Here is one for you that is even weirder.........
Take a Revell Germany kit, good example, the recent 1/32 He-111 that came out from RoG recently.
RoG kit, US MSRP - $117.00
Same kit being released in Feb (I think) from Revell USA, US MSRP - $79.95
It is the exact same kit save for maybe different markings. What makes it so much less for the Revell USA vs the RoG kit?
The only thing I can see, is the Revell USA kits, the parts still come from RoG's plant in Poland, but only just the bag of parts, which is put into the kit box that is shipped from China, and the whole thing is assembled in the Revell USA plant in the US. The RoG hit is imported into the US fully in the box, which is basically the only difference. So the only thing I can see is that there is a US tariff on the complete kit in the box from RoG, and no tariff, or not as much on the parts and box being imported separately from different countries and assembled in the US.
In the case of the Panda kit, the US Importer is selling it for the same price that Lucky Model is, and about 1/100th the shipping cost to get it to Lucky vs Pac Models in Seattle. And considering that Lucky Model owns Kinetic, (which is all owned by Dragon btw) is artificially keeping the retail price at their shop higher than it needs to be, because they know they won't sell any of their own once they come out if it was $20 more.
Then again, Lucky Model=Kinetic=Dragon=Dragon USA, whom are greedy and put a huge markup on the kits when they hit the US, so other suppliers have difficulty selling the product, because they would rather sell it retail themselves. One only has to look at the retail for a Dragon kit from Dragon USA vs say Squadron. Extrapolate that back to Lucky Model, Kinetic vs Panda, and they are doing the same thing there. I would estimate that the Panda kit would probably sell for no more than $25, maybe $30 tops from an Asian shop, considering MSRP that Pac Models has on it in the US.
Not 100% sure of the new MRAP that was just announced by both Riich and Kinetic, Riich being an offshoot of Bronco, I feel those 2 kits will be closer in price, with the Riich one probably going to be in the $70 range, the Kinetic one will likely be closer to $100 (in North America). Still beats the $200 price tag on the recent Legend one....but it being 100% resin, I can understand that price....doesn't mean I would pay that mind you. If the Riich one comes in at the price I believe it will....and the quality of Bronco, it will be a steal of a price vs the pending Kinetic one.
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