400 Scale Production Numbers & Why Flooding the Market is Nonsense

[YesterAirlines]

There has been recent talk of some brands flooding the market with too many models and releases, but what does that mean and is it true? How many models are actually produced every month by each brand and how many is too many? I'm always interested in looking at the available data and there is a surprising amount of production volume information out there, which has allowed me to paint a picture of a typical month in 400 scale. Most of this information is in the public domain and I've run it past a couple of retailers for verification. The numbers obviously aren't exact but paint a representative picture nonetheless.

Let's take a closer look.

By the way Crownvic since I know you keep an eye on what is going on here if you read anything that misrepresents Gemini in anyway then please point it out to me. You've got my e-mail.

400 Scale Production Numbers & Why Flooding the Market is Nonsense

Nowadays most brands keep their production numbers reasonably secret. Prior to the 2008 Global Financial Crash this wasn't the case as much. Even so, in 2023 for several it is reasonably well known roughly where they stand in terms of production if you pa

www.yesterdaysairlines.com

 

[Mark22]

Good analysis Richard. I think NG used to make larger batches of a single model, but now splits them up with different registrations, as the re-release of the Pan Am L-1011 N510PA was most likely leftover stock from 2020. If this set was done a few years ago, all the duplicates would probably have been the same registration and might explain why the current releases are much larger.

 

[YesterAirlines]

Good analysis Richard. I think NG used to make larger batches of a single model, but now splits them up with different registrations, as the re-release of the Pan Am L-1011 N510PA was most likely leftover stock from 2020. If this set was done a few years ago, all the duplicates would probably have been the same registration and might explain why the current releases are much larger.

Yeah possibly right. Doesn't impact the overall number of models made though. I just saw your piece and you take a different angle but come to the same conclusions I do.

The namecalling detractors don't have any grounds for their nonsense.

 

[mike_charlie_lima]

i know it's a unique and rare hobby just not expecting it to be only 200+ each model globally each month. makes me even cherish the "few-only" model/special livery that i got, lol, though to most normal people, who cares.

 

[Bulgogi77]

Good analysis Richard. I think NG used to make larger batches of a single model, but now splits them up with different registrations, as the re-release of the Pan Am L-1011 N510PA was most likely leftover stock from 2020. If this set was done a few years ago, all the duplicates would probably have been the same registration and might explain why the current releases are much larger.

I was disappointed in some of the near identical releases, but now I honestly don't mind that approach, especially since the production rate is roughly the same. This method could be quite interesting for re-releases. Say for instance we get a Delta A321 re-release. Instead of just getting one registration (say N312DN), we could get two (N312DN and N129DN - the last A321ceo ever produced) with the split production. You could also have some interesting differences in registrations (Delta has two registration series for their A321s; most are N3..., but the later deliveries are N1...).