Hasegawa 1/48 F-22 price, yikes

[F4DPhantomII]

Just noticed Sprue Brothers taking pre orders for it at $74.99 and a $90 list.Ouch I think I'll stick with my 2 Academy kits!

[Dave Williams]

Getting it shipped over from HLJ is going to cost at least as much, even with SAL It costs $63 over there, plus at least another $15 for shipping. Not a cheap kit anywhere.

http://www.hlj.com/product/HSGPT45

[Hoosfoos]

Luckymodel is $62.99 + $12.73 for shipping.

http://www.luckymodel.com/scale.aspx?item_no=HSG%2007245

[Murph]

Just noticed Sprue Brothers taking pre orders for it at $74.99 and a $90 list.Ouch

But it can also be used in the kitchen as a grater.

Regards,

Murph

[PlasticWeapons]

But it can also be used in the kitchen as a grater.

Regards,

Murph

Thanks for the tip, Murph!

[FAR148]

$74.99 KISS MY... Way to go Hasegawa! You just lost another customer.

The Academy kit looks better anyway.

Steven L

[Jennings]

Way to go Hasegawa! You just lost another customer.

Can y'all please look at the value history of the Yen compared to the dollar and get off Hasegawa's back? Wikipedia's entry on the Japanese Yen has a great historical value chart.

Here's my take on it: Hasegawa is charging what they need to charge in an ever-shrinking market and in the worst worldwide economic climate in 80 years. The US dollar buys 93 Yen and some change today. Three years ago it bought over 120. Do the math. Japanese kit prices are what they are because of economic realities in Japan. If you can't afford them, well, then that's bad for you. That's not Hasegawa's fault, and I'm pretty sure they're not doing it either because they "just want to" nor just to **** you personally off.

Sheesh...

J

Edited April 10, 2010 by Jennings

[madmanrick]

Well, in Hasegawa's defense at least this is a new tool kit and not reissue of a 10-15 year old kit, with nothing but "new" decals. I do agree that the price is high, especially given that it's main competition has an MSRP about $30 less.

[FAR148]

Can y'all please look at the value history of the Yen compared to the dollar and get off Hasegawa's back? Wikipedia's entry on the Japanese Yen has a great historical value chart.

If you can't afford them, well, then that's bad for you. That's not Hasegawa's fault, and I'm pretty sure they're not doing it either because they "just want to" nor just to **** you personally off.

Sheesh...

J

It's not that I can't afford them, it's I'm not willing to pay that much for them.

Steven L

[thegoodsgt]

It's everywhere. Consider that many Dragon 1/35 scale armor kits are retailing for $55-70 for a model that is considerably smaller than many 1/48 scale aircraft. I suspect many modelers are making some very difficult choices in how they spend their money.

[is it windy yet?]

Here's my take on it: Hasegawa is charging what they need to charge in an ever-shrinking market

J

Well said.

[Pickles]

I preordered mine and got 40% off the retail price. Still came out cheaper than buying from overseas.

[strikeeagle801]

But it can also be used in the kitchen as a grater.

Regards,

Murph

You're just jealous because your F-22 can't be used as a kitchen utensil.

Aaron

Edited April 11, 2010 by strikeeagle801

[Jeff]

Good thing I bought mine from Hong Kong local hobby shop (Universal Models) for $398 HKD, which is around $51.30 USD.

Heh Heh.

[timc]

This is old stuff being rehashed, over and over and over again. Hasegawa's done this before with their 1/48 F-14's when they were first relesased and the F/A-18's were upwards of $90 (MSRP) 15 or so years ago when they came out. I remember thinking how the hell is anyone gonna afford to buy this kit...but we did. Let the Keynesian economists at Haseagawa have their way for awhile until the demand abates. Then the price will be adjusted accordingly. The same thing happens with every new kit that comes on the market these days, no matter which of the major players releases it.... Sticker shock is gonna happen. If you've gotta have it now, you'll pay the price. If you've got time or are not in a hurry, you'll probably do better some time in the future. The price will come down but it's each person's threshold price that determines whether any given price is value or not...very subjective.

[nird551]

good points all around.. the biggest factor is the distance. europe and america is far from japan. in hongkong (where supplies lasted like for 2 seconds before it was sold out) it retailed for about hk400 (if the shop owner i talked to wasn't pullin my leg). which is around us50.00...

[Matt Roberts]

I also wonder how much of this price may be based upon a thinking that not many repeat buyers for the Raptor....one paint scheme only a couple of tailcodes, not too ripe for multiples like a Phantom or gawd forbid a Tomcat, so they may have to think of recouping thier costs with fewer total units moved.

[Huey Gunner]

I'm glad I got my Academy kit last year. But still, if I would've gotten the Hasegawa kit if it was the only game in town. This isn't a cheap hobby anymore. Fact of life. Accept it or start bird watching.

[Huey Gunner]

I can hear the sigh of relief all the way from Trumpey's corporate office to hear. Finally someones being ragged on harder than they are. Unless until their next release.

[Icehound]

Whatever the price,people will still buy the kit.

[frankv74]

What the point of Purchacing New Kits now. I am glad i am starting to learn to take older kits and do little scratch building to make them better.

Frank

[Spitfire88]

Old kits are not cheap either. Look how old the Hasegawa F-14 and F/A-18 kits are and look how expensive they are. I don't think the problem is being a new kit, the new Tamiya F-16's are not that expensive in comparison. The problem is Hasegawa lost it's North American distributor, I think once they find a new one (sure hope they do) kits like the F-14 and F/A-18 and F-22 should be back to around $69.99 where they use to be.

[gkwan]

They have a new importer and this is the price with the new importer. In fact. we might be too low. I have seen 2 MSRPs - $90 and $100. Not sure which one is correct. The $100 one I saw on a product announcement type of sheet from the new importer. The $90 is from Tower Hobby's listed (Tower is the retail arm of the new importeR).

From what I have seen, I doubt there is going to be much price changes.

[PhantomPhixer74]

*

Edited September 22, 2010 by PhantomPhixer74

[Spitfire88]

Well this is what I was told from the owner of Aviation World in Toronto Canada. He told me that Canada still does not have a distributor for Hasegawa kits and soon we should have a new one and he thinks prices will come down once that happens. Maybe that is not true but that is what he told me.