Col1874 Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 Am I the only one who has a proper hate for this farce of a company? I have a valid reason. First issue of the magazine is usually ?2.99, and the remaining issues are ?8.99. That alone sounds like a rip off, ?9 for a magazine, but then you look at the small print - The R2D2 model has 100 issues, so ?893 for a toy R2D2. Then today I seen the Delorean one advertised.... 130 issues, making it ?1163 for a toy car... Seriously does anyone actually finish building these models... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sooperstar Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 Plus your newsagents is clearly not going to stock anything beyond the 1st issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queensferryjambo Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 Am I the only one who has a proper hate for this farce of a company? I have a valid reason. First issue of the magazine is usually ?2.99, and the remaining issues are ?8.99. That alone sounds like a rip off, ?9 for a magazine, but then you look at the small print - The R2D2 model has 100 issues, so ?893 for a toy R2D2. Then today I seen the Delorean one advertised.... 130 issues, making it ?1163 for a toy car... Seriously does anyone actually finish building these models... You clearly do not understand how much it costs to put together a working model of the scale that De Agostini makes. They will never sell 20 million R2D2 working models so they are catering for a limited market. They have to do the prototyping and tooling to build each and every piece of their models. Their product is absolute top quality and designed for people with little or no modelling skills to be make an incredible model. I can only give you the example of when De Agostini announced they would be making a Studio Scale Millenoim Falcon model. People were complaining all over the internet that it would end up costing them ?800 for this model. These people clearly had no idea that a Master Replicas pre-built Studio Scale Falcon would set you back ?3K - ?5K if you could even get one now and the Signature edition goes for close to ?10K. Oh and it isn't De Agostini who are making the Delorean it is a company called Hero Collector. De Agostini are the ones taking all the financial risk they are putting out all the outlay to produce a high end model with all the set up costs. They could easily made a massive loss on these products. Do people ever finish building these models? The answer is yes and for people who do modelling De Agostini is a cheap option rather than scratch building or kit bashing models. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queensferryjambo Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 Plus your newsagents is clearly not going to stock anything beyond the 1st issue. De Agostini ship issues free to your home in the UK if you subscribe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col1874 Posted January 5, 2017 Author Share Posted January 5, 2017 You clearly do not understand how much it costs to put together a working model of the scale that De Agostini makes. They will never sell 20 million R2D2 working models so they are catering for a limited market. They have to do the prototyping and tooling to build each and every piece of their models. Their product is absolute top quality and designed for people with little or no modelling skills to be make an incredible model. I can only give you the example of when De Agostini announced they would be making a Studio Scale Millenoim Falcon model. People were complaining all over the internet that it would end up costing them ?800 for this model. These people clearly had no idea that a Master Replicas pre-built Studio Scale Falcon would set you back ?3K - ?5K if you could even get one now and the Signature edition goes for close to ?10K. Oh and it isn't De Agostini who are making the Delorean it is a company called Hero Collector. De Agostini are the ones taking all the financial risk they are putting out all the outlay to produce a high end model with all the set up costs. They could easily made a massive loss on these products. Do people ever finish building these models? The answer is yes and for people who do modelling De Agostini is a cheap option rather than scratch building or kit bashing models. You on commission or something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queensferryjambo Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 The R2D2 model has 100 issues, so ?893 for a toy R2D2. Oh and whilst I am on a mad modeler rant These products are absolutely not toys. If you want a cheap plastic R2D2 toy go Argos or Toy'R'Us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queensferryjambo Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 You on commission or something No mate just I have a understanding of this type of modelling and how hard it is to bring it to a mass market I got a bit hung up on Studio Scale modelling years ago and what goes into it and it can be incredible. I know for a fact that all the original Star Wars models are kitbashed (which is to say instead of making parts from scratch the people at Industrial Light and Magic used parts from off the shelf model kits). People go back to find the original 1960s / 70s models to cut up and throw onto their scratch built models. There are people who have spent thousands and still never finish their models - it is pretty nuts stuff. The De Agistino Millenium Falcon had the original Empire Strikes Back filming model laser scanned in the Lucasfilm Archives. Then every single part was identified on it from the original model kits. Then they found all the parts that had dropped off over the years and replaced them using screen images from the film. After all that they then had to make all the tooling for producing these parts It is some process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¼½¾ Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 It's certainly no worse than someone paying hundreds of pounds to complete (if they ever actually do), a Panini sticker book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paolo Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 It is a rip off, but an obvious one. I have little sympathy for those who fall for it. Especially if they are adults. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sooperstar Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 Do they even supply the glue?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilnunb Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 Thought the Artoo one looked great until I worked out the eventual cost, and I'd likely give up as soon as I came upon a tricky part as I have no patience for stuff like that. My mate raved about the Falcon one though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo-Jimbo Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 It is a rip off, but an obvious one. I have little sympathy for those who fall for it. Especially if they are adults. I don't think most will fall for it, as the people who will subscribe to this will be more than happy to pay without thinking about the total cost to complete the entire model. As has been said it'll cater for a niche market, mostly of real committed and die hard Star Wars enthusiasts, many of whom will have probably spent or would spend much more on Star Wars memorabilia. You may think it's a rip-off whilst others will think football fans paying lots of money to watch football is a rip-off or buying football related memorabilia. I wouldn't think about doing one of these things myself, but each to their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pans Jambo Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 There another one being advertised on the TV the now. Its the Delorean from back to the future. 1st one is ?1.99 the a further 129 issues at ?8.99 each. So the total cost is ?1169.70. M U G's but this surely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pennywise Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 If they had any sense they would charge ?1000 for the final piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col1874 Posted January 5, 2017 Author Share Posted January 5, 2017 If they had any sense they would charge ?1000 for the final piece. That's actually a good idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tian447 Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 To be fair, I see it as a hobby that you can do over time. A fiver or tenner a week, to have an extended interest in something and have a sense of achievement at the end isn't that bad to be honest. It's no worse than going down the pub and drinking that away in an hour. It's definitely not for me, but I can see why it appeals to people. One of my mates actually done one of these when he gave up smoking - instead of spending the money on fags once a week, he spent the money on one of these magazines. It's expensive when you look at it long term, but so are plenty of other hobbies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queensferryjambo Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 (edited) Do they even supply the glue?! Not sure about all of the models being spoken about but the ones I have seen do not really use a lot of glue. The models have a metal screw together armature / frame inside that you have to assemble. The majority of the panels also screw on. They are incredible pieces of engineering. There will be some greeblies that need glued on and if you are a real deal modeler you might re-paint the whole thing. De Agostini also supply the exact colours and thousands of reference photos of the screen models. If they had any sense they would charge ?1000 for the final piece. You couldn't produce one of these models assembled fully assembled, factory painted and shipped and make money for ?1000. I don't think people here are getting the engineering put into models this size. In fact not sure people are getting the scale of these items. The internal frame to make sure something this size is structurally sound weighs so much and the size of the packaging to send something this size is huge. It would cost easy ?200 - ?300 alone to ship something this size and weight fully assembled. Here is a picture of a studio scale ESB Millenium falcon this is the exact same size as the De Agostini model. The shipping crate for this model is the size of a small settee. Edited January 6, 2017 by queensferryjambo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaka Demus & pliers Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 He meant charge ?1000 for the final piece needed to complete the model. Not for a fully completed model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rab Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Not sure about all of the models being spoken about but the ones I have seen do not really use a lot of glue. The models have a metal screw together armature / frame inside that you have to assemble. The majority of the panels also screw on. They are incredible pieces of engineering. There will be some greeblies that need glued on and if you are a real deal modeler you might re-paint the whole thing. De Agostini also supply the exact colours and thousands of reference photos of the screen models. You couldn't produce one of these models assembled fully assembled, factory painted and shipped and make money for ?1000. I don't think people here are getting the engineering put into models this size. In fact not sure people are getting the scale of these items. The internal frame to make sure something this size is structurally sound weighs so much and the size of the packaging to send something this size is huge. It would cost easy ?200 - ?300 alone to ship something this size and weight fully assembled. Here is a picture of a studio scale ESB Millenium falcon this is the exact same size as the De Agostini model. The shipping crate for this model is the size of a small settee. ****s sake,, it's covered in black marks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wentworth jambo Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 My 11 year old (with my help) has been building the falcon for the past 2 years (only issues 98,99 and 100 to go). Have to agree the cost is pretty steep but the bigger investment has been time - our model looks pretty much like the pictures above - all that's missing is minor details and final paint job (the "black marks" etc). Every single little add on piece comes separately and needs attaching - nothing is pre-made. As an example, just the metal underframe took something like 30 issues, involved c.200 pieces and c.1000 tiny screws. Electrics are pretty impressive too - all working lights (internal and external) and an electronic ramp - all controlled by a remote control. You get sent 4 issues every month and he work in some months took days to complete. All that said, it has been worthwhile and very rewarding to complete it with my boy and to see the look on his face as it advanced each month - he now has the space on his wall ready (the last issue comes with a bracket that you can wall mount it). Knowing my boy, he'll be into Star Wars for another year and then it'll be on E-Bay!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queensferryjambo Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 ****s sake,, it's covered in black marks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Say What Again Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 To be fair, I see it as a hobby that you can do over time. A fiver or tenner a week, to have an extended interest in something and have a sense of achievement at the end isn't that bad to be honest. It's no worse than going down the pub and drinking that away in an hour. It's definitely not for me, but I can see why it appeals to people. One of my mates actually done one of these when he gave up smoking - instead of spending the money on fags once a week, he spent the money on one of these magazines. It's expensive when you look at it long term, but so are plenty of other hobbies. Totally agree with this. Like you, it's not for me, but folk pay ?25 every two or three weeks to watch the football (then add in the further ?15 in the boozer each time) because that's their thing. I'd bet the folk building these models think football fans are off their rockers paying nearly ?100 a month to sit in the freezing cold and watch their team get pumped. Each to their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
269miles Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Well done guys. A topic I enjoyed reading that didn't descend into a slagging match. I used to be mates with a guy who worked in this industry - he seemed to spend a lot of time in his attic building these things and a lot of what he told me chimes with QJ's comments. PS Appreciate your input QJ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weaversknowe jambo Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 (edited) Rip off Edited January 6, 2017 by weaversknowe jambo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody23c Posted December 8, 2019 Share Posted December 8, 2019 Just bought finish r2d2 from eBay £270 including postage got the finished item with no loss of hair lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody23c Posted December 8, 2019 Share Posted December 8, 2019 Just bought finish r2d2 from eBay £270 including postage got the finished item with no loss of hair lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Brown Posted December 8, 2019 Share Posted December 8, 2019 good that you got 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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