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| Why Plastic Aircraft Models are Going Away | |
| 2005-01-31 | |
January 31, 2005: For over half a century, kits have been sold that enable military history buffs to assemble scale models of military ships, aircraft and vehicles. But that era is coming to an end, as the manufacturers of the original equipment, especially aircraft, are demanding high royalties (up to $40 per kit) from the kit makers. Since most of these kits sell in small quantities (10-20,000) and are priced at $15-30 (for plastic kits, wooden ones are about twice as much), tacking on the royalty just prices the kit out of the market. Popular land vehicles, which would sell a lot of kits, are missing as well. The new U.S. Army Stryker armored vehicles are not available because of royalty requirements. Even World War II aircraft kits are being hit with royalty demands. This move grew out of the idea that corporations should maximize "intellectual property" income. Models of a companys products are considered the intellectual property of the owner of a vehicle design. In the past, the model kits were considered free advertising, and good public relations, by the defense firms. The kit manufacturers comprise a small industry, and the aircraft manufacturers will probably not even notice if they put many of the model vendors out of business. Some model companies will survive by only selling models of older (like World War I), or otherwise "no royalty" items (Nazi German aircraft) and ships. But the aircraft were always the bulk of sales, and their loss will cripple many of the kit makers.
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| Posted by:Steve |
| #8 ...The situation isn't quite as bad as it looks, but it's grim enough: a typical 1/72 model of, say, an F-16, is going to run about $10-15 based on the manufacturer - the royalties will easily add around $5 to the cost of the kit. The floodgates my have been opened with a recent release of a 1/32 F-16 kit from Tamiya, where the Japanese company didnt even blink when they paid LockMart it's Even if the worst happens, there will be more than a few ways around it, and more than a few modelers I've met have suggested that if it gets manufacturers to build more 'no-royalty' kits (rather than the 158th F-16 release) it might not be so bad. I do agree with Elmomoting, however - drop your Congress critter a line and remind them that these people are working to wipe out a truly wonderful hobby. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2005-01-31 10:59:29 PM |
| #7 Pardon me, the US military designs are paid for by DoD, which owns the rights to them and if some SOB thought he had the government agent sign away those in some buried clause in some oversized contract, he as an invalid contract. Now the Stryker IIRC is based upon an original Canadian design. However, if these chicken s**ts want to play hardball, a little rider to a congressional bill will take care of their tokus in a heart beat. And its cheap political points with local news coverage as Representative 'Doe' saves children's happiness. |
| Posted by: Elmomoting Grunter8338 2005-01-31 3:32:19 PM |
| #6 especially since R&D is financed by and large by gov't contracts? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-01-31 10:48:10 AM |
| #5 Kinda like how comic books used to be 25 cents, until a bunch of adult |
| Posted by: BH 2005-01-31 10:47:52 AM |
#4 Multi-billion dollar military contracts aren't enough, they have to squeaze a few bucks out of little kids. I don't see what this royalty thing is all about. I mean, these plastic models aren't exactly functional, so how do these people get off demanding a royalty payment? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-01-31 10:40:05 AM |
| #3 This move grew out of the idea that corporations should maximize âintellectual propertyâ income. Hmm. A few pennies per kit versus no pennies 'cause there are no kits... How exactly are the Stryker manufacturers maximising their intellectual property income? |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2005-01-31 10:35:38 AM |
| #2 Lawyers run amok. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-01-31 10:34:12 AM |
| #1 Aw, fer the love of Pete! What the hell is this? I built dozens and dozens of Revell and Monogram kits when I was growing up of everything--cars, tanks, planes. This is a good way to kill off the industry altogether, and then the greedy corporate bastards won't get one red cent! |
| Posted by: Dar 2005-01-31 10:30:46 AM |