Tamiya is reportedly re-releasing their 25 lb, unchanged. Guess they don't want to be left out of the race even though they're coming in dead last. What are they thinking!!

Well, they're probably thinking that they can release their kit now, steal sales from the new kits selling to people who really aren't that concerned about accuracy and want a relatively inexpensive kit that goes together easily and looks like a 25 pdr.

For my next feat of telepathy I will now predict the outcome of the current US Congressional budget debates...

:)

Paul

When a lot of new stuff is announced , other companys always rerelease an older OOP kit or a least say they've got one coming out " soon " . to steal the 1st companys thunder . It happens in area of retail sales not just plastic kits .
That being said if the price is right I'll get the Tamiya kit . Last time I built one (1977 ? ) all I had for reference photos were an old 60s Soldier magazine and a Ballentines History of WW 2 book about the Afrika Korp.

Tamiya brought back their 88 when AFV and Dragon were releasing there. I don't really have a problem with it, the 25 pounder is a great beginner kit, should be cheap.

Don't forget - Tamiya already paid off all the research & tooling costs decades ago, so for the sake of a few dollars to inject, pack, and ship the kit they can rake in a profit. They know the clock is ticking, though - once a better kit is on the shelves theirs will be worthless. So it's just squeezing a last "hurrah" from an old investment...

Tom

While it's a sound business practice by Tamiya to squeeze out the last bit of profit from a set of old molds, it reminded me of the sad fact that since I got back into modeling and taken up armor over aircraft, I've yet to buy a single Tamiya kit, preferring Dragon, AFV, and Tasca offerings.

At my age, price is not a primary consideration. Accuracy, quality, & precise fit are how I decide on which kits to purchase.

Seems to me that Tamiya concentrates its efforts these days on aircraft and cars, with armor being dead last on their priority list.

Personally, I think Tamiya are ridiculous but ...
(I wrote this reply in a thread on another forum a few days ago ... with one small alteration, the same answer applie here.

There are a lot of modellers out there ... probably many many more than we that troll the internet for the latest, that enjoy a model that looks the part, and is easy to build. They don’t care for 100% accuracy either, and most probably haven’t even heard of Bronco or know they are releasing an updated version.
Fair play to them as long as they enjoy their hobby, I don’t have any issue with this. My annoyance is the re-re-re-release price that follows with these "new" Tamiya kits. That’s the sad part.
They’ll probably sell well on the back of the hype of the Bronco kit, so they don’t even need an advertising campaign.
But its not only Tamiya ... Dragon do this all the time when others release kits ... hence the orange box series. All the rest will probably follow suit later, when they have older tooling available that they can re-release. Its business as usual, or business that we´ll have to get used to, I’m afraid.

If Tamiya's re-release of old kits funds stuff like the Char Bis and an updated Matilda and Pzkpw II I'm down with it!

I've got no problem with what Tamiya or any other manufacturer for that matter chooses to do as regards what they do and don't release as kits, I am after all, not obliged to buy it.

As regards Tamiya and its re-releases I think its a shame they don't re-release the LRDG Chevy as that's one I'd like but don't want to pay the current going rate on ebay!!!

I know they did a limited run a while back with the Italeri Breda included but I wish they would put it out on general release again.

Alan

I really love Tamiya kits, they just snap together, and everything goes together easely. BUT, compered to almost everybody else, their pace is rather slow. If they really have to re-release a kit, then why not go for something that's not already on the marked, like the LRDG Chevy, as Alan pointed out.
And Frank, not trying to stand up for Dragon, but in their Orange boxes, they actually throw in something new and more, than in the old kit, AND the price is still pretty low.
Jacob

Not to stir the pot too much, but I just went out to buy a new steam iron. There were several types on the shelf, with a range of features and prices, even multiple types by the same maker. It reminded me that it's common practice to have direct competition in the manufacturing sector - if anything the modelling hobby is odd because such a high percentage of our model subjects are only kitted by one or at most two manufacturers.

Tamiya's kit will appeal to a different part of the hobby to the Bronco kit, so no real problems there. Of course it would be nice if Tamiya reflected the true cost in their prices rather than asking as much as they feel they can get away with, but in a free market they are allowed to ask whatever they want.

The only thing that does bug me is when manufacturers "announce" kits that they aren't really making, just to spoil sales of a rival that is actually developing the said kit. A recent case springs to mind where a new truck that was in development to the point of test shots was shelved by a timid company after a "spoiler" by a rival claimed to be doing one too. The only "losers" in this dirty fighting turns out to be us hobbyists. Sadly there is no law against that...

Tom

I've never been big on Tamiya kits, choosing to invest my money in Italeri, Trumpeter, and Academy. Academy releases a bunch of good Tamiya kits under their banner. I agree about releasing something that isn't on the market, already. I would pick up a LRDG. I never knew that their 25pdr. had been discontinued. Seems everybody has one. If I do a 25pdr., I'll buy with the quadtractor for $20. Tamiya needs to poney up and start putting some pe or am metal parts in their kits. If I buy Tamiya, I'll stick with their ac(I build maybe two a year).

You can still find original Tamiya 25lb's and Quads on LHS shelves. I just wonder what the new price will be for the re-release!