Which kit to buy next? (large list)

Greetings all! I've been lurking around for a while and for the most part have been able to answer most of my questions by searching. I posted this on another forum but this one seems more oriented toward the modelling topic I'm going for. The idea here is I've now got some extra cash each month to build my collection, but I'd like to go about it as systematically as possible.

1) Are any of these kits getting to be really rare enough that I should consider purchasing a particular kit asap, before the price sky rockets? I have no set order I'll be getting them in, so if I may lose out by waiting to long I'd like to avoid that. I know a few are out of production and I couldn't really find them online - Audi R10 and Corvette C6R for example.

2) Which brand kit to buy of any particular subject - are they worth the extra money? I've read threads on different Ferrari kits, for example. Chime in with your two cents! Several subjects have only one brand which sells them, so no question there.

3) Are any of these kits just plain bad and to be avoided? I've chosen subjects I'm interested in, but are any of these just not worth the certain frustration?

Any other suggestions are welcome! If you think I may be missing out on a particular subject let me know! For some subjects I have multiple versions/liveries in mind, hence the number to the right.

Aston Martin DBS – 2
Audi R8 -2
Audi R10 – out of production?
BMW Z4 GT3 – 2
BMW Z8 - 2 (re-release by revell soon)
Corvette C6R -2 out of production? (I guess the C5R will do)
DTM - At least 3 Mercs, 2 Audi, Alfa
Ferrari 430-2
458 -2
599
599gto
Enzo - 2
F40 – 2
F50
Jaguar E-Type
Jaguar XJR9 – getting expensive
JGTC/SGT kits - several
Lamborghini Aventador
Countach
Gallardo
Murcielago
Lexus LFA
Lotus/Caterham Seven
Mazda 787 - likely the latest release
McLaren MP4-12C GT3
Mercedes AMG SLS
Mercedes CLK-GTR
Mercedes McLaren SLR - 2
Mercedes McLaren SLR 722
Nissan R390 -2
Nissan R89C
Nissan Skylines - R32-R35
Porsche 911 GT1
Porsche 911 GT2 Road Version
Porsche 911 GT2 Taisan
Porsche 911 GT3R – 3
Porsche 935 Martini
Porsche 935/78 Martini
Porsche 959 – 2
Porsche 961
Porsche 962
Porsche Boxster -2
Porsche Cayman – 2
Porsche Carrera GT
Toyota 88C Minolta
Toyota GT-One
Sauber Mercedes C9


I just purchased the Tamiya Jagermeister Alfa 155, and the UT Models 911 GT1 Evo. I've got about two weeks before the next purchase, which one should it be? Thanks!

Hi Sean,

Thats a large list. I have a couple for sale at the moment in the classified ads. Pm me if you are interest in something. Maybe we can work something out.

Best regards,
Lesley

Which Super Seven are you talking about? The 1/24 Lotus or 1/12 Caterham? If you can get the Caterham, get it now.

I'd also get the Tamiya Group C cars first, especially the Mazda 787, as well as the Fujimi McLaren MP4-12C GT3 and the Aoshima Aventador + Countach. The rest I wouldn't worry too much about at this time, they are fairly easy to get.

The Tamiya 935 dates back to the 70's, while the 961 and 962 are formerly RC bodies adapted to be display model. I'd rather get the 956, which is fully detailed, over the 962. The Revell E-Type is also very old and have some fitment issues.

Anything that is less than 5 years old - you can wait. It still will be available in the next 2-3 years for sure. Plastic kits are made in large enough runs, they are usually available for some time.

mazda 787b to be re-released in november
also, 1/12 yardley tbr november too.

wim

Which Super Seven are you talking about? The 1/24 Lotus or 1/12 Caterham? If you can get the Caterham, get it now. As of now I've only been building 1/24.

I'd also get the Tamiya Group C cars first, especially the Mazda 787, as well as the Fujimi McLaren MP4-12C GT3 and the Aoshima Aventador + Countach. The rest I wouldn't worry too much about at this time, they are fairly easy to get. I saw the 787 is being released again, so it'll fall down the list for sure.

The Tamiya 935 dates back to the 70's, while the 961 and 962 are formerly RC bodies adapted to be display model. I'd rather get the 956, which is fully detailed, over the 962. The Revell E-Type is also very old and have some fitment issues.Thanks for those heads ups. I don't burn with passion for the E-type, so I can leave that one alone

After looking for a lot of the list I'm seeing some trends. The Group C cars are still somewhat readily available but the JGTC/SGT cars can be a little tougher to find. Even less popular on websites are the Fujimi GT3 cars. Are there only limited runs of these? They may be moved to the front of the line while prices are reasonable if that's the case. I can't yet justify spending $70-80 on a discontinued curbside. I've decided all the revell kits can wait. They're most popular, the cheapest and least in danger of shooting above $50.

Most resin curbside won't be less than $70 and I'd pay that any day before I'd pay $50 for a Revell kit. Watch ebay. The 911 GT1 is on there all the time. I picked several up from $5 up to $9.99. It's all over the place. I have several of the XJR9, C9, CLK GTR (all three versions), Tamiya DTM's. In June I sold a CLK GTR Original Tiele version for 24 bucks. That's about the most I'd pay for any of the Tamiya kits.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/STUDIO27-1-24-CORVETTE-C6R-LM-2010-63-64-SETTLING-MONTH-SALE-/261099471852?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ccabdc3ec

corvette MM from studio27 for only USD 99 = bargain

wim

$99 is expensive. Bargain or not, I'm not paying that much lol. I wouldn't pay $50 for a revell either, I was only using that figure as the Fujimi GT3 cars are around that price now, whereas revell kits are no where near that. I think it would be smarter to buy a GT3 subject if the price is (relatively) low now as opposed to waiting a year or two because I'm accumulating $20 revell kits and paying $70-80 for one GT3.

I usually save myself the headache by using buy it now. In the last eight years I've only won a single auction-style ebay listing, and that's simply because no one else bid. Bidding wars turn me off.

1) Another thing the US residents should take into consideration is the declining value of US dollar, so everything that's not originally priced in USD is expected to cost more even if the local price remains the same. A 3500 yen kit, which is about $44 today, may easily cost $50+ a few years later.
Also, the Japanese consumption tax rate is scheduled to be raised from the current 5% to 8% in 2014 and 10% in 2015, so again, using the same 3500 yen kit as an example, we will end up paying 3600-3666 JPY.

If you have a Paypal account, maybe it's wise to keep a hobby fund in JPY. :)

2) Answer to those seemingly-limited quantity of plastic kit is that the manufacturers have reduced the number of kit per each production run, and they choose to let the items sell out, instead of having the distributors and retailers keep a reasonable amount of stock. Fujimi's MP4-12C was restocked this month, so I'm guessing the initial run was sold out and the distributors demanded more (which is a good sign).

Browsing Japanese online stores, I've seen this "restock this month and that month," far more frequently than before, and I think the entire Japanese hobby industry is using this low production run strategy.

Still, plastic kits are produced in the order of thousands, so they usually don't become rare, and those high-price eBay items are exceptions.

I'll be making a purchase sometime this week. The contenders, in no particular order:
1.) Aoshima Aventador - some sites are starting to show low stock, does Aoshima reissue kits? However if another manufacturer was to produce one of these three kits, this would be a likely candidate.
2.) Tamiya Mobil 1 NSX - discontinued kit, prices are comparable to similar kits for now.
3.) Fujimi McLaren MP4-12C GT3 - it seems there is low stock on HLJ and ebay.

Thoughts?

I'll be making a purchase sometime this week. The contenders, in no particular order:
1.) Aoshima Aventador - some sites are starting to show low stock, does Aoshima reissue kits? However if another manufacturer was to produce one of these three kits, this would be a likely candidate.
2.) Tamiya Mobil 1 NSX - discontinued kit, prices are comparable to similar kits for now.
3.) Fujimi McLaren MP4-12C GT3 - it seems there is low stock on HLJ and ebay.

Thoughts?
For the Aventador, get Aoshima's issue. Don't bother with Fujimi's, the one from Aoshima is far superior.

All 3 kits are listed as "in stock" in Hobby Search (http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/car). It might save you some postage if you order them in one go.

Hobby Seach lists the NSX as out of stock too. Do you have a particular link that shows it isn't? Without the NSX, buying the remaining kits together(great idea to save shipping!) was $10 less at hlj, and an additional $6 dollars less in shipping.

Hobby Seach lists the NSX as out of stock too. Do you have a particular link that shows it isn't? Without the NSX, buying the remaining kits together(great idea to save shipping!) was $10 less at hlj, and an additional $6 dollars less in shipping.
Hmm... it was there when I post that reply. Maybe someone else bought it?

For price comparison you might want to check out Hobby Easy (www.hobbyeasy.com) as well. Sometimes their prices on Japanese kits are a little bit higher but postage from Hong Kong can be considerably cheaper than from Japan. For Chinese aftermarket parts like Hobby Design or Top Studio their prices are hard to beat.

Hobby Seach lists the NSX as out of stock too. Do you have a particular link that shows it isn't? Without the NSX, buying the remaining kits together(great idea to save shipping!) was $10 less at hlj, and an additional $6 dollars less in shipping.

with the private warehouse of HLJ, just order everything and ask for shipping when all of them are in stock. My last shipped combined about 7 order together (34 items..)

And all my item that was shown out of stock ot B/O was back in stock in 1-2 weeks time frame.

Maybe you can find some of the old ones here: http://www.fredsmodelworldonline.com/new.htm

Best regards,
Lesley

Wow did find some good ones and at incredible prices, too. Looks like I'll have to wait until next time for the Aventador and McLaren. Ordered the Tamiya Lambo LP500S, F40 Competizione and a 911 GT1 parts box for the grand total of $40 shipped!

Wow did find some good ones and at incredible prices, too. Looks like I'll have to wait until next time for the Aventador and McLaren. Ordered the Tamiya Lambo LP500S, F40 Competizione and a 911 GT1 parts box for the grand total of $40 shipped!

Did you buy them from Fred? If yes, He is a great guy and i bought many times from him. Excellent service. You can also check out jimnohio and Macmodeling. They also have some great kits. i know Mac personally and he is truly a great guy.

Best regards,
Lesley

Yes I did buy from Fred. I'll be emailing him the list to try to get first dibs on some of the kits he gets as he does offer them for incredible prices. I did go a little crazy this month and place another order - the Aventador and the McLaren GT3. Buying two at the same time does cut down on shipping so if I have to buy from overseas two or more will be the way to go. Now that those two are out of the way, the new choices for the next purchase are:
- Mobil 1 NSX
- Porsche 935 "Martini" - not the Moby Dick version as that one is still widely available
- Mercedes Sauber C9.
They can really only be found on ebay, other listing sites don't carry these kits anymore. Of course if I can find an inexpensive Audi R10 or C6R anywhere I'd pick one of those up in a heartbeat as those are quite difficult to find now.

Wow fred is cheap, might have to try him out sometime.

Thought I might give ebay.de a shot for the Audi and C6R kits. Turns out they could be purchased jointly in one box with some Le Mans packaging. With current conversion rates I'd be looking at 65 shipped, which is less than the total for the Lambo and McLaren I bought last week.

Lambo and McLaren just arrived and all I can say is whoa. As someone who's mainly stayed with Revell, AMT, Monogram etc, both kits are amazing. Definitely going to wait until I get some skill back to attempt these kits so I can do them justice. Due to moving in two week and having finances tied up for now, I'll have to wait till the end of the month for the next purchase, which will be the Audi/Vette combo.

Your best bet is to build the fujimi, aoshima, tamiyas first because they are easier. Most revell and amt kits require a lot of modifying and test fitting.

I'm sure they do go together easier, I've been working with the American companies for a few years and there's usually some glaring flaw that spits on any serious attempt I make to create a decent model lol. I feel better about practicing my building on a cheap mopar than say a $50 kit. In other news, I finally managed something I never could before: win and ebay auction! I usually get outbid because I'm too cheap but the starting price was cheap enough for me that I felt okay going higher than normal. Subject: Revell Corvette C6-R. :sunglasse It's been started, but I can work around that. With shipping it was only $21.00, much better than the 65 I would have ended up paying for the R10/Vette combo.

I've taken things slower this month on account of moving. But I did grab two kits that the big suppliers are no longer carrying: The Mobil One and Arta NSX's. Buying multiple kits means a higher purchase amount, but the combined shipping is worth it. I'll probably buy the Mercedes C9 and Porsche 911 Maritni next. I've been seeing the subjects I'm looking for made by Hasegawa, what type of quality do they make?