How Far Would You Go? How Much Would You Pay?

[John Howling Mouse]

For the absolutely most important/desirable model kit to you, what would you be willing to shell out?

Don't care if no one else thinks it is a "Holy Grail" kit or not, just if it's important to you.

[B777LR]

100 kroner max.

[Captain Canada]

I already sold my soul to rock and roll. So I'm out.

No, wait a minute, I sold it to John Molson !

Duh...how could I forget that !

In reality,tho, there are no kits out there I'm dying for. Anything plastic will do !

 

[Geoff_B]

It all depends on what it is which would dictate how much you would pay. Prices were generally greatly inflated with 2nd Hand kit dealers but with ebay coming to the fore these days rarer items tend to appear more frequently.

Why what have you spotted or what is your Holy Grail kit ? as that might be the more relevant question with the worldwide coverage we have what maybe one persons grail may just be surplus loft insulation to another....

G

[GTX]

one persons grail may just be surplus loft insulation to another....

Well, if anyone has a 1/48 Bugatti Type 100 Racer in their loft, please let me know - I'll make it worth your while .

Regards,

Greg

[AeroplaneDriver]

I guess I'm a bit of a cheapskate with models, even though I buy a lot of them (I think anyway).  It's pretty rare for me to pay full retail for something, no matter how much I want it.  Once of the kits I really wanted is the Hase 1/48 F-104.  My LHS has had several for years, but I've never been willing to shel out the $30 to get one.  I finally broke down and did buy one with some Christmas mone that was allocated to models, but even then I shopped around until I found one for $24.  A few days later I found another for $21 so I got it too.  

I desperately wanted a TSR.2, but the only reason I have one is because of someone on here selling his extras for $25.  There is no way I would have one if I had to pay $50-$100.  

[Shasper]

For me, a 3rd gen. frugal Kraut, the cost would have to be "Reasonable" for the kit in question. However, since there aint too many Holy Grails out there for me, I dont have to worry.

Shas B)

[Rafael]

I go cheap. Apart of the empty wallet, Obatining a kit is an ordeal this days in my country. Of course, you might say "buy via Internet", but obtaining the currency for that in the current climate is mor or less difficult. So I kitbash and, of late, scratchbuild. Whoever said the world was fair?

Rafa

[philp]

Cost is a big factor in what I can buy but there are several kits out there I would love to get if I hit the lottery or a jackpot in Wendover.

Revell 72nd USS Gato $70 at my LHS
Finemolds 72nd Millenium Falcon $200 or there abouts
Trumpeter 72nd Bear $100+

Plus some older kits that go for astronomical prices on evilbay.
Monogram Tom Daniels
Rommel's Rod
Dragon Wagon
Tijuana Taxi

Macross 72nd kits that fit the Mechwarrior universe
Marauder
Rifleman
Hammerhead
(these all have different names in the Macross universe)

All of the above usually go for $80+ with over $100 very common.
Even someones old glue bomb sells for $70+ and may not have all the pieces???
If I had known that, I would never have given away my old kits when I moved (Air Force Brat).  Oh well...

[BlackOps]

I would hate to have a seriously nagging case of buyers remorse after dropping a bundle on a kit and then finding out I had built up my expectations too high.

I have yet to spend more than $35.00 on a single kit but don't think twice about buying several $20.00 kits all at once. I think I'd put about a $75.00 cap on a plastic kit and $200.00 for a nice Resin kit. Of course the only resin kits I have currently are very small and cost less than $25.00  


Please note that in a moment of weakness all of the above statements may become null and void  

[John Howling Mouse]

Why what have you spotted or what is your Holy Grail kit ?

No real "holy grail" kit out there for me but when I see stuff like the cool subjects Anigrand is putting out or the big Trumpeter kits which I normally pass on due to discomfort with the price, it got me thinking: "what are other people's comfort levels when it comes to our hobby?"

You see some of those *really* expensive kits advertised in Squadron's catalog (like $1200 US) or some of the winning bids on ebay and I always wonder "WHO buys this stuff?"

Then I thought how, if I really put my mind to it, I could save up for as long as it might take for a particular item that was high-priced, not buying any other cheaper kits in the meanwhile.  Then I realized it wouldn't be worth it for me, personally.

So I wondered how others felt about how far they'd go in the name of styrene.

I often see RC or model train guys in the hobby stores plunking down over a grand in one shot for their hobby (always point them out to my wife for beneficial comparison!) and I cringe just imagining it!

[anthonyp]

"How far?" I would go is easy:  Dean's Model Shop in Flushing, MI.  It's about an hour away, and has a looooot of stuff.  Close second is Pastime Hobbies in Port Huron, but only because a) there's the potential to catch some Sarnians across the border and 2) it's on my way up the Thumb.

"How much?" is an altogether other matter.  I spent about $45 on a Mach 2 AJ Savage at my LHS (and that's after getting the "Friends of Jeff" discount).  I think I spent (with shipping) about the same on a Rareplanes AJ Savage off of eBay.

If it's just styrene, anymore than about $50 US, and the model is looking better on the shelf than in my stash.  That includes the Polar Lights USS Enterprise (movie), which I can get at Great Lakes Hobby and Train for $43.  

Now, RC cars, that's a whole other matter.

[Brian da Basher]

$30 is my top price for one kit, and since I build in 1/72 & 1/144 scales exclusively, it better be a multi-engined aircraft! I try not to spend more than $10 on any given kit as the bargain-bin cheapies are great raw material for the oddball stuff I turn them into.

Brian da Basher

[upnorth]

The most I ever spent on a kit was about $60 Canadian on one of Classic Airframe's 1/48 F-5 kits.

I love the F-5, wanted one in 48 and was curious what CA kits were like. The resin looked great, but the styrene looked dissapointing. Its still sitting in a box unstarted at my mom's place in Canada.

I probably won't make a grab for another CA kit anytime soon.

One of my LHSs here has a great secondhand kit section that often has some real great stuff for next to nothing.  

[kitnut617]

Good subject this,  generally I look for a good bargin, and I'll wait for sales to see what stores are selling cheap (keeps the wife happier that way).  But every now and then there's a model which becomes available, new or second hand, that I just want.  This applies to my ever increasing collection of Canadian and RCAF/CAF aircraft in 1/72 scale, I picked up a CC-109 Cosmopolitian last year which was about US$130, a C-17 for US$130, DH 106 Comet 1A (RCAF) GBP54, recently a Vickers Vanguard, a very basic vacuform for US$40, and even more recently a Bristol Britannia, US$99.

My most expensive kit I've bought is the 1/72 scale C-5 Galaxy (which I never got [and the wife doesn't let me forget it either] but that might change soon after some emails from the owner very recently) which was GBP100 + GBP25 for shipping (about C$300+)  Mind you the 1/72 747 I have was GBP78 with the A310 (CC-150) DC-10 (KC-10) running very close to that price.

Robert