[DADoser]

Spoke with my local diecast dealer last fri afternoon. (He started in the business - 10 yrs? ago - in 1/6 scale action figures and now has both a store front and internet military hobby business.) He sells Corgi, Dragon, Hobby Master, Witty, FOV, 21st Century, takara minis, etc, etc.

I was talking to him about the discussion on this board regarding production runs and Chinese factories wanting larger runs of specific models. He said - its not just Corgi, that ALL the companies - diecast and action figures - are having the same issues. The Chinese economy is booming right now and the factories don't want to run small numbered production runs. If they can use the same machinery to tool and run a large number of "parts" for, lets say the auto industry - then diecast loses every time.

His opinion is that this will get worse - unless another country starts heavy into the manufacturing industry i.e Korea, Vietnam, etc. In other words, the diecast industry needs a new source of factories ready and willing to give their production runs top priority.

I can remember seeing this in the action figure market. You could get a really good figure for around $30-35 a few years ago. Today, the same figure/same detail typically runs $50. He was talking how this really effects the "new" collector coming into the market. Having been around for awhile, the incremental jumps in price have gotten the old collector used to the cost - while at $50 a pop for an action figure is too high a price for someone to jump into collecting.

Could the diecast market be going the same way? If so, how long will it be before we start seeing Corgi single engine WWII fighters going for $40-45 each? (Oh the horror.) That would slow my collecting down rather quickly.

Thoughts/perspective/new or different information?????????????

[djjeffhall]

DADoser,
Hey there.

I think that Corgi will have to start lowering their prices at this point. There are too many new rivals putting out better product at a lower price point. If Hobby Master, Gemini and Dragon are all putting out single engine airplanes at the $25.00 range, they are going to have to have a signifigantly better product than the afore mentioned brands (Which they do not. Equal perhaps, but not better and certainly not good enought to warrent being $15.00 more.) to compete.

Conversely, the afore mentioned brands could raise their respective prices, but the "new guys" thus far have show a tendancy to undercut Corgi price wise.

I think it's far to early to tell how everything is going to play out.

[timbo]

I have a feeling we will be seeing "Made in somewhere else" on the boxes before long.

The only reason these are made in china now is because ot the ready supply of cheap labour and resources. If these are now no longer available why stay. I'm sure India would do well with these.

[Celtic]

I don't think Corgi dares lower their prices unless they can find cheaper suppliers (perhaps Indochina or India). They can't produce these things at a loss, and if that happened, I think they would drop out, at least temporarily (which is, in effect, what they've done by having all these delays).

I have to disagree that Corgi quality isn't tops; however they do have problems with qualilty CONTROL, and that is where the China/factory problems are telling on both Corgi and us collectors. To me, most of their new releases have had a big wow! factor. The problem is getting good product to the customers, and in this the factories are letting us all down. And this is happening just when Corgi has hit on a winning combination of good quality molds and low production runs.

Unless new, cheaper producers can be found, I think Corgi will have to raise prices, or get out of the AA business and start producing nothing but cheap WB-type models.