# Sticky  One of the reasons kits don't get made...



## Moebius

Licensing! I hate to go back to a closed thread, but it just needs this final answer. One the A&C kit, it sounds like a fantastic idea, whether it would sell or not. Resin would most likely be the best way to do it. But from what I understand, Universal doesn't own the rights to A&C. To get Universal to agree to co-license for something as small a money maker as this would be very tough. Even if you could, most likely it would be double the fee as you would be paying for Universal Monsters and the A&C fees. Minimum it would be a very time consuming, expensive proposition, that most likely wouldn't sell enough in styrene to make it worthwhile.


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## Gerry-Lynn

Frank - That makes sense. That is why the resin kits producers can make a low run; with a little or break even money on it. I for one appreciate what you and other kit producers do. If you can't do it - Either we can do it ourselves... Or another Garage Producer might pick it up. The more the merrier. 

Thank-you for what you have, and are doing for us!!!

Gerry-Lynn


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## kangg7

A&C kit??????


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## Seaview

A&C = Abbott & Costello


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## Capt. Krik

kangg7 said:


> A&C kit??????


 
Abbott and Costello, or more correctly Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein. Someone on another thread mentioned this would make a great kit.

I think we sometimes forget that subjects like these involve paying a license to use the likeness of some character or vehicle. Then you have to consider how popular would this kit really be and would it justify the cost of the license to produce it.
We all know that Frank and Dave love models as much as we do and that they would like nothing more than be able to produce everything we want. Realistically though, they are running a business and to stay in business they have to be profitable. Economics 101. The end being that they must choose subjects that are likely to good sellers.
Let's face it, we all have ideas for kits we'd like to see produced but will probably never see the light of day because there is not enough interest in the subject to be profitable. I could name a half dozen kit ideas off the top of my head that I'd like but know will probably never be produced.
Having said all that my kudos to Moebius for the kits they have produced so far and the stuff yet to come down the pipeline. I can hardly wait to see what they have planned for the second half of this year.


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## Aurora-brat

*A resin kit already exists...*

I've built it twice!

Here is my latest attempt


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## kangg7

Thanks Seaview and capt Krik for the answer to my query.:thumbsup:As much as that's been mentioned here I should have been able to figure that one out.That's a cool build Aurora-brat!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Have a good one folks

Qa'pla

dave


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## razorwyre1

Capt. Krik said:


> Abbott and Costello, or more correctly Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein. Someone on another thread mentioned this would make a great kit.
> 
> I think we sometimes forget that subjects like these involve paying a license to use the likeness of some character or vehicle. Then you have to consider how popular would this kit really be and would it justify the cost of the license to produce it.
> We all know that Frank and Dave love models as much as we do and that they would like nothing more than be able to produce everything we want. Realistically though, they are running a business and to stay in business they have to be profitable. Economics 101. The end being that they must choose subjects that are likely to good sellers.
> Let's face it, we all have ideas for kits we'd like to see produced but will probably never see the light of day because there is not enough interest in the subject to be profitable. I could name a half dozen kit ideas off the top of my head that I'd like but know will probably never be produced.
> Having said all that my kudos to Moebius for the kits they have produced so far and the stuff yet to come down the pipeline. I can hardly wait to see what they have planned for the second half of this year.


well said, capt.. i think a lot of the members here would be shocked at how high a licensing fee really can be, even for characters that arent that popular. (consider the sums hollywood throws around without blinking.) also licensing fees are often broken down into 3 parts: the advance (the up front lump sum you have to pay for just the use of the characters name and likeness), the royalty (the percentage of each model kit sold you must pay to the owner of the character) and the guarantee (connected to the royalty: you have to promise the owner that you will sell a minimum number of kits, and promise to pay them at least that much in royalties). another thing is that hollywood likes to think "big time": if they think that a low run model kit of a particular subject will interfere with selling a license to a higher selling sort of product (pre-paint statue, etc.), or that a bigger company might approach them with a similar request, they simply wont do it. 
remember too that manufacturers cant just price the kit as if it were a generic piece and then tack on the royalty on top of that. its factored in just like the cost of the box or the plastic or the overhead on the office, and is multiplied dramatically between the actual physical manufacture of the kit and the end consumer (as little as 4X, as high as 16X).

thanks frank for reminding us that no matter who much we love a particular character, there have to be a heck of a lot more people who feel exactly the same way, and willing to spend real $ on that passion, for a styrene kit to be viable.


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## Auroranut

We're damned lucky to have what we have!! We've been able to finally build styrene kits that we'd never have even dreamt about in the '90's!! 
Frank and co. know what they're doing, they're listening, and they'll release kits that we (and they) have always wanted, while making sure they can pay for the next releases. They're enthusiasts too...

Chris.


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## Dr. Pretorius

Auroranut said:


> We're damned lucky to have what we have!! We've been able to finally build styrene kits that we'd never have even dreamt about in the '90's!!
> Frank and co. know what they're doing, they're listening, and they'll release kits that we (and they) have always wanted, while making sure they can pay for the next releases. They're enthusiasts too...
> 
> Chris.


I heartily agree!


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## Capt. Krik

Auroranut said:


> We're damned lucky to have what we have!! We've been able to finally build styrene kits that we'd never have even dreamt about in the '90's!!
> Frank and co. know what they're doing, they're listening, and they'll release kits that we (and they) have always wanted, while making sure they can pay for the next releases. They're enthusiasts too...
> 
> Chris.


Agreed! I never thought we'd see a large scale Seaview or kits of the Chariot or Space Pod. Even though I wasn't interested in one, who out there thought we would ever see the return of Giant Franky! Certanily not me. Even if Moebius can't produce all the dream kits I'd like, they've done one heck of job getting some really great ones out there.


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## Dave Metzner

Plainly time to close the thread!


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