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Old 01-26-2023, 11:08 AM
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ccoyle ccoyle is offline
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Average size of press run?

Just doing some wondering aloud here . . .



Last year I got a new smartphone whose camera features include Google Lens. Some of you may know that Lens has a built in translation function, which is very handy. Thanks to Lens, I discovered that the Polish word naklad means "mintage" or "copies." So, on a kit I recently purchased, when the cover says naklad 500egz, I presume this means that the press run was only 500 copies. I thought this was striking, considering that model publishers seldom, if ever, do second print runs of their kits.


So, I have some questions for any of our publisher friends who might happen to read this thread:

  1. Did I interpret the meaning of naklad 500egz correctly?
  2. What is the size of the average press run for a kit?
  3. What factors do you consider when making a determination of how many copies to print?
  4. Why do publishers seem so reluctant to do reprints? (I ask myself this question every time I see that Halinski's Kawanishi N1K2-J is no longer available.)
Thanks!
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Old 01-26-2023, 09:21 PM
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mbauer mbauer is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ccoyle View Post
Just doing some wondering aloud here . . .



Last year I got a new smartphone whose camera features include Google Lens. Some of you may know that Lens has a built in translation function, which is very handy. Thanks to Lens, I discovered that the Polish word naklad means "mintage" or "copies." So, on a kit I recently purchased, when the cover says naklad 500egz, I presume this means that the press run was only 500 copies. I thought this was striking, considering that model publishers seldom, if ever, do second print runs of their kits.


So, I have some questions for any of our publisher friends who might happen to read this thread:

  1. Did I interpret the meaning of naklad 500egz correctly?
  2. What is the size of the average press run for a kit?
  3. What factors do you consider when making a determination of how many copies to print?
  4. Why do publishers seem so reluctant to do reprints? (I ask myself this question every time I see that Halinski's Kawanishi N1K2-J is no longer available.)
Thanks!
Interesting questions.

Only thing I know: Once talked with a Press business about doing some models. The setup fees, cost of dies are all based on a minimum amount, the person at the press I talked to said minimum 1000 units per run, or its not worth their time.

A second run if the items didn't sell fast might not be an option due to cost of the setup/run.

Talking about a printing press, not copy shop.

Mike

Last edited by mbauer; 01-26-2023 at 09:24 PM. Reason: copy
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Old 01-27-2023, 07:45 AM
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ccoyle ccoyle is offline
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Hi, Mike.


Many years ago, I worked in a commercial offset print shop, and I currently work for a publishing firm, so I agree that production and setup costs are a big factor. That's partly why I was surprised at the relatively small print run of 500 copies, because the cost per piece printed is lower for longer print runs, and I'm a little skeptical that a run of 500 even meets the breaking point for an offset run since a card model booklet consists of multiple printed sheets. The other reason I was surprised is because 500 copies just seems very small, even if our hobby is a bit on the esoteric side.



Cheers!
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Old 01-27-2023, 09:45 AM
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Chris,y ou can still get the Kavanishi (if postage isn't an issue), look here.

Few notions on the printing issue. When said setup being costly it means many things: preparing the offset plates, set out the prinrting press (if unusual colors are used also cleaning the machine afterwards) etc. Many printing houses don't have storage to save all customer offset plates and those are likely to be scapped afterwards or recyckled as nowadys. Also publishers might not have storage for larger editions. Most likely publishers sell the editions even before printing based on advance orders of the retailers. All said may vary between different publishers. Anyway in any type of publishing re-runs are becoming more rare or varied. Paperback, hardcover, audiobook, e-book... In or hobby the limited print run could follow selling the kit as a download. Maybe someday.

Tappi
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Old 01-27-2023, 10:44 AM
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Chris,y ou can still get the Kavanishi (if postage isn't an issue), look here.

I about fell out of my chair when I saw the Versandkosten for the good ol' USA -- 40 euros! I like the Kawanishi, but not that much!
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Old 01-27-2023, 11:53 AM
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I suspected that Versandkosten would be an issue. Sorry if I raised false hopes. It's only 12€ to Finland and from here to USA 16€ alltogether that's about 28€ - so not that much cheaper f I would act as middle man. I can if you want to.

Tappi
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Old 02-05-2023, 05:20 AM
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Diderick A. den Bakker Diderick A. den Bakker is offline
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print runs

I now have more than 20 years' history publishing Paper Trade and Zeist Bouwplaten models in the Netherlands, so I have a lot of experience with the old printing processes, as well as with the modern digital ones. Add the Print-Your-Own approach which is becoming more and more popular, avoiding the steadily rising postal costs...
1. When I started, ca. 2000, regular printing was the norm, 500 copies was the minimum - anything less sent up the selling price to unacceptable levels. Printing costs were seriously lower in Poland then in Western Europe- still are! Of course one had to be prepared to take risks - and some of my models sold well (and still do - the Rietveld architecture!), some resulted in serious losses. Overall, I always managed to stay in black figures - but paper models are definitely not a money spinner. Some commissions for public relations models helped finance my own models.
2. Marketing is of course very important: finding interested buyers (museums, hobby shops etc.) is a good idea, but very difficult. I almost immediately started my own webshop.
3. Then, all of a sudden, traditional printing disappeared - professional printers now work with top quality (and -price!) digital machinery. So easy to work with that there is hardly any price difference between 50 or 100 copies, or between 100 and 500. The advantages to small publishers like myself are obvious. I printed only 50 copies of the f7 locomotives at first, then ordered more in similar or smaller batches. It was a guess, of course - the printed version sold an average of 100 copies each to European customers.
4. This is where the P-Y-O selling method comes in. It's a win-win for both publisher and customer: a model will generally sell for just a bit more than 50% of the printed price, and it saves postage from the Netherlands to the US, which varies from 10 to 18 EUR. Of course the F7 was a great success!
5. This is the reason why my designer makes the lay out to fit American Letter size, as well as A4 in the rest of the world!

I hope these experience-based remarks may be of some use. Don't hesitate to ask for more information!
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