I'm just curious
Discussion
Has anyone ever bought one of those monthly subscription models advertised on TV? You know the kits I'm talking about, £1.99 for the first month and then £10.99 or something for the rest. When you add up the total cost, you're approaching £1500.00 which is fine if the quality is any good. The question is, are these kits any good?
CharlieAlphaMike said:
Has anyone ever bought one of those monthly subscription models advertised on TV? You know the kits I'm talking about, £1.99 for the first month and then £10.99 or something for the rest. When you add up the total cost, you're approaching £1500.00 which is fine if the quality is any good. The question is, are these kits any good?
This review might make interesting reading for you. https://sites.google.com/site/3dsfinfo/build-your-...I used to work in the same building as one of the companies that do (or did) these. They were quite a well known name at the time, did lots of advertising.
It was back in the day when I used to smoke, would chat to the guys who worked for said company over a fag. They all more or less admitted it was a scam. Hardly anyone ever finished a model as the costs scale up hugely towards the end.
It seemed - and still seems - a v odd business model to me.
It was back in the day when I used to smoke, would chat to the guys who worked for said company over a fag. They all more or less admitted it was a scam. Hardly anyone ever finished a model as the costs scale up hugely towards the end.
It seemed - and still seems - a v odd business model to me.
Thanks for the replies. It's as I suspected then. It was only out of curiosity. I've never been interested in buying any of these kits, mainly because I've only been a collector of 1/43rd scale models of one marque and from only 2 manufacturers.
I do have a Pocher Ferrari F40 which I bought approx 30 years ago but that's the only exception to scale and manufacturer. The Pocher model has never been assembled and is still in its original box with the original price sticker. It was the price of that which made me question if anyone has ever bought and assembled one of these 'TV' kits.
I do have a Pocher Ferrari F40 which I bought approx 30 years ago but that's the only exception to scale and manufacturer. The Pocher model has never been assembled and is still in its original box with the original price sticker. It was the price of that which made me question if anyone has ever bought and assembled one of these 'TV' kits.
Wasn't there a thread on here of someone building the Ghostbusters Ecto-1 partwork model?
But to answer the original question, you can usually get similar complete kits for considerably less than these partwork ones, with the advantage that you definitely have the whole thing in one go.
But to answer the original question, you can usually get similar complete kits for considerably less than these partwork ones, with the advantage that you definitely have the whole thing in one go.
I've bought and built a few Pocher models in the past, and still have an unbuilt F40 and a very expensive Autograph transit for it.
I bought a "partwork" McLaren F1 car when it was being discontinued - the whole kit in one go, minus about 50% of the magazines. The instructions were available online, so not a big deal. It was very cheap at the time - around £250. Not very good quality - I'd be upset if I'd paid the full price for it, but acceptable at £250.
I signed up for the Panini F40 artwork, purely because I collect F40 models. Bit of a hiccup with deliveries during Covid, but it all turned up in the end.
Not built it yet, but the parts seem to be better than the Pocher kit - much newer tooling, and the Pocher was pretty basic (hence the transkit!).
Given the option, I'd go for a current Pocher over a partwork, and an "all in one box" partwork over a monthly sub.
I'm tempted by the Porsche 917 from Pocher....
I bought a "partwork" McLaren F1 car when it was being discontinued - the whole kit in one go, minus about 50% of the magazines. The instructions were available online, so not a big deal. It was very cheap at the time - around £250. Not very good quality - I'd be upset if I'd paid the full price for it, but acceptable at £250.
I signed up for the Panini F40 artwork, purely because I collect F40 models. Bit of a hiccup with deliveries during Covid, but it all turned up in the end.
Not built it yet, but the parts seem to be better than the Pocher kit - much newer tooling, and the Pocher was pretty basic (hence the transkit!).
Given the option, I'd go for a current Pocher over a partwork, and an "all in one box" partwork over a monthly sub.
I'm tempted by the Porsche 917 from Pocher....
I know they were not kits but I collected the Panini Supercar collection for a bit. 1/43 scale car models of various Supercars and a accompanying magazine. I thought the models looked ok but the collection went on and on with what seemed no end in sight. The price increased a number of times and the car models to the end were not exactly Supercars. In fact Panini changed the cars to 'Supercar Classics' for the last few. I pulled the plug before the end, bought the rest off Ebay to complete the set and saved some cash.
Wouldn't do it again.
Wouldn't do it again.
Edited by wolfie28 on Tuesday 17th September 12:07
clockworks said:
I'm tempted by the Porsche 917 from Pocher....
So was I, but for £790 I'd want perfection. The noseband is completely the wrong shape in the way it dips around the headlights - completely unlike any Gulf Porsche 917. See the Pocher photo, a similar car from the Porsche Museum, and finally the actual car the model represents, the Siffert/Bell car from the 1971 Monza 1,000 km.You might think it's only a minor difference but not only is it incorrect, but the shape looks awkward.
CharlieAlphaMike said:
Thanks for the replies. It's as I suspected then. It was only out of curiosity. I've never been interested in buying any of these kits, mainly because I've only been a collector of 1/43rd scale models of one marque and from only 2 manufacturers.
I do have a Pocher Ferrari F40 which I bought approx 30 years ago but that's the only exception to scale and manufacturer. The Pocher model has never been assembled and is still in its original box with the original price sticker. It was the price of that which made me question if anyone has ever bought and assembled one of these 'TV' kits.
Hi!I do have a Pocher Ferrari F40 which I bought approx 30 years ago but that's the only exception to scale and manufacturer. The Pocher model has never been assembled and is still in its original box with the original price sticker. It was the price of that which made me question if anyone has ever bought and assembled one of these 'TV' kits.
I'm curious - which marque and manufacturers?
I think a lot of folks like the idea of ‘building a model’, but don’t have the patience or time to be bothered with all the fettling, painting and risk of screwing something up that goes with a conventional plastic kit (or multi-media kit from a manufacturer like MFH, or the old school ‘proper’ Pocher kits). Ultimately, it seems like assembly rather than modelling, in that if you gave 10 part works to 10 people, you’d get the same 10 results (bit like Lego). There’s nothing wrong with that if you just want to built something - I love Lego as much as the next person, but don’t get the same satisfaction as building a plastic or multi-media model.
The part work models offer something that at first glance might look pretty good, and indeed may be great for perhaps the majority of buyers. They are however fairly crude for the huge cost compared with smaller scale ‘real’ models if built without modification - that’s if, as others have said, all the parts get released.
The Pocher 917, for all the slick marketing (being handled with gloves etc), ultimately looks little more than a scaled-up 1:18 die cast and plastic model (Auto art perhaps?) to me. Upping the scale just makes the lack of detail even more obvious to anyone who knows what they’re looking at.
The part work models offer something that at first glance might look pretty good, and indeed may be great for perhaps the majority of buyers. They are however fairly crude for the huge cost compared with smaller scale ‘real’ models if built without modification - that’s if, as others have said, all the parts get released.
The Pocher 917, for all the slick marketing (being handled with gloves etc), ultimately looks little more than a scaled-up 1:18 die cast and plastic model (Auto art perhaps?) to me. Upping the scale just makes the lack of detail even more obvious to anyone who knows what they’re looking at.
If you subscribe to a part a work model, and the company stops producing the parts half way through, how would your statutory rights apply? It wouldn’t be your fault you’re left with a worthless collection of parts, and you’d have obviously handed over your cash in good faith.
How many instances are there of this actually happening?
How many instances are there of this actually happening?
Lighterman1 said:
Hi!
I'm curious - which marque and manufacturers?
Ferrari 1/43rd scale models by Herpa and Minichamps. I have nearly 40 from Herpa, all completely different and some rare limited edition and special edition models. I have over 30 from Minichamps (all completely different too). I stopped collecting some years ago because there are very few left to collect. I'm curious - which marque and manufacturers?
I also have a handful of 1/43rd scale Ferrari's made by Art and 3 from Jouef.
I have all the original boxes for every model and at the moment, they're not on display but are all kept in their boxes.
CanAm said:
Wasn't there a thread on here of someone building the Ghostbusters Ecto-1 partwork model?
But to answer the original question, you can usually get similar complete kits for considerably less than these partwork ones, with the advantage that you definitely have the whole thing in one go.
That would be me - first and last time. The quality started OK, then rapidly went downhill for the more visible parts, then to put icing on the cake the publisher went bust 2 issues before I would have finished it. The paint on the body also wasn’t the best.But to answer the original question, you can usually get similar complete kits for considerably less than these partwork ones, with the advantage that you definitely have the whole thing in one go.
I have also built 2 large scale Pocher kits, the Lamborghini and Ducati, build threads on here as well, the latter of which I supperdetailed.
MBBlat said:
CanAm said:
Wasn't there a thread on here of someone building the Ghostbusters Ecto-1 partwork model?
But to answer the original question, you can usually get similar complete kits for considerably less than these partwork ones, with the advantage that you definitely have the whole thing in one go.
That would be me - first and last time. The quality started OK, then rapidly went downhill for the more visible parts, then to put icing on the cake the publisher went bust 2 issues before I would have finished it. The paint on the body also wasn’t the best.But to answer the original question, you can usually get similar complete kits for considerably less than these partwork ones, with the advantage that you definitely have the whole thing in one go.
I have also built 2 large scale Pocher kits, the Lamborghini and Ducati, build threads on here as well, the latter of which I supperdetailed.
CharlieAlphaMike said:
Lighterman1 said:
Hi!
I'm curious - which marque and manufacturers?
Ferrari 1/43rd scale models by Herpa and Minichamps. I have nearly 40 from Herpa, all completely different and some rare limited edition and special edition models. I have over 30 from Minichamps (all completely different too). I stopped collecting some years ago because there are very few left to collect. I'm curious - which marque and manufacturers?
I also have a handful of 1/43rd scale Ferrari's made by Art and 3 from Jouef.
I have all the original boxes for every model and at the moment, they're not on display but are all kept in their boxes.
I have a couple of 1/43 Kyosho 365 GTB/4s (Daytonas), but would love to acquire corresponding Dino models (should I ever find any offered for a reasonable sum).
Edited by Lighterman1 on Friday 20th September 20:03
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