Dracula Model Kit - X-Plus

[Monsters For Sale]

                                Dracula Model Kit - X-Plus, 2023

Not a bad looking Dracula model - with a sneak peek of a Frankenstein model box containing the words "Fall 2023".  I wonder if they have anything else in store for the end of the year. 


Squadron.Com is taking pre-orders:     https://squadron.com/1-8-x-plus-dracula-1931-plastic-model-kit-preorder/

[Mike Scott]

I'd like to have the "Revenge of the Creature" kit! 

[MonsterBaker666]

X-Plus is hitting them out of the park.  Expensive, but worth it. 

[Dr.Terror]

The sculpts are good, but almost too good for styrene kits made for the general public.   Its very hard to paint kits like this.   Anything less than pefection will look awful on display.

[Mike Scott]

The sculpts are good, but almost too good for styrene kits made for the general public.

Does the general public pay $55 for a model kit?

[Dr.Terror]

Yes.    And im not talking Mom and Pop buying models for Jr at Walmart.   Those days are long gone and not the "general public" that buy figure kits in 2023.    Im referring to the average Aurora etc.. figure kit builder because these are beyond anything seen in a retail styrene kit before.

[Mike Scott]

And im not talking Mom and Pop buying models for Jr at Walmart.   

That's my idea of the general public. People who buy their model kits from WM, rather than from CultTVman.

[Monsters For Sale]

Your dollars don't go as far as the used to.

When I was a kid, (I heard that groan) in the 1950's a typical model was 98 cents.

As I explain to others my age:  I think nothing of giving their grandkids $100 for their birthdays.  When I was their age, I was happy to get $5 for birthdays or Christmas.  But, the Saturday Kiddie Matinee cost me 25 cents.  I could go to the movies 20 times for that five dollar bill.  (Ten times, if I splurged an extra 15 cents for popcorn and 10 cents for a Coke each time.)

Let me see them go to the movies 20 times on that $100.  And we got cartoons, a serial and some short subject.  If not, we had a double feature.  But we always had at least a couple Warners Bros. cartoons.

Today's models look better than the original Aurora monsters.

[Dr.Terror]

Today's models look better than the original Aurora monsters.

But they have no style or soul.    And most important.....they dont look fun.    Ive never been a fan of screen accurate or super detailed "collectibles".   Thats what these feel like to me.

Kids today can spend $10 on Netflix  and watch any movie etc.. they want as many times as they want all month long..     

[Monsters For Sale]

But they have no style or soul.    And most important.....they dont look fun.    Ive never been a fan of screen accurate or super detailed "collectibles".   Thats what these feel like to me.

I should have said they look more accurate.

"Better" is a subjective term.  The earlier models have a nostalgic element that today's model builders won't get.  For them the current crop of models will have that 30 years from now.

[MonsterBaker666]

I love the old Aurora kits.  And I love these new kits.  Both have advantages.  The Aurora kits were made for kids.  These new ones are cearly made for adults.  And as an adult I dont think I'd be happy making a less than accurate new model of these monsters.   

[Rockshasa]

The sculpts are good, but almost too good for styrene kits made for the general public.   Its very hard to paint kits like this.   Anything less than pefection will look awful on display.

That makes these kits right up my alley, LOL.
I only do styrene models, and I love really tight paint jobs.

I really can't tell how any of these new UM kits will look until we see some painted versions.
It's hard to tell what this Dracula face will really look like until it's painted
I just wish the poses were a bit more animated and not so straight-on, pose-perfect.
But they're still kinda cool...

[Hepcat]

Your dollars don't go as far as the used to.

When I was a kid, (I heard that groan) in the 1950's a typical model was 98 cents.

Today's models look better than the original Aurora monsters.

But today's models aren't being sold at the same price point! Let's round up the price of the Aurora monster model kits released in the 1961-63 years to $1.00 or four quarters. Four U.S. quarters had a silver content of 0.72336 troy ounces of silver in the early 1960's. At this moment's silver price of U.S.$24.92, that $1.00 then would translate to a price of $18.02 per kit today. That's less than a third of $55!

 

[Rockshasa]

Model kit prices nowadays are off the rails. I don't care what facts or figures you throw at me.
You have a flimsy cardboard box with a couple pieces of styrene plastic in it, that truly isn't worth more than a dollar.
The material itself costs pennies...everything after that is just greed.
The price of styrene kits nowadays is ridiculous, period.

[MonsterBaker666]

As to the cost of a kit...weeeeellll...there's a lot more to a model kit than just plastic and cardboard.

For licensed kit, especially one based on a famous actor, you have to pay for that.  Usually a big chunk of change up front, plus money for ccx each kit made (not sold).   Plus you have to pay a licensing fee to whoever owns the movie the character is from.  Then you have to pay an artist to design and sculpt it.  And great artists dont come cheap.  They you have ccx to have that sculpture sent off to have molds made from it, and those are VERY expensive.   Then you have to have those molds produce those plastic parts.  Often made overseas, and they gave to be shipped to the good old usa.  And then there's those cardboard boxes with art of them...more money for that artist.  Add shipping the finished kits to all the distributors.  Plus they want to make a profit.

It all adds up.