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YouTube Review : Italeri 1/48 F-35B


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22 hours ago, Dutch said:

Great vid Dave. I'm more of a fifties, sixties , seventies guy, but you almost convinced me to buy one of them there new fangled electric jet kits!

 

14 hours ago, Bsin said:

I saw your fine review, Dave. 

 What I appreciated the most was the volume. I could hear you loud and clear!   I hope other reviewers take note.

 

Thank you both. 

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Great review. Really worth watching this one as the opinions given are based on fact, especially regarding the weapon options.
Nice to see a review of a kit that has a good camera angle (there are better but its good) and some useful none bias info about the kit.

Also good info about the paint options at the end and options for weapon replacements etc etc.

 

Good review, its a shame Dave Roof only really covers USMC.

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1 hour ago, ElectroSoldier said:

Great review. Really worth watching this one as the opinions given are based on fact, especially regarding the weapon options.
Nice to see a review of a kit that has a good camera angle (there are better but its good) and some useful none bias info about the kit.

Also good info about the paint options at the end and options for weapon replacements etc etc.

 

Good review, its a shame Dave Roof only really covers USMC.

 

While you have a knack of always tossing in a negative comment in an otherwise positive post, I appreciate the feedback. Yeah, all of my knowledge is in USMC subjects, so that is what I will focus on for now. 

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On 8/27/2022 at 4:32 AM, Dave Roof said:

 

September/October-ish with a projected USD retail of $130

Ouch, that is a pretty steep price. I guess this time it is good to be on the other side of the pond. Here around 70USD in shops, even as low as 62 I have seen.

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1 hour ago, Nebbor said:

Ouch, that is a pretty steep price. I guess this time it is good to be on the other side of the pond. Here around 70USD in shops, even as low as 62 I have seen.

 

Keep in mind a large portion of this retail price is due to the high increase in shipping containers across the ocean. According to a friend in the importer side of things, it is generally accepted this kit would have retailed for about $75 in the US had it been released about 3 years ago.

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4 minutes ago, Dave Roof said:

 

Keep in mind a large portion of this retail price is due to the high increase in shipping containers across the ocean. According to a friend in the importer side of things, it is generally accepted this kit would have retailed for about $75 in the US had it been released about 3 years ago.

Reverse is also true, one of the reasons I won't buy anything from across the pond while I did that frequently a few years ago. Oh well, times have changed unfortunately.

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Yeah...I really dont buy that theory. If that's the case then why are the Zoukei Mura phantoms $75 from spruebrothers despite the boxes containing a crap ton of plastic with better engineering and detail, and no mis-shapen ordnance (seriously at this point HOW do you screw up a GBU12?), and being shipped across a much bigger ocean than the Italeri kits? Btw the Japanese msrp of those kits is pretty much the same as the price at Spruebrothers.

 

This kit is up for pre order on Luckymodel. Grab it and one of kinetic's new f16s and you have a not bad price after shipping. But then again mis-shapen guy's and hours of sanding already built in so...

 

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8 hours ago, TheGloriousTachikoma said:

Yeah...I really dont buy that theory. If that's the case then why are the Zoukei Mura phantoms $75 from spruebrothers despite the boxes containing a crap ton of plastic with better engineering and detail, and no mis-shapen ordnance (seriously at this point HOW do you screw up a GBU12?), and being shipped across a much bigger ocean than the Italeri kits? Btw the Japanese msrp of those kits is pretty much the same as the price at Spruebrothers.

 

This kit is up for pre order on Luckymodel. Grab it and one of kinetic's new f16s and you have a not bad price after shipping. But then again mis-shapen guy's and hours of sanding already built in so...

 

 

Importers set the US retail prices of the kits they bring in based on a number of factors. The projected $130 USD retail price of the F-35B has nothing to do with the engineering or details of the kit itself.

 

As I actually have the kit on hand with most of it built, I can state as matter of fact the engineering is pretty good. So far, everything has fit perfectly with little to no clean up of the parts necessary. While the details may be a bit off in some areas, the kit builds up nicely and is leaps and bounds ahead of the Kittyhawk kit. 

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That's not my point. In Japan the ZM Phantoms cost ~$75, over here they cost ~$75. Over in Europe the Italeri F35 is $70 (and Asia it seems) but it's being listed for $130 here. Not even the Tamiya F4 or F14s cost that much, and the g35 features none of the gimmicks that command a premium price (such as one piece molded ordnance like AMK or GWH feature for a2a and small lgbs). 

 

My point is that something doesn't smell right here. 

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26 minutes ago, TheGloriousTachikoma said:

That's not my point. In Japan the ZM Phantoms cost ~$75, over here they cost ~$75. Over in Europe the Italeri F35 is $70 (and Asia it seems) but it's being listed for $130 here. Not even the Tamiya F4 or F14s cost that much, and the g35 features none of the gimmicks that command a premium price (such as one piece molded ordnance like AMK or GWH feature for a2a and small lgbs). 

 

My point is that something doesn't smell right here. 

 

Kinetic 1/48 F/A-18 Hornets are listed for $39.99 at Lucky Model, but retail at both Squadron and Spruebrothers for $75 and $76 respectively. When MMD was in Texas, kits they imported had different retail prices than the same kits imported by Steven's International. Currently, MRC imports Italeri and they set the retail prices based on their costs to get them here. In addition to working for a time at the local Hobbytown and being responsible for placing orders, I currently have wholesale accounts with MMD, Douglas and Hannants and am a manufacturer. I kind of have an idea how this stuff works.

 

You keep bringing up kit features and I'll stress once more, the details/engineering/contents of kits has absolutely nothing to do with the retail prices set by the kits importers. I honestly don't know how much clearer I can make that. Want another example? The Revell 1/32 F-4E retailed for about $50 or $60 a few years ago when it got re-released by Revell. That EXACT same kit, in an Academy box and imported by MRC, now retails for $168. 

 

As far as I know, Zoukei-Mura are their own importers (Volks Japan and Volks USA) and probably have a system in place that allows them to set their prices so they are equal regardless of where they are sold. Oh, and the current retail price of the Tamiya F-14A's are $121 and $136, while the F-4B is $123. When the F-14A first got released, the retail here in the US was $102-ish.

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7 hours ago, Dave Roof said:

 

Importers set the US retail prices of the kits they bring in based on a number of factors. The projected $130 USD retail price of the F-35B has nothing to do with the engineering or details of the kit itself.

 

As I actually have the kit on hand with most of it built, I can state as matter of fact the engineering is pretty good. So far, everything has fit perfectly with little to no clean up of the parts necessary. While the details may be a bit off in some areas, the kit builds up nicely and is leaps and bounds ahead of the Kittyhawk kit. 

Retailers set the retail price. It is very uncommon for an importer to have a contract that stipulates that the importer can dictate the retail prices.

 

I cant say for the US, but Central and Eastern Europe the retail prices are mostly set by popularity, or perceived popularity of a particular kit adjusted by the buy price.

 

There is a popular site here in the UK that is trying to shift them for £75.99 each. Which going by the import prices is a pretty high retail price. Its prefectly possible to sell that kit in the UK for £59.99. They are are trying to make another £15 profit on top of the profit other retailers are making.

Remember there is only one importer for this stuff here in the UK now, so the buy price of the importer was the same, and their sell prices are based on the volume taken, but it doesnt vary all that much. £15 it isnt!

 

Some retailers rinse the living F*** out of their customers.

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1 hour ago, TheGloriousTachikoma said:

That's not my point. In Japan the ZM Phantoms cost ~$75, over here they cost ~$75. Over in Europe the Italeri F35 is $70 (and Asia it seems) but it's being listed for $130 here. Not even the Tamiya F4 or F14s cost that much, and the g35 features none of the gimmicks that command a premium price (such as one piece molded ordnance like AMK or GWH feature for a2a and small lgbs). 

 

My point is that something doesn't smell right here. 

Trade arrangements.
Italeri is made in Europe. While Tamiya is made in Japan.

 

If Tamiya kits were made in Italy then they would cost a lot more than their made in Japan counter parts, even though its exactly the same kit.

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10 hours ago, TheGloriousTachikoma said:

That's not my point. In Japan the ZM Phantoms cost ~$75, over here they cost ~$75. Over in Europe the Italeri F35 is $70 (and Asia it seems) but it's being listed for $130 here. Not even the Tamiya F4 or F14s cost that much, and the g35 features none of the gimmicks that command a premium price (such as one piece molded ordnance like AMK or GWH feature for a2a and small lgbs). 

 

My point is that something doesn't smell right here. 

...except that ¥7500 is not $75. Currently ¥7500 is $53.55 and even before the Yen crisis started (beginning of this year), it was about $58. And the new F-4G kit is now ¥7900, so currently $56.40, lokely due to increased costs in produciton and transportation/logistics.

 

Wherever you are, the retail price is: wholesale price of the product + shipping cost + duties/tax + importer margin + retailer margin (quite often the retailer's cost x2).

 

Jeffrey

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