Hi Everyone,

Here's some great news! The next Kyosho mini-car release will be the Ferrari Collection #7, available 12/22/09. Here's the official picture:

http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu260/ShaoFeiLon/Ferrari7a.jpg

I wonder why they changed... I thought they are going to have the Skyline race cars first. Maybe they ARE having QC issues b/c the race cars are much tougher to make? Anyways, I'm not going to complain... I can settle with Ferrari any day. Hard to tell from the small pictures, but I believe the F40 and F50 look much sharper than the original release.... so these should all be brand new castings.

As a celebration for Kyosho selling over 10 million mini-cars they are having a special prize drawing for a limited edition of the Enzo (1000pcs). It'll have a special exterior tampo and painted interior plus a special display base and box.

http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu260/ShaoFeiLon/Enzo.jpg

Official web-sites:
http://www.kyosho.com/jpn/products/diecast/brmc/fmc7/index.html
http://tokimekimall.jp/NASApp/prd_detail_info2/1/20091093733/

Enjoy!
Josh

If they sold over 10 million units.... and they've made roughly 940 kinds of cars/bikes, buses for the 39 releases... then that means each release is about 12000 cars.... which means for a 30 cars set there are about 3 or 4 hundred per car? Does that sound about right? If so then Kyosho cars are indeed pretty rare.

Of course I'm assuming that each release gets the same number... but still, something doesn't look right. What do you guys think?

Josh

Absolutely fantastic news to begin the week.
GTO and F40 looks really nice, I´m going to prepare the cabinet for next ferraris right now.:)

If they sold over 10 million units.... and they've made roughly 940 kinds of cars/bikes, buses for the 39 releases... then that means each release is about 12000 cars.... which means for a 30 cars set there are about 3 or 4 hundred per car? Does that sound about right? If so then Kyosho cars are indeed pretty rare.

Of course I'm assuming that each release gets the same number... but still, something doesn't look right. What do you guys think?

Josh

I think the production number for each car must be higher, I´m not an economic expert but Kyosho would haven´t profits selling only 3 or 4 hundred units of each item, taking in mind the high cost of the preproduction, the mold, the license, the materials and the production itself, with a final price for less than 10$, nowadays a very competitive price for a decent quality die cast item in 1/64.

Youpi

Hi hookie,
Thank you for your input and analysis. Your thoughts are much more logical. My simple math just don't add up. They should have several thousand per car at the very least to be profitable. Perhaps they are referring to 10 million Ferrari cars? I better check again.

Nice Josh.

I'm trying to calculate the production number.

There are 39 issues but not all of them are 30 pcs.

4 were sets of 8 (calsonic, ferrari racing , etc); 4 were sets of 24 (F1). I'm not very familiar with the buses and motorcycles but lets say that there's also 30 of them.

This leaves 31 sets of 30 cars = 930 + 32 + 96 = 1058 ( models and variants )
10,000,000 / 1058 = 9452 approx. for every variant ( probably 10000 for each variant )

What do you guys think?

It would be interesting to know the number produced for each casting. I know I had a friend in Japan look once for me for a particular casting that was currently new and she spent over two weeks trying to find it before she found it in all places at a rural grocery store.

Release # Name Cars Types/Variants
1 Ferrari #1 10 28
2 Lamborghini #1 8 24
3 Toyota 8 25
4 Porsche #1 10 29
5 BMW 10 26
6 Ferrari #2 12 29
7 Ferrari F1 #1 15 30
8 Alfa Romeo #1 13 33
9 Mercedes Benz 10 31
10 James Bond 007 12 15
11 Suzuka 8hrs 2005 5 16
12 Lamborghini #2 10 30
13 Porsche #2 10 29
14 British Cars 10 30
15 Ferrari #3 10 26
16 Fiat/Lancia 10 27
17 Ferrari #4 10 30
18 Suzuka 8hrs 2006 14 16
19 Nissan Skyline 10 30
20 Bus #1 8 16
21 Ferrari Racing 3 6
22 Ferrari #5 10 30
23 Audi 10 30
24 Calsonic Racing 10 10
25 Ferrari F1 #2 10 20
26 Volkswagon 10 30
27 Maserati 10 28
28 Bus #2 8 16
29 Porsche 934/935 2 6
30 Alfo Romeo #2 10 30
31 USA Sports Cars 10 29
32 GT-R Racing 8 8
33 McLaren F1 12 24
34 Porsche #3 10 30
35 Ferrari #6 10 30
36 Lotus F1 12 24
37 Circuit Wolf 8 8
38 British Sports Cars 10 30
39 Ferrari #7 10 30
Total: 378 939

Info collected from Kyosho's official site:
http://www.kyosho.com/jpn/products/diecast/brmc/minicar_collection/index26.html
Not counting secret cars or the DyDo cars.

939 types/39 releases ~ 24 types per release.
10M cars/39 releases ~ 250K cars per release.
250K cars per release / 24 types per release ~ 10K cars per type.

Very rough rounding there, but about the same conclusion as Carlo. Does it look right? Not sure how to import the text with the proper indents so it's difficult to read. Anyone care to edit it?

Josh

I did it as a picture
Thanks for list
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p122/ir8vermin/KyoshoList1.jpg

Hey Guys -

Thought I would throw some additional thoughts into the mix.

I believe Kyosho owns their own factories, as well as distribution so that significantly lowers development costs. As well, paint switch is fairly low cost. So doing a run of a casting and switching paint in the middle doesn't cost much. They could do a run of say 12,000 with 4,000 in each of three colors and do little to increase the cost.

Given how quickly these sell out and how well they have maintained their value, I would suspect that they are maybe 2000-3000 per color?? Also, these are only available through a couple grocery chains in Japan so I suspect they are kept in line with number of stores, sets per store and distribution. These are not mass marketed. If they were approaching the 10-15000 mark I think we would see them in more abundance. Look at HWs, GL are done in runs of 3-5000 and they are everywhere.

Just some thing to consider...........

Release # Name Cars Types/Variants
1 Ferrari #1 10 28
2 Lamborghini #1 8 24
3 Toyota 8 25
4 Porsche #1 10 29
5 BMW 10 26
6 Ferrari #2 12 29
7 Ferrari F1 #1 15 30
8 Alfa Romeo #1 13 33
9 Mercedes Benz 10 31
10 James Bond 007 12 15
11 Suzuka 8hrs 2005 5 16
12 Lamborghini #2 10 30
13 Porsche #2 10 29
14 British Cars 10 30
15 Ferrari #3 10 26
16 Fiat/Lancia 10 27
17 Ferrari #4 10 30
18 Suzuka 8hrs 2006 14 16
19 Nissan Skyline 10 30
20 Bus #1 8 16
21 Ferrari Racing 3 6
22 Ferrari #5 10 30
23 Audi 10 30
24 Calsonic Racing 10 10
25 Ferrari F1 #2 10 20
26 Volkswagon 10 30
27 Maserati 10 28
28 Bus #2 8 16
29 Porsche 934/935 2 6
30 Alfo Romeo #2 10 30
31 USA Sports Cars 10 29
32 GT-R Racing 8 8
33 McLaren F1 12 24
34 Porsche #3 10 30
35 Ferrari #6 10 30
36 Lotus F1 12 24
37 Circuit Wolf 8 8
38 British Sports Cars 10 30
39 Ferrari #7 10 30
Total: 378 939

Info collected from Kyosho's official site:
http://www.kyosho.com/jpn/products/diecast/brmc/minicar_collection/index26.html
Not counting secret cars or the DyDo cars.

939 types/39 releases ~ 24 types per release.
10M cars/39 releases ~ 250K cars per release.
250K cars per release / 24 types per release ~ 10K cars per type.

Very rough rounding there, but about the same conclusion as Carlo. Does it look right? Not sure how to import the text with the proper indents so it's difficult to read. Anyone care to edit it?

Josh

very impressive kotetsu, this data is really appreciated, thanks for sharing:)

I copy pasted the translation regarding the special enzo...

Kyosho Minicar Collection
1000 Memorial million exceeded total sales!

1000 million mark anniversary limited edition
『1 / 64 Enzo Ferrari Test Car is』
1000 lottery win in person!

... 1 million? Then that would be around a thousand cars per variant, hmmm.

Wow, just checked Tokimeki Mall again today and the pre-orders for Ferrari 7are all sold out! Now the only source in Japan will either be at the convenient stores or Japanese auctions sites, and it'll be eBay only for us wroldwide collectors.

As for the translation... I think the software is flawed... In the Chinese and Japanese counting system it's read as 1000万, with the character 万 representing 10K. So, 1000 x 10K = 10M.

The special Enzo prize involves sending in some kind of proof of purchase and random winners will be selected. I still need to figure out the details. I think this special Enzo will be THE most expensive Kyosho minicar ever. Well, excluding those over-the-top crazy eBay bids of course. In addition to this proto-type Enzo there will be a secret car as in the last few releases. No idea what it's going to be though.

Thank you Atencio for editing the list. Thank you dipstick for your insight.

I'm convinced that certian variants such as the racing versions or the hard-to-find cars like the Porsche Carrera RS w/blue or red stripe, or the Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint 1300 Junior, or the Sprinter Trueno Initial-D version, etc, are on a much smaller run than the regular cars. But without any official info the best we can do is speculate.

BTW, there's a 1/64 Kyosho Ferrari transport truck on eBay right now.... haven't seen that one for a very long time and it'll be interesting to monitor the bids.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120487314749&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Josh

BTW, there's a 1/64 Kyosho Ferrari transport truck on eBay right now.... haven't seen that one for a very long time and it'll be interesting to monitor the bids.


chuttttt i'm on this auction ;)

Thanks for posting the list and pics Josh :thumbsup:

I'll try to be all over the two race livery cars. :tongue:


Denis

The 250 LM has the same #21 meat ball as the Hot Wheels release.....wierd.

The 250 LM has the same #21 meat ball as the Hot Wheels release.....wierd.

It's the livery of the car that won 1965 LeMans, driven by Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory:

http://www.velocetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/sar-5.jpg

What a beautiful car and picture, thanks for posting.

I think I have my set reserved

On an off-tangent I was chatting with my girlfriend and told her that like any guy I have needs that need to be met. She say but we are 7,000 miles apart. I told her I know but it has come to my attention that your brother travels to Japan all the time. Here are the magical words I want to hear: "I have some Kyosho, Konami, and CM for you, Greg".

Nothing beats a personal shopper who can pick up Kyosho cars for you directly in Japan. How lucky! BTW, did you reserve a 20 cars box or a complete 30 cars set?

I just get one of each car. Try to get all Ferrair's in red

I think I have my set reserved

On an off-tangent I was chatting with my girlfriend and told her that like any guy I have needs that need to be met. She say but we are 7,000 miles apart. I told her I know but it has come to my attention that your brother travels to Japan all the time. Here are the magical words I want to hear: "I have some Kyosho, Konami, and CM for you, Greg".

:lol::lol:

Now THAT is just too funny!

:lol: :lol:

It's the livery of the car that won 1965 LeMans, driven by Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory:

http://www.velocetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/sar-5.jpg
Thanks G G, I didn't realize that. :thumbsup: :wave:

The F40 looks amazing.

Pre-sale is already available on eBay.... though I'll bet these will be some of the highest prices.

It's the livery of the car that won 1965 LeMans, driven by Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory:

http://www.velocetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/sar-5.jpg

dang - even the grass underneath it looks amazing. :thumbsup:

I reserved my complet set 30 cars for 380$ = 12$ each
a little bit expensive but my reseller verified every car before shipping.
and I'm first on the list , if he find a secret car

A bit expensive, but probably still cheaper than bidding on all 30 cars off eBay.

Zoomed in and although the image gets real grainy, the wire wheels on the 250 LM look much improved. Shape and proportions overall looks like they got this one right. Sure looks like sets one and two are being redone like some of us were hoping.

Update: The secret car is a matt-black F40.

Got my set today...I thought they all look better.

My only problem is that some of the wheels won't roll after attaching the body to the chassis. I'm not sure if this is common to all variants though because I stopped assembling after 8 cars and encountered three that won't roll (p4, 246, and 250 lm).

Any feedback on these three?

I found a few in release Ferrari #6 where the wheels are set a little too close, therefore rubbing against the chassis inside the wheel well. What I did was pull the wheels apart slightly and now every car is able to roll. But don't pull too far or they'll stick too far out. But if you got a bent axle then there's not much you can do except find ways to replace it. Hope this helps.

By the way, is the overall quality better than the British cars? Are they in the new type of boxes like the British cars? If so then they might be from the new manufacturer? I won't see my set in a few more months so any info would help.

Hey Josh, I think the problem is that there is very little or no clearance between the tires and the wheel wells. I'm thinking of grinding the inner cast to make the tires fit better. I'm also considering to add some spacer for the screws to have a little bit of clearance.

In the P4's case, there is a wheel well liner ( just like the present 1:1 cars )that I can remove/cut out which might do the trick.

Will try to experiment later.

Very interesting..... I'd hate to go through all that trouble. Maybe you can swap tires from earlier releases? Maybe some are smaller?

Josh

I finally got my set today, all red cars.
First two cars I put together. Nothing but trouble.
First the F40 Ferrari had a broken wing. It is clean break so can glue back together. Very hard to fit the body onto chassis. Had trouble getting back part of car to fit good.

Second car, the 330 P4. I fought and fought with this car to get it to fit together. As mentioned I had a lot of trouble with rear wheels rubbing.
Think I will do the rest tomorrow.

yeah the f40 whing is very fragile
but think I don't like few car have micro scratch o top :mad:

Same here, a few models the wheels won't roll.... guess they'll just be display only.

Well I finished the rest of my cars. As happened with CarC my 246GT and 250 LM along with the previously mentioned P4 also would not even come close to rolling. 250 LM was really bad. I also had a brief scare as I was briefly unable to seperate the base and interior pieces on the 250 LM so I could put the seats and wheel axles in.

Despite those issues I have to say this is my favorite series. The car selection was great with good selections covering wide range of years. Also didn't hurt that it had 3 of my favorite Ferrari's in it: Enzo, F40, and 246 Dino

I had the same feeling too! This set is really nice in terms of quality (of course, aside from the wheels) and improvements in details. It's hard to describe it, but you can somehow "feel" that they are continuing to improve over the previous Ferrari cars. The biggest change of course is when you compare the re-makes to the Dydo cars. The difference is huge and it's another reason why this set is so nice. I simply can't wait for Kyosho to re-make the rest of the older Ferrari cars from the Dydo series.