King & Country Prices....Out of Control!

[Coreyeagle48]

Greetings:

I was enjoying collecting the King and Country pieces. They are neat and they have made some pretty unique aircraft we'd probably never see in the scale if it weren't for them.

However, I am dismayed that the prices on their pieces continue to go up and up. I wanted to get their newly released Albatros, at least 1 version of it, but at $199 a plane we are getting beyond comfortable for the cost. Not to mention they bring 3 releases out at one time so unless you have the government's checkbook you can't even get them all for your collection unless your Bruce Wayne.

At this point I am seriously considering ditching them and going back into 1/18 due to the value for the size. King and Country is just getting insane with their pricing. It's no wonder they have to make in super limited numbers.

Corey

[vmf214]

I would like to get some too but just can't justify the price. I don't think the government's checkbook would be very handy, it would be a hot check!

[Light.Inf.Scout]

K & C has always been cost prohibitive for me

[Coreyeagle48]

Greetings:

Well they were always expensive yes but they are amazing pieces. The first couple plane releases were priced in what you'd expect them to be but the last couple the prices have just skyrocketed. I cancelled my order for the newest release simply because at the price, I can't justify spending for it. Even the HTF 1/18 planes are cheaper than what they are asking...that is ridculous.

It is a shame as I belong to a dedicated K & C thread and many of the hardcore collectors are also complaining about the pricing. Many are also complaining the releases have become so limited, that people who need to wait to be able to afford them are missing out. I guess that is the way it goes but if it were my company I'd make more to sell them and keep the collecting base pleased. From what I am gathering there is more than one collector these days a bit pissed off with King and Country. Not to mention one of the latest releases (the ME-262) was prone to quality problems not usually expected with a K& C piece.

Regards,

Corey

[uksubs]

Greetings:

Well they were always expensive yes but they are amazing pieces. The first couple plane releases were priced in what you'd expect them to be but the last couple the prices have just skyrocketed. I cancelled my order for the newest release simply because at the price, I can't justify spending for it. Even the HTF 1/18 planes are cheaper than what they are asking...that is ridculous.

It is a shame as I belong to a dedicated K & C thread and many of the hardcore collectors are also complaining about the pricing. Many are also complaining the releases have become so limited, that people who need to wait to be able to afford them are missing out. I guess that is the way it goes but if it were my company I'd make more to sell them and keep the collecting base pleased. From what I am gathering there is more than one collector these days a bit pissed off with King and Country. Not to mention one of the latest releases (the ME-262) was prone to quality problems not usually expected with a K& C piece.

Regards,

Corey

If you think $199 for a WW1 plane bad check out the price for there Hawker typhoon $369.00

[ketelone]

K&C has tremendous pieces, but they are becoming extremely expensive. The Thomas Gunn pieces are really nice and they're a lot cheaper...

[Coreyeagle48]

Greetings:

I don't collect anything figure or armor related so Thomas Gunn really doesn't interest me that much.

The first King and Country planes that came out were in the $150-$180 range which I could swing. But then they took a gigantic jump in a very short amount of time. As someone mentioned, $369 for the Typhoon and $259 for the 262. That's just way out of my price range for collecting. I've noticed even the John Jenkins World War I planes are creeping up in cost. What does irritate me though about the K & C stuff is that I wanted the Albatross planes, at least 1 of them. And the fact so few were released at such a high cost means I've missed them. I hope they are available at some point from someone and I can at least get 1. But still, very high prices and I'm not sure how they think collectors will take the major increases in what is already a tight market economy wise to collect.

Corey

[snake]

Don't have any K&C, but they are interesting.

Not sure why their prices are rising so much?

And not good if your customer base is not ready to buy at these higher prices. Corey certainly isn't a cheap collector, and if he is getting ready to throw in the towel on K&C, they have some issues.

[Coreyeagle48]

Greetings:

The claim on one of the message boards is that the material cost is rising so much and that the only way they can make money is by offering fewer releases at higher prices...which doesn't exactly make any sense. If you want to make money, I'd produce more so more people can buy and you can get more collectors into the market.

The Albatros release peeved me off the most. 150 of each of the three schemes. The 5th grade class in our school building has more kids than that, so there would not even be enough to go around for the entire class. To me that is just ridculous, especially if you have a worldwide market of military collectors who will buy them. There were a lot of angry people who were left out of the Albatros releases, coupled with the price increases on the other pieces and some QC issues that have cropped up on some recent releases, you've got some problems developing in King and Country land.

I'm not a cheap collector but I am not an expensive collector either. The piece to me has to be worth the money and be value for the money. The K & C releases though nice, and some military collectors swear by them, have exceeded what I want to pay for a piece these days.

I bring up this example, why should I buy a K & C plane for $369 dollars that features no moving parts when I can get a Hobby Master Dauntless with moving parts for about half....or a 1/18 piece for less than that. It finally to me didn't make sense anymore.

Corey

[vmf214]

Sounds like a case where higher price more limited release may bite them.

The D.V's look superb but I just can't get in to another odd scale like 1/30. Almost bought a D.V then had second thoughts thanks to Monkey Depot incompetence.

[Norsican]

If something is too expensive, I vote with my feet and don't by it.

[uksubs]

Greetings:

The claim on one of the message boards is that the material cost is rising so much and that the only way they can make money is by offering fewer releases at higher prices...which doesn't exactly make any sense. If you want to make money, I'd produce more so more people can buy and you can get more collectors into the market.

The Albatros release peeved me off the most. 150 of each of the three schemes. The 5th grade class in our school building has more kids than that, so there would not even be enough to go around for the entire class. To me that is just ridculous, especially if you have a worldwide market of military collectors who will buy them. There were a lot of angry people who were left out of the Albatros releases, coupled with the price increases on the other pieces and some QC issues that have cropped up on some recent releases, you've got some problems developing in King and Country land.

I'm not a cheap collector but I am not an expensive collector either. The piece to me has to be worth the money and be value for the money. The K & C releases though nice, and some military collectors swear by them, have exceeded what I want to pay for a piece these days.

I bring up this example, why should I buy a K & C plane for $369 dollars that features no moving parts when I can get a Hobby Master Dauntless with moving parts for about half....or a 1/18 piece for less than that. It finally to me didn't make sense anymore.

Corey

k&C say it the cost of material that make them put there prices but none of the other company's are , K&C RAF fuel truck is $251.00 ,Figarti German fuel truck with opening door $145.00

[Gambit]

I bought a couple of their airmen to see what they were like.
Very nicely done
You can't mix them in with 1:32 scale airmen but they look OK by themselves next to a plane.
Could never afford any of the planes or tanks.