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Special Products of Any Type

To: BRHSlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Special Products of Any Type
From: PIXELS@A...
Date: Thu, 01 Nov 2001 23:34:39 -0000
User-agent: eGroups-EW/0.82
Listers:

This weekend at the Sunshine Models Meet in Naperville, some 
friends expressed a concern that I have not been very active on 
this list recently. I assured them that I was traveling and busy 
with research, and the list seemed pretty quiet. I won't place 
information I glean from my work on the list just to put it on the 
list. I am not being selfish, this is just not the right media.

I am investing time, money, and taking a risk to bring new 
products to market. Also, I had a hand in helping to determine 
matches of two of two colors to be produced in the new limited 
run line, and some conversation of the years of differing 
methods to get special products to market, I want to share some 
thoughts.

Each of us is guaranteed our rights to opinion and speech, so 
this is not a rebuttal to others opinion. If you choose to not 
purchase a product for any reason, that is your choice. 
Manufacturers also make choices. We sometime forget that 
manufacturers are in business to make money. With the 
exception of tests, no product comes to market without the idea 
that it will make money. That is not a bad thing, that is how our 
economic system functions.

Other products never come to market, many more ideas never 
make it to the point of serious discussion. Our hobby is very 
speciallized, and each product is in a niche, or it fails.

I can give you one valid reason why the new colors are not part of 
the regular line; the dealers did not want to give the manufacturer 
more display space. Let's think like a retailer for a minute. I have 
so many square feet of area to display product. I want to 
maximize my profit per foot, square , cubic, whatever. The idea of 
running a hobby shop is to make money by selling to and 
satisfying customers by moving product. The stores that close, 
and recently many have, don't move enough product or earn 
adequate margin. So, to start a product line with twelve items, 
and continuously expand the line by offering more choices of the 
same product does not please a retailer. If the product was 
shoes, guess which colors would be made, or stocked? 

Equating the price of a very special paint product to a gallon of 
house paint is an inadequate analysis. It may be an attempt to 
prove a point, or show shock at the price of the special product, 
but it does not define the issue. 

I agreee, the cost of the hobby is increasing. But, why? It is 
increasing because the modelers are demanding better and 
specialized products. We are causing it. So lets not blame the 
wrong guy. All these guys are trying to do is meet the demands 
of a few modelers that ask for a special product.

We can purchase a plastic freight car made with fifty year old 
dies and detail, or a state of the art product. It is your choice.
A new line of plastic passenger cars is being well received by 
hobbyists, and the cost is reasonable. Why? Expect many cars 
for many years. Several approaches to return on investment 
exist, and different manufacturers make differing choices.

$18 buck for a special paint color? You have a choice, buy it, mix 
your own, or wait for an importer to satisfy your wants. Engine 
black has been a good seller for a couple of guys for decades. 
Guess who makes more money? It is not the guy with the 
special niche, one time product. Special products generate 
special prices in any industry. Our hobby is no exception. 

Well, I probably said too much. I know the people involved and 
their values. I was surprised the first time I heard the retail price, 
but after some thought, I realized the small quantity of product 
justifies the price.

Happy Modeling, 

Ed DeRouin


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