BBI F-16 price increase

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Fri Mar 18, 2011 8:59 pm

From Badcat:

BBI Announces Retail Price Increase For 1:18 F-16

BBI's retail price estimate for the 1:18 F-16C has been increased from $159.99 to $179.99. The move comes as Chinese currency continues to strengthen versus the dollar, increasingly higher labor costs, increasing oil costs, production restart expenses and a low volume collectors market, create a perfect storm for price inflation. If you've already submitted your Preorder, pat yourself on the back as the 'Cat will stand behind our original price quote. New orders, however, will reflect the new pricing. This aircraft is scheduled for a July or August delivery date.

Airacobra · Post by **Airacobra** » Fri Mar 18, 2011 9:06 pm

Saw this coming a mile away. We were spoiled by last months prices. Those days are gone forever. This is what we should have been paying the whole time.......

Sorry, couldn't resist.

normandy · Post by **normandy** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 6:07 am

If this keeps up......... this may be our only alternative....... http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/models/Air ... s-F16.html .........

Im sorry I couldn't resist.......................

gburch · Post by **gburch** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 7:44 am

Prices like this make me think it's worthwhile to continue my experiments with 3D printing

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 8:15 am

I preordered mine at the Flyingmule for $149.99 with free shipping. I tried to reach Aiken's, but couldn't get through, so I don't know if their price has gone up or not.

Barbarian333 · Post by **Barbarian333** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 8:20 am

Preordered mine also at Flyingmule.Just checked their website. Same price still.

digger · Post by **digger** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 9:07 am

$180 is just the BadCat price.

YT · Post by YT » Sat Mar 19, 2011 9:13 am

digger wrote:$180 is just the BadCat price.

Badcat price gouging, never.

Tinman · Post by **Tinman** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 1:17 pm

Glad I paid less than $100 (was it $65? I really don't recall at this point) for mine back in 2003 (also guessing at the year - when did these first come out?).

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:00 pm

Tinman wrote:Glad I paid less than $100 (was it $65? I really don't recall at this point) for mine back in 2003 (also guessing at the year - when did these first come out?).

2004-2005. Mine was $90 without shipping - and that was from Badcat

Post by **aferguson** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:08 pm

they came out about a year to a year and a half after the f-18. And weren't available at TRU when they did, unlike the Hornet and Apache. So the online prices were higher.

A few years later they were at Target and really cheap, can't remember the price but it was low.

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:12 pm

Badcat now has it at $169.99 and mentions FedEx shipping at $16.99. That's about $37 more than Flyingmule.

Tinman · Post by **Tinman** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 4:47 pm

Thank you for the S1 time frame. Gets hard to remember after a while! My F-16 is still one of my favorite pieces, though, despite it's flaws (a bit off-scale, droopy missiles). And it's been sitting on its landing gear for years with no sign of bending.

Grilledcheese · Post by **Grilledcheese** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 6:39 am

A few years later they were at Target and really cheap, can't remember the price but it was low.

They were $55 bucks a pop, before shipping. That would have been about three or four years ago, I think.

Jeffrey

AMERICAN_GRENADIER · Post by **AMERICAN_GRENADIER** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 1:40 pm

more bad news great!

mountian-man · Post by **mountian-man** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:14 pm

I'm among the fortunate ones who snagged an F-16 from Target.com.

I don't expect to pay $55 bucks for one now! That was "spoiled". (Anyone remember Toys'R'us.com selling "donald duck" and "killer" P-51s for $10 a pop?)

That said, $150 seems sufficient!

Interestingly, wasn't Admiral's F-4 Snafu priced at $140? Doesn't seem that long ago...

iflabs · Post by **iflabs** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 10:38 pm

Grilledcheese wrote:
A few years later they were at Target and really cheap, can't remember the price but it was low.
They were $55 bucks a pop, before shipping. That would have been about three or four years ago, I think.

Jeffrey

Right around December 2007.

I didn't pick one up from Target because $50ish was still pretty darn expensive at that time. Then a few weeks later after Target sold out, I started swearing up and down. Luckily Smalljoes also received a few in stock for $90 and bought one there.

Well after having owned one, I honestly can't justify the $150 price tag for this. The jet overall looks great but seriously lacking detail up close.

gburch · Post by **gburch** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 6:13 am

The biggest issue with the F-16 for me is the overscale problem. My Wolf Pack Falcon hangs in my "jet room" with the Mig 15, F-86, F-104, F-18 and F-14. EVERY time I cast my eyes around the array of planes, I notice the F-16s overscale, and I want to go find the person who made the decision to make this model this way and shake them ....

Because of that, I think I might just save my money ...

Post by **aferguson** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:56 am

yes the F-16 was quite a goof, considering BBI's motto was 'exact 1/18 scale' (which somehow implied that 21c's stuff wasn't). It wasn't a decision to make it too big, it was clearly just an error. When designing the model they looked up the dimensions of the F-16. Most quoted dimensions include the nose probe and sidewinder rails. But they took those dimensions and made the length of the fuselage, to what should have been the length of the fuselage and nose probe and they made the actual wingspan to what should have been the wingspan and sidewinder rails.

The net result is they produced an F-16 that is about 9% too big. That is also why the sidewinders and bombs are too large, as they made everything proportional. At that point they may have realized their goof but were too far along in the development phase to start all over.

Anyway, it's a nice model.

NWarty · Post by **NWarty** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:24 pm

$179.00 for a mold that's been around for how long? Now they're just pumping plastic.

I want an F-16 after seeing them at OSAN AFB, believe me (I don't currently have one). But it's a tough pill to swallow. I was excited even at $150 with free shipping. Now we're approaching $200. And yes, I did pay 200+ for my spotcat.

NightVyper · Post by **NightVyper** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:39 am

well i preorderd my set at 149.99 i made sure to once American grenadier said there was no price yet so how can they be preordering them. I thought best case i get them cheap and they honor my receipt worse case they are are cheaper than expected and i cancel my order and reorder them at a cheaper cost. but only bad cat raised the price right?

The F-16 is a great model or toy as far as i am concerned worth the cost, plus you wont have to worry about the landing gear breaking.

margras77 · Post by **margras77** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 5:07 am

Meh. I dunno if I'm interested anymore. 180 is a lot for the falcon tbh. Not a ton, but thinking the money might be better put towards a semi-auto AK.

toyktdlgh · Post by **toyktdlgh** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 5:46 am

Guys MTS has it listed for $149, Aikens has the same price with free shipping! Fox Hole toys is the same as is the Flying Mule. Right now Bad Cat is the only place that has jacked its price up. Maybe the others will follow suit but it’s been my experience that Bad Cat is usually more expensive and they never offer free shipping on the larger planes. Go and order one from one of these other places. I would use Aikens as I’m fairly confident that even if the price went up they would honor the pre-orders already taken. You could always ask when you call. Plus it ships free. Let’s not forget these planes were pulling in nearly $300 on eBay.

Obviously there is a demand for them.

Panther F · Post by **Panther F** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 12:21 pm

Well, I took the plunge.

Considering the plane is one of my favorite modern planes and not seeing it up there (hanging from the ceiling) made me want it even more. Then I just realized how long it will be before it shows up.

Oh well, plenty of time to move them around I guess.

- Jeff

snake · Post by **snake** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:50 pm

$150, with free shipping is a good price for a new release of the "1/18" F-16.

The original "Wolfpack" versions go for a lot more than this on Ebay, and I think that this is a fair price point by BBI.

If anyone is complaining about this price, then I suggest that they just stick with the old 21 Century 1/18 models.

Any new 1/18 releases are going to be a lot more expensive than "Walmart days".

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