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I'm sure this question has been asked before, but what's up with the Tyrrell 005 from Ebbro? Any info on why we've been waiting on it for almost 3 years now?
And why has Ebbro decided not to continue producing the Lotus 49? The prices for those selling on eBay are mind-boggling.
If anyone knows what's up with Ebbro, I'd really appreciate it.
For the Lotus 49, I wouldn't be surprised if its down to sales not being great. There were already several versions on the market, and with the issues it had with fitment they may have decided to move to unique subjects.
With these smaller manufactuers, we're much more likely to see delays for a number of reasons. If other items don't sell well then they don't have the money to make the molds so need to wait, or they make the mold and then have issues...and then the over arching licensing issues that can occur.
There is also the issue of batch production. These kits are no doubt produced in batches based on sales projections. When they make a batch they have money tied up in inventory which has carrying costs. So they want their batch to sell as quickly as possible to rationalize the investment. If demand has essentially been satiated they may end up with product that doesn’t move which is a bad thing for future investment. Similarly they may supply most of the demand, but not all, with the remaining not being large enough to justify a new batch. It is always a balancing act. I am sure that Ebbro has enough 1/20 scale production under their belt to better understand the demand for these types of kits relative to current modelling subject demand.
In retrospect it is somewhat easy to see that they were never going to produce and sell the 3 versions of a Lotus 49 all at the same time. Better to meter out the supply so as to minimize competing with yourself. The 49B already appears to be sold out in several places. I wonder how many batches of the 49C will be produced? I would also wonder if the Walker Blue 72 was was probably only one batch?
There is also the issue of opportunistic demand vs. demand for long sought historic subjects. An example of of opportunistic demand, might be an Alonso Mclaren Honda.
Obviously with the pace that they produce new offerings they proceed with consideration and caution. Long periods of time from the suggestion of a new kit not only reflects time for development and production of tooling but also helps to gauge potential demand. This can also work against them as other, more nimble, manufacturers making short runs can be more responsive and scoop some of the demand for a subject even though their offerings may be in other scales, materials, and price points. Perhaps buying when first available, early in the batch is an even more important consideration going forward. It probably is also more encouraging buyer behaviour for the manufacturer.