT
Hasegawa prices have'nt always been too high, I bought their 1/72 P-3C Orion about 30 years ago priced at £4.95! but nowadays Hasegawa kits are extortionate, but they are not the only ones, look at Dragon, their new 1/72 Meteor is £26.99!
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kev1n
Kit Basher
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Post by kev1n on Nov 18, 2010 17:29:03 GMT
sombeody once said to me that modelling was a cheap hobby. I said that by the time you add paint, hlue, aftermarket parts etc, no it wasnt....potentially anyway. I get the impression that prices generally are going up all round, Hasagawa's probably being the steepest, but even the smaller kits are now around £10 or so. The point of the conversation I had was the lack of younger people buying and building...... so I'm wondering if there is an element of "model makers are all mature men with high disposable incomes, so up the price...."
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Post by drewboy on Nov 20, 2010 23:30:33 GMT
The best way round this is don't buy Hasegawa kits unless you have to.Revell reissue quite a few Hasegawa moulds for a fraction of the price ie Harrier gr9,He111 and Arado 234.My vote for best value is Eduard as they give you everything in the box to produce a great model and Airfix are producing some absolute gems,Spitfire I,F-86 and the Sea Harriers all for pocket money prices so you don't need to spend £40 to build something worthwhile.
Cheers Drew
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Post by foxy on Nov 21, 2010 10:32:10 GMT
You have a good point there drewboy. Maybe thats the the way to go for awhile, but remember we are a very small cog in the works and other countries(modelers) might take a different view. But Hasegawa's prices have not risen just for there aircraft, but for all there products. There decals for aircraft to I feel are so flimsy when applying and you have to be very careful with them, so by upping the price does not make sense to us modelers in my view.
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kev1n
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Post by kev1n on Nov 22, 2010 17:56:50 GMT
"...Airfix are producing some absolute gems,Spitfire I,F-86 and the Sea Harriers all for pocket money prices..."
what do you interpret as "pocket money"? £10 is a lot to some people
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Post by drewboy on Nov 22, 2010 21:58:08 GMT
kev1n Spitfire MK1 £4.99(I got one at SMW for £3.50) Harriers £7.99 F-86 £7.99 Price of a new xbox game £40,do middle age men all play COD ? My point is it is all relative,my suggestion is to shop around ie ebay and you can pick stuff up cheaper. By the way I do not have a lot of disposable income I mostly finance my modelling by doing commissions in my spare time,it kills two birds with one stone,I get to build the models but don't have to find somewhere to put them.As regards to youngsters joining the hobby sadly I don't think the appeal is there,why spend a lot of time and patiance building a Typhoon for instance when you can fly and fight one on a computer sim?Looking around at Telford the vast majority of people there were all over the age of 30.As for the manufacturers prices I will give you one example from Telford and then shut up :)Airfix have a Vickers Valiant out early next year and they had test shots of the kit at the show.Not many people under the age of 30 will know much about this aircraft but it has been on a lot of modellers wish lists for a long time.The price of the kit is nearly £40 which is steep anyway but on the sprus were all the parts to make the bomber,photo recce and tanker versions so it didn't seem bad.Now this is the astounding part,when asked about this the guy on the stand said they were not going to do all three versions in one box,the bomber would be first followed by the recce version 18 months later ???When it was pointed out that not many people would buy two of these large kits and also you wouldn't get many younger modellers buying it he didn't seem bothered.When I mentioned that the small resin add on companies(AZee for example who were just across the way)would bring the parts out to do the different versions very quickly his face suddenly changed to the we hadn't thought of that!The next day I overheard a conversation on their stand with this very fact being brought up by an Airfix staff member so maybe they will do the 3 version in the one box as is stated in their own magazine! Not having a go just a point of view. All the best Drew
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kev1n
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Post by kev1n on Nov 29, 2010 18:26:51 GMT
"...Looking around at Telford the vast majority of people there were all over the age of 30..."
Thats my point I agree the appeal to younger people isnt big but what there is wont be helped by high prices; what does a younger modeller do (even if there arent many of them) when he or she doesnt want to build any more spitfires, harriers or F86's? I just feel that the manufacturers are aiming thier products only at those who do have an income to buy things. Seems a bit narrow-minded to me
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