NG Models Favourite Airlines - An Analysis

[YesterAirlines]

I'm an analyst by trade and so I like to look at both the models and what's going on in the scale whence why Yesterday's Airlines exists. My disappointment at the last set of NG releases got me thinking about whether my judgements about their production are backed up by facts. So partly to see whether my feelings accord with the data this week I want to take a look at NG's production a little deeper. I start with a general look at what airlines NG has been producing and what percentage of the same airlines make up the total production numbers:

What Are NG Models Favourite Airlines?

An analysis of which airline's feature in NG Models production the most and where they are from.

www.yesterdaysairlines.com

 

[planes_on_a_shelf]

Fantastic and insightful read @YesterAirlines as always. Looking forward to Part 2 & 3!
Many under-represented airlines collectors have been asking for are rightly proven to be so - Singapore and Korean really strike as surprising amongst many others - and the apprehension or rather lack of making South American and African airlines seems very apparent - thus the recent Kenya 737 was a nice drop.
In recent exchanges with NG where I suggested South American airlines for instance, I was surprised by their questions on marketability. A particular strange one was in context of the TAM A350 & A330s which in many ways are no-brainers I would assume.
While many complex non-Chinese or non-Asian special liveries or even the regular liveries were responded to with a grin emoji or a lack of confirmation on whether they will make it or not - this includes the stunning recent Luxair 738 and the Azul A321neo in the Brazil colours - both surefire sellers imo as well as the BoA A332 as I'd mentioned elsewhere.
The high volume of similar releases on the recognisable airline brands as you mention potentially allows for the recovery of high capital investment in larger production facilities with reduced input costs on design and research - thus one may consider the possibility of more such similar releases over the coming months.
Also explains why releases on the more 'connoisseur' moulds (read classics) are fewer as those require intense R&D and oversight with the more restricted documentation available in terms of photos etc and a higher level of scrutiny from said connoisseurs, considering the bar been set so high by their own past work.
Additionally the 'niche' airlines on modern moulds also seem to come across to them as investment risks - or entail high level of design investment costs - which explains the delay of announcing and releasing the Argentine A332 for example, amongst others.
Looking forward to Part 2 & 3 now

 

[YesterAirlines]

Thanks @planes_on_a_shelf . That's good text from you too. It's depressing when they think a TAM A330 is a niche product. I agree with most of what you say.

The irony is that a company that doesn't take many chances with its releases is likely to struggle. People will get sick of repetitive releases and NG will lose a lot of goodwill they have built up

 

[LeoMuse747]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but the only Brazilian models NG have released so far are Gol models... Gol have many special liveries, including the Mercado Livre freighters aswell. Regarding my country, there's simply a lot of other models which NG could explore.

THIS would be an awesome release.

THIS would be also great and would replace an old Phoenix release.

Too bad that NG seems to treat those as niche releases. There's a considerable fanbase of 1:400 scale here in Brazil and we have retailers here. I believe Pedro Miniaturas is the main one. The recent Gemini TAM F100 release was possible due to these retailers too...

About South America... Aerolineas Argentinas 747SP would be an awesome release aswell. Anyway, many possibilities still awaiting.

 

[MCL2000]

Well, as much as I would like to see the TAM models mentioned above be released, I must say NG are being quite reasonable, as TAM models have never been great sellers, and with the brand pretty much gone, it feels even more unlikely that making more would be a sound business plan.

Having said that, NG did make a pair of Gol 737s in the regular colourscheme, which was also a pretty bad idea given the relatively recent releases from both Phoenix and GJ were not very good sellers, so there is some precedent for them not caring about that...

 

[Bulgogi77]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but the only Brazilian models NG have released so far are Gol models... Gol have many special liveries, including the Mercado Livre freighters aswell. Regarding my country, there's simply a lot of other models which NG could explore.

THIS would be an awesome release.

THIS would be also great and would replace an old Phoenix release.

Too bad that NG seems to treat those as niche releases. There's a considerable fanbase of 1:400 scale here in Brazil and we have retailers here. I believe Pedro Miniaturas is the main one. The recent Gemini TAM F100 release was possible due to these retailers too...

About South America... Aerolineas Argentinas 747SP would be an awesome release aswell. Anyway, many possibilities still awaiting.

This would be a stunner as well.

Can't wait for the next part of this analysis! It's all very fascinating and insightful! It's impossible to fully please everyone in the model aircraft business, but there are definitely regions of the world (such as South America and Africa) and carriers (including Singapore, Korean, Spirit, Frontier, SAS, and Cathay Pacific) that should have better representation from NG. They should also back off a bit on the special liveries and variations in order to improve the overall variety of a release set.

Here's a quick fun fact: Although Delta Air Lines is number 8 on the total releases list, there has not been a Delta Air Lines release since the July 2022 set. It's basically been a year since we've seen a release under this carrier, which is definitely surprising.

 

[YesterAirlines]

Well, as much as I would like to see the TAM models mentioned above be released, I must say NG are being quite reasonable, as TAM models have never been great sellers, and with the brand pretty much gone, it feels even more unlikely that making more would be a sound business plan.

Having said that, NG did make a pair of Gol 737s in the regular colourscheme, which was also a pretty bad idea given the relatively recent releases from both Phoenix and GJ were not very good sellers, so there is some precedent for them not caring about that...

Sorry how do you know how well individual models sold exactly? The Gemini and Phoenix releases are rubbish so I'd like to think they didn't sell well.

If the criteria for making a model is that the brand exists then 400 scale is in a bad place indeed.

 

[YesterAirlines]

Here's a quick fun fact: Although Delta Air Lines is number 8 on the total releases list, there has not been a Delta Air Lines release since the July 2022 set. It's basically been a year since we've seen a release under this carrier, which is definitely surprising.

Not so surprising when you consider the legal threats emanating from Delta via Gemini, but that hasn't stopped Aeroclassics

 

[Bulgogi77]

Not so surprising when you consider the legal threats emanating from Delta via Gemini, but that hasn't stopped Aeroclassics

Oh wow I wasn't aware of those legal threats.

 

[pons399]

Thanks @planes_on_a_shelf . That's good text from you too. It's depressing when they think a TAM A330 is a niche product. I agree with most of what you say.

The irony is that a company that doesn't take many chances with its releases is likely to struggle. People will get sick of repetitive releases and NG will lose a lot of goodwill they have built up

NG tends to release a consecutive stream of the same airline/aircraft combo for several months, case-in-point being the Garuda 77Ws. IMO spacing those out over a longer period would both diversify monthly releases and reduce days.

Fantastic and insightful read @YesterAirlines as always. Looking forward to Part 2 & 3!
Many under-represented airlines collectors have been asking for are rightly proven to be so - Singapore and Korean really strike as surprising amongst many others - and the apprehension or rather lack of making South American and African airlines seems very apparent - thus the recent Kenya 737 was a nice drop.
In recent exchanges with NG where I suggested South American airlines for instance, I was surprised by their questions on marketability. A particular strange one was in context of the TAM A350 & A330s which in many ways are no-brainers I would assume.
While many complex non-Chinese or non-Asian special liveries or even the regular liveries were responded to with a grin emoji or a lack of confirmation on whether they will make it or not - this includes the stunning recent Luxair 738 and the Azul A321neo in the Brazil colours - both surefire sellers imo as well as the BoA A332 as I'd mentioned elsewhere.
The high volume of similar releases on the recognisable airline brands as you mention potentially allows for the recovery of high capital investment in larger production facilities with reduced input costs on design and research - thus one may consider the possibility of more such similar releases over the coming months.
Also explains why releases on the more 'connoisseur' moulds (read classics) are fewer as those require intense R&D and oversight with the more restricted documentation available in terms of photos etc and a higher level of scrutiny from said connoisseurs, considering the bar been set so high by their own past work.
Additionally the 'niche' airlines on modern moulds also seem to come across to them as investment risks - or entail high level of design investment costs - which explains the delay of announcing and releasing the Argentine A332 for example, amongst others.
Looking forward to Part 2 & 3 now

Singapore's quite popular from what I gather while Cathay is beloved by both Eastern and Western collectors, so it's a wonder why they're so underrepresented. Korean far less so, but certain types like the A333 and 748 are quite sought after. NG's also yet to release their first Asiana.

It's interesting you mention NG's reaction to suggestions. Whenever I recommend SQ/CX/KEs their response is positive, but I never get the impression they've got any plans of releasing said airlines anytime soon. Sort of lip service-y, if you know what I mean...

 

[YesterAirlines]

It's interesting you mention NG's reaction to suggestions. Whenever I recommend SQ/CX/KEs their response is positive, but I never get the impression they've got any plans of releasing said airlines anytime soon. Sort of lip service-y, if you know what I mean...

NG always tell people what they want to hear or offer platitudes, which is why when people say stuff like 'NG said etc' I take it with a grain of salt. They aren't lying necessarily because in the fullness of time they probably would do what the person requests but in reality just because you think they agree doesn't mean they do. This goes for requests and mould changes too.

 

[B767Avia]

I understand they'd do that for requests but I hope they find the time to get to all the mould changes.

 

[MCL2000]

Sorry how do you know how well individual models sold exactly? The Gemini and Phoenix releases are rubbish so I'd like to think they didn't sell well.

If the criteria for making a model is that the brand exists then 400 scale is in a bad place indeed.

Well, I've been collecting models with a criteria focused on south american airlines for the past 10 years, and over this time I've been able to notice some trends when it comes to brazilian airline models. In my experience, TAM models have never sold particularly well, with many releases from the early 2010s taking almost a whole decade to finally end up out of stock at most retailers (the exceptions being the Aeroclassics A32Xs and the Phoenix 77W). Gol models have also never been very popular, with only the special liveries involving the Brazil national team having more appeal. Out of the "big 3" in Brazil nowadays, Azul models have always shown a tendency to be more popular, both the regular and special liveries.