Has Airfix lost it? (1 Viewer)

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just my four pence I like you all hold the Airfix name in high regard although like Catch22 am younger than some at 19 but my happiness with them was destroyed with the Bolton Paul Defiant I found it to be a horrible kit, I was interested in the new Mossie but was thinking about holding out to see if they will do a B.IV version but at that sort of price there is no way I could afford the blighter :cry: :evil:

But I have heard what may be promising news, apparently the Spit Mk.IX and BF109G-6 are to be re released with new tooling as well as the re release of some WW1 types which I am pleased with, I think that the Short Stirling could do with a going over as well really, whoever is in charge needs to realise that Airfix is the company many a child's first models will come from as it is such a well known name, and unless the kits quality improves and they can keep the prices for 1/72 Spitfire's, Hurricane's, P51D's and 109's in pocket money reach then we can be sure of more interest in the hobby with younger people for Hornby its the same with their trains. I don't know how to finish so I'll finish there I hope I haven't talked a lot of rubbish
 
No, Lanc, you've made a lot of sense.
It might be coincidental, but, when Airfix first started in the kit business in 1952, their first, and main customer was Woolworths! Now we all know what's just happened there! But, Woolworths branches throughout the UK all had a counter dedicated solely to Airfix models. The Woolworths management/buyers, stipulated that the kits, all in 1/72nd scale then, and mainly smaller aircraft, the Spit MkIX being the first (and the Defiant not long after!), should be affordable from the pocket money of the average child, and set the retail price at two shillings - ten pence in today's money! The kits were pegged up on the display wall, packed in polythene bags, with a folded paper header label, with the instructions printed inside this. Eventually, larger aircraft joined the 'fleet', the Lancaster 'G for George' being one of, if not the first. And it's just been re-issued! These bigger aircraft came in cardboard boxes. Wow! Modern stuff then! As most of us know, the company went from strength to strength, with a huge range of aircraft, ships, cars, boats, figures, military vehicles etc etc. Every Saturday, the counter was virtually awash with kids, clutching their 'two Bob' in grubby hands, desperate to buy another Airfix kit! I know, I was one of them!
So, the basic idea then, and for many years after, was to produce a range of acceptable kits that were affordable for the average child/teenager or adult. Even when, a couple of decades later, Airfix introduced more complex, accurate and detailed kits, and in a variety of scales, including the first huge (or so they seemed then) 1/24th scale aircraft, the prices were still kept to a realistic level - the 1/24th scale Mustang, when released in 1972, retailed at £2.75 - and they continued to improve the range, introducing some of the best 1/48th scale kits made at that time.
So, under the new ownership, why they are releasing very old kits, basic then, terrible now, as 'new' kits , is beyond me. Like many, I truly hope that they get it right soon, and we can see another 57 years of Airfix....but I doubt it!
 
HeHeHe! How many pints, no, gallons, not to tell anyone?!!
Bit late now, of course.
 
I agree with Lanc totally, I too am of the younger breed round here (19) and its disappointing that Airfix are not seeming to care as much. It definately ain't a nostalgia thing here either via the releasing of untoched kits that date from the 50s.

Airfix still have the name, they still have the mouldings for some truely interesting models what they now need is some enthusiasm and spirit to be put back into their kits. Then maybe they can retake the crown as 'Airfix'.
 
I know what you mean airframes take the price of the harriers in the area of 50 to 60 quid may be more i was lucky enough to find both harriers for a bargain knock down price of £25.00 each this is because the shop could not sell them at airfixes hyped up prices.
 
If they keep this up, the Tie Mafia, Corporate Guys, it sure as h*ll won't be a question about "if" Airfix goes nose up, but "when". This time, nobody's gonna bother their *rses...! I hope that they can sleep at night...
 
I am glad I did actually make sense :shock: , and I whole heartedly agree with that lucky13 I hope they sleep at night, just had a count of the Airfix kits either built or unbuilt in my collection and it stands at 39 but of that many of them are the older box models only 6 carry the Hornby name all the others are Airfix proper
 
What's happening is they're aiming the product at an adult demographic. How many kids these days build kits? None that I know of, they're far too busy with the Sony Playstation and Nintendo Wii's. Instant gratification, the average teenager wouldn't have the patience to open the box, let alone build the kit.

In addition the sheer expense of modelling to any high level these days rules out anyone without a fair disposable income. The times that I remember from the 1970's when you bought a kit, a couple of tins of paint and a brush and still had change from a £5 note are long gone. You need a fair old wedge in your pocket to get anywhere these days if you want to do anything other than "out of box" builds.

I'm not condoning the exorbitant price of the mossie, God forbid, but you can see the market that Airfix are aiming at. Adults, not youth.
 
On the flipside kids and adults folk out $900aus new for a new 'game thingy' and something like $100aus for a game.

So comparitively this hobby is still damn cheap. I went to a school of 1500-1800 students and in 6 years I saw 1 model kit. That was about 2 years ago when I was finishing so its a very real fact that kids couldn't give a rats.
 
I went to a school of 1500-1800 students and in 6 years I saw 1 model kit. That was about 2 years ago when I was finishing so its a very real fact that kids couldn't give a rats.


Yup, I tried to interest the two sons of my ex in model making. That was a worthy ten minutes. After gluing themselves to the box the kit got thrown in the corner while they went off and sulked. Playstation Rules!
 
You're right Max'. Airfix are aiming at the adult market, and to an extent trying to also attract, and catch, the younger market, as was the norm many moons ago. This is evident when some of their product range is viewed, and is laudible. But, they haven't got it quite right and, in aiming at the adult market, I'm presuming they are trying to recapture the 'modeller', as opposed to the 'passing trade'. If that is correct, then they are ceretainly going about it the wrong way. To re-release old, and some very old kits, but at highly inflated prices, is bad enough. But, to then announce kits, and a release date, then stall for months, and, when the kit is released, ask an extremely high price is ludicrous. As for the Mosquito, well, enough said. I do fully understand the expense of researching, designing the components, and producing the tool, and I can accept that a new offering is not going to be dirt cheap, but, to inflate prices on kits from old tools, and increase an already fairly high price by 62% even before launch of a kit, is not the way to go if trying to recoup losses and re-build the name, and standing, of such a long established company. Especially when other manufacturers can provide equally good, and better kits, at reasonable to reasonably expensive retail prices, that have to be imported into the UK.
I truly hope that Airfix DO get it right, but, on present performance, including inconsistency and an amateurish 'aura', unless they really pull their fingers out, it's curtains!
 

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