News from the Bburago camp comes another repaint of the 1:18 Ferrari 488 GTB. This one is called the Ferrari 488 GTB “The Lauda” Limited Edition 70th Anniversary. We’re not sure if the model will be limited to standard or Signature series or both.
2018 has almost drawn to the a close and we really haven’t seen much newness from the brand in terms of Ferraris. They hold on of the most prestigious licence in the business, but what is presented in terms of assortment, speed to market and over execution is a far cry from what the marque and fans of scale deserve!
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Dear oh dear! Just shows how the people at Ferrari have no idea whatsoever. Bburago produces Ferrari scale models…SHOCKING! Apparently…able and competent quality manufacturers like AUTOArt, Norev and Kyosho do not feature or exist in Ferrari’s vocabulary.
Exactly. Without using “expensive” producers such as AutoArt or CMC or Kyosho (which I have found very much down lately) or Minichamps, Norev would be a great choice. Good quality, reasonable price, remarkable dynamism and speed in the choice of subjects. Among other things, Norev has already produced, for a certain period, promotional models in 1/43 for the Fiat group (now FCA). BBurago is definitely not up to a prestigious brand like Ferrari.
I am missing Hot Wheels Elite Ferraris. Are the collectors allowed to do a petition for changing the Ferrari modelcars manufacturer, of course because of lower quality standards of Bburago?
I would love to see the Ferrari license pass to dynamic producers like Norev or GT Spirit (which could easily produce excellent die-casters with Solido) or Almost Real, without reaching AutoArt or CMC. Unfortunately BBurago has always produced only low quality models, more like the toy than the real collector’s model. Mattel Elite was not exceptional, but at least it is committed to putting on the market some classic Ferrari and a good number of novelties … BBurago isn’t absolutely able to do this.
The worst problem is they are not producing new models…
Dont understand who spent 300€ with doglegs models from BBR…
Just dont buy any Ferrari as protest, maybe Ferrari will awake..
BBurago ,makes only cars for little kids en no cars for collectors.
They are a same for the real Ferrari collector.
They only makes toys !!
Endlich einer der weiss, für was Bburago steht.
I have to say I actually like the Bburago Signature range. They’re relatively inexpensive, and I find that they display well. With that said, I would like to see someone else producing an ‘Elite’ range of Ferrari models, priced somewhere between these and the rather costly BBR die-casts. It feels like there’s a gap in the market.
Ferrari just need to loosen up a little with the license, I reckon. Don’t drop Bburago, but bring another into the fold.
The main problem here is simply that Bburago doesn’t release almost anything in 1:18 scale. For all the time they have had the license, how many new 1:18 models were released? 4? 5?
That’s my main gripe tbh.
You’re right Tomcatters… It is appalling to see Bburago releasing models like the 812 or LaFerrari Aperta, to name just two, in scales smaller than 1:18… I thought they were the ones who actually made 1:18 scale popular but now it looks like they are focusing on releasing new Ferraris in scales which are what… more profitable(?)
The problem is not Bburago, or any other manufacturer, the problem here is the brand Ferrari itself.
I am working for a company producing accessories for the luxury market and have contact sometimes with Ferrari about licence. We considered several times to get a licence, but the requirements about financing the licence are extreme. We made a lot of calculations, but not any was feasible.
If you would like to have a licence, for the first time you have to issue all the necessary document of your company to Ferrari. Cash flow, annual report, usw. You have to pay a lower 5 digits amount in Euro to let prove your documents by Ferrari. This amount is only to check your company’s financial situation to verify the company for paying enough for a licence.
If you fail, the money is gone and they do not even give you instructions what were the reasons to fail. You have to start again blind.
If everything is ok, then you have to issue a businessplan for the next 3 years with the products you plan, theirs MSRP and the royalties calculated from the MSRP. It is a lover 2 digit amount in % of any MSRP, sorry I am not allowed to give exact numbers. If you provide low sale numbers, Ferrari can decide not to accept your numbers, so the process starts again.
If the plan is accepted, you have to sign a contract for 3 years and you have to buy the basic licence for a very high 5 digit amount in Euro each year billed on the 1st of January of the given year due for paying within 14 days. And you can start the development only after the contract is signed and the basic licence is payed for the first year. The licence is only given to a certain year, so if you buy a licence in September, you pay the same amount for the rest of the year, as buying a licence in January. This amount is the same for all companies, who produce merchandised products with Ferrari Logo on it. It does not matter, if the product is an umbrella, key chain, wallet, die cast modelcar, etc.
So depending on a product the development can last several month to one year (die cast vehicles approx. 6-9 months), you have to finance everything in advance, the licence, the development, the production, shipping, etc. And of course during this time you do not have a product to sell and get money back.
There is an approval process as well, Ferrari approves all the stages of the process, so CAD data has to be provided, prototype has to be provided, the first test run of the production has to be provided, etc. to validate the stages, which is very time consuming.
If everything is approved, you start the shipping and have to pay for each quarter the royalties according to your businessplan. If you cannot sell as much quantity, as you planned, you have to pay the royalties for the planned quantities in your businessplan. You planned 1000 pcs, but you could sell only 600, you have to pay the royalties for 1000 pcs.
According to the contract Ferrari proves each quarter your financing, you have to provide all the data and document to Ferrari to “X-ray” your company, that you provide correct numbers about the sold products.
To summarize it, there are not much companies world wide, who could afford a licence from Ferrari. The company needs assets to invest and finance everything for several products for approx. one year in advance and needs also well developed distribution network to sell these products. The company needs to make contracts with sales numbers with the distributors to calculate their annual quantities to assure to sell these numbers. Nowadays in the die cast modelcar industry most of the sale happens through the internet. A die cast manufacturer cannot find a local dealer who is willing to make a contract for 3 years to buy a certain amount of modelcars in advance in each year. Therefore there are even less manufacturer, who are willing to pay for a Ferrari licence and try to come to the market. As a die cast manufacturer you need high quantities to sell, so you have to manufacture, or produce in high quantities of simplified products to be feasible and make margin. Or you have to sell your products for higher prices. And to reduce the time to market you need everything as simple as it can be (development, etc.) not to loose a lot on the licence.
Ferrari made 474 million USD in 2017 with merchandised product, they want to reach 900 million USD till 2020. So in my opinion it will be even less manufacturer, who will consider a licence, because the requirements will be more strict, than today.
Thanks for the insight, but there is are exceptions to their rules. One would think? Do you believe BBR, MR and Bburago could follow the required criteria?
I think, they will continue for a while, because Ferrari needs this model car segment. But it can be, that clearly only one manufacturer will fill one price range.
Bburago produces high volumes for low prices. As long as one type has a market and they can deliver the full production, they do not bring any new model to the market.
MR and BBR are in high price segment, MR with Looksmart brings all the latest Ferrari models a bit sooner on the market for a few euros less, than BBR. They both have the market and the brands for high quality – high quantity made in China (BBRC and Looksmart) and high quality – low quantity made in Italy (BBR and MR). As long as both companies can grow, Ferrari will give for both the licence. They try to search new segments as well. BBR tries to bring a new die cast series to the market manufactured by Minichamps. BBR has the licence, Minichamps the production capabilities. Looksmart opened for more brands, like Alfa Romeo, Bentley, etc. and tries to bring everything both in 1/43 and 1/18. So they do compete with each other, but they still different enough to have their market share.
The best example was Make Up, they had a Ferrari licence, but were on the same price range as BBR in 1/43 and Ferrari took the licence away from Make Up a few years ago. They had 6 new models fully developed ready for production and paid the licence, but BBR was also interested in some of these models and therefore Ferrari stepped on the brakes at Make Up to prefer BBR.
Make Up developed the Lamborghini line and it was good for BBR, because this is a clear competitor for MR. The owner of BBR and MR are brothers, but they managed a bad relationship with each other over the decades, they are happy to nettle each other or have fun if another company competes with the other one. The Make Up Lamborghinis are in a higher price segment as the Looksmarts, MR had there its range, but nowadays does not really produce 1/43 models in these price range. So there is no competition.
I see clearly, that Lamborghini is somewhat on the same line as Ferrari 10 years ago. Domenicali try to bring Lamborghini to the same level, what he experienced at the time, he was at Ferrari.
There are other companies, who bring Ferrari models, but they hardly pay licence. They choose subjects, which are at least 25-30 years old and the design rights are expired. They neither use the name, nor the style of the letters (quite similar, but different as the original) on the packaging and the prancing horse is only on the model and declared on the packaging, that it is used only to reproduce the originality of the car. And the form of the badge, or the horse is also a little bit different as the original, but in scale the difference is only visible for the third time.
So I think, the direction is clear. Check Otto and GT Spirit, they bring Lamborghinis, but these are well below the price range of the Looksmarts. But there is a market as well. 10-15 years ago a Lamborghini from Autoart was in the same price range, as now the Otto or GT Spirit.
The problem with die cast is the time to market. You need at least 5 engineers to develop one model with tooling, etc. and bring it to the market within 9 months. With resine you can bring one or more new model within a month to the market and you need only one engineer and another well skilled craftsman, who could shape different small part by hand. The painting and the assembly is the same, but resine cast is easier. And try to count the production steps as well. Try to imagine, what does it mean if one model has only two more decals, than the other. It takes 10 second to release the decal from the sheet and place it to the model. if you produce 4’000 pcs, it means 40’000 sec by 2 decals, 80’000 sec, or more than 22 hours of effective work. You can cut costs with production steps, therefore it is very important to design a modelcar as simple as it can be. And the collector will have all the cars in the soonest time in his collection. Therefore a brand, like Ferrari or Lamborghini is only interested in to bring as much new models to the market, as possible and take the royalties from the manufacturers. The manufacturer is only interested to reduce costs and design the model as costeffective as possible to minimize the cost and maximize the margin. There are no restrictions from the brand side for opening trunk and hood, or doors. The manufacturer try to reduce the costs and production time and brings models to the market as fast as it can be.
Time is money and today it is more true, than 10 or 20 years ago.