How many of you out there are as mad as I am about Manufacturers re-releasing products (and claiming they are new). Several companies, Revell Germany , Tamiya, and Italeri have all released kits in the past year and claimed they were new..when in fact they were old molds from other comanies or just old kits in new boxes! Tamiya is probably the biggest culprit. They released the Walker Bulldog that I bought for $11.00 a couple of years ago and are now charging $30.00 for the same kit! For those of us that know...we can avoid buying this junk. What about the newcomer to this hobby or someone who is just un-informed? They are being cheated. I bought the Revell Demag D7 and found it was just a rehash of the old Esci kit that i wasn't too fond of to begin with. You live and you learn. Italeri is also re-releasing a lot of the Esci stuff and clainming it's new. I think "IT'S ABOUT TIME TO LET THE MANUFACTURERSKNOW HOW WE FEEL!" This is a great forum and the amount of people who belong to it represent a LARGE amount of the Armor Modelling WORLD! And I mean WORLD! Maybe we can change this trend! I know with the threat of war looming on the horizon there are other pressing matters to worry about. BUT this is my hobby and I love it. 'Nuff Said. Jeff

The really bad part of this is that you can spent the same money and get either one of two brand new, state of the art kits without motor holes in the bottom.

Sometimes reissues are a good thing. For instance, the Italeri M7 Priest was pulling in big bucks on the secondary market until they reissued it. Now they are almost everywhere for about $20. Same deal with the Esci M60 series tanks, thankfully, Italeri has reissued them as well.

I know many folks here would jump for joy if DML reissued the M4A1 Early.

BTW, the M41 reissued for $30+ by Tamiya had the motorization gearbox added and that brought up the basic kit price from $11 to $30.

I agree with your sentiments too Jeff - but Sabot mentioned why I'm grateful for the return of some kits. I totally missed the M7 Priest when it hit the shelves the first time. I'm very happy it made another appearance. I'd love to see the resurrection of DML's M4A1 Early too - because so many armor modelers talk about it. Hell - I'm happy to have anything to build...

I just think the MFG's should come clean and STATE re-release instead of creating an atmosphere where consumers might think they're getting a new deal.

I'm waiting for Italeri to re-re-release some of the old PeerlessMax kits from my mutch too distant youth. But, yes, it would be nice to see them cleaned up a bit.

I don't mind re-releases but things like verlindens IDF gear is not new its just a repackage of the old one with a new MAg MG and some generic Boxes. Italeiri's re-release of Esci's M60 blazer kit with out the Plain barrel means you can't make an accurate kit for the most part. (just about all M60 that had the covered barrel also had MAg's) I hope they don't get cheap with thier reissuing of the TI-67 .

Josh Weingarten aka shiryon

#:-) I guess the bottom line here is that when you know it's a re-release and you buy it it's one thing....as mentioned..the old Italeri and Peerless/Max kits were great...BUT you're not going to package them in a neat new box and call them new! I know the tooling on the Peerless kits wasn't that great... The M-7 Priest was around 25 years ago and I got one in Germany! The nice thing about Italeri is that their stuff is really not expensive and you get good value for your buck. Josh...I don't even buy Verlinden stuff anymore. They are not always consistant with the quality of their product.
The problem arises when re-releases are put out as NEW! Case in point.....The Tamiya Churchill with Farmer and Crew and the Bren Carrier with Forced Recon Crew. Both 20-25 year old models with new figures. The figures are ok but you are paying twice what the model...being made with ancient technology...is worth. I would like to see the old line of Monogram 1:32 scale WWII models be re-released. Those I would buy in a heartbeat. That'll probably never happen but I like to dream. I know the Model Manufacturers are in business to make money and model builders are a fickle bunch. All I ask is that they level with us and be honest. I won't say anymore about this. I don't want people to think I'm a whiner. 'Wiedersehen Y'all Jeff

I guess that's why some of us younger modellers (39) are glad we have people on these sites that review and tell us that kits are re releases.

It gives me an informed opinion before "plunking down my hard earned money".

As far as prices go, if it ain't worth it, don't buy it. As a modeller and consumer (and I fall into this category), though I feel I must own every companies Sherman or Tiger, I don't have to buy them

Cheers, Michael

#1-I totally support re-release of old kits,but not if they're being passed off as new .AND #2-The exorbitant prices being charged for some of these is fraud! JOCK