Bigwig exodus

[Hudson 53]

Am I imagining it or are Bigwigs being sold like hot cakes at the moment??  Also they seem to be going for very high prices, a previous thread discusses this in great detail.  Are there whisperings of a Bigwig re-release prompting people to get rid before the impending price dip?

[Snappy1 966]

They do appear to be selling , or at least they are being advertised a lot lately.

 

The last car I need to have the full line up of Hotshot chassis cars is the Bigwig, I am not going to pay crazy prices though, I am playing the waiting game

[Wooders28 4723]

I sold mine recently because the prices had risen past my,it can sit on the shelf, price. Nothing more sinister than that for me.

 

 

 

[Hibernaculum 933]

I haven't been watching used examples, but I do have some stats on Bigwig kits. At the time of writing...

eBay USA and eBay UK

Sold in past 90 days: 1

Currently for sale: 1

Sold in past years:

• 2015: 1
• 2014: 4
• 2013: 5
• 2012: 1
• 2011: 5
• 2010: 3
• 2009: 3

So. To my eyes, there has been no recent increase in the sale of original kits.

Used examples might be a whole different story. But the two are connected...

Over the long term, the number of vintage kits for sale is becoming less. Not sure if anyone else here remembers, but the amount of NIB vintage kits for sale on eBay 15+ years ago was many more than today. Some sellers were regularly stocking most of the first 50 kits, and certainly all the off-roaders. It was rare not to see at least someone selling virtually any vintage kit you wanted, at any given time. The only problem any of us had, was cash-flow  And for a lucky few, this was no problem. (Like one chap who owns some 40 NIB Hotshot kits).

Now, you can wait many months to find certain kits. NIB Tamiya Falcons used to be regularly available. I don't think a NIB Tamiya Falcon has been sold on eBay, from a seller in the US or UK, in the past 2 years (correct me if I'm wrong, but I do have stats to back this up).

Over the years, the finite amount of vintage kits left in the world have been gravitating toward owners with no plans to ever let them go. And many of those are also being built. I'm not sure if people appreciate this, but the pool of available original kits (across all cars) grows just a little smaller, each month. It's not an exaggeration.

As an example. Of the vintage kits I've sold (quite a few over the years), most have gone to people who've told me they intended to build them immediately - to relive their childhood with an original Tamiya or Kyosho, from the kit. I've been sent build photos from two such people this week alone.

As years pass, all roads lead toward fewer original cars being left NIB, or even good condition. And nothing can ever replace those original issued kits.

As far as Bigwigs go, there are 38 kits in the showrooms on TC these days. Let's be way generous and say there might be 200 NIB Bigwigs left in the entire world today. Perhaps in 10 years from now, there will be 100 left.

You might feel all this kit stuff is only relevant for the lucky kids who actually own them. But the "value" of all examples of any vintage car are dictated by those kits. Nothing is worth more than a kit, but everything is priced relative to kit value. That shrinking pool of kits, ultimately, affects everyone who is interested in collecting vintage.

H.

[Percymon 2184]

I think people have looked at the prices of late and decided its time to move them on, i bet there are a few happy sellers who stumbled upon their old RC car in the attic, expecting it to be worth £50.

In general used vintage Tamiya prices have been strong in the last 3 months, SRBs that havent seen the light of day for 15 years or more, dragged off a dusty shelf at the back of a damp n dirty garage, are fetching £100 or more, and probably in need of the same cost in parts if you haven't got the spares lying around.

 

[Nitomor 2122]

I'm perhaps foolishly expecting big announcements from Tamiya on the Re-re front this year. I think Bigwig has to be a dead cert which as much as I would like a Bigwig, makes me nervous to pay the vintage prices for one because truth be told I think I'd be happier with a Rere that I could build from new anyway.

The recent vintage Hilux I bought, I've been hoping for a rere for ages from Tamiya, and still am, but just in case it doesn't come I figured I'd best snap one up now. There have been some of these 3 speeds going for strong money of late, I doubt they would fetch anywhere near as much should a Re-re be coming. It's only a smidge over two weeks away to the 40th Shizuoka hobby show now so we'll soon know a little more!

Those vintage models that have been re-re'd are not fetching anything like what the un released ones are. Perhaps buyers are feeling a BW release is imminent and this would be the best time to sell theirs before a Rere happens and they plummet (not that NIB ones necessarily would but used ones certainly).

 

 

 

[Hibernaculum 933]

14 minutes ago, Nitomor said:

Those vintage models that have been re-re'd are not fetching anything like what the un released ones are. Perhaps buyers are feeling a BW release is imminent and this would be the best time to sell theirs before a Rere happens and they plummet (not that NIB ones necessarily would but used ones certainly).

Used examples are probably affected more by reissues, than kits. That's true.

As far as kits go. I know not everyone will agree with me. But while reissues do affect the market, after a while when they are discontinued, they creep up in value themselves. Here's a reissued Boomerang that sold in 2013 for US$450. That's nearly double the original RRP on tamiyausa.com in 2008 of US$264 (and I bet Stella and others sold it for less). It follows that if reissues climb a little once scarce, originals climb back too.

In LEGO collecting, sets often rise in value just a year or two after they are discontinued. The rise is so steep in some cases, there are websites devoted to investing in LEGO. I'm not saying this is good or bad, just saying it exists. I'm also not saying Tamiya kits experience comparable increases to LEGO. The Tamiya fanbase is much smaller. But the same laws of supply and demand, apply to all things.

[mynameisdannyowens 61]

All I know is I ain't selling mine!!