Brad-M Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 I'm happy that Hasegawa is giving us a new A6M5c. It's one that I am missing in my line up of Zeros. I look forward to seeing what's in the box. Brad Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChesshireCat Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 Hasegawa makes a nice Rufe in a smaller scale, and bought one a month ago. So it's not like they don't have the data in house. I'd be good for two in 32nd scale! I'd love to see them do a Pete as well. Be glad we have Tamiya and Hasegawa doing large scale Japanese aircraft. gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FCM Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 (edited) How will they compete? Probably by offering more versions than just the 2 that Tamiya did. Yes also, but in addition to offering more variants, all of the Hasegawa's new mold kits have a base price which is usually half of the Tamiya equivalent. I hope they also make new molds of others of their ancient kits like Spitfire Mk.V, P-51, etc... It is unquestionable that the Tamiya kits are excellent, but they are also very expensive and out of reach for many. This was more pronounced in the case of aircraft such as the Zero which until now had no other kit that came near it. I even believe that Hasegawa's new kit will not be better than Tamiya, but getting close and costing half the price, it will be the choice for many modelers. Edited August 26, 2015 by FCM Quote Link to post Share on other sites
joscasle Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Yes also, but in addition to offering more variants, all of the Hasegawa's new mold kits have a base price which is usually half of the Tamiya equivalent. I hope they also make new molds of others of their ancient kits like Spitfire Mk.V, P-51, etc... :rolleyes:/> It is unquestionable that the Tamiya kits are excellent, but they are also very expensive and out of reach for many. This was more pronounced in the case of aircraft such as the Zero which until now had no other kit that came near it. I even believe that Hasegawa's new kit will not be better than Tamiya, but getting close and costing half the price, it will be the choice for many modelers. Agree!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stalal Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 If you have built Tamiya's 1/32 kits and Zero being one of them, then you will realize Zero is perhaps their best kit in terms of engineering, innovation, quality of fit and accuracy. Thats a lot of compliment knowing fully well how good their 1/32 kits are! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jinmmydel Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 If you have built Tamiya's 1/32 kits and Zero being one of them, then you will realize Zero is perhaps their best kit in terms of engineering, innovation, quality of fit and accuracy. Thats a lot of compliment knowing fully well how good their 1/32 kits are! Interesting. Built the Spitfire which was great, then built the P-51 which was 5x better...and then the Corsair was 100x better in every way. Seems they just get better and better. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stalal Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 (edited) Interesting. Built the Spitfire which was great, then built the P-51 which was 5x better...and then the Corsair was 100x better in every way. Seems they just get better and better. Two features that stand out for me for Zero, that dont exist in other kits. - retractable wheels with retracting mechanism with closing wheel doors - shock absorber struts I understand not all of them could be implemented in every kit as design features are different for each aircraft. But the meticulous way these features have been incorporated in Zero kit is quite marvelous.Although in the hindsight, its just a kit and it does not need all these features. Edited August 27, 2015 by stalal Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dmanton300 Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 But c'mon let's face it...it's the internet and some people just live to be contrarians and will say whatever they think makes them sound enlightened. No they won't. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Slartibartfast Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Hey! I came here for an argument. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nightfighter Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 One thing that will be better than the Tamiya kit is it hopefully won't have rubber tyres. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mawz Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Two features that stand out for me for Zero, that dont exist in other kits. - retractable wheels with retracting mechanism with closing wheel doors - shock absorber struts I understand not all of them could be implemented in every kit as design features are different for each aircraft. But the meticulous way these features have been incorporated in Zero kit is quite marvelous.Although in the hindsight, its just a kit and it does not need all these features. The retractable wheels were pretty much the #1 complaint with the Zero kits. That's likely why they did away with them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
torchf4 Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Looking forward to it! Put off buying Tamiya's offering cos of the complexity, gimmicks and costs. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kaz Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 (edited) Please note that the release date for this product has been moved to Q1 2016, not in late December as previously announced. (see embedded link) Edited November 25, 2015 by kaz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChesshireCat Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 I am not trying to slam Hasegawa, I like their kits. I'm just surprised by their choice. You're right the "c" variant might be a selling point. I'd rather have seen Hasegawa do the version that everybody ignores. The A6m7, and then move back to the A6m3. Either way, I'll buy this kit as it's a bargain! Still had Hasegawa done a Rufe first; I'd been all over it with at least two kits. Yet if they really want my attention, then do a Pete in 1/32 scale!! gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stalal Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 I dont know if Hasegawa could beat the quality of Tamiya Zero series. Tamiya's Zero is an extremely well built and engineered kit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kaz Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 I dont know if Hasegawa could beat the quality of Tamiya Zero series. Tamiya's Zero is an extremely well built and engineered kit. I doubt beating Tamiya was their intention when this was designed, IMO it's closer to a modern alternative to the Tamiya kits that's cheaper and easier to build. It's the aviation equivalent of a curbside as far as 1/32 scale aircraft go. Click this link for the 3D CAD model and sprue plans. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChesshireCat Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 I dont know if Hasegawa could beat the quality of Tamiya Zero series. Tamiya's Zero is an extremely well built and engineered kit. assuming their kits scales correctly and is correct in shape, I can't see where they can go wrong at 40% the price of the Tamiya kit. Yet if Hasegawa delivers the full range of Zero's, it would look to me like Tamiya will have to realistically price their kits or they'll die on the shelf (they already are). gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brad-M Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 assuming their kits scales correctly and is correct in shape, I can't see where they can go wrong at 40% the price of the Tamiya kit. Yet if Hasegawa delivers the full range of Zero's, it would look to me like Tamiya will have to realistically price their kits or they'll die on the shelf (they already are). gary Dieing on who's shelves? Brad Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChesshireCat Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 Dieing on who's shelves? Brad I saw their P51's going for $119 about six weeks ago, and went back to buy one. Both were gone of course. I bought my A6m5 for less than $80, and it'd been on the shelf for over a year according to the dealer. My closest dealer brought in two Corsairs, and one has been on the shelf for almost a year now. Right along with the HK DO335, and some other over priced kits. I bought the Zero at Big Boys in Indy, but the others were at Hobby Town. Indy really only has four hobby shops to choose from, and one is pretty much nothing but armor. I'm waiting for Tamiya to do a Korean war Corsair, and then I'll buy it out of Japan. The others mean little to me. Their Spitfires are very nice, and may buy a couple of them out of Japan. I'm not dumb enough to pay a $150 for a plastic kit! gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jinmmydel Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 LMAO. Kit's not selling from hobby shop shelves is not a sign kit's aren't selling. The LHS just can't compete with online prices. If the couple of stores around here are any indication (Hobby Town USA being one of them) they charge insanely close to MSRP...which is ridiculous. The local Hobby Town here has the HK Mosquito for something like $230..who's going to buy that when you can get it for $150ish online all day long? Suckers. That's who. I lurk nearly every forum and I can tell you there just isn't a lot of Japanese subjects being built in general which is why the Tamiya Zero is not as popular as the other 1/32 kits...at least that's my interpretation from what I've seen. There are no shortage of the other kits being built and bought..none at all. In the end you get to decide what you will and wont spend on a kit. I have each of Tamiya's 1/32 kits either awaiting being built, or already built, and I'll buy at least one copy of each as long as the subject interests me. Just because you won't, or can't pay for them doesn't make them overpriced. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 I'm not dumb enough to pay a $150 for a plastic kit! What's your tipping point? $149.99? $14.99? $1.49? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChesshireCat Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 LMAO. Kit's not selling from hobby shop shelves is not a sign kit's aren't selling. The LHS just can't compete with online prices. If the couple of stores around here are any indication (Hobby Town USA being one of them) they charge insanely close to MSRP...which is ridiculous. The local Hobby Town here has the HK Mosquito for something like $230..who's going to buy that when you can get it for $150ish online all day long? Suckers. That's who. I lurk nearly every forum and I can tell you there just isn't a lot of Japanese subjects being built in general which is why the Tamiya Zero is not as popular as the other 1/32 kits...at least that's my interpretation from what I've seen. There are no shortage of the other kits being built and bought..none at all. In the end you get to decide what you will and wont spend on a kit. I have each of Tamiya's 1/32 kits either awaiting being built, or already built, and I'll buy at least one copy of each as long as the subject interests me. Just because you won't, or can't pay for them doesn't make them overpriced. take no offense as none was impended. My local Hobby Town has two Mosquitos for about $170 a piece last time I looked. Seems like the DO335 is $165. They still have the first two of each kit on the shelf. I don't remember ever seeing the newest Tamiya kit, and all they have are Corsairs that are not selling well. What do they all have in common? It's the price tag of course! You and I may buy one, but the real consumer isn't. Kinda reminds me of a certain armor kit that my local brought in for over $200. I laughed about it, and pointed to an identical Dragon kit that had a $60 price tag and was also a better kit. Two years later it's been marked down twice, and the latest is $187! Now it sets in the 25% off pile where it will simply rot. It'll sell when it finally hits the 75% stack. Yet the same place gets in four Tasca Shermans, priced at around $50. They were gone in two hours. Great kits at a competitive price. I bought two of them myself without a second thought. gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChesshireCat Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 What's your tipping point? $149.99? $14.99? $1.49? unlike some folks, I have to pay for every kit in my stash. gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CorsairMan Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Generally, kits are prices at what the market will pay for them and the price tends to be in the sweet spot. Does trumpeter think they are going to move 100,000 USS Arizona kits? No, they don't but they also know that of the limited run that was done, they will sell at their big price tag. There have been mistakes though - I can think of many times where distributors of Trumpy kits lets retailers have them at deep discounts because they weren't moving fast enough to make room for the new kits. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jinmmydel Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 take no offense as none was impended. My local Hobby Town has two Mosquitos for about $170 a piece last time I looked. Seems like the DO335 is $165. They still have the first two of each kit on the shelf. I don't remember ever seeing the newest Tamiya kit, and all they have are Corsairs that are not selling well. What do they all have in common? It's the price tag of course! You and I may buy one, but the real consumer isn't. Kinda reminds me of a certain armor kit that my local brought in for over $200. I laughed about it, and pointed to an identical Dragon kit that had a $60 price tag and was also a better kit. Two years later it's been marked down twice, and the latest is $187! Now it sets in the 25% off pile where it will simply rot. It'll sell when it finally hits the 75% stack. Yet the same place gets in four Tasca Shermans, priced at around $50. They were gone in two hours. Great kits at a competitive price. I bought two of them myself without a second thought. gary Oh I didn't take offense. I just don't think Hobby Town is a good representation of what is and isn't selling. I think the hard cores in this hobby have pretty much turned to online purchasing. Our Hobby Town opened about 2 years ago I think. They've had a 1/32 B-17 for as long as I can remember. I agree with you...I don't think most people buying kits at HT are in the market for a kit of that price level and complexity. Usually the guys in there browsing in the few times I've been seemed very unfamiliar with the hobby in general, so no, I don't think those big ticket kits will sell there. What I really don't get about my local HT is their pricing..it's all over the place. The HK B-17? It's marked $10 over the Scale Hobbyist (usually cheapest on kits stateside) price...but the HK Mosquito is $70 above. They also have the Kitty Hawk F-86 at like $5 over online, but a Special Hobby 1/32 kit is $40 over...the Revell 1/32 FW is the same price as online...other Revell kits...way over... There's no sense in their pricing spread. At first I thought maybe it was because of what they are or aren't paying different importers, but that doesn't pan out when 2 kits by the same company are so far spread apart in price vs. their online prices. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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