Have we entered the Golden Age for 1/72 collectors?

[AMERICAN_GRENADIER]

We often talk about the glory days of 21C when products were released sometimes weekly and how we wish those days would return. I guess we can dream, but have we entered a Golden age for 1/72 collecting?
I’ve been in this business for 8 years now and cant remember I time when so many companies were releasing the range of products we see today. Hobby Master took the lead in many ways by releasing items the industry thought no one would buy. Which they proved wrong. They also began production of many new tooling’s we didn’t see here in the U.S. like the Opel Blitz, Marder, Priest to name a few. That has shown other companies they need to expand there lines from the usual Tigers, Sherman’s and T-34’s. With their success Dragon and others began to expand into new and never produced models. Many European companies have expanded into the North American marked. There are many new things on the horizon from Panzerstahl, Blitz72 and Oxford die cast. It seems now is a GREAT time to be a 1/72 collector.

[the_bird]

i just started collecting about a year ago and it seems i aslways am able to find new stuff to buy

[Wrights Collectables]

Very interesting post AG, thank you.

We have gone over the popularity of 1:72 scale before. But for new readers it's comes down to price, size and development cost.

To briefly address the demise of 1:32, I think its a crying shame. Clearly the market just is not there at the minute and thus little 1:32 products are being developed.

That said, it is great to see the amount and variety of 1:72 releases coming out at the minute, tanks, trucks and all sorts! Their the perfect size (balance against detail) and the lower price is particularly suitable for the current economic situation.

Do I think its a golden age? Hopefully not! We all want more!

Another scale to watch out for is 1:48, this one could offer the best balance of cost size and detail in my opinion.

[snake]

Good post AG.

1/72 has always been the most popular scale, going back decades to plastic model kits.

Corgi was the main player in diecast 1/72 for a long time, but they are facing some serious competition from Hobby Master in particular. And Century Wings put out some fantastic jets in 1/72, and have just come out with an ultra premium line, XPlus, who do 1/72 F-4.

And you have some other companies breaking into the 1/72 scale, such as Aviation 72, Oxford Diecast etc. So lots of competition, and models being made in diecast that I never though we would see.

Corgi's molds are getting pretty old now, and their new releases are focusing on the British market. But their medium, and heavy bombers are very well done. With a Short Stirling coming very soon.

Hobby Master is the new front runner, IMO, and are going to release the Strike Eagle, F-16, and F-18 in the near future. And their 1/48 line is very good as well. A much better scale for the single engined fighters. But I still prefer 1/32.

[AMERICAN_GRENADIER]

i always liked Corgi but thats one line that never sold well for us. i do have several pieces in my own coollection and even have a few hanger queens on my shelves. we did do well with thier WWII tank series but they dropped that line a couple years back.

[hworth18]

I have been collecting 1/72 scale since the first Corgi Aviation Archive model was released in 2000 and I think it is questionable whether we are in the "Golden Age" or near the decline. Sure, we have never had such a variety of models to choose from, but the true hobby of "collecting" is over. I have seen this once before in the 90s with NASCAR diecast and I fear we are heading down the same road as that ill-fated hobby. Now that Hobbymaster has become #1 in production and pumping out more models than any one collector could ever hope to collect and more manufacturers on the way, I think we will soon see these as more paperwights and sandbox toys than anything and their value will be next to nothing .

My .02

[Epap]

If we're talking about tanks and other AFVs, then I would say that the past three years and the near future may be called the "Golden Age" in diecast replicas. With Dragon suddenly returning to the frey with two interesting Japanese tanks plus HM cranking them out like clockwork and new lines such as the IXO/Altaya and GE Fabbri series giving us more and more unusual subjects, I have never seen such a variety of offerings in this scale.

If we are talking about warbirds, I have to agree with Harry. Quality companies like Corgi, Dragon, HM and others have done most of the usual subjects to death and the risk factor is such that the leaders---HM in the world wide and U.S. arena and Corgi for the UK market---are proceeding very cautiously in their selections, with most Soviet, Italian, French and Japanese planes not on their menus. On the other hand, low budget subscription entries such as the Altaya jet series and Amercom, GE Fabbri, Oxford Diecast and War Master have appeared, though most of their productions have quality issues. Other newcomers, like Aviation72, are more traditional in their business approach but, as yet, are fairly small players. So, we are getting more and more unusual subjects in 1:72nd scale----which is a good thing---but all too often, the quality of these models is questionable.

[Dauntless]

The diversity of subjects is impressive. Chances of ever getting Kates, Vals, and recently a TBD Devastator are pretty slim in any bigger scales.

I've gotten a lot of the usual suspects of famous planes in 1:72 in the past, but it's nice to see some unusual aircraft.

Maybe I need to get back on the 1:72 bandwagon.

[AMERICAN_GRENADIER]

yes a can agree on many points
i didnt mention Skymax which has produced planes like the bearcat, T-5 and the devastator
Falcon: T-33 and a affordable Fiesler storch

[tmanthegreat]

I'm sort of somewhere in the middle of where AG and Howrth18 stand. I think we are in a "golden age" in terms of the number of companies and variety of aircraft and armor available and the quality of what is being produced. However, I also agree with Howorth that things cannot continue to go up from here. Certainly the sheer quantity is in itself a drawback (though I don't collect one of each scheme of each type of plane or vehicle) and mass-produced items tend not to hold value. Then there are exceptions. Obviously earlier Corgi pieces bring high prices on ebay and even some Hobby Master items from just a couple years ago are hard to find and can command a decent price, then there are the other items that no one ever seems to be able to get rid of...

Personally, in the abscence of 1:18 and 1:32, my 1:72 collection has certainly expanded over the past couple of years (in no small part due to Hobby Master). I just collect what I like and as I did with 1:18 and 1:32, I will enjoy it while I can

[Dauntless]

Yeah, other than the pre-war version, the Devastator still commands a high price. It helps it to be a Midway Ensign George Gay version. They fixed the corrugated wing too. I'm looking and there's an early war version coming out with the red dot star and tail bars.

Skymax does have some diverse stuff. A Russian fighter also. Where else do you find anything remotely like that?

I have to at least spring for the obscurities, especially any Imperial Japanese Navy planes if they're done well. It's too bad IXO, even though they have some really obscure stuff the quality is really lacking.

Narrowing it down to WWII also helps from spending a lot of cash, as these small little planes can cost more than the original retail price for a 21stC plane in 1:18. Kinda puts it in perspective for me.

I've got just about every 1:72 FOV plane and Matchbox Collectors series made. They were cheap enough at retail (usually Target) to get a lot of them. The quality is really not that bad, except the Matchbox planes though nice are wheels up mode only. I aint griping though for $9 a piece.

Gots to get a couple of Corgi Bombers one of these days.

[AMERICAN_GRENADIER]

I can agree with Howrth18 in some respects but i dont collect hoping items increase in price. i like 1/72 for space reasons and find that i like to get one of each type of plane ar vehicle. sometimes ill have 2 or 3 of a particular plane if its offered in various allied colors. i have several me-109's hungary, italy, romania and bulgaria. im just happy to see such a variety of items available including minor vehicles

[aferguson]

I'm going to wade in here from a different perspective. For 10 1/2 years i've been a 1/18 guy. But there have been times when i was seriously tempted to jump scales and move to something else (i'm a one scale guy, can't collect multiple scales). Always the sole motivation for the contemplated move was better variety.

Of late a second motivation has been space, as the room i have left is getting tight. So not only did another scale offer better variety, it offered more of it too, because the models were smaler. But i love the big models. I will gladly sacrifice some quality and accuracy for big size. Dunno why, that's the way i've always been.

Anyway, a few times over the last 10 years i came very close to moving to 1/32 but never did (which seems to be a good choice now...thanks to r/c planes i actually have better variety of aircraft in 1/18 than i would in 1/32). And not too long ago i was very seriously tempted to move to 1/72. Came very, very close. Give up big size for big variety, was the idea. One of the main reasons why i didn't are the fact that so many of the releases from years gone by are so expensive now. Totally turned me off. So i don't see the 'collectabilty' of these 1/72's as being an asset at all. I see it as discourging new people from entering the scale. I had no interest in paying $200 or more for a corgi lancaster, over $300 for an SR-71 or close to $100 for an FOV su-122. Not a chance. These are still little bitty models.

That wasn't the only reason. The small size and the fact that 1/18 has, what i consider to be the best 'lateral' variety of any scale, were also factors (lateral variety are things like figures, cars, animal figures, star wars etc ie non military things, which i also collect). And the fact that if i wanted full variety i was going to have to build models again, played a hand too.

So the awesome and ever increasing variety of 1/72 was a temptation to even a diehard big model guy like me. I don't see it declining, i see it getting even better. So i would say that 1/72 entered it's golden age 2 or 3 years ago and may never look back.

[hworth18]

I can agree with Howrth18 in some respects but i dont collect hoping items increase in price. i like 1/72 for space reasons and find that i like to get one of each type of plane ar vehicle. sometimes ill have 2 or 3 of a particular plane if its offered in various allied colors. i have several me-109's hungary, italy, romania and bulgaria. im just happy to see such a variety of items available including minor vehicles

Tbh, I don't collect as an investment, I never have. But there was a time when it was nice to buy a model, hold onto it for a year, then sell it for more than I paid for it which funded more diecast purchases. My point is that when I am dead and gone, I would like to think that my family could sell my collection and atleast get more than a few bucks apiece from them. This is what happened to the NASCAR collectibles that I paid anywhere from $45-75 each and I couldn't get $5 from them now. I am seeing the same trends in this hobby now that I saw then and I really don't care for it.

[Heer]

Since I started to collect 1/72 armour about 3 years ago, my collection has increased by about 9 vehicles per year. In the year of 2010, I probably bought 12 vehicles in total from dragon, HM, and FOV. I have to say that my collection is increasing in size at an alarming rate compared to 1/32 and 1/18. I do see the gradual price increase with some HM vehicles passing the $30 mark. Most of my collection consists of dragon armours with HM next and then FOV.

Money wise, I don't really see any of my vehicles increasing in rarity anytime soon. For me it is merely a hobby. I don't collect every single vehicle like some do, instead, I buy the vehicles that appeal to me the most.

[WalkinTarget]

Just like Heer, I started collecting 1:72 3 years ago, with my first being a King Tiger bought at the Aberdeen military museum gift shop. I normally buy two tanks a year, one for my B-day and one for Xmas, but as the collection grows, so grows my need to look for new models.
I just purchased a limited edition War Master Russian JS2 which is officially released in August, but have another 4 tanks on my wish list to buy before the end of the year. I didn't have the space nor the money to purchase 1:32, so for me it was fun to collect them and use them as conversation pieces.