You want how much???

[Oldbaldguy]

I’m in one of my “I don’t understand” modes and am puzzled by what appear to me to be some pretty healthy asking prices for even the most mundane injection molded kits.  I know I’m old and often wax nostalgic for the good old days when you could buy paint for a nickel a bottle and a decent kit for less than a dollar, but I also know that those days are behind me and that I live in the now.  These days retro kits are selling easily for ten times what they cost when originally released decades ago and it’s the same kit!  No improvements!  Does anyone know why we’re seeing this spike in older kit prices?  Or the healthy prices we’re seeing for new releases for that matter?

[ssculptor]

Oh come on now. You cannot be that naïve.  When an item is on the market for a number of years and then is no longer available  people who now all of a sudden need it will be inclined to pay dearly for it.  At the same time some people who have this now unavailable item will be sore tempted to ask inflated prices for one of these new  rarities. 

That is elementary school economics. 

Is there something wrong or immoral about this? Well that is dependent on how altruistic the seller is.

Discussions of the morality of making a profit off of one's fellow modelers is, like religion and politics mostly avoided on forums like ours, and rightly so.

ssculptor

 

[LSP_Mike]

I think that Mr Snippy has a point. Aurora made so many Frankenstein kits. We all( the old enough ones) built the hell out of them. There arw X number left, and fewer still sealed. Therein lies the rub.

[Oldbaldguy]

I so dislike being talked down to.  (Not you, Mike). Perhaps I should have used my small words.  What I meant to ask is why are old Revelogram kits becoming popular again?  Are they better than we thought they were compared to more recent releases?  Is it a nostalgia thing for older modelers?  Better value for your money?  What?  The trend is certainly up and I was wondering why.

[LSP_Ron]

I remember back in the mid 80's when I was in the hobby biz we used to sell Revell and Monogram 1/25 car kits for $12-14 dollars each.  Those same kits are now pushing $40+ each,  same kits but 35 years later.

[LSP_Mike]

Truth be told, I have some kits just to sit on my shelf, and remind me of years gone by.

[Out2gtcha]

Its all about what its worth to the individual. There may be that one person out there looking for that one specific thing, and is willing to pay through the roof to get it. Fill in the blank what that thing is, and they may catch a deal and not have to pay the price they would have, but its all about "trolling" for the one person who has the need of the thing you happen to have. I think that seems like the only way people get the exorbitant prices they seem to be asking for some kits we wouldn't keep in the stash for free.  

[MikeMaben]

Yep, Brian's right, old kits sell to a niche market and the seller only needs to snag one

person who 'has' to have that kit right now. Imagine if somebody started popping old

Monogram kits by the thousands. They'd get more than they (we) did but nothing

exorbitant. If you mean recently , I've noticed even hobby related products are spiking

because more people are home.

You can only charge what someone will pay.

[ssculptor]

14 hours ago, Oldbaldguy said:

I so dislike being talked down to.  (Not you, Mike). Perhaps I should have used my small words.  What I meant to ask is why are old Revelogram kits becoming popular again?  Are they better than we thought they were compared to more recent releases?  Is it a nostalgia thing for older modelers?  Better value for your money?  What?  The trend is certainly up and I was wondering why.

A younger generation of modelers have entered the scene and want the older model kits. But  they are no longer available at the old prices. Its called inflation.

When I was a young man the old 1/48 Aurora airplane kits sold for 69 cents (MSRP). Now that I am an old geezer I would not expect them to be reissued at the old prices (69 cents).  So I have to pay current prices if I want them.  

 

Yes the new and in some cases reworked kits are of a higher quality. So that would justify a higher price in todays market. 

 

Some people collect the old kits and prefer the original issue over the repops. So the prices are higher.

 

There are lots of reasons just as there are lots of different people in this hobby. 

 

That's life.

[Dave Williams]

The people who will pay for an old kit are mostly people who fondly remember a kit from their childhood, collectors who buy it as some sort of investment, or a few who want an early boxing of a kit before it was modified (e.g. the original Hawk 1/48 U-2 before Testors added the dorsal spine). The reality is that most of these old kits aren’t very good by modern standards and probably most are bought just to have and not to actually build.  A number of old kits have been repoped (e.g. Rommel’s Rod, Seaview, Spindrift, etc), so people who want one to build for nostalgia’s sake can get one without having to break the bank. 

[pennausamike]

I bought a new release of the Rommel's Rod recently.  I paid about the same as I had paid for a poorly built one on eBay a few years back.

The price was fairly reasonable (20 to 30 bucks IIRC) but this is likely a higher volume nostalgia kit.  But some of the oddballs, like a Glenn L. Martin experimental seaplane, are probably priced to amortize re-release costs over a smaller volume; plus the manufacturers want to price at the top of what the market will bear, I imagine.

 

Far as the pre-built Rommel's Rod, four things.  First, the original release had "Mercedes Benz" on the valve cover; the new one does not.  I assume the maker elected to avoid any licensing issues/ fees.  Second, I turned the second chassis into a fuel trailer so the staff car could follow the armored units.  Third, I replaced the American-style roller bumper with chrome bumpers.  And fourth, I made a soft top for it (not shown) out of a 1950 Ford convertible top.  I was glad the kit was re-released, and was happy to pay the price.

 

[firefly7]

There's another factor to consider Oldbaldguy. A segment of the buyers are not modelers and could not care less about buildability or accuracy. They are kit collectors, or in some cases kit boxes collectors. To them the kit rarity & box condition is everything.  Cheers.

[Helmsman]

These prices are not healthy at all.

[mpk]

I never know why people do what they do. First of all I must workout why I do what I do. I haven't a clue.

 

My immediate thought upon reading the OP is perhaps collectors are buying them. Similar to those who collect Star Wars in box items.

 

And then there's this.

 

I wanted to buy an Italeri 1/72 SM-79. A few weeks ago BNA were out of stock. I placed a bid on ebay and promptly forgot about it. I bid 20.00. It went for $21.00.

 

2 weeks later again there is another. This time I entered the retail as my highest bid, $34.00.

 

It went for $55.00???

 

3 days pass and it is back in stock. BNA has it listed for $34.50. I purchased it.

 

Why did that buyer pay $55.00???

[thierry laurent]

You would be surprised discovering how much many eBay buyers have no clue of the current market value of things and this is not limited to models in any way. Weird to say the least...