Tamiya have just released a new 'Memorial' Version (whatever that is supposed to mean ) of the Tiger 1 (LATE). Price? A mere snip at between $70-120. For more on this extraordinary bargain, go HERE

How it can be resisted, I really don't know....Jim :-)

R.I.P. TAMIYA (1:35)

After a long debilitating illness, the demise of Tamiya came as no surprise. Having suffered an increasingly bad health, ( such as recent spells of AFV, Dragon and lately the fatal attack of 3 in 1) repeated medical attempts ( limited Edition, Memorial Version, Re-boxing) where unable to save Tamiya. Sorely missed by many, Tamiya will live on I our memories and in 1:48.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! :-) :-) :-) Brilliant Henk!

My "favourite" comment in that thread: "Tamiya is expensive but it is still the best... " ----- I'm not quite sure if that guy is joking! But whatever he's smoking... send me some! Link

They're insane. On the Tamiya USA website they have it adevrtised for $124!! No matter how good or bad their kits are, this is not the way to do it. I can easily buy one of their Tiger I Late kits, add the Friul tracks and an Aber or Eduard barrel and voila, you got the full kit for much less than they ask. I'll switch to Dragon for sure.

This is definitely the funniest thing I've heard after the guy selling Tamiya's sheridan for 150$ at Ebay! :-) (He said the box even included a tube of styrene cement!)

I'm not sure are we talking about the same model, but I think that "new" tiger was released some time ago. I've seen it in a couple of hbby shops here in Finland. The price was about 80€ Too bad, Mr. T, I've already got my Dragon's Tiger for half the price.

Tamiya should really get themselves together. All they seem to do is re-releasing 70's stuff, scaling down old kits, and selling "pre-finished" stuff. Like, how on earth wants pre-finished sandbags!? And car models that come with painted and decaled body shells, not my models-of-choice.

This is what infuriates me (and others) any company that was capable of bringing out the Famo, the Cromwell, the M8 and a load of BRILLIANT kits of that quality, to suddenly convert themselves into an object of derision across the modelling world, is frankly pitiful....Jim

I think we should be grateful for Tamiya's persistance over the years. Without their consistent re-releasing and reboxing of ( by todays standards!!) old and obsolete kits, and refusal to bring out anything else but Tigers and Panthers ( the kit in the thread being a case in point), we would not have complained, and we might not have seen the enormous amount of kits that are now produced by so many (small) companies. We have a choice of subjects which can only be discribed as staggering. If you want it, it's bound to be produced by somebody, if not from Asia then in Eastern Europe. And to be fair, the cheaper Tamiya kits are great for beginners, after all they are easy to build.

Cheers
Henk

Greed...pure and simple.
I can recall when in the 70s a Tamiya kit cost around $12.00 dollars. Over the years I became disgusted with their kits when they rose to 30-50 dollars. Maybe they do have some of the best molded kits around, but come on! There's a point when it becomes too darn much.

Was this a case of modelers willing to pay 30-40 dollars for a kit and and Tamiya thinking..well hey, if they'll pay that, then maybe they'll pay this!?

that's just crazy.....

This kit is in my LHS, looks like it has metal tracks, metal barrel, I think metal tow cables, and a crew...Price? $180.00 Canadian..yet I see DML's 3n1, for hmmm how much? Oh, $43.00. Gee I think that's a no brainer! :-) It's really sad to see this...but I will still buy Tamiya cars, they are the best out there, I cannot go back to a Revell car kit ever again... I also saw the "new" 1/48 German figures, gee, they look exactly like the really old figures just shrunken down! Why not make all new figures to coincide with the new 1/48th line?

I think Military Hobbies has this kit for 56 US$ or is'nt that the same kit we are talking about. Still, my next Tiger is the DML Late

Nope, not this one. This is the one which doesn't come in a box, it comes in monogrammed Crocodile Skin....Jim :-)

It's bad enough that they (Tamiya) are geting hammered by the competition, now they are driving their own nails in their coffin. It's to the point now that I no longer have any pitty or respect for them.

I once saw a memorial edition of the walker bulldog going for 70 bucks.

So now i know what's up with these 'special editions'

OK, first off I think it is an outrageous price for the kit, that said there are some that will buy it, and if they want to spend there money on it then so be it. Second I really don't understand why so many people are intent on bashing Tamiya, with comments like the last nail in the coffin, what are they thinking and so on. I think you have to realize that Tamiya's bread and butter is not 1/35 armor, take a look at their rc department or even their aircraft, that is where I think Tamiya's big money comes from. I grew up building T's armor and aircraft, and anytime they released something new (not reboxed or rereleased) I was amazed, for the most part their engineering and quality is top notch. Now all of a sudden it seems like the new thing is to bash Tamiya for not throwing kits out like Dragon and AFV (not offense to either company, as I like building their kits also) but when have they ever? Tamiya's releases are always scarce. I do hope they continue with 1/35th, anything, they have quite a few kits they could expand on, Wespe-nice chasis to do a pzII, Marder- 38t, T-55-export and desertized, Variants of the pzIV, pzIII (I like Axis armor by the way) Famo, 6x6 and so on and so on. If they want to continue on with the 48 scale stuff, good I hope it does well for them, and I hope the trickle down effect works, and some of that money is sent to the 1/35 research department, maybe then they will do that scammel that the allied folks would like to see. Anyway don't count Tamiya out until they come out and say "Sorry folks we aren't doing 1/35 scale anymore, it was fun while it lasted, but our real money lies elsewhere" When Tamiya does release their next 35th kit I hope that all the doomsayers jump back on the Tamiya bandwagon they jumped off of last year. One last thing, this is not an attack on anyone who responded to this thread or has posted on other threads about Tamiya's downfall, it is just my 2 cents about the plastic model company whose product I do so enjoy building. So please don't take offense, none was intended.
Best Regards,
Robert

No offense taken. Undoubtedly Tamiya sees what is going on around them in the 1/35 world and their percieved response is to reissue an outdated kit with aftermarket products give it a fancy "series" name and jack the price through the roof instead of retooling or issue a new kit of the quality they are known for and try to be competitive.

I firmly believe that their kits are top quality stuff and I can't blame them if someone actually pays the price for the kit. It just seems that they have a "high and mighty" attitude and only throw us a bone once and a while to string the modeling community along. Now they want to get in to the 1/48 market. Fine, I wish them well, but don't ignore your 1/35 base of customers because when the 1/48 adventure dosen't pan out there will be no one left to turn to when you decide this might have been a mistake.

I don't want to see them gone from the 1/35 industry, that would only hurt all of us. But if they want to ignore us and keep issuing the same outdated stuff with ever increasing prices, they are going to get buried by their competition. And I don't have a problem with that.

I'm not taking offence by Robert's comments either. Perhaps, those of me who consider me a Tamiya 'basher' (as i'm sure several do) should consider this. I feel that after what Tamiya was doing a few years ago, was superb (Famo, M20, Cromwells etc.) therefore I take it personally that they are now (IMHO) treating those of us that supported them since the 1970s, with a disinterest which borders on contempt. It took me a while, but I am very much on their side with 1/48th scale - it shows they still have some imagination. The hobby is much better with 5-6 big players rather than the situation we find ourselves in now. However, back to the original subject, $120+ for a reboxed kit is sheer, stark-raving, madness....Jim

Hey I used to buy strictly Tamiya 20 years ago but when a company begins to "flounder" or at least "falter" isn't it "loyal" consumer that speaks with the "pocket book"or "derides" on a web site?

Ther is nothing wrong with a person pointing out that the quality or direction of a company "in their opinion" is wrong. It is the poster's opinion and I believe in "free speech" that is not meant to "inflame" but is there to make a point. So write on...

Cheers, Michael

Nuff said.

Hello all
I don't build alot of German armor but I have built quite a few Tamiay kits. If what you say about their recent release is true then I agree with the majority of you, "Are they out of their minds ." That said ; I believe in free market competition. Dragon (DML ) did so well in the beginning because they produced a good quality kit for much less that Tamaiya. And that opened the door for other companies. My view is they are spurring on competititon which in the long run can only benefit modelers.
If Tamiya wants to raise the cost of their models, old or new releases, which in turn spurs on other manufacturers to produce more models at less. Then I for one will sit here with a smile on my face as I reap the rewards.
Jerry

I remember as a kid 20 years ago just drooling at Tamiya kits. I mean $7 for Italeri might as well had been a $1million since I had no job and little allowance money. The graphics on those Tamiya boxes and the huge color catalogs with page after page of tanks just amazed me.

Today, even with a good paying career, Tamiya kits might soon be $1million :-)

How about double the value?...Jim

No, it isn't pre-painted. That is what all the song and dance routine is about. It is a Tamiya Tiger kit with crew, Metal Barrel and some Friul tracks. Whether they throw in a tube of glue, I don't know but it isn't one of those 'pre-built' things...Jim