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I think you have to consider that Italeri must have their own commerical reasons for such a release. ...
Thing is, some people would rather pay £25 for a more basic kit, while others are happy to pay £50 for the cutting edge.
While I agree that Italeri certainly didn't make an irrational decision from their own perspective, at least here in the US, their recent kit retail prices have skyrocketed.
At least here in the US, there is no way that this release will be competitively priced. Will it be cheaper than DML - surely. However, its price won't be that far behind DML, and the kit, subject, and accuracy will hardly justify what Italeri will ask for it.
Italeri would have been much better off, IMO, up-dating and re-releasing one of their more "unique" subjects like their M13/40 (really an M14/41) and / or their Semoventi.
Both of Italeri's kits of these two subjects are way more accurate than either of Tamiya's; Both essentially suffer from detail that is engraved too shallow and "soft" rather than anything fundamentally wrong which should allow improvements to the original molds; and both could be "up-graded" with only a few new parts like new fenders, better tracks and a small PE fret (most likely made common to both kits).
Up-dated (if done right) re-releases of either or both of these subjects would have put something on the shelves that would have been unique, more original, and more justified of what will certainly be Italeri's excessively high asking price for a mediocre also-ran Pz IV.
Just my .02... (which, BTW, will not be spent on Italeri's re-released Pz IV)
