1/32: Why So Expensive?

[Jinro]

I was looking at 1/32 kits today, and the only thing I could think of was why the hell are they so bloody expensive?!. Not only that, but the price difference between 1/48 and 1/32 is huge!

I can find 1/72 kits for between $15-$25, and 1/48 kits for between $25-$40. Not much of a gap (if any) there. But 1/32? $90-$120! That's a gap of at least $50, compared to a gap of $15, at the most, between 1/72 and 1/48.

So I have to ask: what's the deal?

[Dave Williams]

What kits are you comparing? You can make almost any price comparison that you want by picking the right kits. For example from one of the online hobby shops:

1/72 Hasegawa B-24J $55.49

1/48 Hasegawa EA-18G $71.99

1/32 RoG Hawk T.1A Red Arrows $31.49

But in general, many modern 1/32 kits come with a lot of parts. Take for example the Tamiya 1/32 Spitfires and Mustange to their 1/48 counterparts. If you look what you get in the box with maybe 3-4 sprues of parts in 1/48 to 12-16 sprues in the 1/32 kit, you can easily see that the 1/32 kit is going to cost more than a few dollars more than the 1/48. More plastic and more detail drives the cost of the mold up. Also, a company probably won't sell anywhere as many 1/32 kits as they will 1/48 kits because a lot of people would rather build smaller for space of price reasons. Higher priced mold + less copies sold = higher price per kit.

[T0M4ever]

If you were going to make a comparison, I'd use the same aircraft in each scale. Also you could weigh the boxes or sprues to see how much plastic/etch etc you get in a box.

[toadwbg]

You also need to consider tooling costs, that have to be amortized into the kit cost. Tooling costs for a 1/32 scale kit may be 4x as much as they are for a 1/48 kit. This is a SWAG, but you get the picture as the cost increase may not be linear due to an increase i'n parts, complexity, and tooling steel cut.

Finally, marketing has probably determined they can charge a premium- so we get hosed ;)

[Charlie Cheetah]

Also, look at how long it would take you to build a premium 1/32 kit compared to a more standard kit, The bigger kit may cost 2 to3 times as much to purchase but may take you3 or 4 times longer to build.

[Jennings]

You can't compare prices. You simply can't. Each manufacturer has its own pricing scheme. Revell's prices are an order of magnitude lower for a roughly similar kit than Trumpeter's. Why? Who the heck knows? Clearly both are making money at it. But without detailed knowledge of the inner workings of each company, there is just no way to make a comparison.

If this or that one is too expensive for you, then don't buy it. Or wait a few months and get it half off on eBay or somewhere when the shine has worn off of it.

[ixgr1]

If you were going to make a comparison, I'd use the same aircraft in each scale. Also you could weigh the boxes or sprues to see how much plastic/etch etc you get in a box.

-and the same quality of manifacture

Finally, marketing has probably determined they can charge a premium- so we get hosed ;)

1/32 like its users, IS (and always has been desined to be) a premium market.

"big boys have big toys" ?

[Dax]

I asked a similar question of a LHS owner (before it closed), regarding just the lack of larger kits in brick and mortar shops and his response was something along the lines of, the larger kits (1/32, 1/350,etc.) just take up so much %^$*ing shelf space. The example given was for one $125 Tamiya Enterprise he could have a dozen (depending on the kit of course) or so 1/48 kits at $60 a pop.

So I can't help but wonder if some of that is contributing in that shop owners may not want to mark down the bigger kits if they stock 'em...

[radub]

One other factor that affects cost is the size/weight of the box and the costs involved in shipping. Since all of these kits come from the other side of the planet, that involves a lot of transportation by all sorts of means. Since the boxes are bigger, you can squeeze fewer in a container, so it stands to reason that shipping per unit is higher on 1/32 kits that 1/72 kits. For example the box of the 1/32 Trumpeter Su-27 is as big as eight Hasegawa 1/72 Su-27 boxes, so it costs eight times more to ship the 1/32 kit than the 1/72 kit.

Every time a kit is shipped from a warehouse to another, each "link in the chain" adds a mark-up to cover their own profit, storage, transportation, customs fees. Chances are that the manufacturer gets only about 10% of what you actually pay in the shop. The rest goes towards paying all the "links in the chain".

Radu

[CorsairMan]

.... marketing has probably determined they can charge a premium- so we get hosed

That is the single most important factor in the price put on the box. I would even go so far to say that its determined before any considerable design work is started.

-1/32 like its users, IS (and always has been desined to be) a premium market.

Amen.

The only thing price has to do with 'tooling', 'depreciation', 'time', etc etc is that the price must cover these things. But that would be significantly less than what is actually affixed to the box. A new kit is priced towards what the market will accept.

[Aaronw]

I would be very curious to see a break down of sales by scale, 1/144, 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32.

Just a wild guess but I would think 1/72 out sells the others handily with 1/48 also having a significant lead over the remaining two major scales. That is the only explaination I can figure for why 1/144 frequently costs as much or more than 1/72 despite being half the size (small sales volume = higher price).

I understand the plastic itself is a minimal cost, with even the largest kits containing only a few dollars worth by weight. Tooling, shipping, marketing (box, distribution fees etc), and licensing being the real expenses.

Edited November 1, 2011 by Aaronw

[eharrold44]

What Dave said.

Things that are often simplified down to one part in 1/48 or 1/72 kits- landing gear, cockpit details, etc.- are often tooled as 3 or more individual parts in the bigger kits. That alone adds a ton of complexity to the tooling, which leads to an exponential increase in the cost of creating and engineering the kit.

[Jinro]

I guess I didn't understand the process of "tooling" then. I always considered plastic to be plastic, whether it's a model kit or a car bumper. I also figured 1/32 would be easier to build since it is indeed larger--I constantly find myself stumbling with 1/72 kits because tweezers are completely useless to me. I either don't hold the part tight enough and it drops, or I hold the part too tight and it shoots off the tweezers like a projectile.

[Aaronw]

Well on the issue of ease, that is going to vary by builder. I consider 1/72 relatively easy because the detail tends to be much less. A moderately detailed 1/72 cockpit is typically 5 parts, floor, control stick, rear bulkhead, control panel and a seat, some (mostly older kits) might only have 1 part, a pilot who gets glued to a peg. Of course there are exceptions, many of the short run kits essentially include full aftermarket detail sets.

A decently detailed 1/32 kit might have 5 parts just for the control panel.

if the size of parts is an issue then 1/72 can be a challenge (and why some call 1/32 old man scale ).

[chuck540z3]

1/32 models have more parts, way more plastic and way more detail. Generally speaking, a 1/32 kit will give you 6-8 times the stuff in a box as a 1/72 scale kit, not 2.25 times as the scale difference would indicate. There are exceptions to this of course, but overall you get what you pay for. An excellent example is the 1/32 Academy F/A-18 kits, which give you so many options for configuration and armament that you usually only use about 60% the parts when you're totally finished.

Edited November 1, 2011 by chuck540z3

[Jay Chladek]

Thing is though, some companies just cram in USELESS stuff in some of their kits, presumably so they can get away with charging more for it. Take Trumpeter and their photoetched hinges, detailed engines that can be displayed outside the airplane (taking a page from Tamiya), fidly parts arrangements and such. Yet they still tend to mess up some basic feature and usually also mangle the decals in some way (meaning aftermarket resin and decals to correct two basic shortcomings). Its like some companies are ignoring the basics of what a kit should be and go for the "bling" factor. Compare the prices of say a Revell of Germany Eurofighter Typhoon with a Trumpeter kit of the same subject and you wonder what kit has more value in the box. One has MORE, but I don't know if I would call it "more value".

[Patrick_Nevin]

I also figured 1/32 would be easier to build since it is indeed larger--I constantly find myself stumbling with 1/72 kits because tweezers are completely useless to me.

The downside to this argument is that instead of fiddling with the gunsight (as one might in 72nd) one fiddles with the adjuster knobs on the gunsight (because they're visible in 32nd) :)

I love 'em and am seriously considering going purely onto this scale, but it doesn't get any easier...

[Jinro]

How are the older, less expensive 1/32 kits? I've found about 4 of them on SprueBros that I'm interested in, but considering that they're half the price as the newer, more detailed ones I'm a bit hesitant.

Right now I'm looking mainly at the Hobby Boss Spitfire Mk.Vb. Of course the Tamiya Spitfire makes my mouth water, but the price makes my eyes glaze over.

I'm also wondering about the old Hasegawa A6M5 Zero and P-51D, and the Wolfpack ROKAF F-86F.

Edited November 3, 2011 by Jinro

[Patrick_Nevin]

How are the older, less expensive 1/32 kits? I've found about 4 of them on SprueBros that I'm interested in, but considering that they're half the price as the newer, more detailed ones I'm a bit hesitant.

By definition the detail is down compared to more recent releases, but there are some bargains out there and it's quite satisfying to do hard work in this scale. Anything old and Revell tends to take a bit of effort, however you may be able to write this off as nostalgia and/or practice for newer plastic.

LSP, MM & CM have a wide variety of reviews, I'm currently way impressed with ye olde Matchbox Tiger Moths that are quite beautiful (and have pukka, Canadian and Sea Tiger possibilities straight OOB for under £20) and an ancient Revell Beaufighter that I find really deserves the Vector treatment :)

[TaiidanTomcat]

How are the older, less expensive 1/32 kits? I've found about 4 of them on SprueBros that I'm interested in, but considering that they're half the price as the newer, more detailed ones I'm a bit hesitant.

Right now I'm looking mainly at the Hobby Boss Spitfire Mk.Vb. Of course the Tamiya Spitfire makes my mouth water, but the price makes my eyes glaze over.

I'm also wondering about the old Hasegawa A6M5 Zero and P-51D, and the Wolfpack ROKAF F-86F.

Google what you are interested in with "review" or do an image search with the scale, type, and manufacturer and you can usually find sprue shots by helpful people that have the kit. In progress section is also very helpful, but when searching ARC use the nickname rather than designation so "Zero" rather than "A6M5" etc. Its pretty much all about quality. what level of detail you want, how much you care about the subject, etc. I have built the the Hase 1/32 zero and enjoyed it, It looks the part to me (close was close enough in this case) and If I get the chance I will build another. I know the Tamiya zero is top notch, but I am not willing to pay that much when I don't really worry so much about the quality. If its an F-16 in 1/32 I want the best though, so Tamiya and no way in hell Hasegawa.

IMHO 1/48 and 1/72 seem to be catching up in price to the big 1/32 kits. the latest 1/48 HB Tomcat was retailing for $100, I am usually able to find Tamiya 1/32 cats for around $90 give or take (again though not really fair comparison since one is retail and the other is off ebay or some other site, and often and older boxing.) the 1/32 revell Tomcat has issues but you get an awful lot of plastic and a big old cat for around 30 bucks, but the high quality Hase 1/48 cat is usually around $50 or so, And the 1/72 fujimi cat is considered top notch and usually goes for $20!

1/48 and 1/72 kits are also becoming marvelously more detailed, so the increase makes sense to me at least.

[RKic]

Thing is though, some companies just cram in USELESS stuff in some of their kits, presumably so they can get away with charging more for it. Take Trumpeter and their photoetched hinges, detailed engines that can be displayed outside the airplane (taking a page from Tamiya), fidly parts arrangements and such. Yet they still tend to mess up some basic feature and usually also mangle the decals in some way (meaning aftermarket resin and decals to correct two basic shortcomings). Its like some companies are ignoring the basics of what a kit should be and go for the "bling" factor. Compare the prices of say a Revell of Germany Eurofighter Typhoon with a Trumpeter kit of the same subject and you wonder what kit has more value in the box. One has MORE, but I don't know if I would call it "more value".

Interesting point, but I will counter with this. Those extra bits like exposed engines, open hoods, avionics bays, is what makes the larger scale more attractive to some modelers. I don't build too much in 1/32, but I have a few kits of a couple of favorite subjects which I want to go all-out on. To me at least, the extra large size of the details lends itself to this kind of treatment, and a 1/32 scale kit built all buttoned up is uninteresting.

So on the few occasions where I am willing to splurge on something big, I want it to come with as many bells and whistles as I can get.

Edited November 3, 2011 by RKic

[Jinro]

Google what you are interested in with "review" or do an image search with the scale, type, and manufacturer and you can usually find sprue shots by helpful people that have the kit.

I searched for a review of the Hobby Boss Spitfire and the Zero, but only found non-detailed reviews that really didn't shed any light on the kit's quality or whether or not the builder built it OOB. I'll dig around the In-Progress section here and see what I can come up with.

[Av8fan]

How are the older, less expensive 1/32 kits? I've found about 4 of them on SprueBros that I'm interested in, but considering that they're half the price as the newer, more detailed ones I'm a bit hesitant.

Right now I'm looking mainly at the Hobby Boss Spitfire Mk.Vb. Of course the Tamiya Spitfire makes my mouth water, but the price makes my eyes glaze over.

I'm also wondering about the old Hasegawa A6M5 Zero and P-51D, and the Wolfpack ROKAF F-86F.

hb spitfire discussion look for the post by Edgar.

HB spitfire

lsp spitfire with correction

Edited November 4, 2011 by Av8fan

[The Mikester]

Hmmmm, maybe you found a few expensive 1/32 kits and quit looking? Here in Japan I can pick up a 1/32 Hasegawa fighter (Bf 109, P-47, J2M3, etc.) in the $40-$50 range, about 20-25% more than their 1/48 counterparts. I've picked up the Revell 1/32 Ju 88 and the 1/32 Dragon Bf 110 on sale for $60, these are big kits with a lot of plastic.

Some of the Trumpy big jets like the F-14 get expensive, but they are big models with a lot of parts.

1/32 is like any other scale, you're going to have some kits that give you a big bang for the buck, some not so much.

[Edgar]

I've lost count how many times this comes up, and, each time, it gets answered, and then ignored.

So we don't know why Trumpeter (why is it always Trumpeter; Hasegawa's "pricing" seems to have gone off everyone's radar) kits are more expensive than Revell, it seems? Well, yes we do; it's because Revell do their own distribution, and will, in the majority of cases, deliver direct to the shop-owner. Cost price of 100 + 50% markup = 150. Trumpeter, Hobbyboss, Hasegawa, Tamiya, etc., have to go through an importer, who then sells to the shop, sometimes through a second dealer; 100 + 50% + 50% = 225. As the saying goes, it ain't rocket science.

Also, can we, please, get away, once and for all, from this "Trumpeter charge/overcharge" nonsense? Trumpeter do not fix the price in your shop, they set a fair (to them) price, at which they are prepared to sell to the importer, who sets the price at which he will supply to the next link in the chain, and will often set a recommended retail price for that person to charge.

As an example, Tamiya's Spitfire XVI has a retail price of 11,000yen on its box-end. When it came into the shops, back in January, that equalled about £73; here it was priced at £115, which, even after removing the iniquitous 20% VAT, is a heck of a lot more than a Japanese customer is asked to pay.

Edgar

Edited November 3, 2011 by Edgar