Indeed,very disappointing that Eduard and Roden are not considering future releases of WW1 subjects,and I must agree that with the centenary of the Great War approaching,they will be missing out on a marketing opportunity!
In the early 1970's,Airfix brought out a 1:12th scale Bentley,a truely state of the art kit at the time,with a couple of hundred parts,and the talk of the modelling press,and it wasn't cheap to buy.Tooling and production costs at that time were in the region of £240,000!!!
But that kit was the extreme as to the quality and quantity of parts at that time.In this day and age,depending on the metals used for the tool,costs can vary.Just recently,a Japanese company,Model Hiro Factory, better known for their racing cars,which cost in the region of £600-£800 apiece, have just released an injection moulded Tiger tank in 1:35th,retailing at £400+!I googled tooling costs and it didn't turn up much for my limited knowledge(make that zilch in fact!) of this area,but one companys web page showed a simple menu type holder coming in at £3,300.Then you have to factor in the design of the mould,how many components it will have,longevity of the mould and tools,what material its made from,man hours to construct mould,production costs,salaries,artwork for instructions and boxtops,marketing and shipping.So,all in all,quite an expensive outlay before any possible sales,yeah,I think you are looking at possible 6 figure numbers.
An interesting fact I did find,was that several companies who outsourced their tooling to the far east,have now reconsidered and took their production back to their home countries.
Dave.(patiently waiting and saving up for the WNW's 32nd Handley Page 0/400!)
Aah,some new posts whist typing this,so I may be repeating what others have written.