As I understand things, the Cyber Hobby boutique white-box limited line has gone the way of the Dodo. We are now seeing those one-offs and "special" kits being released as SmartKit items.
Mostly, I think of it as a good thing - this means that more modelers will get a chance to get those previously rare kits and subjects, and yes, the Dragon company will make more money from those molds.
The CH white-box stuff was really marketed more to kit-collectors than to modelers who wanted to build the stuff. The limited supply and exclusivity mostly served to create a vibrant second-hand kit trade, but left many of us frustrated because we might want to build that item too, but its price got inflated by collector demand.
The down side of this re-releasing of CH WB kits as Dragon SmartKits is that probably the re-releases will often come out lacking some of the goodies and features of the originals. I'm thinking about less PE, less optional parts, maybe swapping in DS for MagicTracks, losing metal barrels, etc. But they'll hit the shelves at the new, higher prices. Some good, some bad, mostly same-oh same-oh, really!
Bob
Editor-in-Chief
