Mark P Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 A simple matter of supply and demand. As the new tool 1/32nd scale Bf 109's began to appear, Hasegawa was the first out of the gate and could ask a premium price as it was the only G available and demand was high (as it is for any 109 for that matter, but I digress). Trumpeter appeared, dropping the price (while debate still rages, many believe that the higher prices for Trumpeter in NA lies at the hands of the importer). Revell, the last one released, has to charge the lowest price to get modelers to part with their cash, considering that many builders have hoards of Hasegawa kits in their stash. Hence, the sliding prices. FWIW, having plenty of Hasegawa kits to compare too, the Revell kit the best of them all, pricing being a small part of the comparison. Mark Proulx D.B. Andrus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogsATX Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 As to hard(ly) earned money, can anyone explain why the Hasegawa G-6 retails for $70.00 and the Trumpy G-6 retails for $53.00 while the Revell G-6 retails for $30.25. It certainly is not in the quality of the plastic or the accuracy and fineness of the moulding. There is no compelling reason (at least for me) to go Hasegawa or Trumpy. I guess Revell gets substantial cost savings out of those ridiculous side-opening boxes? Seriously though, I know with Hasegawa it's a bit of import costs and a bit of Sony-style "because they can" pricing. With Trumpeter, given the amount of plastic in the box, it's honestly about on par, MSRP-wise, with what I'd expect. Especially given that Trumpeter MSRPs are also somewhat inflated once you get out of Asia. It's Revell that's the the abberation. I guess mostly repopping 40-year-old kits offers a nice cushion to sell new-tool kits at very competitive prices. This is true of the G-6. It was also true of the Ar 196, Ju 88A-1 and He 111. The new G-6, for good or ill, is an absolute steal. THAT SAID, if you're paying list for a Hasegawa or Trumpeter 109, you're being taken for a ride. In total, I've bought three Hasegawa 109s (G-6, G-14 and a ProModeller-boxed G-4) and three Trumpy 109s (G-2, two G-6s) and never paid more than $35 for a kit. Well, I paid $40 for the G-14, but it came with the Eagle Editions spinner. I'd expect the Revell will seriously depress the prices the other 109s can fetch...but curious to see how heavily those things start getting discounted over the next 6-12 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Mike Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Well, that is an interesting thought. There are a couple of shows coming soon, I'll be checking the vendors areas to see if prices do indeed come down a bit. We modelers can't help but win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOTR Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Hm, I'm not sure if that explains all about Hasegawa's prices, as their 1/32 kits are generally in the region of 60 € and rising, no matter if it is a new tool, the umpteenth rerelase of a 109 or an even older kit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radub Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 (edited) I think the difference is to do with the distribution model. Hasegawa has no direct distribution, so the model has to pass on through a number of different dealers before it reaches you. Each of these transfers from one hand to another comes with a cost such as transport, storage, customs tax, commission and markup. The higher the number of "links" in the "chain", the higher the costs. Revell appears to have a shorter distribution system with fewer "links" in the "chain". I was in Japan and I can attest that a lot of Japanese kits are a lot cheaper there. For example, I saw the Tamiya zero for the equivalent of 50 euro in Yellow Submarine in Akihabara. That same kit costs twice that on shelves in Europe. Radu Edited September 30, 2013 by Radub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDave Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Yes HLJ offer the Tamiya Spit 9 for £55 vs 95-120 on ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikester Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Hm, I'm not sure if that explains all about Hasegawa's prices, as their 1/32 kits are generally in the region of 60 € and rising, no matter if it is a new tool, the umpteenth rerelase of a 109 or an even older kit... The blame lies squarely on your importer. The street price of the Hasegawa G-6 is about 3400 Yen, this about 10% more than when it was introduced 11 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted October 1, 2013 Author Share Posted October 1, 2013 Indeed, the distribution channel is one of the most obvious reasons. HOWEVER, i think this is also part of the responsibility of the manufacturer! For instance, Revell recently decided to change its distribution model in Europe to shorten the chain and cut the final cost. This created problems for some months but the system is now running smoothly. Other manufacturers also made a different distribution choice (good or bad); Zoukei Mura being another example. So, for the last twenty years, I do not understand why most manufacturers do not take more care about this as this finally determines the amount of products they are selling... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artful69 Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 As to hard(ly) earned money, can anyone explain why the Hasegawa G-6 retails for $70.00 and the Trumpy G-6 retails for $53.00 while the Revell G-6 retails for $30.25. It certainly is not in the quality of the plastic or the accuracy and fineness of the moulding. There is no compelling reason (at least for me) to go Hasegawa or Trumpy. Dunno where you are getting them from ... but here in Aus' the average Hasegawa kit is between $76-86 ... The Revell $36-46 ... and Trumpeters' $45-60 (Refering to newer tool Bf109's) ... * I just got a shipment of Hasegawas in from Japan - $46.99 USD + $13.00 USD Shipping, Total = $60.00 USD, = approx $66.00 AUD give or take (per item) ... * My Trumpeter kit from over east (local they are about $70-95 AUD) ... $49.99 + $15.80 Shipping = $66.00 AUD give or take ... * Revell G-6 from the UK ... 17.24 GBP (ex VAT) + 6.84 GBP Shipping, Total = 24.08 GBP, = approx $42.00 AUD give or take ... ... and all delivered to my front door (or to collect from the post office if delivery missed) Rog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted October 1, 2013 Author Share Posted October 1, 2013 Just to give you a comparison, here's a list of representative prices in Belgium: Revell: more or less 25 euros Trumpeter: minimum 35 euros Hasegawa: minimum 55 euros I do not take into account the possible post and packing plus the possible customs fees if purchased from a foreign country and possibly out of Europe. I don't think the situation is really very different in other European countries. This will probably explain what I meant when I considered prices in the equation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOTR Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 (edited) The blame lies squarely on your importer. The street price of the Hasegawa G-6 is about 3400 Yen, this about 10% more than when it was introduced 11 years ago. Other factors may play a roll there, too. I've read somewhere, that Revell decided to do their own tooling of a '109, because it was still cheaper than importing the Hasegawa sprues, as they did in the past, though that should probably be taken with a grain of salt. Though nontheless, the K-4 release a few years ago already demanded a premium over comparable sized kits at the time. Just to give you a comparison, here's a list of representative prices in Belgium: Revell: more or less 25 euros Trumpeter: minimum 35 euros Hasegawa: minimum 55 euros I do not take into account the possible post and packing plus the possible customs fees if purchased from a foreign country and possibly out of Europe. I don't think the situation is really very different in other European countries. This will probably explain what I meant when I considered prices in the equation. Yepp, these prices are pretty much the same in Germany. Edit: just did a short calculation using the prices and postage quotes at HLJ. Using EMS for shipping and adding 21% import VAT (which is pretty likely I'll have to pay with a box of that size), I am just a few cents below the cheapest price I found for the same Hase kit in an online shop here. Add the price for fuel/bus ticket for the ride to the customs office to pick it up, and I could have been better of with buying it locally... Edited October 1, 2013 by KOTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 Edit: just did a short calculation using the prices and postage quotes at HLJ. Using EMS for shipping and adding 21% import VAT (which is pretty likely I'll have to pay with a box of that size), I am just a few cents below the cheapest price I found for the same Hase kit in an online shop here. Add the price for fuel/bus ticket for the ride to the customs office to pick it up, and I could have been better of with buying it locally... I agree. When you have good shops, the prices are generally comparable and you avoid all the risks linked to the parcel travel! For the same reasons, I generally purchase the boxes locally. I'm limiting overseas purchases to accessories from SMB and books if it is not possible to get them at exhibitions. Unfortunately, in a lot of countries modellers don't have this choice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattlow Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Well If anyone's still interested, I like the Revell kit. There are some aspects that I dislike, a couple of real parts breakdowns but the overall feel I get is a satisfying (if involved) build and a few really inspired details. To use Doogs' terminology, I think this is a two steps forward and one back... But these things are personal so I won't say it's better than anyone else's. I too have 'a few' Hasegawa kits and no, none of them will be sold on, but any subsequent 109G purchases will be Revell (unless Tamiya brings one to market). I look forward to whichever version they release next and hope that the awful decals are sorted, they are the worst I've seen on a mainstream kit (look nice enough, but thickness makes them more like vinyl stickers).... Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Howie Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 (edited) As to hard(ly) earned money, can anyone explain why the Hasegawa G-6 retails for $70.00 and the Trumpy G-6 retails for $53.00 while the Revell G-6 retails for $30.25. It certainly is not in the quality of the plastic or the accuracy and fineness of the moulding. There is no compelling reason (at least for me) to go Hasegawa or Trumpy.Can you explain why the Hasegawa 109F and G series are on the market for2800-3200Y in Tokyo and the Revell kit is almost double at 5600Y?I think i can. It would be the same reason why Revell is so cheap in the USA.. Ps Therry thanks for the excellent write up. Do you have any idea when or where the measurements for the 109 nose came from people are quoting? When the Hasegawa kit was released everyone acknowledged the spinner priblem but no mention was made anywhere regarding the nose. Im intrigued hiw that hapened and where Revell got the measurements from. Its not like the 109 wasnt around to be measured in 2001.. Cheers Edited October 3, 2013 by Darren Howie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted October 3, 2013 Author Share Posted October 3, 2013 Do you have any idea when or where the measurements for the 109 nose came from people are quoting? When the Hasegawa kit was released everyone acknowledged the spinner priblem but no mention was made anywhere regarding the nose. Im intrigued hiw that hapened and where Revell got the measurements from. Its not like the 109 wasnt around to be measured in 2001.. Cheers Hi Darren, I guess the length problem discussed was probably linked: 1. to the practical difficulty to measure a full scale airframe 2. to the errors or misinterpretations of the "official" 109 length measures So, my best guess is that Hasegawa used the published length information, possibly some scale plans/blueprints and used a lot of pictures and measures of sections of an actual plane overseas. This may explain the discrepancy. As I already wrote, if the measurement difference was not located at specific points, I think nobody would bother. Indeed, we're discussing 6.5cm on a full scale plane! Without the beule location problem and a comparison between kits, I think that nobody would have mentioned that. It is obvious Hasegawa realized there was a problem as they recreated a fully different fuselage for the Friedrich and the length is different! Moreover, the spinner has also been recreated and this time it is accurate and not based on a wrong museum replica. For Revell, the situation was fully different as the people helping them were aware of this length discussion, had access to sources of information found more recently and had easy access to full scale airframes in Germany and Poland. It is always far easier to avoid mistakes when people are publicly discussing about some made some years ago by somebody else! I guess this is also the main reason explaining their spinner is correctly shaped. HTH Thierry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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