mustclime

From what I have been able to gather this is Tamiya release dates for 1:16 scale tanks....


Tiger 2001

Sherman 2002

Pershing 2003

King Tiger 2004

Leopard 2005 or 2006?

Panther G 2007

Jagdpanther 2007

Panzer IV 2008

KV-1 2009

KV-2 2009
been 3 years, has anyone seen anything on new tanks or have they given up?

scott

yellowshaker

My Feedback: (1)

Forgot the "Super Sherman"

CCC2012

i hope Tammy releases a Abrams....

ausf

I love Tamiya, but I think they priced themselves out when the Pz IV hit and the economy tanked. When my wholesale price on the new releases was higher than the retail price I paid for my Tiger I, I walked away.

kenneth74

last 3 releases namely

1) KV1
2) KV2
3) M51 "Super Sherman" as they called it

all tanked... the KVs production was pretty short due to poor sales (poor choice of release i would say); M51 was crucified by the RC tank communities; vey bad effort; seems like an internal strife that had the wrong party winning; Sales guys over the modelling guys. It's amazing that their 1/35 M51 was good amid the 1/16 horror.

Tamiya makes models and not toys.. once their sales figure it out.. they should be right back on track. Their Tiger 1 and Leopard 2A6 are class leading and ahead of the pack; Modellers are more than willing to pay premium for a well executed product and lastly their choice of release need to be fine-tuned; example; a Tamiya VVSS Sherman even in 105 version would have sold much much more

My 2 cents

yellowshaker

My Feedback: (1)

IMHO, Tamiya should make a VVSS for the existing sherman and a set of correct tracks for same. This would open a world of possiblities as well. I have done the Mato suspension conversion to the tamiya hull, but it would be nice to have the suspension done by Tamiya themselves.

Rebellion13

According to what I have seen, they are releasing 7 rc models, none of which are tanks, and it has been this way for awhile. Every few months they are releasing new RC's but the tank market is too small a niche for them. Mato has the new jagdtiger maybe tamiya will follow suit. And IMO they need to improve on their electronics, not saying they aren't top quality, but with so many other electronics on the market, with user definable sound sets, options etc. And if small cottage industries are able to accomplish this why can't a large company? Even though it is a small community, the technology has improved 10 fold over the last five years, when all that there was, was Tamiya, It just seems like they have become stale, and very vanilla. And before people think I am bashing, I own tamiya products and love them, it is just my observation and opinion. So there......lol

Cheers,
Wade

Shark27

Joe,
I agree if they were smart they could release a tank with the VVSS suspension like an M-10 tank destroyer or an M36B2 and then just release upgradekits to make some of the hundreds of variations of Sherman that used that suspension. I sure their engineering of the VVSS suspension would be of the same quality as there other kits and a lot less hassle than modifying the Mato suspension part available. They could probably just modify the lower hull theynow use for the Sherman.
Just my two cents.
Steve

ausf

There's such a small market, from a business sense why would they dump all the capital into a project that will only sell a small amount?

Big box, big price doesn't compare to the sales of their 1/48 line. Shops don't want a huge box sitting there when the internet pricing would kill them. MMD has seemed to have dropped the 1/16 RC line, just selling what's left, that's got to be a blow to volume since they service many US LHS.

We know the quality of these things, but someone walking into a hobby shop looking for some RC stuff to get into sees a wall of Horizon RTF planes for $100. Then he sees a Tammy kit for $1000 without the Tx, battery, charger, paint, glue, etc. Shop makes 40% off the plane since prices are stable online and sells tons of them, plus replacement parts. Probably only clears 10% on the tank after dealing with the eBay pricing.

If they really wanted to keep a presence in 1/16 military armor, they could just rerelease the RC Kubel and Schwimm.

mordock999

Amen! Tamiya, PLEASE release an Abrams.

....and a T-72!!!!

Panther G

I would love to see anything British or modern. Yes the electronics could definitely use some upgrading but it is still my favorite conversion solution since they are so simple and reliable. better sound from them with some user interface would be awesome.

rivetcounter

This question come up all the time with the same stale quotes,
I want an Abram’s= not going to happen sales would be low world wide, if they were going to build one they would have done so already
Why not make VVS suspension = this won’t happen people would want superior parts at inferior prices with comments like “why can’t they sell them for less than Mato�
I want a T72 again sales would be low
Why can’t they make some obscure Sherman variant as an upgrade kit = why on earth would they do that cost’s for making new frets are very high but the sales would be low
I would love to see anything British or modern= now this is a sensible request but I can’t see Tamiya building anything British again for sales reasons though a Cromwell would sell very well.
As for modern didn’t Heng Long build a modern Chinese tank of some description? What were the sales like? This will give some indication of what a modern tank would sell like.
Tamiya have never had any specific release pattern for their 1/16 range so don’t expect to see a new one every other year they will be made when and if Tamiya have a suitable project.

MAUS45

I would say Centurion may work, If HL makes it. Not sure Tamiya would do it?

ausf

Remember, their very successful M4 105 is at heart a 52 year old mold.

MAUS45

So do ya think they have finally gotten their return out of it?[8D]

ausf

Probably just.

But I'm certain they'll consider that when new projects are proposed, 'We only go ahead if it'll still sell in 2062'.

I wish DML would get in the RC game. They tend to listen to modelers a bit, but they also see the worth in building a chassis and running with it.

How many kits could they get off of one 1/16 38t chassis?

yellowshaker

My Feedback: (1)

Rivetcounter, when they released the "M51" they had to spend for the modls on that, though they still used most of the original sherman kit. In my opinion it would have been a wiser move to release the VVSS suspension and T-23 turrets. The cost would probably have been less for them than to produce that Super Sherman, and the parts might actually have sold. Again, this is only an opinion, and I do understand that they look at things from a what will sell point of view. There is an interest in 1/16 armor and definitiely in tamiya's poduct line, but I have to agree that they have become stale lately. Hell, why not produce a 1/16 halftrack? Not much out there in options for these. I know WSN has the M16, but how about a german one? Asaitam's offering looks nice, but 600eu without electronics. I know, it's all metla. Great. Make one in plastic for half the price with electronics.

ausf

VVSS would mean a complete redesign of the hull, wheels, tires and tracks. The Super was just a cosmetic change.

I assume they went HVSS so they could use the same tracks for the Pershing, regardless of the limited use they would get out of it. If they did go VVSS from the beginning, the floodgates would be open on 75, 76, 17pdr, etc, but they didn't.

That's why we need DML in the game, they get it. At least with static kits.

herrmill

I had an interesting conversation with Italeri's sales manager a few years back at SIME about 1:16 scale kits. Her beautiful dark eyes started to glaze over within 10 minutes before we switched the topic to their pending S-100 & other 1:35 kits.

Bauer66

My 2 Cents.................. Tamiya's newest Release could very well be a discontinuation of the 1/16 R/C Tank line. With World economies Crashing and Prices of everything rising the already limited market has to be getting smaller. Then add to that there recent Tanks that did not do so well and add to that other companies entering the market with an admitted lower quality product at a cheaper price, This will cut into there market deeply as people buy cheaper Tanks knowing they can upgrade them when ever they want.
I would Love to see new Tamiya Tanks. I've built quit a few of them however I am simply to the point where I just can't afford to build them anymore.
It would be great to maybe see Tamiya offer all of there Tanks in a static line not just RC.

Just my 2 Cents.

MrQweeksdraw

I'd like to see something different like a Crusader or maybe a Cromwell; maybe even a Japanese Type 91 or 95.