The cost of diecast

[franklemire]

The classic paradigm for diecast manufacturers was to build up a set of tools to make a model and then get as much out of that tooling as possible. This was generally done painting the model different colors, making trim changes perhaps changing the wheels and for racing models, changing the ‘livery’ so the model could represent the car at different races.

Exoto is the master of this. They routinely put out as many iterations of a model as possible even going to the point of coming up with ‘special’ paint schemes that never existed in real life.

That trend seems to be fading though. More and more it seems manufacturers are doing one or two iterations and then moving on leaving much of the tooling behind.

The most classic case of this was CMC making the very elaborate Maserati Tipo 61. In the typical paradigm CMC would have started out with a model without any livery and then moved to a few reasonably significant race models until finally issuing perhaps the most significant car. Instead, they lead off with the most desirable car, the 1960 Nurburgring winner driven by Stirling Moss and Dan Gurney and moved on without making another complete car.

Now CMC has gone on to make multiple iterations of other cars since, notably the Ferrari 250 California and the Ferrari 250 TR - Ferrari models seem to have 'endless' appeal - but it looks for all the world that the Maserati 300S will be limited to just one ‘plain’ and one ‘race’ model. Likewise the Ferrari 312P will be one spyder and one coupe and then done.

Autoart’s excellent line of Alfa Romeo cars shows a number of recent ‘one and done’ examples in the TZ-1, TZ-2 & 33 Stradale. They did do three versions of the 33TT/12 but they released them all at once allowing the collector to choose which one he liked best rather than putting them out one at a time, least important one first, with the hope that collectors would buy the initial offering and then buy the one they ‘really wanted’ later.

Maybe these are isolated cases as seen by a collector with a very narrow range of the market interest, but I’m inclined to feel that the change is because the tooling is no longer the overriding consideration for the manufacturer that it once was.

Advanced computers, machine tools and robotics have made the tooling process faster and cheaper. The problem now is assembly, which still needs to be done by hand and those ‘hands’ have become much more expensive and harder to come by. Add-on iterations tend to have diminishing returns in numbers sold and the cost of the labor to build them continues to go up as does the cost of carrying expensive inventory. It is better to raise the initial price so the tooling cost can be amortized over fewer units and then just ‘Hit and Split’ on all but those few models that have traditionally shown broad market appeal like Porsche 911s and Ferraris.

That shift would tend to make the marketplace much more of a 'The Quick and the Dead' place than we are used to. Models that collectors don't pull the trigger on will quickly be sold out with no additional iterations being made to allow for a second bite of the apple. We are seeing this already where retailers are effectively ‘sold out’ before they even get their first shipment. This makes for a ‘sellers’ market’ with less need for discounts on either the retail or secondary markets. Exoto’s old line “Order Now to Avoid Disappointment” is actually becoming a reality.

I may be completely wrong - and it won't be the first time - but if this is indeed the paradigm shift we are seeing then gentlemen as my father was fond of saying 'Get out your wallet, there will be no free lunch today'.

[Sanchez]

I would agree with you on that but if you analyze things you can see that CMC is releasing one colour for the model at first and additional versions later. The most obvious example is their Bugatti Type 35. First they released blue Type 35 few years ago and recently they released few race models under "Nation Colour Prpject". Also their Mercedes 300 SLR roadster was released first as Mille Miglia 722 Moss's winner few years ago. Last year they did 3 other versions from the same race. Same tactics applies to their Mercedes W25 and W125. I hope they will make other versions of Birdcage together with re-releasing original one wick has become very sought after.

[Mikey MKIV]

Great write up and I agree. I may be wrong here, im sure someone will correct me if they disagree, but I personally think MR has become the masters of making money off of limited tooling iterations. They produce limited runs, say 10,20,or 50 pieces world wide, which sets a price point of north of $500. But they then go on to create 50 color variations, now they sell 50 times the number of models, but all for the same cost. (50 is exaggerating, but we all know they typically use every color of the rainbow).

[[KRAFTIG]]

Well said Frank, I must agree on all points. I've noticed this trend over the last year and half. I wouldn't say all brands are following this pattern and in some cases mentioned brands are still masters at milking their molds, i.e. AUTOart with the Lamborghini 500 series and 600 series Murcielago. Good for them, produce models people want and buy.

That shift would tend to make the marketplace much more of a 'The Quick and the Dead' place than we are used to. Models that collectors don't pull the trigger on will quickly be sold out with no additional iterations being made to allow for a second bite of the apple. We are seeing this already where retailers are effectively ‘sold out’ before they even get their first shipment. This makes for a ‘sellers’ market’ with less need for discounts on either the retail or secondary markets. Exoto’s old line “Order Now to Avoid Disappointment” is actually becoming a reality.

The above is the ugly side. I really noticed it bi time with the AUTOart Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale Prototype. First shipment sold out rather quickly. The shortage caused a bit of pain, and pricing started to escalate on the god forsaken eBay.

@Mikey MKIV - Totally agree with the MR comments, the masters of "rare" and "unique"

[franklemire]

Just to be clear, I'm not saying that manufacturers are going to stop making multiple iterations of cars or getting every bit possible out of their tooling when it makes sense to do so.

What i'm saying is we all used to believe that in order to make a profit manufacturers were pretty much compelled to make multiple iterations to cover tooling and pre-production costs. That is beginning to look like it is no longer the case. The AUTOart paradigm with their last five Alfa Romeo offerings seems to indicate that you can make a profit even if you only do one image per tool set or release all of your iterations at once.

We will continue to see multiple iterations of some cars - it seems, for example, that we can count on one new Porsche 911 ever month forever - but with others you better be ready to buy as soon as the car is announced because their is a chance you will not get a second chance to buy it. That was true for resin and it looks like it will become true for at least some diecast as well.