Is this just corpo speak for “where going to stop making plastic model kits”
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Truthfully though, when was the last kit they produced released? It seems all they’ve been doing is re-releasing old stock with minor changes like decals or what they include in the boxes now.
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D’you remember when their brand new M1A1 and M1A2 models were the absolute state of the art? Pepperidge Farm remembers. Alas that they lost the thread and destroyed their reputation with the Black Label/Black Death kits.
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I read on another site that the belief is they will no longer produce models for the retail market, but focus on providing their older kits for update by other companies and also do the 3D CAD and model development work for other companies. We’ll see.
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They would have to change their name from Dragon Models Limited if they want to get out of the business. DML was run by one famous owner who made toys, and I don’t know if he is still alive, but he was quite famous in the Chinese magazines that my mom read when DML was very successful and popular. Ron Volstad and Concord Publications helped it rise.
Alas, Concord Publications went under and those journalists scattered to make other publications that weren’t as successful as Concord Publications. The DML saying that “Modern doesn’t sell well” is what drove me away from DML as other model kit manufacturers rose up, namely resin like Airborne Miniatures, Legend Productions, SOL MODELS, Assault Models, Live-Resin, Paracel Miniatures, etc. replaced DML for me as an “attractive purchase.”
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probably going to release printable files on the market for main products and accessories.
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There is a review of it on YouTube
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As we move farther from WW2, I think the demand grows for modern kits. WW2 is less of a thing for the modern generation. DML still makes good kits. The turds are known and are to be avoided but many of the WW2 kits are still viable. Tiger, Panther PZKFW… etc are kits worth building. I think their overpricing is what happened.
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It’s somewhat relative to how “modern” is defined and perceived. Post WWII Cold War modern stuff is currently as removed from us, as WWII was as then removed from us when Dragon/DML first started making models at the end of the Cold War in the late 80’s/early 90’s.
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This looks like DML is expanding into 3-D printing for their products. Curious?
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The reason there is a growing demand for modern is because modern simply wasn’t as well represented as WWII, and to be honest modern wars haven’t had as many iconic vehicles as did the first two World Wars. There has been no scaling back of pre-modern kits and in fact that market still adds new vehicles all the time. Possibly it may also have something to do with the people involved in those conflicts finally getting to a point in their lives where they have time to enter the hobby and build the vehicles they worked in and around.
Yes, many of the kits are still quite good, and I took advantage of their California warehouse sale so about half my stash is DML; however the increased prices and removal of the extras that used to be included like metal barrels and Magic Tracks left a sour taste considering they about doubled.
However, at this point in time most of the newer companies are recreating much of DML’s inventory although there are quite a few halftracks and armored cars no one else has touched yet. I can see why in the long run producing fewer if any injected kits and focusing on outfitting other companies is better for Dragon. The only thing I buy now are figure sets and I get those all second-hand; I don’t need DML to do that.
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Two days ago, the Dragon MBT-70 showed up on Scalemates under a new brand as the DRAMi Kpz. 70.
Whoever now runs Dragon must have decided to follow the same business plan as Italeri.
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Depends on how you define models. A 3D print could also be a model just not plastic in the traditional sense.
Scalemates shows Dragon as being retired this year and a new name DRAMi. Not sure if this now the plastic arm or something else all together.
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I thought Dragon was already gone, but I don’t buy many kits. I’ve always looked at Dragon as go to for modern kits, that’s all I bought from them. I do like their figures a lot.
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I too like their figures; often fine as just a standalone, but as a basis for further converting, they’re sublime.
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Remember about 5 years ago when they were going to release a line of 1/35 Star Wars vehicles and figures? How cool would that have been?
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The kit is in stock at Squadron.
I don’t think the Black Label kits killed Dragon. Given their size, I don’t think those missteps were enough to really have much impact n the company. I think the issue is that these days they are competing against newer kits from the likes of Takom, RFM, and Miniart, which are better, and in a lot of cases cheaper.
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I feel it’s kind of a chicken-and-egg issue here (or self-fulfilling prophecy?): not enough modern kits were available for a long time, not much choice among brands, had to go to expensive resin kits or aftermarket conversions, not enough figure choices… so modellers don’t build modern topics and it ends up looking like modern is not attractive.
But instead of investing in modern military and civilian topics, many brands kept updating their ww2 kits and, for a few years now, releasing kits from ww2 vehicles that in fact never passed the blueprint stage! So boring, from my perspective.
Yes, ww2 still very much dominates the 1/35 scale, but based on forums, videos, and recent model releases from various brands, it seems to me that there is a real appetite for those modern topics. It may indeed be a generational issues, as well as my own bias for modern topics.
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Dragon black label was the go to for the Saldin armored car. This was a good kit, the best of the Black label. If you had thoughts of building one, now might be the time to acquire one.
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