Spots on the Internet (2022)

[The Smythe Meister]

I must be getting old,,,,,,
..... these recent prices are ridiculous as far as i`m concerned :fearful: ,
It`s now becoming a hobby that youngsters can`t afford a kit with their "Pocket money".....
.... just like my other love.... Motorbikes.... how many riders do you see pull up to the pumps to fuel up on a cool bike,only to take their lid off and reveal they`re at least 60!!:disappointed2:
... In my day,(Had MANY bikes of various sizes from 1983-2012),young lads could afford,soup up and treasure their bikes.... where has THAT gone?!!:astonished: ...
.... I fear modelling will go the same way!
Andy

[rtfoe]

I must be getting old,,,,,,
..... these recent prices are ridiculous as far as i`m concerned :fearful: ,
It`s now becoming a hobby that youngsters can`t afford a kit with their "Pocket money".....
.... just like my other love.... Motorbikes.... how many riders do you see pull up to the pumps to fuel up on a cool bike,only to take their lid off and reveal they`re at least 60!!:disappointed2:
... In my day,(Had MANY bikes of various sizes from 1983-2012),young lads could afford,soup up and treasure their bikes.... where has THAT gone?!!:astonished: ...
.... I fear modelling will go the same way!
Andy

I used to save up my weekly pocket money when I was a kid to buy my models...I still do the same thing today thinking it would be more affordable with working pay. Hasn't changed. Still reaching for that unattainable one :smiling6: :smiling6:

Cheers,
Richard

[Guest]

..... these recent prices are ridiculous as far as i`m concerned :fearful: ,
It`s now becoming a hobby that youngsters can`t afford a kit with their "Pocket money".....

This is something you see in absolutely everything that’s practiced as a hobby. As soon as it gets some traction, manufacturers begin to make things more luxurious (for want of a better word), which will attract more people but also drives up prices. That then begins to spiral: because of the higher prices, mainly relatively wealthier people will take up the hobby, meaning both the expected level of luxury and the prices can go up some more, and …

Sticking with modelling: until the 1970s, models were seen as toys. Then people began to put serious effort into making models accurate and look good, and that invites manufacturers to cater to those serious hobbyists. That causes more people with a serious interest to build models, rather than making them for their kids to play with, and more manufacturers begin to produce aftermarket stuff. The big manufacturers see that and feel they can get a share of that market too, by adding the more common types of accessories into their kits already. And so it goes on.

Beware of the distorted perception of prices caused by inflation, though. A kit that costs £50 now is not twice as expensive as a kit that cost £25 twenty years ago, but probably “only” something like 25% to 50% more. I remember Tamiya’s original 1:35 M113 kit cost 34.95 guilders in the late ’80s. That costs about €25 now, I see on a quick search of Dutch model shops’ web sites, but €1 = ƒ2.20371, so the old guilder price from about 35 years ago converts to €15.86. In those 35 years, inflation has therefore been about 57%, for this particular kit anyway. That’s actually less than inflation in the Netherlands in general, which was almost 100% over those 35 years. But, of course, this is a kit from 1974 and not a modern (non-Tamiya) M113 kit, which will be rather more expensive — roughly twice the price of the old Tamiya kit, by the looks of it.

[Dave Ward]

On the ICM Website & Facebook

ICM say - 3 models - 2 X Bf 109E-3 & 1 X Tupolev SB-2M
Dave

[Peter Gillson]

This is something you see in absolutely everything that’s practiced as a hobby. As soon as it gets some traction, manufacturers begin to make things more luxurious (for want of a better word), which will attract more people but also drives up prices. That then begins to spiral: because of the higher prices, mainly relatively wealthier people will take up the hobby, meaning both the expected level of luxury and the prices can go up some more, and …

Sticking with modelling: until the 1970s, models were seen as toys. Then people began to put serious effort into making models accurate and look good, and that invites manufacturers to cater to those serious hobbyists. That causes more people with a serious interest to build models, rather than making them for their kids to play with, and more manufacturers begin to produce aftermarket stuff. The big manufacturers see that and feel they can get a share of that market too, by adding the more common types of accessories into their kits already. And so it goes on.

Beware of the distorted perception of prices caused by inflation, though. A kit that costs £50 now is not twice as expensive as a kit that cost £25 twenty years ago, but probably “only” something like 25% to 50% more. I remember Tamiya’s original 1:35 M113 kit cost 34.95 guilders in the late ’80s. That costs about €25 now, I see on a quick search of Dutch model shops’ web sites, but €1 = ƒ2.20371, so the old guilder price from about 35 years ago converts to €15.86. In those 35 years, inflation has therefore been about 57%, for this particular kit anyway. That’s actually less than inflation in the Netherlands in general, which was almost 100% over those 35 years. But, of course, this is a kit from 1974 and not a modern (non-Tamiya) M113 kit, which will be rather more expensive — roughly twice the price of the old Tamiya kit, by the looks of it.

This 'sub-thread' prompted me to compare some prices of kits between 1973 and today. Not easy to get many direct comparisons there are so few manufacturers from then still in business. In the list below the 1973 price is the price in a 1973 Military modelling mag, increased by the cumulative inflation rate, the 2022 prices are from either Historex Agents or Hannants websites. They are exactly the same kits which are still in production.


Historex foot figures: 1973 = £10.30. 2022 = £14.95
Historex mounted L. 1973 = £21.26. 2022 = £22.45

Tamiya 88. AA gun. 1973 = £50.26 2022 = £19.99
Tamia PZII. 1973 = £14.17 2022 = £8.33

ok, it is a very small example but the 2 conclusions I draw from it are:

1- the old (and by today's standards, basic) Tamiya kits are very cheap compared to when they were launched.
2 - in 1973 the Tamiya kit of the 88 was 'state of the art' and priced at around £50 in today's money while the current Dragon offering is around £58, so perhaps the 1973 prices were not, in real terms, as cheap a we remember them.

i do however agree that some of the topend, all singing dancing kits with etched brass etc ate far more expensive, but that quality was never on offer in the early days.

Peter

[Dave Ward]

The ICM 2022 Catalogue can be downloaded https://icm.com.ua/catalog/ - on the RH side. there's some interesting stuff there, including a 1/32 Yak-9T & a 1/35 Unimog............
Dave

[Del640]

The ICM 2022 Catalogue can be downloaded https://icm.com.ua/catalog/ - on the RH side. there's some interesting stuff there, including a 1/32 Yak-9T & a 1/35 Unimog............
Dave

Downloaded!

[johnm93]

I must be getting old,,,,,,
..... these recent prices are ridiculous as far as i`m concerned :fearful: ,
It`s now becoming a hobby that youngsters can`t afford a kit with their "Pocket money".....
.... just like my other love.... Motorbikes.... how many riders do you see pull up to the pumps to fuel up on a cool bike,only to take their lid off and reveal they`re at least 60!!:disappointed2:
... In my day,(Had MANY bikes of various sizes from 1983-2012),young lads could afford,soup up and treasure their bikes.... where has THAT gone?!!:astonished: ...
.... I fear modelling will go the same way!
Andy

Biking has been killed by the insurance industry. £3000.00 to insure a 125cc at 18 years old...?

[Del640]

Biking has been killed by the insurance industry. £3000.00 to insure a 125cc at 18 years old...?

Unfortunately, it's a captive audience.

I gave up biking 7 years ago due to price hikes.....fortunately I still got my fix riding at work.

Retired now so my two wheel days are very much over.

[Jim R]

It`s now becoming a hobby that youngsters can`t afford a kit with their "Pocket money"....

Youngsters can still get into the hobby with their pocket money. Aldi sell the Airfix Starter kits for £5.99. We had Woolworths back in the day in place of Aldi :rolling:
Jim

[Dave Ward]

From MiniArt - 'New model coming soon '

Dave

[Dave Ward]

Looking through the new ICM catalogue, I missed some interesting new models.
ICM do the AH-! Cobra in 1/32 - in the catalogue, they list the AH-1 in 1/35 and 1/48 as well as the original! The Tarhe Flying crane is listed as 1/35..........
Dave

[minitnkr]

The first time I've seen an Organization Todt symbol & license plate on a model.

[Ian M]

Be nice if they (Mini Art) found out about the Scammel Scarab. Literally hundreds of versions and conversions to be done.

[Tim Marlow]

Be nice if they (Mini Art) found out about the Scammel Scarab. Literally hundreds of versions and conversions to be done.

Agreed. If it was German we’d be knee deep in ‘em….the only kits I know of are the ancient Langley and PE o model railway kits.