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Model Forum / General / Models / January 2008Time to write to Monogram
and ask for more clear fuselage sides like what is in the visiable B-17. It is a shame to hide the insides of the B-29 and B-24 among others. Here is the letter I sent, if enough emails are sent, it might happen. I would love to see a visible B-29, cservice@revell.com Sirs, I have been building your kits for over 30 years, and with the long awaited, and long overdue re-release of the visible B-17, has any thought been given to releasing the larger planes with a optional clear fuselage side ? It is a shame to hide the details inside of the B-29 and B-24 among others. I for one would gladly pay extra for a clear fuselage side. On Jan 17, 7:14 am, "n32...@AdiespamOL.com" <n32...@aol.com> wrote: > and ask for more clear fuselage sides like what is in the visiable > B-17. It is a shame to hide the insides of the B-29 and B-24 among [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > B-29 and B-24 among others. I for one would gladly pay extra for a > clear fuselage side. especially since it would not involve any new tooling, just add clear plastic... and they would not have to repackage the entire kit, just sell the clear parts separately... Craig Ask them about reissuing the Air Power kit too >On Jan 17, 7:14 am, "n32...@AdiespamOL.com" <n32...@aol.com> wrote: >> and ask for more clear fuselage sides like what is in the visiable [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > >Craig > Ask them about reissuing the Air Power kit too > That was a great display model. I wonder if they still have the molds?: http://i12.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/c7/63/cf87_1.JPG What would be really sharp is to go that kit in all chrome. Pat > > Ask them about reissuing the Air Power kit too > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Pat how big were those planes? 3-4 inches each? Craig >> That was a great display model. >> I wonder if they still have the molds?:http://i12.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/c7/63/cf87_1.JPG [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > how big were those planes? 3-4 inches each? > The scale was 1/240th, so the B-52 had a span of 9.25 inches. The F-104 would be 2.75 inches long. I'm not sure, but I seem to remember these models having recessed panel lines. Pat Pat > >> That was a great display model. > >> I wonder if they still have the molds?:http://i12.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/c7/63/cf87_1.JPG [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Pat Sorta. The control surfaces were delineated as were the canopy frames and a few other odd lines. Monogram made use of the moulds and put out some smaller collections too. I had the Medium Bomber Group (B-66, B-57 & B-58) as well as the Refueling Group (B-47 & KC-135). There was also a Century Series Group. Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr. > >> I'm not sure, but I seem to remember these models having recessed panel [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr. > It was interesting to see recessed detail lines on that early of vintage of models. Pity they didn't stick with that rather than going over to raised detail lines for so long. I wonder if the raised lines were related to the raised markings used on many early models, as they would be easier to paint than recessed ones? Pat > >> I'm not sure, but I seem to remember these models having recessed panel > >> lines. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Pat I know I used them for exactly that purpose on my Aurora WWI planes. They ended up looking better than if I used the decals. Most of those were awful. Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr. > I know I used them for exactly that purpose on my Aurora WWI planes. > They ended up looking better than if I used the decals. Most of those > were awful. > Were their two releases of that Air Power kit? I seem to remember mine having a B-36 in it. Pat Face it- unfortunately, the days of RM are nearing an end. They have failed to remain competitive in a market where other companies have come out with newer kits and better tooling. Look at how the quality of DML armor continues to improve, and the range expand. Trumpeter has also been aggressive with an increased range, and their quality continues to improve. On the other hand, what have RM, Airfix, Heller, or Italeri come out with recently? Even Tamiya is in a decline- their kits are superbly engineered, but they aren't bringing anything new out. Without doing any market research, I'd guess that 80% of a new kit's sales occur within the first year of introduction, when we modelers buy them and a bunch of resin and brass and store it all with plans to build in the future. Even if the kit isn't perfect, we like the subject matter, scale, and appeal, and this is why we buy, even if it never gets built. This is why companies like Trumpeter and DML have become dominant- they bring out a lot of new stuff, and even though most of it isn't perfect or as well engineered as a Tamiya kit (talking about Trumpeter), people are buying them at a premium price. RM, Tamiya, and the others will continue to lose their market share unless they change their strategy for theintroduction of new kits. > Face it- unfortunately, the days of RM are nearing an end. They have failed > to remain competitive in a market where other companies have come out with > newer kits and better tooling. > They do have one great advantage still - their models are available in WalMart and other discount stores where other manufacturers like DML and Tamiya are generally not sold. > Without doing any market research, I'd guess that 80% of a new kit's sales > occur within the first year of introduction, when we modelers buy them and a > bunch of resin and brass and store it all with plans to build in the future. > Even if the kit isn't perfect, we like the subject matter, scale, and > appeal, and this is why we buy, even if it never gets built. > Again though, you are talking about high-end models purchased from hobby shops or by mail, think how many of those Monogram "Wright Fliers" have been sold in discount stores as well as hobby shops over the several decades from the kit's introduction. And now everyone's bouncing up and down about their visible B-17 coming back. Nostalgia plays a part in this game too. Pat I agree completely that nostalgia does play a role, but how much of the market share does it really represent? I have an original visible B-17, phantom mustang, etc still sitting downstairs- do I need to buy another one- probably not. The re-releases probably do not really bring a huge surge of purchases from new modelers, unlike the release of all of the armor and planes from Trumpeter, even though they're wildly expensive. Many of their kits go for over $100, and actual expenses for production are only probably a few dollars at most. So, the cost of the initial investment in research and tooling is likely recovered pretty quickly. Yet RM, Airfix, and even Tamiya have not seen this as the marketing strategy of the future, and they will continue to lose market share until they are no longer viable. > I agree completely that nostalgia does play a role, but how much of the > market share does it really represent? > What would be interesting to figure out is what percentage of kits as far as total numbers of sales go are sold by: 1.) Hobby shops. 2.) Mail order. 3.) Discount, toy, and variety stores. As far as total number of kit sales go, "3" may make up a substantial portion of total sales, particularly of the less exotic kits that parents are buying for their kids. > I have an original visible B-17, phantom mustang, etc still sitting > downstairs- do I need to buy another one- probably not. The re-releases [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > longer viable. > It will be interesting to track the progress of Airfix now that it has risen from the dead. I note this came about at the same time Lindberg and Hawk* also returned. Besides the nostalgia aspect, they have the advantages of having just to supply plastic to large numbers of existing molds to generate profits to build up some capital to design new model kits...such as the two new Japanese subs from Lindberg. *Although Hawk's homepage seems to have vanished off the web. Pat > Face it- unfortunately, the days of RM are nearing an end. They have failed > to remain competitive in a market where other companies have come out with [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > RM, Tamiya, and the others will continue to lose their market share unless > they change their strategy for theintroduction of new kits. And yet, R-M have several hot car kits out at the moment. These are all new tooling, too. Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr. > > I know I used them for exactly that purpose on my Aurora WWI planes. > > They ended up looking better than if I used the decals. Most of those [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Pat I do believe there were two releases but I can't confirm or deny the B-36. 1/240th would be a very manageable size for a B-36. Even Revell's ancient kit was big at 1/184th. Anyone ever build Hobbycraft's 1/144th kit? Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr. >> > I know I used them for exactly that purpose on my Aurora WWI planes. >> > They ended up looking better than if I used the decals. Most of those [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > >Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr. was that the one with the globe base? > >> > I know I used them for exactly that purpose on my Aurora WWI planes. > >> > They ended up looking better than if I used the decals. Most of those [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > >Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr. > was that the one with the globe base? The Revell? Yep. Later issues had a substitute without the ball joint. Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr. >> >> > I know I used them for exactly that purpose on my Aurora WWI planes. >> >> > They ended up looking better than if I used the decals. Most of those [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > >Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr. i built a busload of those and lost them in the 1962 bedroom war. they were nuked out by some of them commies rats. > i built a busload of those and lost them in the 1962 bedroom war. they were > nuked out by some of them commies rats. > Probably flying Yak-25s: http://modelingmadness.com/scotts/korean/yak25preview.htm Pat > > i built a busload of those and lost them in the 1962 bedroom war. they were > > nuked out by some of them commies rats. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Pat Mine was of the 'S' persuasion but since I built it wheels down the stand disappeared. The instruction sheet had a coupon to send in with 25¢ for the 1958 catalogue. I tend to think the kit was in a larger scale than Scott does. Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr. >> > i built a busload of those and lost them in the 1962 bedroom war. they were >> > nuked out by some of them commies rats. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > >Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr. nah, the commie rats were flying some leftover ar 234's they stuck bombs allover. > > I know I used them for exactly that purpose on my Aurora WWI planes. > > They ended up looking better than if I used the decals. Most of those [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Pat Nope. If your Air Power kit came with a B-36, then you had the infinitely rare, one-of-a-kind edition. There was only one release, and it did not include a B-36. Aurora sold small-scale B-36 about the same time; you may be remembering that. Revell also had a B-36 back then, but it was substantially larger. Your idea of Monogram updating one its small-scale, late 1950s "display" kits by deleting the old and adding the new does have a basis in fact--in 1969 (and again in 1983) they rereleased the 1958 Missile Arsenal kit as U.S. Space Missiles, omitting some of the old missiles and adding some new ones. No such history for the Air Power kit, though. I, too, would like to see the Air Power kit back again. > Nope. If your Air Power kit came with a B-36, then you had the > infinitely rare, one-of-a-kind edition. There was only one release, > and it did not include a B-36. Aurora sold small-scale B-36 about the > same time; you may be remembering that. Revell also had a B-36 back > then, but it was substantially larger. > I had both of those also, but for some reason thought the Airpower kit might have had one also. BTW, I got the Airpower kit at a hobby shop that was going out of business in around 1965 for fifty cents. It was lacking one of the jet pods for the B-52, so i went back and bought the other one they had left for fifty cents also, and used the remaining planes for toys. > Your idea of Monogram updating one its small-scale, late 1950s > "display" kits by deleting the old and adding the new does have a [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > kit, though. > I had that one in its later two releases, after the big cruise missiles got dropped from it. I once got two of the kits and with some scratchbuilding to add the needed ones, built a display of all the operational missiles the U.S. used from 1945 forward till around 1985. I gave this to my uncle who was head of Civil Defense in our town. > I, too, would like to see the Air Power kit back again. > Like I said, in chrome it would be a real knockout. Pat They'd probably have to add more detail inside or work with an after market house - lots of stuff available for the 17. But the results would be great, The things I'd like to see is some more of the old molds like the rockets released again and in quantity that they'd be available. In particular the XSL-1 and the Space station. A bit of scratch building would produce really nice models. Again a good place for clear parts in place of opaque. Airfix seems to be re-releasing all sorts old stuff from 40 or 50 years agao. Maybe they'll get the idea it could be profitable for them too, Val Kraut On Jan 17, 5:11 pm, "Val Kraut" <marv...@optonline.net> wrote:> They'd probably have to add more detail inside or work with an after market> house - lots of stuff available for the 17. But the results would be great,> > The things I'd like to see is some more of the old molds like the rockets> released again and in quantity that they'd be available. In particular the> XSL-1 and the Space station. A bit of scratch building would produce really> nice models. Again a good place for clear parts in place of opaque. Airfix> seems to be re-releasing all sorts old stuff from 40 or 50 years agao. Maybe> they'll get the idea it could be profitable for them too,> > Val KrautFor years I've been looking for Disney-oriented kits (Disney being almost as big in our household as aircraft). Never been able to afford the Spacecraft kits. It seems that every time a Capt. Hook Pirate Ship with Disney packaging, etc. comes around it's tax time and I'm broke. I have the Glencoe release of the Rocket To the Moon and it's clever use of decals. Both of these kits, btw, are 1/72 scale models of the structures at Disneyland. One beat-up Pirates of the Caribbean from MPC is one of my favorite possessions.As shareholders we occasionally hear from the Imagineers looking for ideas (Lynne actually designed Disney's first Hannuchim, the menora used for Channukah, while talking with one of the Imagineers). For years I've suggested that they have re-pops done of the score or more Disney kits, but no luck yet. The retro products are huge. Most recent have been nice replicas of some of the board games such as Monorail, Adventureland, etc. I've shared with them the prices people are paying for the original kits and they seem interested. Maybe some day...Tom |
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