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78Triumph

Why do you suppose the Bruiser is still so expensive??

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I've always liked the Bruiser, ever since I was 12 and saw it in the tamiya catalogs.  I would consider buying one if it was half the price.   Why do you think it's still as expensive as it is??  I'm only assuming, but they've had to more than make up for the cost of tooling and manufacturing after all these years, and with scale trucks being so popular, you'd think they'd want to sell more, even if it's at a lower price point.  Thoughts?

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4 minutes ago, Rb4276 said:

Its a tamiya 

Lol, that's true.  It might be the one and only reason! 

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2 minutes ago, 78Triumph said:

Lol, that's true.  It might be the one and only reason! 

I would like one too and i usually dont mind spending the money hence paying $400 for an egress and more for a txt2 but i would never spend almost a grand on a bruiser. Id rather build a competition monster truck for that much that would blow the bruiser away

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1 hour ago, Rb4276 said:

Its a tamiya 

Yes it is. Add to that the nostalgia factor and you've got people willing to let go serious money for it. Or for the reissue that is, which still isn't a good vehicle to run. To me it all goes down to feelings over reality.

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I think it’s for exclusivity and prestige. Maintain the status regardless of whether it’s out performed by competitors. I expect being a Toyota gives it special status for Tamiya. It’s not like a poor performing overpriced real car that the manufacturer just couldn’t afford to keep making.

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Because people keep buying them at that price. If they didn't sell, the price would come down.

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4 minutes ago, Biz73 said:

Because people keep buying them at that price. If they didn't sell, the price would come down.

I wonder how the Bruiser clone factors in at this point?  I wonder just how many people are going that direction rather than buying the real deal?  I wonder if it's effected the real Bruiser sales at all?

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I just realized that each sentence in the paragraph I wrote starts with "I wonder".  When i went to edit the post, my screen went ape.

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I would guess that the clone sells to people that wouldn't be willing to pay the Bruiser price just to get the real Tamiya. The Tamiya fan boys will still pay for the real thing. It probably doesn't cut into Bruiser sales that much.

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Wondering is what starts half the threads on forums ;) Keep on wondering my friend.

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As much as I love tamiya, sometimes I get the feeling they screw their customer base over, and they like it!

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The clone has softened the used market quite a bit. I’ve seen some really good deals on eBay in the $400-$500 range

 

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Can you not get one from RCmart? Its less than $500 on there although not sure what postage would be (unless Im spectacularly missing the point but have seen it on US sites at closer to $1k

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I just recently bought an original bruiser in good original condition from a local seller, and i paid £350 for it. After i have done a sympathetic restoration on the paint job, i will have the best of all worlds, originality and the pleasure of restoring it.

There are some sellers asking stupid money, but there are also good deals to be found.

J

DSC_5557.JPG

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1 hour ago, 78Triumph said:

I just realized that each sentence in the paragraph I wrote starts with "I wonder".

I wonder who wrote the book of love. 

1 hour ago, 78Triumph said:

As much as I love tamiya, sometimes I get the feeling they screw their customer base over, and they like it!

However, I too, wonder this as well...

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You guys are making me want to watch A Fish Called Wanda again... "I wonder, I Wanda, I Wendy, I wonder..."

After a couple of truly disappointing "bargain" builds, trying to save money by buying cheap Chinese stuff, I have reached the conclusion that this stuff costs what it costs, and if you don't like it, don't spend it. The good stuff is always more money, but it's always disproportionately higher quality as well. I have never had the pleasure of owning a Bruiser, though I hope to someday, but everything I have read tells me that it truly is something special, even if the performance isn't as "good" as newer designs. And the clone is a clone in form only; the quality is just not the same. As Baltasar Gracián once wrote: "It is better to feel cheated by the price than by the merchandise."

As for why the list price of the Bruiser kit is so high, I think the best answer is "because they can."

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2 hours ago, 78Triumph said:

As much as I love tamiya, sometimes I get the feeling they screw their customer base over, and they like it!

This is when I buy the clone for 1/4 of the price. At this point I have what I want in my collection; it's the FYIGM mentality. 

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Bruisers are an odd thing. I've never been so elated with a build yet so let down by the driving experience. Building it, one realizes this was something special for Tamiya (like all the early 3 speeds), a labor of love. Its not every Tamiya that gets the rather emphatic (for a Tamiya anyway) "Absolute realism!" text on their box top. But when it comes to driving it, I shamefully admit I was duped by the action pictures of it launching over a dune or the promo video shenanigans. It real life, treating a Bruiser that way would break it. 

I'm guessing the originals probably had even worse metallurgy than the re-releases, so obviously people should have figured out that this wasn't some all-conquering solid metal monster over time. Word should have gotten out like it did with the Avante: Its beautiful but somewhat fragile. Somehow it didn't. Perhaps not enough got sold. Perhaps not being in the face of competition like the Avante allowed its shortcomings to go more unnoticed. Perhaps because it was (along with other 3 speeds) the first of the scalers and would remain so for some time with only Kyosho's later 4 Runner as a possible comparison. Maybe the myth became legend and out grew the facts. Rarity drove the prices of used ones through the roof at one time. All this leads to a hungry market that Tamiya shrewdly cashed in on carefully, when the time was right. What Tamiya didn't bargain for was the clone to stab a lance through their little balloon of Bruiser profit. With all the investment they put into it, they are going to get as much as they can for as long as they can. They will play the long game.

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Not trying to hurt anyone’s feelings but those HG bruiser clones are junk.  I planned to buy one but after holding one in my hands you can see why they are so cheap in price.  All the metal is significantly thinner than a real bruiser.  The drivetrain is not as smooth an even the body felt cheaper.  

I think this could be the best time price wise to pick up an original before the market rebounds.

 

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The clones are blatant stealing Tamiya IP.  Buying one is supporting this theft.  If you can’t afford one and must have one, keep an eye out on used market, there are plenty of deals to be had. 

It is not rational to conclude Tamiya is ripping us off by comparing Tamia list price to the clone price.  Tamiya isn’t making much money period (see link)

https://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?/topic/75632-tamiya-financials/

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1 hour ago, Rubyred said:

The clones are blatant stealing Tamiya IP.  Buying one is supporting this theft.  If you can’t afford one and must have one, keep an eye out on used market, there are plenty of deals to be had. 

It is not rational to conclude Tamiya is ripping us off by comparing Tamia list price to the clone price.  Tamiya isn’t making much money period (see link)

https://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?/topic/75632-tamiya-financials/

Japan IP laws are 20 years, so not stealing if after this and probably part of the reason why Tamiya hasn't gone after them.

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13 hours ago, Biz73 said:

Because people keep buying them at that price. If they didn't sell, the price would come down.

If they don’t sell Tamiya just stops making them. 
 

any price dumps are done by retailers or wholesalers. Tamiya is doing very small manufacturing runs these days, that keeps prices high.
 

My understanding is they basically build on demand These days, if they sell out 1000units, and they get forward orders for 500units they make another 1000units. 
 

this is why some re re’s keep reappearing on the market for many years, where others get one run and then not seen again. 
 

Juls

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i remember being showed the bruiser by my lhs when it was first re-re and i said wow what a beaut then they told me the price that was around the £560 then i fell through the floor and said one day i will own one to them and they gave me that look so i started saving pocket shrapnel and a while later i went in a put a order in  for one the price had gone up to over £600  but in the end when i cashed in the shrapnel i think i handed over £200 in cash as i had saved over £400 then came the hop ups and lights plus the spectrum dx6 for it and i think i was in for around a grand and i dont regret it one bit. it has to be the pride of my collection tbh.

we all know that a plastic kit can run into to 300 mark range  so when you look at a practically all metel kit you have to expect the cost of how much they sell for esp when if you have built one you will know what goes into one.

and when you look at it compare the price of buying a 1/14 truck and a trailer and a mfu plus paint and that easyly over takes the price of a bruiser so when you compare the price it aint that bad really.

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