Is it "NEW"?

gregfrank

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Joined
Jul 23, 2012
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Lately I've been trying to collect a lot of my model kits from my childhood. I have recently seen many kits both on eBay and Facebook Marketplace which are listed as "NEW" but are indeed open box (no shrink wrap) but with sealed parts bags still inside. I don't know if I'm just being pedantic, but I do not consider that to be "new". Complete yes, but not "new". To me new implies unchanged from it's original state since purchase.

I would be interested to hear other people's thoughts to see if it's just me splitting hairs. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Rant over.

As an aside, I have bought a number of these "new" kits and have been nothing but pleased with what I've received, just a weird thing to me regarding the labeling.
 
They don't wrap kits in plastic over in Japan , so all the kits I've purchased from there arrive without the plastic wrapping .
If you're pleased with the purchases why is it a problem ?
 
If the shrink wrap has been removed from the box, I don't think it can be listed as "New"...
Oh .. really U? they don't shrink wrap in Japan ?
 
Nope -- one of the guys @ HLJ told me long time ago .
You can open the boxes in the hobby shop over there and check out the contents .
 
Yes, but in collectors terms,, coins, rare toys, etc. , doesn't new mean unwrapped or factory sealed..just typing out loud..
 
I think the only actual thing that matters would be if it meets the requirements of Ebay or whoever to be listed as new .
 
Most kits out of Asia are not shrink wrapped or even sealed. Europe will often have a seal (Airfix, Revell EU etc). But to me shrink wrap is a very American thing as I have only really seen it on old AMT, Monogram, Revell US kits.
I guess to me 'new' would mean that if the kit was traditionally wrapped or sealed that it was still that way other wise it is 'as new'.
Action sites and especially facebook are very much buyer beware im afraid, I have seen too many people get burned by rear (yup people spell it that way sometimes) kits
 
It matters if the seller lists something as "new" and prices it accordingly.

Whether the presence of the original shrinkwrap means it's new or not, can be debated. The plastic used in the 60s and 70s could deteriorate over time, and be more easily split, torn, cracked, etc. So you could have a kit that is otherwise untouched, in its original box. It wouldn't be mint, but would it still rate "new"? "Like new"? You can descend into debates about the minutiae of rating items for sale on the second-hand market.

You have to ask yourself what your motives are for buying the kit, what you want to get out of it.

I went through the same phase, when I got back into modeling some 20 years ago. I wanted to buy kits I built as a kid. But I didn't care about the packaging, or decals, only the sprues. I knew I could source new decals, to replace old, aged ones. And I don't need the boxes.

But I know there are those who want the boxes as well as the build. And then there are those who just collect kits. And I don't mean those of us who have accumulated a stash, though we're accused of being just kit collectors, not builders. I mean people who collect models, just as people collect anything else.

I belong to a couple of Facebook groups devoted to this or that brand of models, and the collectors are well-represented. And they'll pay prices far above what I would, for an old kit, with its box.
 
I would consider an open box to be "new" personally. As long as the plastic bags inside are sealed that's fine with me. But I do build a lot of Japanese kits.

What I do find interesting is Japanese model shops standards for damaged is insane compared to the West. If I get a damaged box in the UK I expect it to have a big dent in it or like a torn corner. Some noticeable defect. But in Japan you buy a damaged box model and you can't find the damage on it. I recently bought a kit and all I noticed was a damaged corner which I might of caused myself while opening the box and dropping the kit on the floor (big boxes 1 handed each). You're getting a kit as new as if you bought it in a model shop here.
 

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