An idea

[Ranger565]

Well guys is seems the People over at Scale Model Technologies are looking for ideas to make kits. Well I was thinking since so many of you guys are Looking for a Cat's Eye, maybe it would not be a bad Idea to send them a letter? What you think? If they get some serious Numbers of intrest it may give them a Idea to look into. Heck they got a Monster kit comming out soon.

here is a quote from the main webpage http://smt.theshoppe.com/

What kit would you like to see?

We want your input! What spaceship would you like to see as a kit?

In the months ahead we are planning the following releases:

Another independent design by Alfred Wong

1:48 Galactica shuttle (summer release finally!)

Thunderbirds - any interest? We've had several inquires into a larger Thunderbird 2 to start.

Babylon 5 - We've had several inquires into ships from this show. Email us and let us know.

So the way I see it is.

1. they make money for a Cats Eye.

2. We all get a Kit we all Really want.

you can email them here

smtemail@telusplanet.net

Well anyway its just a simple Idea.

Edited March 14, 2004 by Ranger565

[trueblueeyes]

What are we talking about though: An all original kit or a re-cast of Tanmen's Catseye? Just curious. I love my catseye but I think it would be a very difficult kit to re-cast. Of course if anybody could do, I suppose they could. Although if I must be honest I'd really prefer that something like the VF-5000 or some other obscure Macross mecha be made into a kit. But that's just me and might be influenced by my already owning the catseye!

[Less than Super Ostrich]

SMT doesnt do recasts. They do it the right way... purchase the rights off of the sculpter. However, I do not think that they purchase the rights from the licenser... that's why they got hit with the Cease and Desist order from Lucasfilm when they were about to go "live" with the Millennium Falcon. Anyway... unless you get Tanmen's permission (which you won't), I doubt SMT will be interested... however, it doesnt hurt to ask.

[Myersjessee]

mmm...Mac0 Destroids would be great! 1/58 would be large and pricey though...maybe 1/72?

[Ranger565]

Guys I was not suggesting a Recast at all. I was suggesting that They May just take up a NEW Kit all togeather and We can forget about Tanmen.

[Berttt]

Everytime there is a request for new kit, or a poll on what people want. All you seem to hear is VF this or that.

How about some decent 1/72 scale enemy. Surely a Regult in 1/72 would have plenty of scope as you could then produce the add on for the various missle variants.

Who wouldn't want a 72nd scale Glaug, Q rau N ger, or even Zentran Infantry in a couple of different poses.

C'mon lets widen our scope a little here!

[Ranger565]

Hey guys,

To me any macross model if somthing that we dont have would be nice. Yes I have emailed them about the Cats eye and sent them pictures of it. But this is OUR chance to Maybe get a good Kit of any special thing we have always Wanted to see. Yes, we have seen a Cats eye, but I can prob name 100people on this forum what would buy one in the blink of an eye if SMT offered one. But i would love a GLUG or even one of those Macross shuttles( the one that delivered Misa to earth) These guys are asking for your imput. So my suggestion is give it to them.

But like I said. a NEW cast of a Cats Eye from a Company that knows what they are doing could give us somthing that so many of us have been wanting and Tenman could not deliver.

like I said in my title its just 'An Idea"

[kanata67]

in the blink of an eye

[The_Major]

Well i have a sugestion or two.

ES-11D Cats Eye, this is a great idea and would definatly buy one.

the SC-27 Stargoose would be great first off cus i dont belive its ever been done.

and my final sugestion would be a Melt ship, possibly Millia 639's Gunboat, that i know has never been done before, and would look sweet sitting next to my SDF-1

[Mechleader]

Didn't we just do this????

[Less than Super Ostrich]

Didn't we just do this????

we did... and we got a pretty pathetic response from the Macrossworld members. In fact, that post from SMT was exactly the reason why I started that thread. We got some answers, but it would only guarantee about 20 purchases for a kit, which is much lower than what someone would go to the trouble of making a new sculpt and molds for. I forwarded the info to several resin kit manufacturers... who knows maybe we'll hear back.

Edited March 15, 2004 by Less than Super Ostrich

[Myersjessee]

LTSO...yep...thats the problem. Tanmen himself (who has had success) isn't doing all these unusual designs..why? Well...its costly, and demand isn't that high. Macross/Robotech (in the US) isn't a large market. As a result, no one is going to spend a lot of time and money to make a concept or rarely seen ship unless they

A) Really love it

B) Think it will have lasting value (to the company in sales)

Tanmen is not planning on redoing the Catseye molds....and he is in Japan..that about sums up the value of the ship to a model company. If it was selling like gangbusters I would suspect he would have made new molods. Its cool...I love mine, but its not going to make the profit line go through the roof.

So...how do you circumvent that?

A) Sculpt it yourself. As we have seen MW members do, make it yourself. Then, you can recast it, or work with a company like SMT. Their expense is a lot less if they dont have to make it. CobyWan did this with his awesome lancer. The Monster will be another example. n Obviousely, this one is tough.

B) Get the masses behind you. I would suspect SMT would be much more likely to do a model we wanted if we could guarentee a nice chunk of sales..but that means cooperation between us.

C) Pick something more popular - If I ran SMT I would want to start with something that would expand my purchase base. If I could guarentee sales up front, and thought it would come with a lasting value it's much easier for me to do the project. But, based on this, you can't do esoteric ships from single eps. They just wont catch on. The scale of the sales should also be in line with the pricing of the kits. THis is why I keep preaching 1/72...1/48 Glaugs for example, while I would love them, will be very very expensive..and thus a large investment on SMT's part. A acualized 1/72 or even 1/60 Glaug might be the way to start...then as the following to the product grows, you can consider larger endevors...like a 1/48 Glaug.

I could tell by his posts that LTSO got this...but I think a lot of us didn't. I'm going to start a new thread on this topic.,..maybe we can gather enough orders.

[Neova]

I personally would love to get ahold of Tanmen's Cats Eye but in reality, price vs product is what keeps most buyers from coming through. I would love to see 1/72 enemy mechs but the cost would be more than procuring those old IMAI/ARII model kits, even if they can be significantly better.

I voted 1/72 GBP because that is an instant seller with a known audience, a lower parts count and coupled with enough orders can bring the price WAY down. I would pick up 5-10 sets of those myself just to build out my UN Spacy Defense Battroid Squad.

Sometimes keeping it simple is enough. I would love to see a VF5000 as the polls show but I want that VARIABLE, in 1/72 scale just like the future VF-4G Variable we might see.

[Mechwarrior]

I know I would love to buy a couple Cat's eye models, regardless of makes em, however you will get alot of resitance from those who already have, as you may have noticed, its always the same ones who currently got one now that say it is "impossible or not worht it", because im sure they want to keep their "investment" secure as possible. When i mentioned my extreme interest right after the order from Tanmen finally came in last year, a couple of friendly MacrossWorld Tanmen Cat's Eye owners gladly offered me theirs (one member $295.00 and the other $315.00). I understand that want to be the collectors of a rare model, or even for profit reasons, but unlike them I like to actually put mine together. So don't let the negative feedback about this great kit pursuade you at all, keep on trying to get it made, or remade, or whatever, let me know if I can help too.

[Neova]

Wow, those prices are not bad at all. All original order prices?

Recasts prices are about that right now, even in HK! If SMT can get a new cats eye out on par or better than Tanmen for the SAME or better price point, I'm in for 1 or 2.

[Myersjessee]

Those are the original price lists from the order.

Mechwarrior...with all due respect, I can't speak for everyone, but I have never tried to gouge anyone on a CatsEye price. In fact, when Tanmen told me he only had 5 left, I let the whole Macross community know right away. (youll note I didn't hide it and go try and scoff them up myself...which I could have) I didn't offer to try and add them to the order out of respect for the current situation, but you and anyone else with the knowledge had the capabililty to try and order one on your own. People have asked me to recast it...and I have tried to politley say I dont think I could. Even some of our expert casters (MSLZ22, Valkyrie) have suggested while possible it would be a lot of work. Its not that I don't want to...but rather, I think it would be to much for my skill. Further, I do worry about my kit. I paid over $100 for it...which is a lot for a model (for me) It is very delicate and I worry that the fuselage array mounts or other things would be very hard to mold, and easy to break if done wrong. You'll excuse me if that idea of chopping up my investment for some recaster to mold isn't the most tempting for me. (and youll note...I didn't say no...only that I would rather not) Finally, there is the fact that I am trying very hard to keep Tanmen happy and get the $1000 worth of models still owed to Macross World members...and all I keep hearing is how other members want stuff and lets recast what we have. (the screw Tanmen approach) I haven't given up yet, and I don't want to offend Tanmen, or give him any reason to back out of the order. Based on that alone I would not recast my CatsEye. Further...I dont see how we would make any money on it. The CatsEye (for instance) would cost nearly as much for me to make as it cost Tanmen...and I would only be able to turn out 20...so..unless people who bought one all volunteared to pay for the CatsEye and chip in an extra $50 for the people who got ripped off I dont see how recasting it would help us. (in regards to the Tanmen order)

Considering this would you be interetsed if I proposed cutting up one of your valuable toys or models? "Hey..I got a cool idea...send me your (low vis, 1/55 VE, etc) ...Ill cut it up into little pieces that are easy to mold and we will sell them... "

[trueblueeyes]

Thanks Jesse,

You said it better than I ever could have. I wouldn't sell my Catseye but I would be glad to lend it for re-casting *if* it could be done without damaging the model. My Catseye came with one it's tiny tailfins already broken off. They are *very* fragile kits. Do some research before you paint all of us Catseye owners with the same brush next time. I find it offensive that you would suggest most of us model buyers are only trying to "protect an investment". Right...and that is why several of us were willing to locate and pay over a thousand dollars for an IHP Koenig Monster just to have it available to re-cast. I personally intend to build every model in my collection. I don't own them to just hoard them away. And I will say this...yes there are people that buy models just to keep them in storage with the idea of never building them. The joy to them is in the chase and completing a collection. But guess what? Even those people are willing and in fact have loaned out kits to be re-casted for others.

Yes, there are scalpers out there. I simply won't deny that. I just think that they make up a much smaller percentage of the model community than you imply. From what I've encounted recently, it seems to me that the majority of people in our particular community are more than willing to help their fellow modelers.

....

And look, I am not trying to bust your chops so I truly hope you don't take this as a personal attack. I understand how things could have looked from your point of view. I just wanted to point out a few facts and my own opinion . I think you do great work on your models and I love seeing your completed projects. For what it's worth, I hope you find a Catseye at a reasonable price and complete it to share with us all. ...you're sure to do a better job than I since I will probably get to mine in about five years or so (I've been working on the same 1/72 B-52 model for six months now.... )