[admin]

Herpa's 1/200th seem to be worthy of a second look. I will be sampling this product as soon as I can.

#551519
Sukhoi SU-27UBK (Flanker B) Russian Air Force - 54th Kerth Guards Red Banner FR


This outstanding model photo was created by cgn-wings.de


This outstanding model photo was created by cgn-wings.de


This outstanding model photo was created by cgn-wings.de


This outstanding model photo was created by cgn-wings.de


This outstanding model photo was created by cgn-wings.de


This outstanding model photo was created by cgn-wings.de


This outstanding model photo was created by cgn-wings.de

[admin]

#551472
Lockheed Martin / Boeing F/A-22 Raptor US Air Force (AF03-044) - 94th Fighter Squadron 'Hat in the Ring'


This outstanding model photo was created by cgn-wings.de


This outstanding model photo was created by cgn-wings.de


This outstanding model photo was created by cgn-wings.de


This outstanding model photo was created by cgn-wings.de


This outstanding model photo was created by cgn-wings.de


This outstanding model photo was created by cgn-wings.de

[SKUNKY]

The Flanker looks pretty good, but that Raptor!........yucky...(sorry for the technical terminology)

[admin]

Originally Posted by SKUNKY

The Flanker looks pretty good, but that Raptor!........yucky...(sorry for the technical terminology)

Well, you do have to take into consideration that this is 1/200th up close. Most 1/72nd stuff can get pretty ugly if you get a little to close.

But, it's true, these are not directly competitive with the other mainstream fighter scales. Assuming the MSRP on these are less than 1/72, they may just represent another price point.

[flyXwire]

Originally Posted by Nockers

May be a little late but I get all my Herpa 1/200 from, aaronsupplyhobby.com

Hey thanks for the heads up on that site, nockers! How/what is their customer service like? Are you generally happy with them? Thanks.

{admin edit} Please respond via PM {/admin}

[b-huj]

The 1/200 market is probably more popular in Japan and Hong Kong because of space constraints at homes. Some younger collectors probably started with a few airliners in 1/200 scale and ran out of space...and started looking into other stuff, but 1/48 and even 1/72 may be too prohibitive.

I am quite happy with the new option (having moved to Hong Kong recently) but I see no justification whatsoever for Herpa pricing their 1/200 stuff above some 1/72 stuff in the market. The F/A-18F Diamondbacks 50th anniversary sells for over 300HK$ locally, while 1/72 Gaincorps are around the 300HK$ range, same with most Witty's and Dragon's. I positively don't think they ship these things from Guandong province to Dietenhoffen and then down to Hong Kong again!!!! It's just a miscalculated pricing strategy that may cause the new scale to be less popular than it could be and ultimately to its demise, pardon the pessimism.

World Aircraft Collection 1/200 is just as detailed (heard THEIR Tomcat is sweet) and more competitively priced, only Herpa has a wider distribution, therefore safe from competitors so far.

[skidmarksdiecast]

Originally Posted by b-huj

The 1/200 market is probably more popular in Japan and Hong Kong because of space constraints at homes. Some younger collectors probably started with a few airliners in 1/200 scale and ran out of space...and started looking into other stuff, but 1/48 and even 1/72 may be too prohibitive.

I am quite happy with the new option (having moved to Hong Kong recently) but I see no justification whatsoever for Herpa pricing their 1/200 stuff above some 1/72 stuff in the market. The F/A-18F Diamondbacks 50th anniversary sells for over 300HK$ locally, while 1/72 Gaincorps are around the 300HK$ range, same with most Witty's and Dragon's. I positively don't think they ship these things from Guandong province to Dietenhoffen and then down to Hong Kong again!!!! It's just a miscalculated pricing strategy that may cause the new scale to be less popular than it could be and ultimately to its demise, pardon the pessimism.

World Aircraft Collection 1/200 is just as detailed (heard THEIR Tomcat is sweet) and more competitively priced, only Herpa has a wider distribution, therefore safe from competitors so far.

I believe that the Herpa fighters are expensive because the tooling cost is very high. The tooling, for a plastic 1/200 scale plane, is considerably less expensive than the same plane's tooling when it's to be made from a molten zinc-based metal. Diecast models are also more labor intensive to assemble as it's a lot more time consuming to clean up metal flash than plastic flash.

[b-huj]

Originally Posted by skidmarksdiecast

I believe that the Herpa fighters are expensive because the tooling cost is very high. The tooling, for a plastic 1/200 scale plane, is considerably less expensive than the same plane's tooling when it's to be made from a molten zinc-based metal. Diecast models are also more labor intensive to assemble as it's a lot more time consuming to clean up metal flash than plastic flash.

Tooling and labour intensive yes, but that's not the reason for their pricing strategy as far as I heard. I can understand your position as a retailer, but you are also paying an extra price that I think Herpa should try to cut down if they want to stay competitive against the other 1/200 diecast fighter brand.