So, now you guys know how we feel!!

The Liebherr 1030-2.1 is still cheaper than the LTM 1050-3.1 in Holland / Germany.

Seriously, Conrad does need to enhance detail. If NZG can do this, and still keep reasonable prices, so can Conrad. Although, as mentioned earlier, Conrad is one of the few companies still designing and producing all models in Germany instead of China.

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Remko

Ocean Traders Scale Models Facebook Group

Then I am looking forward to this model as it is a great looking rig. And as you will be doing it for the collector, I guess our price will be €60?



I took delivery of about 50 WSI models last year. Out of this, 3-4 were damaged and even then, it was only a visor or light and could be fixed it less than 1 minute with glue. May be I should not have to do this, but I am not a whiner and if it can be fixed easily and is unnoticeable then job done.



Really?? I am amazed that sellers have gone into this business to make money! I always thought that they did it out of the goodness of their hearts and food on the table came from thin air. You need to be a little realistic Gus. Most of the people selling models do it for a living, which means they have to make money.



Most of the people I deal with in the model world are my friends. This includes Jim and Brenda at Search Impex, Steve and Jack at PCM, Christian of course at LTM and some people at WSI itself. I am fortunate in that I have a realistic mind and know that they have to make money. To say that they are creaming it in is just plain rude and untrue. If you really have this problem with some of the WSI dealers, then don't bother with them. Simples really.

Paul R

Oh yeah, I really wish TWH would re-locate to a factory here in England, take into account paying a higher average wage (say £7.50 ph) to the employees making the model, energy costs, tax rates etc, I don't think that there would be many folk on hear that could well afford something like the Bucyrus 495!

The only reason NZG has improved in higher detail / restrained prices (check out the 994 Arthur etc) is because they started making their product in China.

We could have the real nice TWH stuff made here in England or over in the States, but paying craftsmen in our Western worlds would push the prices up through the roof, so then you risk a very low volume production run at higher costs, so you end up will a small cottage industry, not unlike OHS, & some of that stuff was overpriced crap. its simple, we have a higher cost of living so we need to work for more cash.

As they say, just my 2 cents.

Some good sensible comments coming on this forum from all over the world at last...and very pleasing to see some sensible analysis with the emotion out of it re China. especially from our US allies. You must also remember that it is the US companies desire for globalisation that lit this fire.

I remember as a kid looking at Conrad models and dreaming of owning one some day...they were hellish expensive(you guys whining about the cost of your models should get out here to Australia and see what we pay after the freight is added...you got no complaint)...so one could only dream, but now I can afford them and I get what I desire...and they have a very special attraction for me. The other side that has not been raised here re Conrad models is their value after time...they retain a reasonably high residual value...it will be interesting to see what the residual value of the WSI stuff will be ...I say it will be high...the Chinese built or semi assembled models have put a shot in the arm for the models we collect and a well needed one at that...so don't knock the Chinese because we are the ones creating the demand.

As for the price of models with corporate logos etc...did anyone ask what levy the company gets from these being modelled...I'm sure the specific companies are more than responsible for the higher prices.
BMW actively pursues model makers who make their vehicles and have been taking model manufacturers to court for many years now in the pursuit of royalties...so the sellers are not entirely responsible for the the entire amount of higher or increased cost. Retailers need to also be aware that we are not stupid regarding the price of these models also.

I seriously can't wait.that little WSI LTM1050 is an awesome looker but put the conrad equivilant beside it,now set it up 10 times in a row,now pick up all the broken pieces off the WSI model and put them in a box and ask is it worth it,I guarrentee we'll see the same people who are on here giving out about prices,give out about build quality

If you fancy a model that will look awesome behind a glass case never to be touched buy WSI or PCM or YCC or LTM or any other highly detailed model

If you are into dio's and setting a model up in several different ways from time to time,if you're not a heart surgeon when it comes to handling models and still want detail and features then go the Conrad NZG etc etc road,

its that simple

you even have to take into consideration what breed of duster you have to dust with when you have a WSI based model,and i gotta agree with the WSI models shedding parts for no apparent reasons,so maybe this is just localised to Ireland i dunno,but the amount of conrad models that have broke in my hands or i have tried to break amount to 0

and just another side topic about detail,how detailed will collectors expect models to get?i believe today we have already stretched the boundaries when it comes to "value for money(affordability)" "ruggedness" and "Detail" and i can guarrentee you will not get all three factors in a model e.g. it will either be cheap and rugged and low detailed(conrad) or cheap,detailed and flimsy(UH) or rugged detailed but astronomically expensive(at the lesser end YCC but more likely brass hand made like ccm)

I feel last year WSI and WSI based took a detour and headed in the way of solely "liveries" as so many road haulage model makers have gone,not selling a tractor unit on its own just shows to me the greed of them,yes i have 20 lovely different liveried tractor units but the same old nooteboom,this year they have brough tus some excellent new trailers but i can see last years pattern following,who's up for 20 different liveried tractors but the same old tele step trailer,or step trailer,I can honestly see WSI making more money if they sold both tractor and trailer seperatly,

as a last thought
you may as well say Conrad and NZG have been around since the dawn of time,and they're still here now,WSI PCM LTM YCC UH First Gear etc etc could only make money in the crazy extravigant days of the last 5/6/ years when people had money to burn and then some,but lets see who can cut costs while keeping standards up,who can make a viable model that will still appeal to the punter who no longer has a bottomless pit of money to spend,I firmly believed the first two home will be Conrad and NZG,if you haven't made money and lasted through the bad times then you have a long road ahead,just look at real life industry now,who of you got through the recession of the 80's and still made money,now look at all the lessons you have learned,todays reccession isn't as big a nightmare to you as it is to a new business who couldn't not make money in the past 5 or so years

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Why is "phonetically" spelt with a "ph"?

... It's better to be silent and thought a fool, then to speak up and remove all doubt

The complex of Newgrange was originally built between c. 3100 and 2900 BC,[2] meaning that it's aproximately 5,000 years old. According to Carbon-14 dates,[3] it is more than 500 years older than the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, and predates Stonehenge by about 1,000 years.

Really isn't the one thing being overlooked here is that the Conrad crane in question is basically the same one that was realeased years ago and is just being rebadged as the updated version as the 1/1 does likewise.
I don't know anything about the 1/1 version, but isn't it for all intents and purposes the same machine, outside dimensions and build? Could this be similar to Norscot releasing the 336 even though at one point it was a 330 and basically (from a modeling standpoint) the same machine?

The Conrad crane in question is an old one by today's detail standards. It would seem to me that someone has come out with a near rival of the Conrad model that just offers more in the way of less cost to the collector and greater detail, but because it's a new item......why if you were going to offer that crane model again for sale would you start completely over. Plus this one was pricey back when it was new......$80.00 plus

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More like purchased from devient and selfinterested, greedy Americans......surely you saw 60 minutes on the subject.=>:-<

Chris

Yes Chris, I saw that 60 Minutes segment. I guess you mean the one about the Chinese spys selling rights to do business in China to American businessmen, if they provide secrets. If I recall the Chinese national spy got 5 years and the American got 9 years. Pretty light sentences for treason and espionage. You are right about greedy Americans being partially to blame. For corporations who have to answer to their stockholders, they must compete so they outsource the labor. But when Americans are out of work, they do not buy the cheap goods from China. Thus, the Chinese factories close down, as we are seeing now. Now their labor force is raising hell. Good. China's problem is that they must meet the demands of 1.5 billion people and they are years from even building an infrastructure to start. Their people are unwilling to wait anymore. With the advent of instant communications, the demand for goods and services is imminent. The Chinese people have seen what the world offers, and they want it now. As the old regime dies off, hopefully the younger masses will see that friendly competition and compromise is the answer. If not, they will implode or, even worse, there will be blood. Add in the lack of renewable energy, disappearing natural resources, a burgeoning popoulation, and global warming and the future looks bleak. I say let's populate the Moon and start looking toward Mars as a vacation spot! CAW

Aww geez... Heeerrrre we go.

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Dave

No, we should just get on with living.....I've been into that stuff for years now and life still goes on. If it isn't the Illuminati it's the Jehovah Witnesses or the Catholics or someone else(Mozzies now)...life is going on no matter what.......soon as an exceptional model is released we will all forget that stuff.

We have a new religion starting right here...I'm now a Diecast Two Headed Calathumpianist...

Sorry you feel that way Gus and also sorry that my job takes me away from my home and wife. Boasting? If I ever thought I was boasting or if anyone had or in the future tells me I am boasting, then it will stop right away. Boasting is a trait that I am sure most people dislike and one I have never been accused of in all the time I have been posting on this forum.

Also sorry that I enjoy taking pictures and posting them on here for others to see and hopefully enjoy. But as you said, you are entitled to your opinion. How factual that opinion is anyone's guess but it is yours nonetheless.

And yes you did put me in touch with Steve so I cannot take that away from you. Thank you for that.

80 models is a lot to have defects with. I guess I am lucky in that so few of mine have defects and I hope that luck continues as I would not want 80 models with defects.

And for the record I am in a Paris hotel room right now and will not see my wife for another 10 days, having been away for 10 already. Nothing to boast about as it is just another hotel room and is just my job, which I happen to enjoy.

I cannot fault you or anyone else for your collection and enthusiasm. I just happen to disagree with your thoughts on WSI, sellers that fleece us and the fact that people need to make money.

We'll just have to agree to disagree.

Paul R