Dear All,
I have been away on vacation with the family so I apologize for not responding to the forum. But, I am back now so I would like to first say thank you for all your comments, suggestions and I will try to answer all the questions.
First of all, the Figarti Tigers are very rare, we will only make a total of 1000 units in five versions worldwide. The reason is simple and Andy (K&C) would know, it simply does not make economic sense to mass produce using the production method we are using. This tank has over 950 parts and all hand assembled and painted. If you get a closer look, you'll see this is not a diecast tank, the Figarti tank is all handmade. So why did we make it, well, because we can and we wanted to do a Tiger the "Figarti Way".
At $299 ($300), it is expensive but you get what you pay for, a 4.5lbs take down of one of the most famous tanks of all time. Diecast companies who may attempt to make tanks this way will spend almost $300,000+ just on mold investments but will need to sell 10s and Thousands to break-even. We will only make 1000, and that's it. This is part of our very exclusive and rare "Masterpiece Collection".
This tank will not appeal to everyone, but those who want a work of art or want to share a piece of Figarti's history, should get one (or two). We will number each tank individually.
Lastly, the separate tank crew sets were designed to compliment our Tigers as well as other 1/32 Tigers in the market. The Figarti Tiger comes with 5 internal crews as Steven Chong indicated. And as Alex mentioned, subtract the crew that comes with the Tiger, the actual tank is under $200.
For those of you who could not make the Chicago Show, you really had to put this tank in your hands to appreciate its value and workmanship. For those of you who saw it first hand, thank you on behalf of everyone at Figarti for your compliments.
I love our Tiger, I wish I could bring it to you at a lower cost, but once you receive yours coming Christmas, take a closer look and you'll know why I said we really did this Tiger out of our ambition to be different the Figarti Way, it was not about anything else.
Rick
RWFigarti