The Fact is, Dragon has been outdone by Trumpeter,RFM, Miniart,I Love kit and others.
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According to Ken Abrams, who I respect very much, his Chinese contacts told him that Zimi Models had purchased all of Dragon’s molds.
So he contacted Zimi models and asked them directly. The response was “Yes, but wait for official announcement.”
I saw the screenshot of it.
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So the new name would seem a contraction of the two companies names, interesting.
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Scale model companies come, and scale model companies go. The ones that last the longest are the ones that focus on their core competencies.
IMO, Tamiya is the best example of this. Tamiya is as well known today for its excellent design and manufacturing coupled with the “buildability” of their kits. (Which I always credited to their experience as a toy manufacturer - They design kits to be built easily just like they designed toys to be assembled economically.)
Other model kit companies have disappeared only to be resurrected, and added as product lines of other, larger companies. If it weren’t for the durability of their molds, they would mostly exist today only as brand names on packages of kits produced by essentially entirely different companies.
DML has kind of been all over the place from the very beginning. They seemed to hit their stride 20-25 years ago, and then they seemed to start floundering with their “Black Label” line and a cycle of re-re-releases with “updated” parts and specials of the same ol’ kits with new packaging, markings and old figure sets (that often pre-dated the original base kits). DML has clearly been capable of great things, and many of their best kits are still “the best kits” of those subjects. However, all of those greats are years, if not decades, in the past. The hay day of DML has long since passed, again, IMO. (It’s probably been more than 10 years since they offered up a new kit release that I was excited enough to buy as soon as it hit the shelves.)
The passing of DML (if that’s what’s actually happening - and only DML really knows) is maybe a little sad and nostalgic, but it’s not the end of the hobby, heck, it won’t even be the end of some “imaginary” era. The “age of DML” has been over for a long time.
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I never was a fan of Dragon kits. I thought they were overpriced and gimicky. The few I had
had very poor instructions. The Wellbike I bought was missing a ton of details and didn’t even
include decals for markings. Added to that a long going feud with a member on another forum
soured me to the brand. Good riddance. Farewell to their photo etch for everything, their magic
tracks and CCP connections. (0k I made the CCP thing up)
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Dragon made a lot of outstanding kits. Past tense.
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The Magic Tracks were definitely better than the DS, especially since they don’t ooze oil and crumble after a period of time.
As far as the instructions go, I have found issues as bad or sometimes worse from other companies. I teach high school and through the grading of written assignments have become used to poorly communicated ideas.
They were a bargain at their original price and with all the original parts included, but that increase along with the exclusion of some of those extras absolutely killed those advantages. Again, if I had not taken advantage of the warehouse sale years ago I likely would have purchased kits from other companies since many of them are hitting the shelves packed like Dragon’s used to be.
Even so, until the other companies pop some out Dragon is the only source for certain variants of panzers that aren’t G’s, J’s, or M’s of some kind and SdKfz 250’s not yet produced by Takom.
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It’s sad they didn’t expand their 1/32 aircraft line. Their Bf109E and Bf110C/D/E kits are great, even if the instructions are a bit wonky.
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I bought 3 Bf110’s during the warehouse sale.
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The median survival rate of small and medium companies is 4 to 5 years.
Small to medium corporations last 7 to 10 years.
Publicly traded companies last 10 to 20 years.
Fortune 500 companies last 15 to 20 years.
Once the guy in charge dies, the guy who actually has the know how and drive to run the ship, most companies are toast. Tamiya survives because the kids chose to take up the mantle of responsibility and obviously have talent for the job. Most kids sell, put the money in mutual funds, and live the high life. Most share holders see the writing on the wall and put their money elsewhere. Big stake holders cut up the dying company and squeeze the juice out of it. They may keep the best parts and focus on those. Dragon is obviously going through all of that.
Dragon was a great company for a fairly long run. If Zimi can bring Dragon models to market at competitive prices, there are a bunch I will eagerly buy and build.
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putting this announcement through my corporate BS translator I get the message: “no money in this anymore, sub the kit production to cheaper facilities (Bangladesh).
I think airfix did something like this as well.
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I di’nt know Mr. Abrams, but I guess he couldn’t contain himself.
That said, maybe some of the kits can be revived - ones that were close, not like the M103 that suffered from too many shape issues.
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The Chinese like to play Monopoly too, I guess.
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Dragon’s announcement was laughable. Confusingly written and demonstrating the Dunning-Kruger effect: either unaware of its incompetence or in denial of its shortcomings. Or being pompous, despite what the competition is doing.
“Decades of building a respected legacy” - OK, you had a legacy, but it is no longer respected, as the technologies and qualities of scale models have improved. Being stuck in the 2000’s is not respected.
“Historical research, and precision product development” - that must have only applied to the WWII Nazi stuff. Other “Smart” and Black Plague kits showed bad research (or none) and imprecise product development.
“is now evolving toward IP, 3D technology, digital assets, licensing, and new forms of collaboration” - This probably does not mean that DML is completely stopping in producing “physical” model kits - the announcement does not say that at all. It will license its designs, go into 3D printing more, and, like others already reported, Zimi Models will acquire many of its molds and reproduce, as a part of “collaboration”.
“Our foundation…: authenticity, technical accuracy, detailed research, and a deep respect for the history behind every subject”
- A very debatable statement at best. The Dunning-Kruger effect or sounds conceited. Other than the WWII Axis stuff, many would describe its products as “unauthentic”, technically inaccurate, sloppy research, and zero respect for the history behind the subject.
“will continue to explore new ways to bring…into future applications across physical and digital platforms.”
- So DML is not letting go of its physical platforms completely.
“we look forward to building the next era of DML together.”
- Probably a corporate language of saying, our profit margins are suffering, and we are looking for new owners or being acquired.”
I think people can relax.
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Like Tamiya and others each company had a time where it was king of the hill. I suspect RFM, Takom and Mini Art will do the same over time. I am unsure of the reason for the cyclical life expectancy other than the corporate focus moves on and the effort follows suit.
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I make no apologies for DML. They offered us some much needed kits in the 90s. And they brought us some real dogs as well. Much of it depended on who was doing the research. In fact, I send this message from my phone as I’m away doing research today.
[quote=“Petition2God, post:37, topic:58775”]
"a deep respect for the history behind every subject”
Or a lack thereof. Many companies have been guilty of this. Most folks would agree AK brings us good stuff. Historical accuraccy though?
I"m willing to see what they can bring in the future rather than join in bashing them for past sins.
Remember Academy? And their knock offs of Tamiya kits? Now they produce some very fine kits , as well as some not so good ones.
Zvezda? Absolutely fantastic kits. There was a time when they were laughable.
And for those enamored with RFM, even those kits have had some shortcomings.
THe best thing we can do now is be patient. And maybe work on some of those kits already in the stash.
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Amen!
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Heresy I tell thee, blasphemous utterances. may all your jars of tamiya acrylic paint be superglued shut until the IPMS Day of Judgment! 
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