'Glad it’s not just me then!
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I have to confess that I too bought an Italeri Elephant almost 50 yrs ago (seems so long ago!). Thought it was great until Dragon released theirs. If, for instance, Lindbergh (or any kind of re-incarnation) were to release their '50’s and '60’s kits, how many people would buy them, except out of some kind of nausea…uh, I mean nostalgia. 
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I’ve still got a Lindberg T-55 rotting at the bottom of my stash - why it didn’t go away in one of the purges I don’t know. Horrible kit. Maybe I’m just saving it to remind myself how bad we used to have it. I should get rid of it in this year’s raffle so I have one space for a new kit. Wonder if I can get that maneuver past SWMBO.
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There are some ancient kits that still sell if only because they were unique, or because no one replaced them with a better/more accurate/newer kit, since.
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Or…Maybe they’ve replaced the tracks with link and length tracks like they’ve done with some of their other re-releases. Maybe someone will buy it for nostalgic reasons. I don’t know. If the price is right maybe someone will buy it for that reason. It was the only game in town for a long time. Italeri hasn’t been relevant, at least for armor, for a long time. If they can re-release this kit and make some money, good for them.
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I don’t recall that being at the core of the OP’s argument, or even at the far, tangential reaches.
It sounds like you are just back-filling a rationale for the original whining. My reaction would be different (but likely equally dismissive) if he was protesting about labor practices surrounding model kits. He wasn’t, so please don’t try to sane-wash his rant.
KL
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I have no problem with, and only exceedingly rarely comment upon (*), a business trying to make money selling harmless toys. I cannot imagine a justification as to why others do, unless it is an issue of a personal contractual dispute or of competition. It seems most do it merely to bloviate.
(*) The last one I recall was about someone making aftermarket metal barrels for Toon Tanks. Even so, my issue was more with the people creating the market for such things, not the companies profiting from it.
KL
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Italeri still has relevance in the armor market. In particular if you want to build Italian tanks, there aren’t a lot of options out there. I recently built Tamiya’s M13/40, the updated kit, & other than the PE, I still think the base model of the Italeri kit is superior. To my knowledge, no one else makes L6/40s, Semovente 47/32s, AB 41 armored cars, etc. in 1/35. There are also a few other items from them that are fairly unique. I built their Staghound kit; despite the barrel & sometimes too-thick PE, I thought it was a pretty good kit. So by default Italeri is relevant for those reasons.
Damon.
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On Italeri’s website they are selling it for 31 Euros, which converts to approx $33 according to XE.com. I won’t comment on whether that is a fair price for a model that is older than me. But it would seem the MSRP markup is done by the importer. Or it is also possible Italeri is off its rocker & thinks Americans are rolling in dough. However, in Europe it is appreciably cheaper, making it within reason for a kid to buy one.
Damon.
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My long departed grandmother gave me this kit for Christmas in about 1977, when I was 11. I thought it was awesome. It was the biggest kit the little diy shop at the end of her road stocked.
Despite the errors it, of course, builds into a huge model. It’s simple to build as it’s mainly two boxes with not too many fiddly bits, and though I was highly impressed by the workable bogies, I recall they weren’t that hard to assemble.
It’s also quite easy to paint because those bogies move so far you can paint behind them, the idler and sprocket rotate perfectly, and once painted you can stretch the tracks over the wheels.
Putting to one side the guide horns, the tracks are in my view pretty good for vinyl, with OK tread appearance. With the rotating wheels you can push it along with the tracks on.
All in all, a great tank kit for kids like I was then. A Dragon kit is probably not so great for kids. The price… well, it’s quite a lot of plastic.
Still have it on the shelf, it’s been used for airbrush and decal tests. Wheels still attached and working
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Sane washing … learned a new expression, might come in handy sometime.
If someone provides an inpromptu review of a “new” product and basically say
“buyer beware” I do not feel any need nor inclination to complain about the review
even if it is plainly obvious that the reviewer has no intention whatsoever of buying the
reviewed product.
Some of us recognise the old behind the “news”, some of us even own it, built or unbuilt, but I for one still appreciate that someone takes the time to warn other, potentially younger, modelers that this might not be the best interpretation in model form of this subject.
In this particular case swapping out these:
would push the cost way up and anyone who wants to build an Elephant
would do well by considering the Amusing Hobby kit instead.
Indy link tracks may not be everyones favourite but in this case they might
even be the easier option.
Why oh why does someone care about someone else. Why indeed.
Why would someone even find it curious that others care about other humans?
I appreciate warnings or tips given by others (Don’t try this or that dish, it doesn’t taste good. Don’t use that road, it’s blocked by an accident a mile down.)
I “saved” some motorists from turning a corner where they would have gotten stuck at a track width obstacle which only allows buses and trucks to pass.
Did I care about the car owners? Did I care that a wrecked car requiring a tow truck would block the traffic for a while? Should I have stopped and watched and voiced my curiosity about when someone would ignore the signs?
I could have minded my own business and walked away.
I wasn’t going to stay there all day but I warned some while I was there and gawked at the building project (rebuilding one of the major intersections in Stockholm, originally built in the 1930’ies)
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You’ve reminded me that it even had spare track links. Dragon got many a slapped wrist for skimping on spare track links (at least in 1/72 world).
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I heard it in reference to Vance’s debate performance being an attempt at sane-washing Trump’s debate, and the entire Republican ticket.
That’s two recently, along with “mental vapor-lock”.
Yeah . . . but again, that’s not what happened here with the original post. It was just whining.
Look, there are all kinds of reasons people can post that look - at arm’s length or farther - just like the one that started this off. They aren’t just like this one, however, as evident by a single clear reading of them. I recognize them, and am not talking about them here.
KL
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Donald J Trump would be Proud of you for being such a Thrifty Shopper. 
I honestly end up buying more old or second hand kits than I should - when I take into possession a classic 1970s Tamiya, 90s Dragon, or any of the (good) vintage Italeri kits, I usually end up not worrying about mistakes and focusing on how to improve the kit with the hundreds of spare parts in the stash from super-kits of Dragon, RFM and Trumpeter. I’m not as anxious as messing up as, say, working on a 60-100 USD modern kit - even though in practice those tend to be much better building experiences due to the good fit.
But I will never buy these new Italeri re-releases at full price. I’m guessing they might be cheaper locally in Europe but when they end up in other countries like in Asia - our LHS charges the same price as a new Tamiya/RFM kit as these old dressed up relics from the past. Shame, considering they usually have nice boxarts and can be a nice foundation for an accurate build - just outdated
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“Yeah . . . but again, that’s not what happened here with the original post. It was just whining.”
Sounds like you’re doing the most whining protesting and complaining about everyone else’s posts 
boo-hoo!
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I and many others may have to become even more thrifty if Trump’s nasty 20% import tariff aka tax hike looks like it will potentially happen.
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Looks like the only game in Anytown, U.S.A., will be Atlantis Models. 
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Or worse, the 60% tariff he wants to put on Chinese imports. That $50 Trumpeter model suddenly becomes $80.
Damon.
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