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2005-01-31 Home Front: Economy

Why Plastic Aircraft Models are Going Away

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Posted by Steve 2005-01-31 10:17:32 AM|| || Front Page|| [7 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#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|| 2005-01-31 10:30:46 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Lawyers run amok.

Posted by .com 2005-01-31 10:34:12 AM|| 2005-01-31 10:34:12 AM|| Front Page Top

#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|| 2005-01-31 10:35:38 AM|| Front Page Top

#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|| 2005-01-31 10:40:05 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 Kinda like how comic books used to be 25 cents, until a bunch of adult ~~speculators~~ fans started hoovering up every last issue on the unlikely chance that they will appreciate faster than, say, stocks?

Posted by BH 2005-01-31 10:47:52 AM|| 2005-01-31 10:47:52 AM|| Front Page Top

#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|| 2005-01-31 10:48:10 AM|| Front Page Top

#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|| 2005-01-31 3:32:19 PM|| Front Page Top

#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 ~~extortion~~ royalty.So far though, MOST of the manufacturers are holding back to see how hard this gets fought. The worst offender right now is NorthropGrumman, which is playing some serious hardball and apparently couldnt care less about the publicity.
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|| 2005-01-31 10:59:29 PM|| Front Page Top

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