[DADoser]

I'm pretty much a Corgi 1/72 guy - but when I look at my Corgi purchases from this past year (2007 Catalog), I see a HUGE difference in my purchases.

From the 2007 catalog - heres what I've bought:
P-38 - Loehnert "California Cutie" US36604 (only reason I bought this one - on sale 20% off from local dealer - no shipping)

Pre-orders - (still from 2007 catalog, but will not arrive till 2008)
Albatross - Ritter AA37802
SPAD - Guynemer AA37902
P-51C - Archer US37103 Flying Mule exclusive (2 pre-ordered)

(Granted: these haven't hit Tuesday Morning yet or other post-Xmas 07 "clearance" sales.)

From the 2006 calalog:
2 Legends (full price)
6 AA releases (full price)
4 AA new releases (local dealer sales)

3 Legends (Tuesday Morning blowout prices)
3 AA (TM blowout)


I see a HUGE difference in my Corgi purchases from 2006 to 2007. There may be a couple more from 2007 that I would pick up if they hit TM prices - i.e. a P-40; P-38; possibly a medium. I'm just not that interested in most of the 2007 releases. (While I haven;t looked too closely at the upcoming 2008 releases, I see my trend being similiar to my 2007 catalog purchases.)


What did you buy (pre-order, or close to full price) from the 2007 catalog? Does anyone else have a similiar trend to mine? Anyone have a reverse trend - where you bought MORE from the 2007 catalog than 2006? What are your personal trends in Corgi purchases? And....Why do you think you are trending that way in your purchases? - increased competition from other/new manufacturers? increasing prices? decreasing interest in the hobby? quality control/accuracy issues from Corgi?

Thanks in advace for sharing your opinion/perspective/thought. I was just thinking - looking at my own purchases - and wondering where others are in this area with Corgi.

Take care.
DADoser

[Epapazian]

Originally Posted by DADoser

I'm pretty much a Corgi 1/72 guy - but when I look at my Corgi purchases from this past year (2007 Catalog), I see a HUGE difference in my purchases.

From the 2007 catalog - heres what I've bought:
P-38 - Loehnert "California Cutie" US36604 (only reason I bought this one - on sale 20% off from local dealer - no shipping)

Pre-orders - (still from 2007 catalog, but will not arrive till 2008)
Albatross - Ritter AA37802
SPAD - Guynemer AA37902
P-51C - Archer US37103 Flying Mule exclusive (2 pre-ordered)

(Granted: these haven't hit Tuesday Morning yet or other post-Xmas 07 "clearance" sales.)

From the 2006 calalog:
2 Legends (full price)
6 AA releases (full price)
4 AA new releases (local dealer sales)

3 Legends (Tuesday Morning blowout prices)
3 AA (TM blowout)


I see a HUGE difference in my Corgi purchases from 2006 to 2007. There may be a couple more from 2007 that I would pick up if they hit TM prices - i.e. a P-40; P-38; possibly a medium. I'm just not that interested in most of the 2007 releases. (While I haven;t looked too closely at the upcoming 2008 releases, I see my trend being similiar to my 2007 catalog purchases.)


What did you buy (pre-order, or close to full price) from the 2007 catalog? Does anyone else have a similiar trend to mine? Anyone have a reverse trend - where you bought MORE from the 2007 catalog than 2006? What are your personal trends in Corgi purchases? And....Why do you think you are trending that way in your purchases? - increased competition from other/new manufacturers? increasing prices? decreasing interest in the hobby? quality control/accuracy issues from Corgi?

Thanks in advace for sharing your opinion/perspective/thought. I was just thinking - looking at my own purchases - and wondering where others are in this area with Corgi.

Take care.
DADoser

My trend is very clear as regards Corgi. I'm buying fewer of its product each year and holding back on preorders---though I still place some orders this way to make sure I get a plane or two that I want.

Why is this the case?

The answer is simple. Corgi seems more and more oriented towards its UK and/or Commonwealth base, in its selection of new planes, their liveries and the care taken regarding accuracy. While I'll buy a rocket bearing Typhoon and the Blenheim Mk. IV, plus some BOB HE-111s or JU-88s, the overall menu for 2008 is pretty lame. What's taking up the slack? Clearly, it's Hobby Master and, to a lesser extent, Gemini Aces, Carousel 1 and Century Wings. Also in play, at least where I'm concerned,are offerings by Altaya, Easy Model and even Model Power, particularly when they introduce planes that haven't been done before. Another factor is Corgi's declining lineup of AFV offerings. One of the things that attracts me to Hobby Master and Easy Model are their expanding AFV lines. Compared to them Corgi has become a no-show. Certainly, it has relinquished the leadership role to others who are eagerly filling the resulting void.

[HotTrap429]

Originally Posted by Epapazian

The answer is simple. Corgi seems more and more oriented towards its UK and/or Commonwealth base, in its selection of new planes, their liveries and the care taken regarding accuracy.

Thank you Epapazian for saying this so eloquently. I been wanting to say the same thing for the past two years, but have been weary of sounding biased and offending most of our fellow forum members. I've even noticed the same trend with the planes and liveries put out by HobbyMaster as well. As an American buyer who is not remotely interested in British and German planes, I find myself slowly being driven out of a hobby that I really love due to a lack of subjects that interest me.

This past year I purchased one Corgi model from the 2007 catalog. I got the "California Cutie" P-38. I recently was able to buy the Richard Bong P-38 because it was a damaged model sold at a very reduced price. All told, I have added six Corgi's to my collection this year - none British or German aircraft. I don't forsee buying anything from the new catalog next year - nothing there warrants overspending my hard-earned money on. Corgi's cost are extremely uncompetitive in my view for what they offer and the inconsistent quality of their product. I'll buy a few of their older models from ebay if the price is right or I'll look to other manufacturers such as HobbyMaster's USAAF P-39 - not the Russian or British versions for example for an occasional purchase.

[WJP]

I had to go back and look at the catalog on this one. I believe I've only purchased 3 2007 Corgi releases (Black Lysander , Mine Ju52, & Cal Cutie). The others I 've purchased this year were 2006 releases that were either cheap or delayed. The trend for me is definitely towards buying less. Not sure there is any one reason for this. I think I could probably produce a whole list.

1) Too much on the market - Corgi needs to put some molds to rest. Plus one has too wonder why on some releases. This years US2008 releases are a good example.

2) Uninspiring choices - This goes for the schemes and models. I always scratch my head when I see whats an AA vs Warbird vs Legend. I also agree with others that there has been too much British stuff. I like it but I typically don't get that excited for it nor do I buy more than a couple.

3) Failure to hit a delivery dates - I tend to lose my excitement for a particular release once it gets delayed month after month

4) Miss steps- Corgi P51B, Spitfire IX, Typhoon. I still can't believe Corgi couldn't get the these right. In the case of the Typhoon, I can't believe I have to wait until June or whenever to finally get a rocket equiped one. And that joint line is terrible!

5) Too expensive - For the price these ought to be far more detailed and have much less visable joint lines.

Corgi will probably still make up the majority of my purchases because no one else is making anything to get me excited. I keep hoping Gemini will expand its range but a Phantom and Skyraider isn't going to do it for me.

[PappyB]

I think I only got the three -- Galland 109, Chetwood Jug, and MTO Lib... I've been scaling back a bit on 1:72 WW II stuff and focusing more on modern era and/or larger scale lately, the corgi price hikes really turned me off on the new releases. I'm going to wait and see what hits teh bargain bins... (got the MTO lib for %50 off for example)

[1250ships]

Looks to me like I got none of the AA releases. I did buy a Predators Dauntless and Avenger. I did buy a lot of Corgi models this year, just all older one.

The 2007 models I was interested in were either canceled, issued with some major mistakes, or ended up too expensive for my budget.

[bsmith13]

While I'm not finished with 2007 Catalog year purchases yet, I have noticed that I am buying less and less new stuff from Corgi. An additional reason is that I would rather have a cast of an aircraft that isn't in my collection yet, rather than 2 or 3 more BF109s...

[Rush104]

Originally Posted by Epapazian

My trend is very clear as regards Corgi. I'm buying fewer of its product each year and holding back on preorders---though I still place some orders this way to make sure I get a plane or two that I want.

Why is this the case?

The answer is simple. Corgi seems more and more oriented towards its UK and/or Commonwealth base, in its selection of new planes, their liveries and the care taken regarding accuracy. While I'll buy a rocket bearing Typhoon and the Blenheim Mk. IV, plus some BOB HE-111s or JU-88s, the overall menu for 2008 is pretty lame. What's taking up the slack? Clearly, it's Hobby Master and, to a lesser extent, Gemini Aces, Carousel 1 and Century Wings. Also in play, at least where I'm concerned,are offerings by Altaya, Easy Model and even Model Power, particularly when they introduce planes that haven't been done before. Another factor is Corgi's declining lineup of AFV offerings. One of the things that attracts me to Hobby Master and Easy Model are their expanding AFV lines. Compared to them Corgi has become a no-show. Certainly, it has relinquished the leadership role to others who are eagerly filling the resulting void.

Personally, I have no problem with Corgi being UK oriented, since they are a UK company. They are also the only one (so far) making certain airplanes (like the Canberra) in diecast.
And, like Epi said, other companies are picking up the slack for the American aircraft.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again- too bad there isn't a French or Russian or Swedish company like Corgi so we can get those countries' planes made...

[Epapazian]

One thing that still surprises me about Corgi's new product selections is the shunning of certain planes that would be big sellers on both sides of "The Pond". Certainly, the A-20 falls into this category. It's early versions were heavily used by the Brits and U.S. forces, as well as the French and various Commonwealth nations, while the later solid nose version was employed by the U.S. in many theaters as well as the Russians and others. A-20s would offer a vast array of interesting schemes to consider, including night fighters as well as day bomber versions. Also high on my "both sides of the pond" list is the Hudson---certainly an early war RAF mainstay, but also appealing to U.S. collectors and probably their Canadian and "Down Under" counterparts. The Beaufighter -- another plane that is strangely missing from Corgi's lineup-- would also sell well to Yanks as well as Brits. Hopefully, Corgi's new management will make a stronger effort to rekindle a broader base of interest in its product line by adding planes such as these as well as "riskier" but very appealing entries like the Val, MC-202, IL-2M and many others the market has been clamoring for.

[JustPlaneNuttz]

You guys make some very valid and interesting points. It is very obvious our collecting experience is quite different too.

I don't buy US or German aircraft (yet) as my level of interest has been very closely associated with the RAF of RCAF. All at 1:72 scale. That said, I also suffer from an extremely small display space (likely the smallest of anyones on the forum) that can only accommodate 3-5 planes at any given time -- and that depends on the planes too! Because of this, my collection is in rotation almost every 2 weeks. To date, my purchases have been somewhat random, only buying what I like. But that poses display problems again, sooooooo . . . .

This year (2007) I have taken a hard look at my scrappy collection and decided to take a different approach. 'Theme' these displays. Because of the main 'heavies' I have (and will be getting) I have it broken down into 3 (or 4 if I count my Civil Propliners interest):

1. "Early Days" (based on my Halifax Mk II as the centerpiece)
2. "Daring Ops" (based on my Dams Lancaster as the centerpiece)
3. "Nose Art & Aces" (based on my upcoming 'Friday the 13th' Halifax as the centerpiece)
4. "Propliners of the 50s/60s" (based on my CPA Britannia -- but you guys don't wanna hear about that stuff)

Each comprises of a 4-engine bomber, a single engine aircraft (or two) and a 2-engine bomber. If I ever DID get the space to put all of this out, it would make a lovely display with a fascinating story behind each group that would appeal to either aviation enthusiasts or act as inspiration to new potentials to our hobby.

Interestingly, not one of these 'themes' is 100% complete yet, so, in 2008, I will be hitting up Aiken's and others to start infilling the older models to finish the first theme. That will be my goal in January and go from there. The rest will come from the new releases which I will have to wait till 2nd half of 2008, others, the 1st half, and ALL of those will come only from my newly established source here. Very nice fellow!

So to answer the question, my purchases this coming year will be up -- a bit. I won't be buying from eBay or discounters as that is not my way of doing things. I specifically hate the wait in shipping, if I can avoid it. In the case of Aiken's, I'll just have to live with that one.

I'd love to start a US pre-war 'theme' too (See: Wright Field 1941 thread photo -- man, that was inspiring!), but I could be waiting a very very long time for anything like that to materialize! Meanwhile, I'll concentrate on the RAF.

My only beefs about Corgi is getting the models historically accurate. I have some that are less than ideal historically (actually Corgi should be embarrassed by this!), yet surprisingly, they still look good on display. That Halifax cock-up was just unforgivable -- especially in light of some others I have from Corgi which are absolutely perfect, perfect, perfect! C'mon Corgi -- the originals are in your own backyard forcryingoutloud!

Still -- I remain somewhat optimistic for 2008, as I do prefer Corgi's models over the others.

JPN