And you guys wonder why some only buy Revell and AMT kits...

Just bought my first Tamiya kit ever, the Ferrari F189:

http://www.etamiya.com/catalog/images/tam20024box.gif

Looks like it's gonna be a lot of fun, very detailed. I bought it at the LHS for $26.00 cdn... IN THE CLEARANCE BIN. :uhoh:

Why do the japanese kits have to be so goddamned expensive? I can see a buncha kits I'd love to build, and might get around to buying sometime, from Tamiya and a couple of the other manufacturers, but the prices are INSANE. The average price of most Tamiya kits at the store are $45.00-55.00, with most of the racecar kits (rally cars, f1 cars) going as high as $75.00 for a REGULAR 1/20-1/24 kit!!

Compare this to $15.00 for a good AMT or Revell kit, possibly as much as $28.00 for a brand new super duper Revell kit. I just can't see myself spending $75.00 for one damn kit, and I see pics of some of your guys' closets FULL of Tamiya stuff and I wonder how you can afford it! :sly:

eBay might've been a decent source for Tamiya kits, but many of the bids are getting so high, and the shipping costs to Canada are so ridiculous I might as well just buy them here. Do ANY of you fellow Canadians have inexpensive options for japanese kits?

You get what you paid for. IMHO, Tamiya kits fit better than AMT and Revell. It's also for the most part the attension to details. I guess the best answer is that Tamiya invest alot more into the engineering of their kits so they need to recover their investment. Besides, Revell and AMT kits cost just as much if not more over in Japan as Tamiya in the US. Of course there are certain cars that only Tamiya makes and only Revell makes so you really don't have a choice if that's what you want.

One reason I dont buy Tamiya's. That $30 I save with buying a Revell goes to supplies or college fund.

It might have cost you, but Tamiya kits fit very well. The only problems you will have with that kit will be mold lines, trust me I've built 6 this year, now on my seventh and many more Tamiya kits to build.

They even have fantastic spares replacements... I've used them a few times for spares, only today I got spares for my Honda build as one of the parts in the box was of a sub standard quality...

I moan about Tamiya not releasing kits, and I sometimes grip about their more simple snap lock kits. They also have a lot of colour plastic sprues in the box meaning a lot of primer is needed, but hands down Tamiya are good kits... They can have dodgy decals sometimes, as they can be a little thick and some solutions do not work well with them, but their decals are harder to rip, although they do rip, so be careful.

You will have fun building it, take your time, enjoy the kit and don't rush such a nice model..

i've enjoyed all the Tamiya kits I've built so far, the Honda S2000 I built from Tamiya was a pure pleasure, let down only by my own lack of skills.

Have fun..!!

It might have cost you, but Tamiya kits fit very well. The only problems you will have with that kit will be mold lines, trust me I've built 6 this year, now on my seventh and many more Tamiya kits to build.

They even have fantastic spares replacements... I've used them a few times for spares, only today I got spares for my Honda build as one of the parts in the box was of a sub standard quality...

I moan about Tamiya not releasing kits, and I sometimes grip about their more simple snap lock kits. They also have a lot of colour plastic sprues in the box meaning a lot of primer is needed, but hands down Tamiya are good kits... They can have dodgy decals sometimes, as they can be a little thick and some solutions do not work well with them, but their decals are harder to rip, although they do rip, so be careful.

You will have fun building it, take your time, enjoy the kit and don't rush such a nice model..

i've enjoyed all the Tamiya kits I've built so far, the Honda S2000 I built from Tamiya was a pure pleasure, let down only by my own lack of skills.

Have fun..!!

Great answer!!
:bigthumb:

We stock many Tamiya kits and try to offer the best price possible. You have to bear in mind that the engineering cost that goes into Tamiya kits is higher than that for an AMT or a Revell so the wholesale price will be higher. Add to that the cost of shipping from Japan and then distributor markup and you end up with a much more expensive kit than the domestic ones. But as mentioned above the quality is generally much better with Tamiya.

Now that being said, we are having a big kit blowoout sale and all in stock kits are 35% off right now so there are some great deals on many Tamiya kits right now. Even though the pricing is in US dollars we are in Canada (just outside Vancouver). Unfortunately our ecommerce system only supports a single currency and 90% of our business is from outside Canada.

Regards,

Ron
Racing Miniatures
www.racingminiatures.com

Thanks Ron, I'll take a look. What kinda shipping will it be to London ON?

I understand why they cost more I guess, it just seems odd that you pay so much for kits that are often curbside too!!

I want to say, that even though those are CND, those prices sound steep for everything, even the Revell kits you mention. Perhaps your LHS is overly expensive? Correct me if I'm wrong.

I will say this one thing on the price or quality of one brand kit over others: I buy the kits for the car, not the manufacturer. If the moldings suck, I make it work, if the kit is expensive, I save up, and I get what cars I want.

agreed, I want the CARS I want too... Revell just doesn't make many japanese cars that I like :)

The Revell prices seem the norm, Wal Mart tends to charge the same amount as well... Some of the older AMT kits are $9.97...

Tamiya's are too expensive for me to cut up and leave to collect dust.

quality have a price.

Hi John,

Shipping to Ontario will depend on what kit or how many kits as Canada Post charges based on a variable formula using both size and weight. They aren't the cheapest but you will save on taxes as we only charge GST on out of province sales. You can add any items you are interested in to the shopping cart, start the checkout procedure and submit your shipping info. You will then be given the shipping options and prices before any payment is made so you can see the shipping charges and still cancel the order before commiting.

Regards,

Ron
Racing Miniatures
www.racingminiatures.com

Cool... not in the market right this moment, how long is the sale on for?

i agree tamiya are way to expensive, and they dont make any cars i like

i stick with revell and amt for the most part

You know I'm mostly an American car guy, but I have a bit of a hard-on for a lot of rwd japanese cars, especially 80s ones... 1st gen MR2, AE86, things like that... but I can't find kits without spending a damn fortune.

I can see some of the cost in shipping and the fit is better, but the cost isn't that bad here in Japan. I usually pay between $10-20 US for Tamiya/Fujimi kits. The average AMT or Monogram kit on the same shelf is $20-30 here. For me, it's Tamiya all the way for the next 5 months until I go back stateside.

as i live in the UK i always buy Tamiya kits from my local hobby store and for the last 5-10 years bought kits for around £10-20, or as little as £5 with a general sale on, now theyre around £18-25. Hasegawa kits were about £15, AMT kits were about £10, but no Aoshima.

having come across internet in the last 5-6 years, having found Hobbylink Japan and Hobby Resource Plaza, i started buying models from them getting old kits and some new ones.

i once bought 6 models altogether from HLJ when Tamiya did a batch of re-releases and paid £60 inc shipping wheres if i bought all 6 from my hobby shop, i would have paid something like £120 (£15 each)

michael

btw, price in store in Canada are terrible. In Quebec city, you will pay 79$cnd for the Enzo.

go to www.modelexpress.net

it's in canada and it's MUCH cheaper.

I will say this one thing on the price or quality of one brand kit over others: I buy the kits for the car, not the manufacturer. If the moldings suck, I make it work, if the kit is expensive, I save up, and I get what cars I want.
I feel the same way :sunglasse :sunglasse

btw, price in store in Canada are terrible. In Quebec city, you will pay 79$cnd for the Enzo.

go to www.modelexpress.net

it's in canada and it's MUCH cheaper.

one day at my hobby shop looking at new released kits and saw the enzo first time and it was £45 :eek2: so i thought sod it and bought it from HLJ and cost £21. now theyve got new stock in and its £35 still far too much when 360 modena costs £30 when theres 200yen difference

btw, price in store in Canada are terrible. In Quebec city, you will pay 79$cnd for the Enzo.

go to www.modelexpress.net

it's in canada and it's MUCH cheaper.

Modelexpress is the way to go for any kit in my eyes, unless you can pick them up at walmart for 10 bucks. Dennis has a great service, and great prices, I'm Canadian, and I have only ever bought 1 Tamiya kit from a hobby shop..it cost me roughly $65.00 tax incl. Such a waste of money...

Deffinatly check out Model Express :biggrin:

Really, this hobby is about the cheapest thing I do for fun. Sure, I like to save $10 on a kit where I can, but when a super detailed full engine build lasts me 6-12 months, $10 doesn't seem like that big a deal.

I used to be a cheap modeler, back in my college days and before. I would get some kind of a thrill out of buying the cheapest kits I could, and finishing them with cheap supplies, and turning out decent builds (I built alot of aircraft then, and Monogram was cheaper than Hasegawa). But once I proved I could do it, it wasn't as satisfying. When I got employed and could really afford decent plastic, I found I really enjoyed working with well engineered kits. Since then, I've become less and less tollerant of cheaply made kits. I'd rather build a fabulous model that I'm really satisfied with from a great kit, than a good model that I'm mostly satisfied with from a mediocre or worse kit. I buy and build the kit that I want. While I've always loved Ferrari's, the F50 is not one that I've ever been particullarly passionate about- but I had more fun building Tamiya's kit than I would have building any three Revell kits. Well engineered, well made, and a pleasure to build. Totally worth the box price.

Happily for me, Tamiya has put out a number of great kits of cars that I want in my display case. Yes, there are certainly some favorite cars missing- but I've got alot of building to do before I worry too much about holes. It turns out my two most favorite cars, the BMW E30 M3 and Ferrari F355 GTS, are two of Fujimi's most unforgivable abominations. I've got both kits, they will be built, and both will have honored places in the display case when they're done- but I have a number of others (Tamiya's Enzo, M635CSi, 911 GT1....) that I'm looking forward to building alot more. I do this hobby for fun, and that's what's fun for me.

Modelexpress is the way to go for any kit in my eyes, unless you can pick them up at walmart for 10 bucks. Dennis has a great service, and great prices, I'm Canadian, and I have only ever bought 1 Tamiya kit from a hobby shop..it cost me roughly $65.00 tax incl. Such a waste of money...

Deffinatly check out Model Express :biggrin:

True, and sometime, it's even cheaper than Japan !

I only order at 3 stores. hlj.com, modelexpress.net and scaleracecars.com

Modelzone in the UK is another rip off model shop. Charging £29.99 for a Tamiya 2002 Peugeot 206 WRC... I mean £30 for that..!! I have even seen in there the Enzo at £40..!!

Still, if you look around they can be brought cheaper elsewhere.. Tamiya kits are not cheap, but you get what you pay for.. I drop around £30 now per kit on paint alone, and now just started to order P/E parts. Next it will be CF decals etc...

I buy them for fun, not to mes around with some companies engineering flaws.. I want to enjoy my build, not mess around with it.. So I buy Tamiya, mostly of ebay..

I agree with MPWR.. He's right..!!

Thanks Vric, I had forgotten about that site.

why can I get a revell kit with engine detail for $9.99 but the tamiya kit without engine is $32.99

willimo is right, Im going to buy the cars I want to build regardless of who makes them. If I want the car I'm buying it. Modelling in general isn't a very expensive hobby. Tamiya building their kits curbside only makes me loathe them. Revell building their kits in 1/25 is carp. There is too much give in this give and take hobby.

I have a small pile of Tamiya/Fujimi model kits collecting dust right now...But, being a girl, I'm one heck of a shopper! That, or I'm just lucky... For example, I picked up a sealed Tamiya Porche GT3 for $4 at a Hobby Lobby. I did, however, pay $26 for the Fujimi Murcielago...Most I've spent on a kit to date!

I have a small pile of Tamiya/Fujimi model kits collecting dust right now...But, being a girl, I'm one heck of a shopper! That, or I'm just lucky... For example, I picked up a sealed Tamiya Porche GT3 for $4 at a Hobby Lobby. I did, however, pay $26 for the Fujimi Murcielago...Most I've spent on a kit to date!

Ah the elusive female modeller... maybe that's what I need, give my girlfriend a list of sites and the credit card and see what kinda kits she can come up with :rofl:

Ah the elusive female modeller... maybe that's what I need, give my girlfriend a list of sites and the credit card and see what kinda kits she can come up with :rofl:

any more female modelers about?

Man, you guys have it tough.

$50.00 for a 1:43rd resin curbside.

$200.00+ for a 1:24th resin curbside...

Yup, those damned Tamiya kits are just too damned much...;-)>

Bill

Bah, resin doesn't count. Resin never counts :P

Man, you guys have it tough.

$50.00 for a 1:43rd resin curbside.

$200.00+ for a 1:24th resin curbside...

Yup, those damned Tamiya kits are just too damned much...;-)>

Bill
I just received two resin Fujimi kits. The retail for one kit is $399.00
This is for a 1/24 curbside kit. Tamiya seems really inexpensive compared to these. In case you think I typed it wrong that is $798.00 for the two 1/24 scale kits.

:evillol:

and i thought i payed alot on kits, maybe when i become rich i'll start building resin kits!!

I just received two resin Fujimi kits. The retail for one kit is $399.00
This is for a 1/24 curbside kit. Tamiya seems really inexpensive compared to these. In case you think I typed it wrong that is $798.00 for the two 1/24 scale kits.

:evillol:


I looked into resin kits, and thought - woh..!! Lot of money. I'm still in the phase of messing kits up, so until my skills get better it's tamiya for me.. They might seem expensive, but at least they are buildable by joe average..!! :lol2:

I understand some have issues with no engines on a lot of kits, and some are over simplfied, but sometimes it can be nice to just build a simple kit, but not like the newer 911, that's too simple in my mind, but the S2000 or something is great.. And then, if you want a challange, but don't want to pay resin prices get a Tamiya F1 such as the 2000 Ferrari for Willaims FW24 or even the Enzo.. Money well spent I think.. Superb kits..

I just received two resin Fujimi kits. The retail for one kit is $399.00
This is for a 1/24 curbside kit. Tamiya seems really inexpensive compared to these. In case you think I typed it wrong that is $798.00 for the two 1/24 scale kits.

:evillol:

Ah yes...I'm guessing it's the Fujimi F50 GT1 and maybe the Autobacks???!!!

I was speaking from experience, and as you know, I'm a cheap bastard...:icon16:

Bill

75 CAD is definitely overpriced for any Tamiya. Even the outrageously expensive Enzo kit costs much less.

I just got an estimate on one Enzo kit from Hobby World, and the kit is 3008 yen. Adding 1680 for shipping, the total comes to 4688 yen, which is just for one item (generally not recommended because of the disadvantageous shipping-per-kit cost). That's still 42.47 USD or 50.35 CAD. The places like Model Express, Hobby Linc (not HLJ!) and Best1Hobby offer pretty good prices, so if you shop around, you can find pretty good deals.

man i love living in the US. tamiya kits average about $26-$28 bucks here for a 1/24. the highest price tamiya kit ive seen is $38 for a Xanavi Nismo Z.

I read in this months ScaleAuto a better way of spending our cash in a more effective way. Basically, although I haven't fallen into this trap, too many modellers buy too many kits - some which they will never build. It's far more productive to be strict on kit spending. Buy one model you REALLY want to build and then instead of buying two more kits along with it, buy aftermarket parts with that cash instead.

75 CAD is definitely overpriced for any Tamiya. Even the outrageously expensive Enzo kit costs much less.

I just got an estimate on one Enzo kit from Hobby World, and the kit is 3008 yen. Adding 1680 for shipping, the total comes to 4688 yen, which is just for one item (generally not recommended because of the disadvantageous shipping-per-kit cost). That's still 42.47 USD or 50.35 CAD. The places like Model Express, Hobby Linc (not HLJ!) and Best1Hobby offer pretty good prices, so if you shop around, you can find pretty good deals.

In Holland, you have to pay 50 euros if you want a Tamiya Enzo... Which is the equivalent of 75 canadian dollar.
A ridiculous price, nobody buys them at my hobby shop because they're so expensive!

well, over here i can buy a revell kit OR tamiya kit OR fujimi kit for the same prices.

all around $30
revell - $30
Tamiya - $30 ($50 for a detailed such as carrera GT)
Fujimi - $35


that's for 1/24's, 1/12's are about $150-200

I read in this months ScaleAuto a better way of spending our cash in a more effective way. Basically, although I haven't fallen into this trap, too many modellers buy too many kits - some which they will never build. It's far more productive to be strict on kit spending. Buy one model you REALLY want to build and then instead of buying two more kits along with it, buy aftermarket parts with that cash instead.

Oh for sure. I must say after looking around at other people's rooms-full-of-model-kits collections, I'm really quite conservative in this way. I only have about 20 kits lying around, and with the exception of a few, I want to build all of them. The few that I really had no interest in, I bought because they were part of a Lot of kits on ebay, or because I need specific parts from that kit.

But I only have one Tamiya, the one I posted about. I can think of at least a dozen Tamiyas off the top of my head that I'd love to build, but can't due to the prices. I think I will order from websites for them from now on...

I read in this months ScaleAuto a better way of spending our cash in a more effective way. Basically, although I haven't fallen into this trap, too many modellers buy too many kits - some which they will never build. It's far more productive to be strict on kit spending. Buy one model you REALLY want to build and then instead of buying two more kits along with it, buy aftermarket parts with that cash instead.

That would be great. If I knew what I would want to work on this week.

I think you would be hard pressed to find any modeler (not collectors) , even those with cavernous rooms full of kits in boxes, that didn't buy all their kits with the intent of building them. Every kit I've bought I've bought because I wanted to build that car. Maybe not right at this moment but eventually, and boy would I be stuck if it went out of production, went up in price, and I couldn't afford it! How is that more economical than letting it pass you by?

How is that more economical than letting it pass you by?

If you bought every kit you fancied it would definately not make economical sense. There's TONS of oop kits we'd all like but sometimes you have to accept you can't get it and switch your attention to one you want to buy & build that is available now.

Everyone is different with how they manage their hobby & budget. I was merely offering an alternative view with how to spend your money.

I can see why many buy up kits, perhaps even two at a time, as they do tend to go OOP, and can start to become harder to find, and cost more. I fell into the trap of buying kits off ebay, and it became a little addictive, thankfully I've seen the error in my ways. I've actually put some kits back up for sale, as I'll never build them, who am I kidding, I just don't have the time.

This month I've bidded on three kits, won one, winning one at the moment and lost one. By now I'd have 10 bids, perhaps won three even four. By the end of the month another 5 - 6 kits with little or no chance of any being built, and £50 spent..!!

I think Sticky Fingers is right, we all buy too many kits, but I can see why builders do this. I don't consider £50 - £60 a month on ebay bids to get kits as being bad, but I do think having 100's of kits on the shelf as never being built can be bad, however there is an upside to this. If those who buy these kits say two - three years down the road decide to sell some of them, GOOD NEWS.. I can buy them off ebay or whatever, as so can you.. And just as I'm now selling a few, someone else can buy them, and I HOPE build them.

It's all a circle really. Someone buys it, decides to sell it, next person buys it, eventally someone is going to build it. Collectors might not sell, but builders sell and those looking to make a profit.

I'm taking sticky fingers advise, and building the kits with after market parts, such as CF and P/E sets. I've already started this with the Honda I'm building..!!

There's TONS of oop kits we'd all like but sometimes you have to accept you can't get it and switch your attention to one you want to buy & build that is available now.

See, this is unnacceptable to me. If I want to build it, I want to build it. I can't just switch my attention. Like I said before, I buy kits of the cars I want to build; who kitted it, how much it costs, how rare it is; these are all non-issues. That's why I buy now, while I can afford it and find it.

Tamiya and other Japanese kits are only cheap if you live in Asia. I live in Canada and Tamiya kits are a rip off. I don't go back to Taiwan that often so I use ebay.

Ebay is one of the cheapest source for Tamiya model kits (other kits too, and a lot of other things). I got some Tamiyas for $20 cdn shipped. You just have to look and hunt around!! :iceslolan

Damn I got it good. Tamiya kits arent a grip, like some of you are complaining. average prices 15-25 buks. I guess its personal prefence. I personally dont like Revell and amt kits. To much american for me :)

Tamiya kits were not that expensive when i filled my closet with. Five years ago they filled the toy shops and you could find a lot at reduced prices. They have the best quality, no doubt, but the difference in quality does not justify the high price. Shipping is not that big issue either. Just look at the retail price on the cover to see how much do they cost in Japan. I have given up buying Tamiya kits since they have been releasing less and less interesting cars. Tthey issued a wide array of beautiful cars in the 90s. I do not know what went wrong with their minds to reduce their program to one kit/year. As if it was not enough to cut down the development, they turned to dull issues like their recent frog, sorry Porsche 911. I have not seen that kit but I cannot imagine it is superior to the EM series from Fujimi. Speaking of the devil, Fujimi came back to the market with a nice collection of super and Japanese nostalgic cars which I wished to see for a long long time. Many of you will argue we cannot compare Fujimi with Tamiya (although the EM models do compare with Tamiya), I know, but Fujimi kits are buildable and you can make a very nice model out of them.