Is the market slowing down...?

[motormania]

I see that a certain mail order diecast company is not advertising in print these days, or not as wide spread as it used to. Could that mean that they are feeling the credit pinch too,

Or is that more and more people are now sourcing their items through eBay, using these large over-charging monsters as a means to keep abreast of what's new

Interesting...

[Eric Mc]

I think model sales move in line with fashion. For over ten years, die cast cars and aircraft have been selling well whilst plastic (and other) kits have declined. In recent years, I think that trend has reversed. I certainly sense that plastic kits are again growing in popularity.

I don't think that the credit crunch/crisis is the driver behind this change.

[chris watton]

Eric Mc said:

I think model sales move in line with fashion. For over ten years, die cast cars and aircraft have been selling well whilst plastic (and other) kits have declined. In recent years, I think that trend has reversed. I certainly sense that plastic kits are again growing in popularity.

I don't think that the credit crunch/crisis is the driver behind this change.

I think you're right there, historically, whenever there's been a downturn, the model industry stays pretty strong because people who have just been made redundant take up a hobby!

...And plastic models has definitely made a resurgence in the past few years, in part down to, I think, cheaper 'Tamiya rip-offs' coming in from the Far East.

[gruffgriff]

chris watton said:

cheaper 'Tamiya rip-offs' coming in from the Far East.

Blimey, are our Far-Eastern friends tooling Tamiya copies?

Hmm, I`ve seen those eBay listings of usually Hong Kong based traders offering Tamiyas at suspisiously low prices - so low they are still cheap with the postage added. Might explain why they are offering certain kits Tamiya themselves haven`t re-issued.

Edited by gruffgriff on Thursday 20th March 12:25

[chris watton]

gruffgriff said:

chris watton said:

cheaper 'Tamiya rip-offs' coming in from the Far East.

Blimey, are our Far-Eastern friends tooling Tamiya copies?

Hmm, I`ve seen those eBay listings of usually Hong Kong based traders offering Tamiyas at suspisiously low prices - so low they are still cheap with the postage added. Might explain why they are offering certain kits Tamiya themselves haven`t re-issued.

Edited by gruffgriff on Thursday 20th March 12:25

As I understand it, there are few, if any copyright laws in certain countries, and a quick like for like cross check of some kit parts will confirm that the similarity is quite striking, except of course, I know that the quality of Tamiya plastics is far higher than non Tamiya 'look a likes'

I have recently built on of those 16th scale Tamiya Tiger tanks, and even though I have made it go through hell, the plastics never seem to break or crack!

[Eric Mc]

Whatever about Tamiya copies, there are some very good new kits (often of very British subjects) coming out of China - especially from outfits like Trumpeter.