It helps to have a son in the Air Force...

[jmustarde]

...in Japan.  

 

1 x 1/32 Tamiya Mistubishi A6M2b Zero Fighter - Model 21

2 x 1/32 Revell Me-109G-6

1 x 1/32 Hasegawa FW-190D

 

$106. Shipped to Yokota. AFO parcel to the US @ $27 (he told me). It hasn't arrived yet. The bulk of the savings is with the Zero. I should have bought three!

 

It's Christmas all over again

 

 

[CRAZY IVAN5]

Ya just can

t beat the prices they have there. Japan is a kit lover's paradise ,I made out like a bandit when I was there in2014.I even went to a contest when I was there in Hachinohe[ near Misawa]. It was a "local' shindig, try just north of 4,000 entries across all categories ! They sure like 1/72nd scale there and Gundams. Yeah, at those prices you should've got three, Yeehaw!

[Smokeyforgothispassword]

4 hours ago, jmustarde said:

...in Japan.  

 

1 x 1/32 Tamiya Mistubishi A6M2b Zero Fighter - Model 21

2 x 1/32 Revell Me-109G-6

1 x 1/32 Hasegawa FW-190D

 

$106. Shipped to Yokota. AFO parcel to the US @ $27 (he told me). It hasn't arrived yet. The bulk of the savings is with the Zero. I should have bought three!

 

It's Christmas all over again

 

 

Any chance you'll be putting your Son up for adoption?

 

I can throw a couple of Airfix TSR2's in to sweeten the deal?

[Out2gtcha]

Tremendous deal, especially for shipping all that.

[Christa]

11 hours ago, CRAZY IVAN5 said:

They sure like 1/72nd scale there and Gundams. 

Hey jmustrade, those were terrific savings and great shipping costs, glad you can get 'em.

 

I wonder if the popularity of aircraft model building in Japan, together with their very small living spaces conspire against Japanese producers offering new kits in 1/32? They don't make 'em big because the locals make small because home space is tight.

 

I have that problem too.

[John1]

17 hours ago, jmustarde said:

...in Japan.  

 

1 x 1/32 Tamiya Mistubishi A6M2b Zero Fighter - Model 21

2 x 1/32 Revell Me-109G-6

1 x 1/32 Hasegawa FW-190D

 

$106. Shipped to Yokota. AFO parcel to the US @ $27 (he told me). It hasn't arrived yet. The bulk of the savings is with the Zero. I should have bought three!

 

It's Christmas all over again

 

 

Ooooohhh, you got me interested here.   My daughter lives in Japan (down at Iwakuni), never even thought about having her pick up a model or two locally.   She mentioned there were a couple of big hobby shops near her.    

[europapete]

DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! RA RA RA! 

[jmustarde]

On 2/3/2024 at 8:38 AM, John1 said:

Ooooohhh, you got me interested here.   My daughter lives in Japan (down at Iwakuni), never even thought about having her pick up a model or two locally.   She mentioned there were a couple of big hobby shops near her.    

Having a son in the Air Force means that he can ship to the US at US domestic rates rather than international. That is a huge saving. If you break down the model costs, the Hasegawa 190D was 50% cheaper than at a well-known US internet store, while the Tamiya Zero cost $42, vs $145 at the same store. As I said, I should've bought three. The Revell G6s were only about $15 cheaper. 

My son will be in Japan for at least two years, so I see more Zeros in my future   

[CRAZY IVAN5]

7 hours ago, jmustarde said:

Having a son in the Air Force means that he can ship to the US at US domestic rates rather than international. That is a huge saving. If you break down the model costs, the Hasegawa 190D was 50% cheaper than at a well-known US internet store, while the Tamiya Zero cost $42, vs $145 at the same store. As I said, I should've bought three. The Revell G6s were only about $15 cheaper. 

My son will be in Japan for at least two years, so I see more Zeros in my future   

That's what I had done when I was there , raided all the local shops then had my son-in-law send it home at the Us domestic rates like you said . 

[John1]

8 hours ago, jmustarde said:

Having a son in the Air Force means that he can ship to the US at US domestic rates rather than international. That is a huge saving. If you break down the model costs, the Hasegawa 190D was 50% cheaper than at a well-known US internet store, while the Tamiya Zero cost $42, vs $145 at the same store. As I said, I should've bought three. The Revell G6s were only about $15 cheaper. 

My son will be in Japan for at least two years, so I see more Zeros in my future   

My daughter will be there for another 10 months, I need to start working on a shopping list!   Would love to go over there and pick out stuff myself but flights from the Northeast US are crazy expensive.   

[CRAZY IVAN5]

14 minutes ago, John1 said:

My daughter will be there for another 10 months, I need to start working on a shopping list!   Would love to go over there and pick out stuff myself but flights from the Northeast US are crazy expensive.   

I can relate totally. The only way I got there was that my Daughter and son-in law were stationed there[active duty Navy] and they paid my airfare. I couldn't have done it myself and I got to stay in their quarters. I flew out of LAX to Tokyo then a connecting flight to Misawa . I was there for 3 weeks and that wasn't enough.

[John1]

3 hours ago, CRAZY IVAN5 said:

I can relate totally. The only way I got there was that my Daughter and son-in law were stationed there[active duty Navy] and they paid my airfare. I couldn't have done it myself and I got to stay in their quarters. I flew out of LAX to Tokyo then a connecting flight to Misawa . I was there for 3 weeks and that wasn't enough.

Yeah, it’s been tough.  Haven’t seen my daughter for nearly three years.  Next duty station will be in CONUS so that’s good news.  

[MSgt Slim]

I was stationed at Kunsan, Home of The Wolfpack, class of 92-93.  It had one of the best selections of kits I've ever seen in a USAF BX.  An effort to keep the troops out of trouble I guess.  I should have stashed a bunch of those...

[jmustarde]

15 hours ago, John1 said:

My daughter will be there for another 10 months, I need to start working on a shopping list!   Would love to go over there and pick out stuff myself but flights from the Northeast US are crazy expensive.   

I worked for a Japanese company for years and went there regularly from Seattle. I never found a shop in Tokyo that offered the prices I'm getting now. I think the exchange rate has a lot to do with it. The older molds are certainly very inexpensive. Having said that, I nearly purchased the Tamiya 1/32 Mosquito for $118 vs $250 here. I might still

[jmustarde]

12 hours ago, John1 said:

Yeah, it’s been tough.  Haven’t seen my daughter for nearly three years.  Next duty station will be in CONUS so that’s good news.  

It's tough on us, too. It's been nearly a year, with about 2 to go. We FaceTime with our son most weeks, but it's not the same. He's having a blast and loving it, so we're happy for him. His younger brother is on an Army Scholarship at College, so we'll only see him regularly for a few more years before he's off somewhere. And we weren't a military family before this. Who knew?