1:1000 scale U.S.S. Reliant decals?

[Albertese]

Just got the 1:1000 Scale Reliant kit from Polar Lights/Round2. Earlier I got the 1:1000 scale Enterprise kit. What surprised me was that the Enterprise kit for 25-30-ish dollars comes with it's own wallpaper aztec decals, while the similarly priced Reliant doesn't, and instead you get to spend an additional 25 or so dollars on those aztec decals separately.

So what gives? What makes the Reliant decals so awesome that they demand the price of a-whole-nother kit? Why couldn't these have just been included as per the Enterprise kit?

I've normally been impressed at how these guys have been handling the Star Trek license, but this puts me off a bit. Can anyone sell me on the idea of these decals?

--Alex

 

[division 6]

Most often they are aftermarket items.

You will also find that am items tend to cost more than the model.

 

[Albertese]

I realize what aftermarket items are. They are generally made by a third party company. Not these. Round2 is selling the Reliant decals separately for .....why exactly?

What baffles my mind is why are these not included in the basic kit? They are included in the matching Enterprise kit. Are they so much better than the Enterprise decals? Why are they not included in Reliant?

I would understand if I were buying them from a third party. Such are understandably more expensive due to their limited run nature. But WTF, Round2?!? Why not just include them in the basic kit like was done for the Enterprise of the matching scale? I want to know that there was an understandable reason why that decision was made.

--Alex

 

[division 6]

IIRC the Reliant is a more recent offering, perhaps they decided to not prepackage them due to expense.

You can always write to them and ask.

 

[E Williams]

I realize what aftermarket items are. They are generally made by a third party company. Not these. Round2 is selling the Reliant decals separately for .....why exactly?

What baffles my mind is why are these not included in the basic kit? They are included in the matching Enterprise kit. Are they so much better than the Enterprise decals? Why are they not included in Reliant?

I would understand if I were buying them from a third party. Such are understandably more expensive due to their limited run nature. But WTF, Round2?!? Why not just include them in the basic kit like was done for the Enterprise of the matching scale? I want to know that there was an understandable reason why that decision was made.

--Alex

division 6 is correct - it was a cost issue. Essentially, decals are expensive, and they wanted the mass market price-point reasonable, but to still have an option to purchase them separately for those that wanted them. Round 2 discussed this back in 2013, before the kit was released (and of course in the time after it was released). See discussion here:

http://www.collectormodel.com/round...el-kits-4-weeks-of-christmas-part-2/#comments

and

http://www.collectormodel.com/round...del-kits-u-s-s-reliant-aztec-decals/#comments