I was just wondering if the July release of Gigantic Frankenstein was still on track...the past few months have flown by and I find myself on the verge of the fact that I'll soon own a kit that I've been anticipating for 40 years:thumbsup:
How are the pre-sale orders doing? This is truly an historical event in the model world...:)
Mcdee

The price of the kit is gonna be around $100.00, I think I will be missing the boat on this one as well. The Chariot and Space Pod will be much more affordable (34.99 for each). I guess the license for the Big Frankie or something has caused it to be priced so high. Hell, even the Seaview was priced better for what it was, and the beautiful engineering of that kit.

I paid $220.00 for my FM Falcon, only because of what it was, and the engineering that had gone into it. I still haven't even started on it, because I am so scared of messing it up.

I just bought 3 Big Frankies from CultTVman for $79.00 each...can't beat that price :thumbsup:
Mcdee

I'm sorry, but that is still too much for a glorified repop, no matter how rare it was originally. Steve always gives good prices, but how much was shipping on that?

I may seem like a doomsayer here, but I am only voiceing my opinion about this model. I would love to have one of those, since they are a link to my childhood as it is with many fellow modelers.

I'm just saying, that the Chariot and Space Pod are new kits that are gonna be huge at 1/35 scale and they are less than $40.00 a piece. The probably have more plastic in them than Big Frankie, and yet they are cheaper. I think this is just a good example of supply vs. demand, without the supply even known yet.

I am thrilled at what Moebius has done for us in regards to new and old kits and I hope they keep up the good works. But $99.99 for that one kit? Is the Karloff estate getting a chunk? I'm just sayin'

I'm getting Gigantic Frankenstein for $79.00 so that's $5.00 less than I paid for the Seaview...the shipping was very reasonable from CultTVman and worked out to $10.00 a kit and I've been waiting forever for a repop of 'ol Big Frankie...so to me it's worth every penny...and yeah the price on the Chariot and Space Pod is very Schweet...I'm buying a bunch of them too:thumbsup:...
Mcdee:)

I said it before and I'll say it again...NO way do I think demand will justify the kit but Moebius must know better..I think there are maybe 100 of you out there who might buy it but I doubt there are that many..maybe 15 rabid fans might buy three each..LOL! Maybe Steve Iverson can tell us there are more than 100 presold so I may be wrong...tends to happen now and then.

So you see my personal bias that it does NOTHING for me and I like Frankenstein alot! I would buy a couple more Aurora regular repops ! This kit is just a cartoonish cariacture and not that fantastic at that...I just don't get it. Fits in with the Crash Bandicoots of the modeling world...

More power to you guys who are salivating for this...please buy several to make Frank's investment worthwhile!
Gary:hat:

LOL You could've at least called me maniacal...:p
Mcdee

To promote GF, Moebius should send one to Mad Men tv show since it takes place in the 1960's.

I said it before and I'll say it again...NO way do I think demand will justify the kit but Moebius must know better..

I think that is the reason for the price of the kit.
Moebius knows it isn't going to sell a ton of them.
But they can probably just sell enough to break even at that price.

I know there were quite a few presales on ebay that people jumped on.
So I think they will probably end up selling about 1500-2000 kits.

July is still the date we expect. Please don't think that July 1st at 12:01am they arrive though! July is a long month, and most likely it will be towards the end of the month.

Concerning the retail cost. I understand the price has upset some people. Not sure what to say other than this was an expensive kit to produce. Licensing was more complicated than Seaview. As I have stated before, believe it or not, this kit costs us more to produce than Seaview. And that's before costs like licensing, insurance and so on. Huge deep tools are not cheap. Shipping from overseas, then shipping to distributors. It's all gone up.

If you're not into it, you'll never understand the appeal. There are MANY people that are into it, and we really have no worries about this kit being a good seller. It won't be out forever, and if it is something that does interest you, get it as soon as you can as our license doesn't last forever.

I'm baffled how the tooling could cost more than the Seaview- all the design and tooling on Seaview LESS than just copying an already existing kit? WOW! Who would have thought..
Well I guess the high price is a neccesity for this kind of kit. I'm sure it will make back it's investment. Frank has been SO right on everything he is doing I'm assured he will do fine. I just don't have interest in it...glad you guys who do will finally be getting their hands on it!
Now Monster Scenes- gee that is a different story- I really think those will be HOT sellers and I can't wait!
Gary:thumbsup:

Thanks for the update Frank! I want a case for sure.

Any plans for a glow version?
Frightening Lightning?

When you consider the fact that an Original GF sold just before Christmas for $3300.00....I'm thinking $79.00 is CHEAP!... and yes I know...'But it's original'... Well if the best I can do is take a brand new styrene kit and a brand new 'mint' box from Moebius, for a fraction of an originals' price...oh man... I'm good with that :thumbsup:
Mcdee
and darned tootin'... Id buy a few Glow ones Too :p

I have a resin copy of BF which I built. The price was somewhere between $90 and $120 (It's been a LONG time since I bought it). I plan to buy a new copy from Moebius to have a nice copy on-the-shelf in case I get the craving again. I bought at least one of each Aurora repop kit with original packaging that has come out, just to have as much of the original joy I experienced as a kid as possible.

If you're not into it, you'll never understand the appeal.

WORD!

Count me in for a case!

Got my case ordered too! Big Frankie can't miss and will sell out, in my opinion. I did not pick up the Big Seaview and won't. It looks to be an extremely well made kit, but I have no interest in it. Never watched the show and had little interest in ships, aircraft etc. Bring on the figure kits!!

The price is about what I expected. The price on the original long box kits was $1. Big Frank was $5. With inflation a repop long box is now about $20. So if you figure to 20 times the original cost of the $5 kit you get $100. Seems about right to me. And Frank made a real good point about the molds being so deep. There are few parts, but they are big massive parts. Alot of mold metal was used on this kit.

without us modelers, there are enough people who collect universal monsters everything to justify the re-pop on it. frankenstein's monster is one of my top sellers during the off season.

I am down for 2...

It's only natural that most of us will buy many if not most of Moebius produced kits.However,probably not 100% of the kits they produce.Our priority is to buy the kits we love the most first,which will most likely be the majority of the kits they dish out if they keep offering this wonderful assortment of kits.I have a feeling though that BIG FRANKIE would be a fantastic investment,especially if it's a very limited production.You know how it is.We never regret not buying them until they are out of production.Then they become like precious jewels that most modelers just got to have in their collection.:rolleyes:

I've already ordered one case (3) from Steve and I always buy from the LHS to show support...I'm picking some up just to give as presents this Christmas.:thumbsup: So I'm probably buying 9 kits at the least :hat: and I'm just one guy...like Moebius said {if you're not into it , you'll never understand the appeal} but on the other side of the coin ...If you are into it...LOOK OUT...I don't think Moebius has to worry about 'breaking even'
Mcdee

And Frank made a real good point about the molds being so deep. There are few parts, but they are big massive parts. Alot of mold metal was used on this kit.

Exactly.
Big tools needed.
Which means more costs all the way around.
Heavier equipment to move them (higher transportation costs) and manuver them (which means more work when tooling them).
And largers machines to run them (higher manufacturing costs)

I know, I worked in injection molding for 17 years.
Bigger tools are just a bigger pain in the butt to work with.
And bigger presses cost a lot more to buy, so they have an equaly higher cost to run to make back that investment. Sometimes as much as twice the cost of the next smaller machine in the shop.
It's not just the amount of plastic that determines these things, but the physical size of the tools and how big the machine needs to be to accomodate that tool.

I think the kit will sell out faster then the seaview, and odds are, they'll have to make more to fullfill need. (Hope a glow version is considered for the repopped ones.)

The universal monster group went nuts when they heard this was being rereleased, and the repop godzilla go kart kit polar put out (another rare vintage kit) today fetches FAR more then the cost at it's release.

Odds are Big Frankie will be $400-$600 on the secondary market 3 years from now.

I just hope, if Moebius sees secondary kits values skyrocketing, they have the sense to product more kits to fullfill the appetite for them.

I could easily see people chasing down the Seaview 3 years from now, and paying premium prices for it.

This all begs the question...are there any solid numbers as to how many have been pre-ordered? Even a ballpark figure? Gigantic Frankenstein isn't only desired by us aging Aurora freaks ...but as was pointed out, the Universal Monster collectors and it's going to be a Hot item for those who love to decorate for Halloween:cool:
Mcdee

What are the odds on the Invisible Man being available at WF? What about the Chariot?

WORD!

AArdvark.

Chris.

I'm baffled how the tooling could cost more than the Seaview- all the design and tooling on Seaview LESS than just copying an already existing kit? WOW! Who would have thought..
Well I guess the high price is a neccesity for this kind of kit. I'm sure it will make back it's investment. Frank has been SO right on everything he is doing I'm assured he will do fine. I just don't have interest in it...glad you guys who do will finally be getting their hands on it!
Now Monster Scenes- gee that is a different story- I really think those will be HOT sellers and I can't wait!
Gary:thumbsup:

The tooling didn't cost more, but it was second in cost in what we have going. The actual kit when all is considered costs more per unit to produce than Seaview did.

What are the odds on the Invisible Man being available at WF? What about the Chariot?

Sorry, neither will make it in time that I can see. Chariot may be close, but Invisible Man will be August.

Sorry, niether will make it in time that I can see. Chariot may be close, but Invisible Man will be August.

...but worth the wait! :D

I'm warming up to actually THINKING about buying a BF now after I said "nah" to it a few days ago- you guys are getting the excitement going for me on it..!!!
Gary:)

I'm warming up to actually THINKING about buying a BF now after I said "nah" to it a few days ago- you guys are getting the excitement going for me on it..!!!
Gary:)

If you haven't already... check this thread out:http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?p=2220305#post2220305

Yeah don't let this one go by... or you'll be like I have been in the past ...regretting not getting it when the getting was good. This kit is truly an icon from the 60's and if nothing else a Great Historical conversation piece :thumbsup:
Mcdee

I wanted a Big Frankie for so long I can't remember, but couldn't afford to lay down the huge amounts of cash they have been bringing for years, even just for pieces and parts! I bought a resin cast from a fellow on Florida's west coast about a year ago, which isn't too badly done, but I am thrilled that Moebious is doing a full blown reissue! I will be buying several! I paid $175. for this resin cast, and it weighs 9 pounds! Here's what I did with him, in traditional greaser style! Hey, I'm a hotrodder, this is what I do!
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l35/Finktim/Big%20Franky/012-1.jpg
I did him up in traditional black leather jacket and jeans, with some kool Converse Chuck's to set him off!
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l35/Finktim/Big%20Franky/010-2.jpg
I printed my own decals for this one.....
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l35/Finktim/Big%20Franky/008-1.jpg
And added some real shoelaces....
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l35/Finktim/Big%20Franky/use3.jpg
Also added one of my favorite band logo's, and ad-libbed a new name!
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l35/Finktim/Big%20Franky/use1.jpg
He's all done with the airbrush, with some brush painting as well. I used some sick paint I got from BearAire....
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l35/Finktim/Big%20Franky/011.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l35/Finktim/Big%20Franky/014.jpg
I had a blast doing this one!
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l35/Finktim/Big%20Franky/016.jpg

WHOA...EXTREME CLOSEUP... Right On Tim I Love this kit and What you've done with it:thumbsup: Can't wait...but I am:)
Mcdee

The shoes are fantastic! I love that! Stray Parts... lol!