O Dragon, where art thou?

[drunken monkey]

So wait...
Please excuse me if I got this wrong but are you saying that what you really want is for someone to produce Tamiya quality kits that are full detailed (as they did during the Enzo, 360, Carrera GT era) and include PE parts in the box but cheaper than what is already available?

Not an entirely a new concept as essentially, you're just griping that Tamiya kits are too expensive and other cheaper kits aren't as good (out of the box).

[Asmenoth]

Sort of. If someone was to produce a car kit with Tamiya quality, features from the old days (engine, opening doors and such), photo etch details, and maybe wiring and the occasional resin detail part...I would pay the same as a current Tamiya kit for all that, although as expensive as some of the new kits are...I am sure they can go cheaper.

rx7king: Plastic Model Factory Hiro, or even Studio 27, kits would be awesome and fit into the above description and probably run half the price (if they do full production runs and not limited items).

petesy: Actually, there are licensing issues with military kits as well. Though, they get around them. The tires on most WWII German tanks are made by Continental, Dragon prints them as ContinentaU (trim the bit off the U to make it correct). No Hummvee kit has the correct tires, thank you GoodYear. In some cases the names of the vehicles are left off the box and the kit. Tamiya's new Opel Blitz truck says 4x2 German Truck on the box and the iconic Opel Blitz logo is blank on the front grill. Aftermarket companies, of course, come to the rescue with detail kits and resin parts and wheels to correct this.

[MidMazar]

Originally Posted by ZoomZoomMX-5

Revell/Monogram attempted "Pro Modeler" kits before with more content, better instructions, research material, and photoetch parts, for about 30-50% more $ than their standard kits. Modelers didn't buy them...the experiment failed.

Bob what kits were these?


I myself would love to see some of dragon bmws rereleased too along with the civic sedan. It probably won't happen though. The newer ferrari kits by revell aren't bad at all, tight fit but for the price you can't go wrong. We will see when the new audi/benz dtm, and new benz comes out from revell how good they are. I personally can't wait for them.

As for dragon they probably will never release any new kits. No matter what company makes a kit, its up to the modeler to build it properly. Its our J.O.B.

[petesy]

Originally Posted by MidMazar

Bob what kits were these?

The ones I can remember are 40 Ford, 48 Ford, 58 Corvette and 69 Charger Daytona.

[Asmenoth]

Interesting...it seams that the new Aston Martin from Tamiya is going to come with the photo etch...and not cost all that much.

http://www.hlj.com/product/tam24316

[drunken monkey]

it's worth pointing out that the (previously) apparent sudden hike in cost of tamiya kits was exaggerated by a period of strong dollar against yen followed by sudden weakening of the dollar against a backdrop of a fuel price rally.