I visited my stash and started checking model kits I bought in 2005-2006. Two I bought at FULL RETAIL at LHSs were tagged 14.00.

Wallace world sold them up until roughly that time (checker box AMT kits) for five bucks. I know that was an outlier, so I didn't count it here... but baby you better believe that for 1985 prices I stocked up while the sun was shining! I bought enough 53 Stude Starliners and 57 Fairlanes to open a lot (well not quite, but at 5 bucks per, it was too good not to get a few).

I didn't think I was TOO far wrong thinking the turn of the century price was about 10-12 bucks retail.

If 10-12 bucks was Y2k Price, and 2005-2006 price is roughly 14 bucks... That's almost 100 percent inflation in roughly 7-8 years

I think we're getting BENT OVER at $22-24, but others didn't. What does anybody else think who frequents here?

I think it's obscene.

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As far as prices go, if I want something new, I get it with a 50% off coupon at a local crafts store. Maybe once a year I'll have to pop full metal retail for something I can't get there.

Otherwise, I just go build something from my stash, which goes back 40+ years.

$22-25 for a new kit makes $25-$35 for a restorable glue bomb of something rare and long OOP on eBay sound reasonable, though, and bringing an old one back from the dead is just way more fun.




Steel cuts flesh. Steel cuts bone. Steel does not cut steel. --Stephen Hunter, The 47th Samurai.

We will march on a road of bones. --Hunter S. Thompson.

Sat Cong!

This is a tough one. I am looking at two "stash" kits, a Revell 2009 Challenger SRT8 and a Tamiya Nissan Skyline GT-R (R33). Both were comparably priced and both from my LHS, Hobby Works in Fairfax, Virginia. The Skyline was special order, and was $24 (Tamiya's MSRP), and the Challenger was off-the-shelf, and $25.99. Both are cleanly molded, with good interiors. The Skyline is curbside, with no engine detail, but vastly better wheels and tires. The Challenger has a full engine, but honestly, the wheels and tires are crap. Both I think represent a fair value. THe Challenger has "Officially Licensed Product" and Mopar logos all over the box. I can only assume that Nissan thinks Tamiya is representing their product in a positive manner- no mention is made of licensing. To me, both represent a price I'm willing to pay for a kit of a cool car.
Having said all of that, there are kits out there I think are way overpriced- the Tamiya Aston DBS and Nissan GTR R35 at $71.00 and $66, respectively, are not ever going to sit on my shelves. The Fujimi stuff hovever, is very nice. I have a couple of their Ferraris and a Porsche 917, and all were just under $40, which to me is reasonable given what they are- licensed kits with good detail and very good wheels and tires. (I define this as realisic finish- satin chrome or unpainted, and accurate tread and sidewall detail.)
I think it comes down to what you like versus what you love- "Hey, it'd be fun to build one of those" works at $20-30 a kit, but not at $70. At that price it has to be "OMG, I've been wanting one of those forever!" (I'd pay $70 for a Tamiya Corvette C6.R...)
I'll shut up now...

the Japanese makers, etc. I have a couple of AMT Benz 300 Gullwings, a Tamiya Lotus Super 7, a Minicraft 1/16 Benz 300 Gullwing that I got for about 10 bucks, and a Revell Mini Cooper. That's about it (can't take an oath that's all, but it's pretty close).

Most of the rest of my stuff was made by the big 4. Ford, GM, Chrysler, and AMC, and therefore is mostly made by AMT, Revell Monogram, JoHan, Aurora, Lindberg, Hawk, Pyro, etc. It is indeed rare for me to buy Tamiya, Heller, Hasegawa, etc car models. I just don't like most foreign cars very much. Jag, Morgan, Cooper, Austin Healy, Triumphs classic Alfa Romeo and Bugattis and a few of the Benz kits, not one single Japanese car has ever appealed to me.. model kit or real.

I say that because it is the frame of reference of my pricing observations... I think the prices are going to destroy any remaining appeal this hobby has to whoever might buy the product in the future, as well as to old timers like myself.

I just popped over 20 bucks (22, I think) for the Moebius 53 Hornet. Supposed to be a fabulous kit, and it looks nice, but not all that much better than kits that were half as much money less than 10 years ago. Monogram's 69 Dodge Charger I bought since 2000 comes to mind..

I also hear the closed hood doesn't fit right either... umpf... but if that's true, why would I risk another 20-spot for their 300 when it arrives? If I were a kid spending over 20 bucks plus supplies to start model-making, and I got a kit like that, no matter the subject, I'd be furious. ...

I remember when some of the kits selling for 20 bucks sold for 2 bucks, and, indeed, that was a long time ago, but as said before on this thread, 100 percent inflation in less than 10 years is obscene to me.

Car kits hit $10 around 1985... I know becuase I was working in a toy and hobby shop at the time. They increased slowly over the years but since 2000 or so they were in the $15 range MSRP. They remained about that or increased slightly up to around 2008 when stuff started to go up. By 2010 most car kits were $25 or so. But I have noticed a lot of cars are now a bit lower again...