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Post by gnat on Sept 10, 2012 6:42:14 GMT -7
I really have a deep affection for the US Space program. You know, NASA and NACA and all the cool rockets and space stuff thats floating around out there.
So I have built models of a lot of it. I was particularly interested in the huge 1/12 Mercury capsule put out by Atomic City (?). I built it and won a bunch of stuff for my efforts. Well the original producer of this kit was Accurate Models and they claimed that a 1/12 Gemini was in the works and lots of mock up shots and actual patterns have been shown. The actual thing though has never come to fruition.
So I finally decided to find out what was up and a few e-Mails later I find that for the want of a nail the war could be lost. The pattern maker is about 5000.00 USD short of finishing this project and he needs the money.
So heres the Dilemma. I've got it, but do I have any reasonable chance of even braking even on a proposition like this.
Any of you ever had any dealings like this. Remember I only want a couple of models and my money back I don't think I have a chance in Hell of making money.
Gnat
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Post by kyrre on Sept 10, 2012 9:47:45 GMT -7
It's a gamble, but it's one of those good gambles.
RC-people will happily spend that amount of money on a jet engine - with a good chance of actually crashing the thing.
Bike people will happily spend that amount of money on a high end road bike - without getting anywhere faster.
There are many ways you can spend a whole lot of money on your hobbies without having the slightest chance of getting your money back.
Or something to that extent.
K
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Post by timmay on Sept 10, 2012 12:38:57 GMT -7
Depends on how bad you want it , Gnat. There are a lot worse things you can spend your bucks on. Timmay!
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Post by Mofo on Sept 10, 2012 12:53:15 GMT -7
Depends on the stipulations.
If you sign a contract stating that you, as a creditor, will take your cut off the front end, rather than the back end, I'd say you have a decent chance of making good. If you take the first $5K in sales, rather than the first $5K of profit, you should be fine.
If it's just "here's the money, please pay me back"... your chances are probably slim.
If you give them $5k for an equity share of the business, you might make money, but it may mean more work/effort on your part (keeping them honest).
If you make a deal for X-amount of kits (say, $5K retail), you can flog them off on eBay over time and eventually make good.
It could be an interesting insight into the hobby industry, and a cool learning experience. Or it could suck, and be a money pit.
A couple of alarm bells: They owe the PATTERN MAKER $5k. That's fairly early in the development process. That means they still have to pay for tooling (which is the single biggest development cost), and packaging, decals, marketing, etc. I'd be concerned about paying off the pattern guy, only to need way more money to take the next step. Find out their plans for financing, and see EXACTLY how they plan to pay for the rest of the kit. Also, they owe the pattern maker $5k. That's a pitifully tiny amount of money, really. Why can't they get a loan to cover it? If it's a sensible business opportunity, a bank should be willing to deal. Or a VenCap firm. Or family. I know lending is pretty tight still, but that's pocket change for lenders and shouldn't be *that* hard to finance.
Personally? I'd want to know a lot more about what I'd be buying into. If you're willing to eat the $5k as just the cost of getting the kit, that's fine... but make absolutely sure you'll get the kit. If you want to make your $5k back, then you'll need even more due dilligence.
Although frankly, this sounds (for them) like an ideal opportunity for a Kickstarter. Pre-sell a bunch of kits at MSRP, maybe have a higher investor level where you get a special boxing in glow-in-the-dark plastic or something... higher than that and you get test shots. It should be really easy for them to raise the funds - they'd only need about 100 people to buy in. And I guarantee there are more than 100 space nerds and computer geeks who would be willing to chip in $50 to get a space capsule model.
Which brings me back to... it's not a lot of money. If *all* they need is $5k, total... why are they having such a hard time raising it?
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Post by gnat on Sept 11, 2012 5:50:32 GMT -7
Thanks all esp. Mike,
I don't think, after I've thought about it, that I will do anything more than wait until the kit comes out.
Figure I have more than enough projects so why add more. But it was fun to consider it for a few hours.
Gnat
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Post by Mofo on Sept 11, 2012 8:02:34 GMT -7
Since you're in touch with them, why not suggest the Kickstarter idea to them? It might help speed up the release, since they need the funds, but takes the pressure off you. And it really shouldn't be hard to come up with a few added enticements for higher "investment levels" (signed box art, numbered kits, test shots, poster sized box art... negligible cost to them)
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