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Is Hasegawa losing relevance in the aircraft model world?  When I look at all the other manufacturers that have sprung up in the last few years with dozens of new kits of new subjects being done and then you look at Hasegawa's output.  It seems to me like they have given up.  Many of their "new" releases are re-releases with new decals.  And to boost production they throw 2 kits into one box.  I was just looking at Sprue Bros.  They had a weekend sale on Hasegawa.  But there really isn't anything new that I don't already have in the stash.

Just wondering?

 

 

GM

 

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I know there are more than sixty different releases of their 1/48 F-16 kit.  Granted there are single- and -dual seat versions, and some include extra parts (inlets, spine, CFTs etc) but the majority are no more than a new decal sheet, markings instructions and box art.

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Don't forget that as a Japanese manufacturer, their primary concern is for the domestic market, that means mostly Japanese subjects, sci-fi and anime (all of which have seen several new tools in the past couple of years). They've already released most of the more famous Western subjects (Tomcat, Eagle, Raptor, Lightning II, etc), and it's hard to see them making new tools of the less popular ones when the majority of Japanese modellers probably have no interest in them.

Edited by White Wolf
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5 hours ago, Vaildog said:

Other than their Super Hornets, is there any post war subject they haven't been surpassed at?

 

Ya Hasegawa are still the go-to 1/48 kits for several (at least US) types even though they're not new kits anymore. Their A-7, F-8, F-104 kits comes to mind. Could also say their Harrier kits are better than Monograms too. I'd be surprised if the new Hobby Boss A-4 kit is all that much better, if at all, than Hasegawa's older A-4 which is still excellent. Really, really wish Hasegawa would re-release their A-4B/C kits, that would be super relevant! 

 

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7 hours ago, foxmulder_ms said:

Their 1/48 F-22 is very relevant :) But it has been what... 5 years?

 

Try 7 years. TBH the only Hasegwa kits I've bought in recent years have been Eduard reboxings. They have a few subjects they've had out in 1/72 for a long time that I would buy in a second if they scaled them up to 1/48. 

Edited by joeltc
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The part that frustrates me is that they seem to sit on some variants I would like to buy, such as the RF-4C.  It looks like some of the A-4 variants are also pretty hard to come by.  I looked on ebay at different A-4 boxings when someone mentioned it in another thread, and I found that Hasegawa A-4 special boxings would have been an effective investment strategy.

 

Now the approach I take to Hasegawa re-issues is the same as resin, and decal sheets, if you think you might want it someday, buy it now because you may have a very hard time finding it later. 

 

Is Hasegawa still relevant?  I would have to say yes,  while competitors have surpassed them with newer kits where they were once the undisputed leader, such as the 1/48th F-4 or 1/48th F-16, the hasegawa kits are still very good and may be available in variants the other companies have not done. 

 

 

 

 

 

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In the 1/72 Navair LGG niche, Hasegawa has remained relevant,,,,,,mostly by other companies giving up or not even entering the field.

 

As for the constant complaint about the pricing, let's keep our chins up. They could do it like another company, and sell the same kit with the same decals for decades and decades. Since we "need" a decal sheet anyway, paying the price for a Hasegawa 1/72 F-4B and not having to buy a decal sheet adds up to just about the same cost as buying the kit, then buying a decal sheet. (as long as the markings aren't the ones covered on the excellent aftermarket sheets out there)

 

That beats being a 1/72 Skyray modeler, and having to buy OOP decals for every time we want to build the Tamiya kit.

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I have been a Hasegawa supporter for a long time. I have noticed that they are kinda behind on the new releases. So far the only thing I have seen that I am interested in is the VAQ-141 Shadowhawks limited kit they are releasing. I know its just a decal change but I like the paint scheme.

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I like Hasegawa.  Half my garage is filled with Hasegawa kits.  But if it really is about making kits for the home market how do you explain Tamiya.  They don't do any anime that I'm aware of.  (I haven't looked for it at least.)  I feel like they (Hasegawa) have let the market go, maybe its not profitable for them or new management strategy, I don't know.

 

Geoff M

Edited by Geoff M
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if you build 1/48 it seems like Hasegawa are just a decal manufacture these days... Still as said above their Harriers, A-4, A-7, F/A-18E/F and F-104 are the still the best IMHO options in 1/48. (although I'd not call the A-4 "excellent", it's OK). They still have the best F-4E/F/G, RF-4 and UK phantoms as well... Although hopefully we'll get better kits of these F-4's soon

Edited by a4s4eva
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1 minute ago, a4s4eva said:

(although I'd not call the A-4 "excellent", it's OK)

 

Matter of opinion of course. To me the 1/32 Trumpeter A-4 kit is "OK" while the 1/48 Hasegawa A-4 kit is the better even though it's smaller scale. I imagine the 1/48 HB one will be similar so I'll most likely still prefer the Hasegawa.

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6 minutes ago, ziggyfoos said:

 

Matter of opinion of course. To me the 1/32 Trumpeter A-4 kit is "OK" while the 1/48 Hasegawa A-4 kit is the better even though it's smaller scale. I imagine the 1/48 HB one will be similar so I'll most likely still prefer the Hasegawa.

 

I'm not sure what relevance comparing the 1/32 Trumpeter kit against the 1/48 Hasegawa  kit is but if it;s because you're assuming the Hobby Boss kit will be a scale down it's not even that from the sprue shot... It looks like a simplified kit but it might be OK for inflight builds.

 

That said, from what I've seen  the 48 scale Hobby Boss kit won't be better than the 48 Scale Hasegawa kit, so I agree the Hasegawa kit will still be the best (but IMHO it's still not an "excellent kit")  

Edited by a4s4eva
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OK, like was said it's a matter of opinion.

 

My point of comparison was that even the newer and larger scale (both should in theory mean better detailed) 1/32 kit is still inferior compared to the old 1/48 Hasegawa kit. The Trumpeter 1/32 A-6 is similarly scaled down (and simplified) compared to the 1/48 Hobby Boss A-6 but details (and errors) are generally the same, so the same being done to the A-4 wouldn't surprise me. And tying back in to reference to the post topic, also implying their A-4 kit is still relevant even though it's relatively old now.

 

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20 hours ago, afspret said:

Just saw the other day they plan on re-releasing the 1/72nd TBM-3S, in JSDF markings, with a price tag of nearly $80.

 

Wow, I got mine a few years ago and I thought $50 USD was bad. Lucky me?

 

I really only got it as I want to do it in 1/48th and need to see what extra resin pieces they gave you so I could scale it up. Have my markings already.

 

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15 hours ago, ziggyfoos said:

OK, like was said it's a matter of opinion.

 

My point of comparison was that even the newer and larger scale (both should in theory mean better detailed) 1/32 kit is still inferior compared to the old 1/48 Hasegawa kit. The Trumpeter 1/32 A-6 is similarly scaled down (and simplified) compared to the 1/48 Hobby Boss A-6 but details (and errors) are generally the same, so the same being done to the A-4 wouldn't surprise me. And tying back in to reference to the post topic, also implying their A-4 kit is still relevant even though it's relatively old now.

 

Now I understand, and I agree the Hasegawa A-4 despite it's shortcomings, is still the best kit we have of an A-4 in 1/48 or 1/32 .. That won't change when the Hobby Boss kit comes out unfortunately

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The japanese, they`re a strange breed. Big cultural differences from western society. Sure, they need to make money so they market all these re releases. If you like Hasegawa you buy Hasegawa. This is what So many of us has done so they put their trust in the buyers to keep buying their products. I don`t know what type of revenue these guys have to profit from to make their wheels keep turning but i`m sure the Hasegawa grain mill will keep churning out vintage tooled kits for quite some time.   

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Of course Hasegawa is still very relevant. If you build 1/48 Japanese planes, Hasegawa is one of the few manufactures of them besides Tamiya and Fine Molds. Do I get tired of the same repops with new decals. Very much so. But I also tend to wait until Tower Hobbies has them on sale and pick them up for next to nothing.

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I think if they would discard some of the old molds and make new updated molds they would be better off. Some of the old molds are worn out and the engineering is old as well. An example would be the Legacy Hornets 1/72 and 1/48. If they re engineered and made new molds of these old kits they would sell pretty good. If they set them up to build up like the newer Super Hornets would be great. I would buy a good amount of those.

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59 minutes ago, tosouthern66 said:

I think if they would discard some of the old molds and make new updated molds they would be better off. Some of the old molds are worn out and the engineering is old as well. An example would be the Legacy Hornets 1/72 and 1/48. If they re engineered and made new molds of these old kits they would sell pretty good. If they set them up to build up like the newer Super Hornets would be great. I would buy a good amount of those.

 

Funny that you say that. Hasegawa made their Legacy &  Super Hornet  kits 1/48 to include dropped flaps why didn't they include them in their 1/72 kits.

I would imagine that they still would be the number 1 kit to go to. 

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