Paying Tooo Much For a Model

Today i went to my local hobby shop and was in a hurry so i looked around quick and saw the Fujimi MazdaSpeed 1/24 Rx-7 (the one with a blue rx-7 on the front with a view of the rear and front) it was tagged at $29.50 i had 40 bux so i was kinda fine with it. It ended up being $36 bux after paint and supplies so then when i got to my car i thought, i could have bought like 4 AMT's or 3 Revell's because AMT=$10, Revell=$13 at my LHS, But i just wanted to know. . . is $30 alot for that FUJIMI kit?(which is decent)

THANX IN ADVANCE

Don't ask me; I recently spent $20 for a single set of Aoshima 19" Bersaglio Spoke wheels! I need mental help!! Seriously, As long as you're satisfied with your purchase then you should be fine. satisfaction should take some precedence over money once in a while! Happy building!! :sunglasse

There's me spending $26 for a few resin parts and some decals and you're worried about paying $29 for a complete kit.

You must be new to the hobby ;)

Dunno about in the US but the pricing of Fujimi kits in Australia is nuts. One of the shops in town here have a whole stack of Fujimi GT40s marked at AUS$75 each. They have been there a long time.

Dunno about in the US but the pricing of Fujimi kits in Australia is nuts. One of the shops in town here have a whole stack of Fujimi GT40s marked at AUS$75 each. They have been there a long time.

I agree, one of the hobbyshops around here charges at least $45 for their Fujimi kits, the most expensive I have seen there is $80 for a Evo 8 (red on the box, with a carbon fibre bonnet). The same hobbyshop has the AMT FATF Eclipse for $50! The average AMT kit around here shouldn't be over $25.

That prices sounds about right for a LHS. Heck if you're OK with it why does it matter.....

Today i went to my local hobby shop and was in a hurry so i looked around quick and saw the Fujimi MazdaSpeed 1/24 Rx-7 (the one with a blue rx-7 on the front with a view of the rear and front) it was tagged at $29.50 i had 40 bux so i was kinda fine with it. It ended up being $36 bux after paint and supplies so then when i got to my car i thought, i could have bought like 4 AMT's or 3 Revell's because AMT=$10, Revell=$13 at my LHS, But i just wanted to know. . . is $30 alot for that FUJIMI kit?(which is decent)

THANX IN ADVANCE

That's about right. Most of the Fujimi kits at my LHS are in the $25-$35 range. Personally, I think that's screwed up, since Fujimi kits are crap (IMHO). I'd rather spend that amount of money on a Tamiya or Aoshima kit. But if you got want you wanted and are happy, then it's all good.

I once paid $33 for an AMT (pre-Ertl) 1958 Chevy Impala kit, and then the kit was reissued the next year.

I felt like an idiot for some time after that. Of course, the Impala is slowly becoming a superdetail pro-mod. It'll be super stellar when completed.

I buy mine online 30 bucks for a model is alot for me, but thats me.

30 bucks is definitly way to much...
Look at the prices at HLJ and you know what I mean.
Any LHS prices are too high if you see that!

30 bucks is definitly way to much...
Look at the prices at HLJ and you know what I mean.
Any LHS prices are too high if you see that!

I don't know about that. You have to consider shipping cost from Japan and wait time. I would gladly pay a little more for the convienence of having it now. HLJ's prices aren't that much better. I mainly use HLJ for kits that my LHS can't get.

I don't know about that. You have to consider shipping cost from Japan and wait time. I would gladly pay a little more for the convienence of having it now. HLJ's prices aren't that much better. I mainly use HLJ for kits that my LHS can't get.
Very true. I stop purchasing kits, but as already said "as long as you're satisfied."

I can't justify myself to spend $US20 on Fujimi kits (in Hong Kong) I ended up buying the Tamiya R34 Vspec II for about $12.

Maybe because i have bad experience with Fujimi kit before.

I lived in US before and man... when i see the price of the Enzo Ferrari Tamiya kit. I was shocked.

hmmmm... australia's model shops are way dearer... 12 bucks for gtr..... ywwong... can u tell me where u bought it? and whether they ship?

David. In Hong Kong. Local hobby shop.

US$12-$20 for a kit?! Where do you guys live? The cheapest kit I bought was the Tamiya Kure on my sig and it cost me 31 Euros = US$37.2. The average kit price (any brand, Tamiya, Hasegawa, Fujimi, Revell..) on my local hobby store is 30Euros = $36, so you see how hard it is for us portuguese guys to be in this "business"...

PS - the Tamiya Enzo is US$54...!!!:eek7:

Make a point of learning what the conversion factor from yen to your own currency is, in the ballpark range. All Tamiya, Fujimi, and Hasegawa kits have the Japanese MSRP printed on the box. For example, with Tamiya kits, looking at a V-Spec II kit, it's on the side of the box (one of the short sides) under the Tamiya Logo "1/24 ITEM 24258 * 1800" The 1800 is the Japanese MSRP in yen. I know roughly that that's about $20 CDN, plus about $8 to ship ALONE (less/per item if you buy more stuff!) so if the LHS has it for any more than ~$33 CDN, they can forget it. Especially if they're readily available kits.

I've always wondered how much LHSs get their kits for - more or less than MSRP, do you think? I feel bad not supporting them sometimes, but I guess this is what happens in a global market...

You've gotta compare apples to apples.
If the car you want only comes from one kit manufacture then you've gotta pay their price.
The Enzo kits are a good point of comparison, but the kits are very different. I think the Tamiya kit is a good value considering the level of additional detail and the foil emblems.
The 360 spyder kits are much closer in detail and if you add an aftermarket PE set to either kit there is little difference.
That said, I'll always buy the Tamiya kit over another brand, simply because I know the Tamiya kit will make me happy!

After all that, I've got to say "Support your local hobby shop". While you may pay a 'few' dollars more for a kit, all that other stuff that goes into building a model will cost you a lot more online. I really like being able to look at paint colors in a shop and Evergreen and PE mesh and Decals and ...
:p

thats the bad part . . . i dont know to feel glad i got my first fujimi and first mazda rx-7 or to feel bad that i spent so much

So far, I'd have to say Hong Kong definitely has the cheapest kits around. I got back from there a few weeks ago, and came away with a nice stash. Here are some prices (in USD) of the kits I picked up:

Tamiya Enzo: $18
Hasegawa Celica 1600GT: $10
Hasegawa Stratos Rally: $10
Fujimi NSX-R: $15
Fujimi WRX GDB (STi): $16
Fujimi Legacy B4: $16

Their older kits are even cheaper. I was almost tempted to pick up the Tamiya 2001 WRX Rally for only $11! The older a kit gets, the cheaper they become. Older Tamiya releases can be had for less than $7 sometimes. But unfortunately, I always have to consider luggage space..! I think models are pretty absolutely THE WORST space hogs on earth (for what you get in the end!). I almost always go nuts everytime I am there.

If you're in Australia (I thought we Canadians had high prices!), maybe check out the eBay auctions from Hong Kong. There's usually lots of them. I'd just buy a ton of stuff at once and save on shipping... Their buy it now prices are usually quite low (like $8-15).

Man, we should organize a big Hong Kong model buying frenzy tour. That should be fun!

clem..

Revell AMT = American
Fujimi Tamiya Aoshima Hasegawa = Importation

Import are always more expensive. If you look the F&F Supra in Japan, you will find it higher priced than any other kit.

^^^ i mailed 3 kits in 1 box to US from Hong Kong using 3-4 days air mail for about $20

^^^ i mailed 3 kits in 1 box to US from Hong Kong using 3-4 days air mail for about $20

considering a kit at 400g x 3 = 1.2kg
+ the weight of the box + foam + spacer = 500g-700g

total 1.7-1.9kg.

airmail to US for $20????

what is the weight of your parcel, wong?

i forgot the weight.. but it is definitely less than 1 kg!

i forgot the weight.. but it is definitely less than 1 kg!

thanks for your info, wong.

Thats a lot for me, but I'm just a kid right now. I don't make a lot of money, so I just spend like $10 a kit and stuff. I'm sure when I'm older and make more money and stuff, I'll buy more expensive things.

I guess I'm lucky, I have a pretty good relationship with most of the local hobby shops, and they're more than happy to offer me discounts, or for me to make offers. Plus one of the LHS around here has a 20% discount on all Tamiya kits. I recently picked up a Jordan 191 for $10, and before that some other Tamiya F1's for about $15, from another LHS. Support your LHS !!

Today i went to my local hobby shop and was in a hurry so i looked around quick and saw the Fujimi MazdaSpeed 1/24 Rx-7 (the one with a blue rx-7 on the front with a view of the rear and front) it was tagged at $29.50 i had 40 bux so i was kinda fine with it. It ended up being $36 bux after paint and supplies so then when i got to my car i thought, i could have bought like 4 AMT's or 3 Revell's because AMT=$10, Revell=$13 at my LHS, But i just wanted to know. . . is $30 alot for that FUJIMI kit?(which is decent)

THANX IN ADVANCE


Well, i bought mine (exact same kit) for 20 bucks on Ebay. The kits was 8 bucks and the damn shipping from Hong Kong was 12. I paid more for shipping than the kit!!! And usually, you can find some HK sellers for that kit for about 10 bucks. So if you don't mind waiting, then i'd get it from Ebay. With shipping, still cheaper. IMO, it leaves more room to buy paints and other stuff for the model. More bang for the buck.