No, they’re catering for the kind of modeller who just wants to build a model and isn’t greatly — or at all — concerned about accuracy. That is to say, probably the majority of people who build kits, but a tiny minority of people who post on forums like this one 
3 Likes
All three kits have their own merits. Having just built the RFM kit , the fit was excellent (Comparable to a Tamiya kit). the interior is missing some items i.e. batteries, ammo storage and crew seats in the turret. The resin aftermarket tires are a must. The kit has a very nice engine, and the deck hatches can all be displayed open the price was also a plus at around 50 US dollars, but if our buy the resin tires it places the kit in the $80 range.
Having said that the DML/dragon kit is one of their best efforts in fit and only missing some details like the batteries. The tire are multi part plastic and look great when done. The cost of the kit being an issue running at around $80 US dollars.
The Miniart kit is very complete with all the items that where missing in the RFM and DML kits. This kit due to all of the detail is going to be the kit that will take the longest to build due to the parts count. Miniart’s tires are also multi part plastic and look good in the box. The kit also has the ability to pose the lower hull hatches open or closed which are molded close in the other kits. this kit also runs around $80 US dollars.
3 Likes
True, and are not rivet counters. And dont care how many lug nuts are on each tire. If it looks like a Bf-109 or an M4 Sherman when done they are satisfied.
1 Like
The thing is that “we” often forget that a lot of modellers are like that, and that the ones with a focus on accuracy are probably actually in the minority. But as I said, you wouldn’t think that from reading modelling forums — which is why we have that skewed perspective.
But Italeri is selling false quality. That kit should be half the price it’s going for. It’s a Yugo putting itself up in a league of Porsches. The engineering and fit of the RFM kit is light years ahead of the Italeri kit and it’s no harder to build. So even for the casual builder there’s no reason not to buy the RFM kit. It’s comparably priced.
1 Like
I agree. The price should reflect the quality. A good example would be the Tamiya Japanese Zero vs the Revell or Older Hasagawa kit. Me Id buy the cheaper kit as long as it looked like a Zero when finished.
1 Like
Italeri has a lot of over priced turds for the quality provided floating around…apparently it’s their business model…this duo of 1990’s era disappointments in a box comes to mind…
1 Like
Exactly! Italeri is selling iphone 6’s at iphone 16 prices when there are kits by Meng and Takom at comparable prices that are leagues ahead of these kits in fit and finish.
1 Like
The thing with that is that many casual modellers don’t care about this. They want a kit they can build, and it doesn’t matter if that’s a 4-decades-old Italeri one or a 4-month-old Takom one (well, except of course for the “shiny!” effect that new kits have almost as much as new smartphones do). Plus, don’t ignore the fact that there are plenty of people who will stick with the brand(s) they know, or even actively distrust these newfangled names that weren’t around back in their day. OK, from observation, sticking with what you know is more something that makes people stick with Tamiya rather than Italeri, but still, I wouldn’t just assume it only applies to them.
I’m pretty sure Italeri is pricing their kits at a level that its customers are willing to pay, and that they probably don’t expect to be selling drastically more if they lower prices by a significant amount. In any case, your typical modeller has a fair bit of money to spend on this hobby anyway, so getting cheaper kits is not necessarily an incentive.
Most of the best selling 1/35 scale models on Amazon are old, cheap Tamiya kits. Tamiya 35065 Panther A has 1,741 reviews averaging 4.5 stars. The same model at a 25% higher price has 493 reviews averaging 4.5 stars.
The old Tamiya Walker Bulldog has 1.332 reviews averaging 4.5 stars.
The old Tiger E by Italeri has 69 reviews averaging 4.5 stars.
My impression is that, as long as everything fits together okay, a model will get good reviews regardless of age. I see a lot of review hate for fiddly kits and individual link tracks.
The search algorithm used by Amazon heavily favors older models with 20 years to build up a head of review steam. I wonder how many women purchase those models for their men and boys, using reviews as their sole guide.
As an aside, Andy’s Hobby Headquarters and Sprue Brothers both sell on Amazon.
As a funny science experiment, we could all choose some model on Amazon, something modern and actually good but obscure with zero reviews, give it glowing, positive reviews, and see what happens over the next couple years. I wonder how many good reviews it would take to push a model over the top.
Sprue Brothers sold out of those Lightning Deal MiniArt Pumas. I will probably regret not purchasing one.
3 Likes
Old model kits also sell quite well on ebay. On a side note, Sprue Brothers also sell stuff on ebay.
Ken
1 Like
Once more proving you can’t really trust those ratings at all (and not just on Amazon). Hardly anybody leaves low ratings, and some sellers actively try to make you give a higher one than you would or even did. Many years ago, when I too was naïve about them, I had ordered something on Amazon, and it was delivered within the indicated time period — but only just, arriving on the last day of the quoted two-weeks-or-so time. So, I figure, nothing outstanding, whether good or bad, about the seller: ★★★☆☆, average rating. He promptly returned the shipping fees and sent me a message asking for a higher rating (in that order) because my three stars would bring his rating down, so please make it four or five …
I’ve declined giving ratings to sellers on any site since, and hardly ever to things I’ve bought as well.
True, this is an anecdote about the ratings for sellers and not about ratings for products, but I would not be surprised at all if similar shenanigans go on there. In addition to a lot of people who simply rate everything either very high or very low with nothing in between (whereas I hardly ever rate anything very high or low, but am almost guaranteed to go for below-average to above-average unless I very much like or dislike it).
1 Like
A poor quality kit kit in a box posted from location A on the globe to location B somewhere else on the globe will incur the same postage costs as a top quality kit if the weight is more or less equal.
The packaging and the labour costs to expedite the kits will be the same.
The rent for the warehouse space will be the same.
The costs of sale will be more or less the same, often a percentage of the sales price but maintaining a website for a cheap or an expensive kit is the same.
Advertising and marketing is the same.
Printing cardboard and folding it into a box will be roughly the same.
The styrene costs the same per weight, more or bigger parts means more styrene, fewer or smaller parts means less styrene. Poor fit or good fit has the same weight in styrene.
The actual manufacturing costs is one factor but not a major factor in the retail price.
I don’t think that Italeri are able to overprice their kits, that would impact their sales (see discussions above).
All true, but don’t overlook that the main cost of a kit is in the research and the moulds. Italeri’s probably cost more than Takom’s or RFM’s, for the simple reason that a lot of work goes into both, and wages in Italy are rather higher than in China. Th costs of both research and moulds, of course, will be paid back by selling kits, so the more kits you sell, the lower these work out per kit. It follows that if you’ve had your moulds for a longer time (assuming production at the same rate for all manufacturers), your cost per kit produced will be lower, too, and you could therefore charge less to the customer if you wanted to. (But moulds wear out and will need repair, if not outright replacement, every so often too.)
1 Like
Well, Italeri´s 234 kit is not that bad…Of course it lacks the quality of a Dragon kit for example, but you can build a nice vehicle out of it. I made a small dio months ago and didn´t turn out so bad.
4 Likes
Where are you offered those kits from Italeri? In Spain the market price for that Panther ausf A is 29,21 euros…
1 Like
Hi Carlos, 29€ or ~$32 would be far more reasonable for an Italeri Panther than ~$53
Those are the discounted prices listed by Sprue Brothers, one the most popular and low priced online hobby shops in the USA.
By comparison, the Tamiya Panther G for the same time period the early 1990’s is $10 cheaper. While not perfect it’s a much superior offering to the Italeri Panther A.
The 20 year newer Tamiya Panther D from 2015 is priced similar to the Italeri Panther kit but 20 years newer and also better quality.
BTW - Amazon Prime, Tamiya Late Panther G for $32 w/ free shipping.
2 Likes
Odd that it says MSRP: $62.00 when, if you buy straight from Italeri, it costs €36:
… which, for our American viewers, is US$40 and a few cents at current rates.
3 Likes
Just added this to the Vendor’s section… For $34.99
DML6943 1:35 Dragon Sd.Kfz.234/2 Puma - Sprue Brothers Models LLC
I whole-heartedly agree. The RFM kit is a fun build.
1 Like