2024's Top Ten Most Popular Car Kits - One Shop's Perspective

[Justin Porter]

With the dawn of a new year, I like to take stock using my POS data of what was and wasn't moving off my shelves here at Haven. It's one of those fun things I like to do that also helps me steer purchasing for the next year. Your local shop may have entirely different results, but here's a run down of my top ten sellers. Afterwards I will also list the top seller by brand. So, starting from 10th spot here we go...

#10 - RMX4563 Revell 1/25 1970 Shelby GT500

#9 - AOS6560 Aoshima 1/24 KITT w/LED Scanner

#8 - FJM126661 Fujimi 1/24 Ferrari 250GTO w/photoetch wire wheels 


#7 - RMX4545 Revell 1/25 '68 Pontiac Firebird 2n1


#6 - MOE2324 Moebius 1/25 1965 Chevy II Gasser


#5 - RMX4555 Revell 1/25 1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1


#4 - RMX4547 Revell 1/25 1957 Ford Del Rio Wagon 2n1 


#3 - RMX4195 Revell 1/25 '90 Ford Mustang LX 5.0 Drag Racer
 

#2 - TAM24188 Tamiya 1/24 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA


#1 - RMX4553 Revell 1/25 '32 Ford Tudor Sedan 2n1 



So, as can plainly be seen Revell is THE volume leader at my shop, but that's not to say that other brands don't get their opportunity to shine. However, if I were to specify a combination that's a clear win with my customers it's an easy to assemble kit with a good suite of options and a sub-$30 MSRP. 

Here's the top sellers by brands in 2024. 

Atlantis - AAN13102 "Keeler's Kustom" Studebaker Funny Car 
AMT - AMT1308 1956 Ford Victoria "Strip Fowl"
Aoshima - AOS6560 KITT w/LED Scanner 
Ebbro - EBB20022 Brabham BT-18
Fujimi - FJM126661 Ferrari 250GTO w/photoetch wire wheels
Hasegawa - HSG20312 Mazda 767B Charge livery
Meng - CS008 Audi R8 GT3 Eva Type 01 test livery
Moebius - MOE2324 1965 Chevy II Gasser
MPC - MPC997 1969 Plymouth Barracuda
NuNu - 24034 Volvo S40 BTCC Brands Hatch Winner
Revell - RMX4553 '32 Ford Tudor Sedan
Salvinos JR - SJM41295 1988 Earnhardt Monte Carlo 
Tamiya - TAM24188 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA 


 

[Matt Bacon]

Hi, Justin… that’s really interesting. Thanks for posting. As a matter of interest, have you tried weighting by how long in the year a kit was available for? I could imagine that if the Giulia GTA reached the #2 spot in four months while the 32 Ford was available all year long, for example, then that might say something useful. More generally, if you can figure out which sort of kits have a big initial sale when they hit the market and then tail off vs which sell steadily all the time they are on the shelves that would be really interesting data…

best,

M.

[Justin Porter]

28 minutes ago, Matt Bacon said:

Hi, Justin… that’s really interesting. Thanks for posting. As a matter of interest, have you tried weighting by how long in the year a kit was available for? I could imagine that if the Giulia GTA reached the #2 spot in four months while the 32 Ford was available all year long, for example, then that might say something useful. More generally, if you can figure out which sort of kits have a big initial sale when they hit the market and then tail off vs which sell steadily all the time they are on the shelves that would be really interesting data…

best,

M.

Unfortunately my POS isn't quite sophisticated enough so the best I have is building the data by going month by month. You can certainly see when certain kits land. The impressive one is the GT500 which hit in November and grabbed its spot mostly in one month and some change. Other kits like the Fox Body, Chevy II Gasser, and the Aoshima Knight Rider are just steady staples that seem to always find an audience. 

To use the Tudor vs Alfa comparison, the Tudor landed in May and had a flurry that died off by September, while the Alfa landed in August and kept selling steadily through December. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Wow. Sure would be cool to live in a time-space continuum where there was a real hobby shop that had all those on the shelves. 

Best wishes for continued success in the new year. 

[iamsuperdan]

Interesting. Number 3 kind of surprised me. 

I'm curious, what kind of numbers does this represent? How many of each kit were sold?

 

 

 

[Matt Bacon]

I’m surprised the Fujimi GTO with wire wheels is still doing so well. It’s a good kit of a great car in the best value version, but it’s been around a while now…

best,

M.

[Justin Porter]

8 minutes ago, iamsuperdan said:

Interesting. Number 3 kind of surprised me. 

I'm curious, what kind of numbers does this represent? How many of each kit were sold?

 

 

 

Mine is a small shop in a small town so not huge numbers compared likely to what a Hobby Lobby or even a Hobbytown USA likely does. I'm more surprised THAT you're surprised that the Revell Mustang LX is a consistently popular kit. It's a near universal subject that appeals to casual builders and is one of the few kits that depicts a non-nostalgia drag car. As to the 250GTO, I chalk that up to Fujimi's wonderfully inconsistent availability and advertising. Even compared to its native competitors like Hasegawa and Aoshima they do an absolutely abysmal job of communicating what's coming up, what tooling they're developing, and when a production run will likely hit distributors.

[iamsuperdan]

2 minutes ago, Justin Porter said:

Mine is a small shop in a small town so not huge numbers compared likely to what a Hobby Lobby or even a Hobbytown USA likely does. I'm more surprised THAT you're surprised that the Revell Mustang LX is a consistently popular kit. It's a near universal subject that appeals to casual builders and is one of the few kits that depicts a non-nostalgia drag car. As to the 250GTO, I chalk that up to Fujimi's wonderfully inconsistent availability and advertising. Even compared to its native competitors like Hasegawa and Aoshima they do an absolutely abysmal job of communicating what's coming up, what tooling they're developing, and when a production run will likely hit distributors.

I guess yeah. I just see that Mustang as a fairly old kit. But you're right, a casual builder or someone new-ish to the hobby would find that interesting, so from just a pure eye candy perspective it makes sense.

As for numbers, it's because you're a small independent shop that makes it interesting to me! I think it would help to show the kind of struggles or challenges you have as a small shop, and might highlight why it's so important to support the local hobby shop as opposed to ordering from one of the big internet suppliers.

 

[Justin Porter]

7 minutes ago, iamsuperdan said:

I guess yeah. I just see that Mustang as a fairly old kit. But you're right, a casual builder or someone new-ish to the hobby would find that interesting, so from just a pure eye candy perspective it makes sense.

As for numbers, it's because you're a small independent shop that makes it interesting to me! I think it would help to show the kind of struggles or challenges you have as a small shop, and might highlight why it's so important to support the local hobby shop as opposed to ordering from one of the big internet suppliers.

 

So, for a numbers breakdown, it goes a bit like this. In 2024 I sold a total of 402 model car kits, averaging slightly better than a car kit a day (and a new record for the category in my shop too). That 402 units sold came on the back of 249 individual SKU's. Both the Tudor and the Alfa sold six units, while the Fox Body through to the Chevy II Gasser claimed five units. The remaining on the list scored four sales each. The not-fun piece of doing this year end review as well is to go over to the shelf with the point of sale data and look at what kits sat for the whole of the year without any sales (a list that includes such luminaries as AMT 1367 '97 Ford F150 4x4 and Fujimi 39602 Honda NSX Type R) 

[iamsuperdan]

Interesting. So when it comes time to place a stock order, are you able to pick and choose what gets sent? Or do the manufacturers have certain things they force on you? I know in the Ford world for example, if a dealer wants a certain high demand unit, Ford would say sure, but you have to take X number of these other slow sellers. For example, you want a Raptor R? No problem. You want a Mustang Dark Horse? Sure, it comes with these two Bronco Sport Free Wheelin' editions. 

What do you do with the non-sellers? I guess just let them sit until they sell?  What's the oldest new kit on your shelves right now?

[Justin Porter]

6 minutes ago, iamsuperdan said:

Interesting. So when it comes time to place a stock order, are you able to pick and choose what gets sent? Or do the manufacturers have certain things they force on you? I know in the Ford world for example, if a dealer wants a certain high demand unit, Ford would say sure, but you have to take X number of these other slow sellers. For example, you want a Raptor R? No problem. You want a Mustang Dark Horse? Sure, it comes with these two Bronco Sport Free Wheelin' editions. 

What do you do with the non-sellers? I guess just let them sit until they sell?  What's the oldest new kit on your shelves right now?

I do pick and choose what I order from my distributors. In my case, I'm what's commonly called a "cash & carry" account, which is to say that I purchase my inventory outright at a fixed wholesale rate rather than buy on a credit account. The downside to this is that generally credit accounts can have merchandise charged to them and shipped the moment it's on the wholesaler's dock, while I have to pre-order to secure new releases and even then may not get priority shipping or allocation. The upside is that I don't have a credit bill looming in the background whether I've sold merchandise or not. 

As to the oldest kit on my shelves, at the moment that's - at least from the top of my head - probably Hasegawa kit 20268 which is a Limited Edition release of the rally version of their Lancia Stratos. The livery is that of a lady driver/navigator team that tackled the 1977 Monte Carlo Rally and finished 6th overall. Frequently with old stock I've got a roll of "SALE" stickers and I'll take 15-20% off the shelf price to get it moved and give its shelf space to something in higher demand. However, in the case of that particular Stratos, I feel like I'd rather wait for the right buyer than discount it because it's a good quality kit of an interesting historical subject. Frankly, if it waits long enough it might even end up on my personal shelf.

[tim boyd]

Great discussion....I could probably comment on this subject for hours (including my time decades ago as a Ford zone rep allocating/selling wholesale to my dealers as referenced by Dan's experience) but i won't bore all of you with that. 

Thanks, Justin, for taking the time to compile and share this info with us, and the rest of you for your comments/reactions.  Also good to see the Moebius '65 Nova Gasser so high on the list...IMHO one of the better, somewhat unsung kits of the last several years.  Just fascinating...will be following this thread for sure. 

Cheers....TIM 

Edited January 1 by tim boyd

[Justin Porter]

27 minutes ago, tim boyd said:

Great discussion....I could probably comment on this subject for hours (including my time decades ago as a Ford zone rep allocating/selling wholesale to my dealers as referenced by Dan's experience) but i won't bore all of you with that. 

Thanks, Justin, for taking the time to compile and share this info with us, and the rest of you for your comments/reactions.  Also good to see the Moebius '65 Nova Gasser so high on the list...IMHO one of the better, somewhat unsung kits of the last several years.  Just fascinating...will be following this thread for sure. 

Cheers....TIM 

At least in my perspective it's hard to call the Gasser unsung. Checking the data since its arrival in 2022, it leads the whole pack with 14 units sold. Tied behind it are Tamiya 24090 which is their full detail Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R and Revell 4511 which is the '71 Olds 442 with 13 each. I know here on the forums the kit was absolutely excoriated for perceived window height issues, but actually at the counter my customers love it for the subject matter, the fit, and the overall look of the finished model. As a comparison, the AMT "Twister II" altered wheelbase reissue has only sold two units in the same span of time.

Edited January 1 by Justin Porter

[av405]

Very interesting info, thank you. 

[charger74]

I’m suprised that the dodge demon isn’t there

[Justin Porter]

7 hours ago, charger74 said:

I’m suprised that the dodge demon isn’t there

Two units sold through the year while the Ertl-tooled '71 Duster sold three units. Forum hype for Round 2 kit revivals doesn't generally translate to actual sales over my counter.

[peteski]

Thanks for starting another of your very enlightening threads Justin. It is interesting to see the hobby world and the type of stats you are presenting for a hobby shop's perspective.  How did the automotive hobby kit sales compare to let's say Gundam or model trains? That might possibly be another separate thread.  I believe you had one like that earlier in 2024.

Edited January 2 by peteski

[Justin Porter]

1 hour ago, peteski said:

Thanks for starting another of your very enlightening threads Justin. It is interesting to see the hobby world and the type of stats you are presenting for a hobby shop's perspective.  How did the automotive hobby kit sales compare to let's say Gundam or model trains? That might possibly be another separate thread.  I believe you had one like that earlier in 2024.

Car kit sales are DEFINITELY a critical piece of my puzzle, representing the third strongest category over my counter. I took a moment to create a graph of 2024's Top Ten Categories to show how they stack up. Automotive trails Gundam and my #1 category which is Paint but not by a huge amount.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I like pie...charts.  

[bbowser]

11 hours ago, Justin Porter said:

Two units sold through the year while the Ertl-tooled '71 Duster sold three units. Forum hype for Round 2 kit revivals doesn't generally translate to actual sales over my counter.

That's interesting.  We seem to be the lunatic fringe, not that that's a bad thing😎

[slusher]

Gundam models that popular and sci Fi?

[mikemodeler]

Funny how in a large, growing area like the one I live in the closest hobby shop to me is nearly 45 miles away and it's a Hobby Town that is focused on RC. They used to have a large variety of model kits but a Hobby Lobby opened up a mile away and that killed their kit sales (not to mention the HTU had kits at full MSRP). There are several small hobby shops within an hours drive of me but I almost have to plan a trip with a list of needs in order to justify the trip. Most of my purchases are done via the internet, probably didn't buy a kit at HL at all last year.

Often thought that if I won the lottery I would open a model shop because of the lack of them in our area.

 

Great insight Justin!

[Justin Porter]

10 hours ago, slusher said:

Gundam models that popular and sci Fi?

Not only more popular but also more lucrative, to be absolutely blunt. I sold 456 Gundam/Sci-Fi kits to 402 cars. Average price per Gundam was $40.76 while average price per car kit was $30.37. The most popular Gundam kit in my shop for 2024 was perennial favorite Bandai #2204932 - the Master Grade Sazabi ver Ka. Seven of these monsters left my shop this year, and that's about typical for sales of this kit.
 

Whenever older modelers gripe about how "There's no young people in the hobby" it's my Gundam sales that I instantly point to as proof that no statement could be further from the truth. Young people are absolutely modelers, but they're not typically classic American car modelers.

[tim boyd]

2 hours ago, Justin Porter said:

Not only more popular but also more lucrative, to be absolutely blunt. I sold 456 Gundam/Sci-Fi kits to 402 cars. Average price per Gundam was $40.76 while average price per car kit was $30.37. The most popular Gundam kit in my shop for 2024 was perennial favorite Bandai #2204932 - the Master Grade Sazabi ver Ka. Seven of these monsters left my shop this year, and that's about typical for sales of this kit.
 

Whenever older modelers gripe about how "There's no young people in the hobby" it's my Gundam sales that I instantly point to as proof that no statement could be further from the truth. Young people are absolutely modelers, but they're not typically classic American car modelers.

Justin and all....your comments above are also exactly what I hear from Jon and Melissa, owners of the Model Cave i Ypsilanti, Michigan, one of (if not the) top hobby stores in SE Michigan....TB 

[1930fordpickup]

Justin do you also sell online or strickly just at your shop? 

Great information.

I tried to offer the local Hobby Town a chance to sell older kits from my stash but he was not even interested. I didn't want to put them on the shelf just get a want/wish list from shoppers.