Small Scale Military Headquarters

Frack!!!! China make it in India.

I say make all our 1/18th toys in India, it cheaper then China these days!

Apparently there are a number of countries where manufacturing is cheaper than in China. Here's an article that lists Mexico, India, Vietnam, Russia and Romania as cheaper for manufacturing than China:
http://www.freep.com/article/20100711/B ... ge-shrinks

Ok lets do it! Mexico might be a good choice though. It might solve a few problems.

Apparently there are a number of countries where manufacturing is cheaper than in China. Here's an article that lists Mexico, India, Vietnam, Russia and Romania as cheaper for manufacturing than China:

Yes, but the question is manufacturing for what..?? For textile based manufacturing (ie. clothing etc) it may well be true. But manufacturing high quality plastic models may require a certain degree of technical sophistication in terms of factories with injection moulding machinery etc. that don't exist, or are fairly limited in those other countries. China has been in the plastic toy business in a big way for a long time, so they probably have a "leg up" on the others in that respect, and that's not something that would change overnight just because of cheaper labor costs elswhere.

Dauntless wrote:Ok lets do it! Mexico might be a good choice though. It might solve a few problems.

You like your models with some real 'battle damage', I assume?

King O' Fools wrote:

Dauntless wrote:Ok lets do it! Mexico might be a good choice though. It might solve a few problems.

You like your models with some real 'battle damage', I assume?

And trace amounts of nose candy too!

ostketten wrote:

Apparently there are a number of countries where manufacturing is cheaper than in China. Here's an article that lists Mexico, India, Vietnam, Russia and Romania as cheaper for manufacturing than China:

Yes, but the question is manufacturing for what..?? For textile based manufacturing (ie. clothing etc) it may well be true. But manufacturing high quality plastic models may require a certain degree of technical sophistication in terms of factories with injection moulding machinery etc. that don't exist, or are fairly limited in those other countries. China has been in the plastic toy business in a big way for a long time, so they probably have a "leg up" on the others in that respect, and that's not something that would change overnight just because of cheaper labor costs elswhere.

India builds jet fighters and also I've visited on business and seen local craftsmen carve beautiful large scale MiG fighters from wood. Seen a large scale F-16 pretty nicely mastered- no sorry I have no pictures. Airfix kits are all made in India......plus these guys are literally American but with different accents...

Greetings:

This post makes little or no sense at all.

In all seriousness, no matter where the product gets made, the company is still going to charge what they want for it retail. Even if companies do move factories to cut production costs, that savings is rarely if ever passed on to the consumer.

Corey

ostketten wrote:

Apparently there are a number of countries where manufacturing is cheaper than in China. Here's an article that lists Mexico, India, Vietnam, Russia and Romania as cheaper for manufacturing than China:

Yes, but the question is manufacturing for what..?? For textile based manufacturing (ie. clothing etc) it may well be true. But manufacturing high quality plastic models may require a certain degree of technical sophistication in terms of factories with injection moulding machinery etc. that don't exist, or are fairly limited in those other countries. China has been in the plastic toy business in a big way for a long time, so they probably have a "leg up" on the others in that respect, and that's not something that would change overnight just because of cheaper labor costs elswhere.

Apparently toy companies are already closing or moving out of China in droves so the issue of manufacturing facilities can't be as big of a concern as one would think. Here's a line from the article I linked to: "Makers of toys and trinkets, Christmas trees and cheap shoes already have folded by the thousands or moved away, some to Vietnam, Indonesia or Cambodia.".

Not only that, BUT since the economic downturn, companies have introduced new business models. Profits are up for a staggering amount of companies...not becuase of the US (we actually suck compared to the rest of the world at this time in regards to spending) becuase they have figured out where they cut costs is in labor and they make a ton of money doing it. This does not bode well for the US economy at all! So, think of it this way, you will not get your product any cheaper (companies also learned that is not the way to make money...charge the same but reduce costs), but it costs Amercian jobs in the process, furthering us deeper in the economic hole while the rest of the world surpasses us eventually in the way they live. it's a scarey thought, but this is exactly where this country is headed (middle class gone...there will be the haves and the have nots...which means no planes for you or me at all in the future) if something doesn't change. It sounds gloom and doom, but it is exactly what is happening...so be careful what you wish for...

OK, then bring on the Hindu XD Kingtiger, just don't expect to see it anytime soon.

The technical expertise to build (or virtually build) the injection molds is here. The expertise to draft, plot and figure out what goes where is here in the US. Not to mention all the vehicles, planes, etc. for reference.

It's just a matter of shipping production overseas like everything else.

Maybe in the future robots can do it and a huge labor force is not needed.

If all these things can come together...presto! we have 1:18 again.

Dauntless wrote:Ok lets do it! Mexico might be a good choice though. It might solve a few problems.

Back in the 1980s I thought some of Kenner's toys were being made in Mexico. Hmmm, I'll have to look at them now.

Coreyeagle48 wrote: In all seriousness, no matter where the product gets made, the company is still going to charge what they want for it retail. Even if companies do move factories to cut production costs, that savings is rarely if ever passed on to the consumer.
Corey

Not an accurate reflection of free market economics. If more than one company is producing models in the marketplace, cheaper production will give them a competitive advantage toward lower retail prices and thus a bigger market share.

Obviously, if you have only one player, then what you stated rings more true.

Greetings

True, that is how it SHOULD work but it never really does. For example look at meals at McDonalds and Burger King, etc, most prices are basically right in line with each other. This is true even if McDonalds somehow gets their pickles cheaper than Burger King or Burger King is able to get cheaper French Fries.

The point here is that some of the stuff on this board makes no sense at all. I fail to see how producing it in India would make any difference for our hobby. It'd still be overseas production and since companies have realized they can charge more for product and consumers just have to live with it. They will keep doing it. You're not going to see lower 1/18 prices ever again, if you see anything, it would be a price increase.

Corey

I would rather mine said "Made in America"...

hworth18 wrote:I would rather mine said "Made in America"...

ME, TOO. Assuming we can get our butts out of the hole we've dug for ourselves as a country, one of these days automation/robotics WILL make it possible to make relatively small-run items at reasonable prices with low enough labor inputs to make sense in America. 3D printing tech keeps getting better and better and cheaper and cheaper. Relatively low-skill elements of model-making like stencil-painting and tampo printing could eventually be replaced with built-in color details. I've seen videos of 3D prototype printing that involves color and texture variations that would be perfect for our hobby.

One of these days ...

Hey, what's all this white powder inside my Mexican Tiger tank? Sniff..sniff. Smells funny.

How much do you want for your Mexi Tiger, Rows.

MCalamari wrote:

Dauntless wrote:Ok lets do it! Mexico might be a good choice though. It might solve a few problems.

Back in the 1980s I thought some of Kenner's toys were being made in Mexico. Hmmm, I'll have to look at them now.

There were unlicensed knock off Star Wars toys made in Mexico at that time.

Funny I think if you can find them some counterfeits are worth more than the originals because there are so few of them.