pugdog
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May 7, 2007, 2:17 PM
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Die Cut Kits & Manufacturers
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In the past 2 decades, we've seen the rise of the die-cut kit, and it's fall.
Many manufacturers and brands (repackaged or such) have disappeared. The one that hit hardest was Dura-Craft for many people.
While many out of production (OOP) and discontinued kits are still available, if the last remaining die-cut maker disappeared today, there would probably still be enough kits in attics, basements, garages, bottoms of closets and other hiding places to keep the community going for 10 years.
Dollhouses (like plastic models) are an industry where people bought intending to build, and never did. No numbers are available, but I'll bet for every 2-3 kits sold, 1 never got built and is still in its box.
In the interim, new plywood construction companies have shown up, and have added to their lines. Sure, a few have gone by the way side, but others have increased their offerings, giving us huge kits like the Queen Anne II, Thornhill and FoxHall Manor. Works of art as shells go.
The simple cottages and 4-6 room houses are well built, and will last under rough play.
They are easier to put together, often completed in an hour or two, where as a similar die-cut kit would take 6-8 hours or longer -- and not look as good.
Die-cut kits are made from 1/8" plywood, and it's not finish grade. No effort was made to secure a higher grade of plywood. The model kits you buy in the dollar store have a higher grade of wood than the die cut kits.
Today, the only maker of Die-cut kits left in production is Greenleaf. You can read their story on their website. They were sold off, and repurchased. But, the parent company is a tool and die works, which gives them an edge. And, repurchasing the company was apparantly more of a pride thing (being able to say they were the "first" and the "last" more or less), than anything to do with the consumers or the dollhouse market.
After a recent, extremely unpleasant exchange with the owner of Greenleaf, I'm even more down on the die-cut kits than ever before -- especially since there is no longer a choice in the market. He truly believes their wood is a high quality, and the hours of finish work needed to make it SMOOTH doesn't count or matter. He doesn't see that the edges of the plywood - and joints - are ugly, unfinished, and un-realistic and toy-like. In fact, he got very upset with me pointing that out. And, he apparently banned me from their forum for it :) Childish, but not unexpected.
He's welcome here to promote the quality of his kits, and to take the criticism he, and his company and products, deserve.
I spent a lot of time offering suggestions to him, and in the forum, on finishing the wood for more realistic, longer lasting, and better finishing. I also pointed out things that he and Greenleaf as a company could be doing to help their consumers, as well as themselves. Of course, not one of the ideas was appreciated -- but I'll bet in the next year they will be doing them anyway -- and pretending I didn't suggest them.
1) Putting their newsletter out in PDF format, downloadable, printable, not simply HTML on-line. That would be their best marketing tool, as it got passed around -- and -- many, many people can't or wont read articles on-line. It bothers them, or their eyes can't handle it. Others, want the steps and projects on paper so they can look at it and mark on it.
2) Putting their dollhouse manuals going all the way back on-line in PDF form, killing off the ebay market for manuals, and HELPING the consumer who might have a kit in their basement but no instructions and isn't about to search for and try to by a $15 copy off the net.
2a) for some reason, people lose the manuals, but keep the kits.
3) Putting color photos of various paint schemes for all their models on-line, in a higher quality image format, so people can have a good selection and visualization of what their model could look like. Interiors are much more personal and varied, but the web gives unlimited exposure for that as well.
4) the 4-color boxes are nice, but wasteful. A simple photo on the brown-box and a 4-color insert with options, examples, and variations of the house would be far, far better.
5) Providing direct, downloadable help to people,rather than making them search through the forums. As the manufacturer, people should be able to get downloadable help, not have to be a computer wiz to find it. Thinking a "forum" is the answer for everyone is extremely misguided. Not everyone can use it, will use it, or wants to use it. Most people simple want the answer -- especially if it's the manual or instructions. Virtually every computer company and electronics company has realized that and makes their drivers (good only with their product anyway) and manuals available on-line -- going back years in some cases!
6) providing better wood finishing instructions to get a smooth finish, and thus a better base for paint and paper. ADMITTING the wood quality is not always the best, and needs work! Not hiding that fact and having people build kits that disappoint.
7) Upgrading the quality of the wood! Sure costly, but worth it.
8) Stop trying to convince people die-cut kits are less toy-like because the walls are thinner. As pointed out in another message here, the average interior wall is 3-4" thick -- thicker in older homes. That works out to 1/4". 1/8" plywood works out to 1/8 of 12, or 1.5 inches. What wall in your home is 1.5" inches thick?
9) Be honest about the differences in die-cut kits and plywood kits, and that it's a CHOICE in what you want, not one being better than the other (if wood quality issues were equal).
10) Lasercutting and/or offering basswood parts for the trim and edges, and areas where the edges of the plywood shows.
And other things, some I don't remember, but have logged, others I do but aren't for posting.
I have built my share of die cut kits, and have two on my workbench now, and 5 in "holding" waiting for the time I decide to build them, or re-build them in 1/4" wood (Yeah.... The Brookwood in 1/4" plywood! )
Many dollhouse shops have stopped offering and selling die-cut kits, because of the quality and time needed to build them to the same quality level as the plywood kits.
With laser cutting, and a little effort, the ply wood kits are getting more character -- the Queen Anne II, FoxHall Manor, and as the jigs are set up, we'll be seeing more nooks and crannies, and less boxy shapes in the plywood kits.
That was the _MAJOR_ advantage of the die-cut kits, and once that is gone, the only advantage they will have is WEIGHT -- they _are_ much lighter, 2-3 times lighter, which can be 25-50 pounds lighter in some cases.
That's not going to be enough for die-cut kits (eg: Greenleaf) to survive on, until, and unless, they address the other issues in the die-cut kits, admit their failings, and work to take the complaints and problems into account.
"Simplifying" the die-cut kit is tantamount to defeat, as the detail is (at this time) the only thing they have going for them over the plywood kits.
I'll be posting some photos of my current house projects, once I get the sites all worked out. They include some die cut kits, but I put 12-14 hours of wood finishing -- sanding, sealing and patching -- in before I even started to think about assembly -- and that was in a production mode outdoors where I was sealing all the wood in assembly line fashion on a dry, warm weekend a few years ago (I just had it in a box after that, waiting). The Thornhill and FoxHall on my bench are 5x or more larger, and will take far less time to seal and sand. The result will also be far more impressive. (And, for the record, this are not GreenLeaf kits, but dura-craft and damark)
So, Greenleaf, up to the challenge? After all, this forum is mostly about you, whether you like it or not -- as the last surviving die-cut kit maker.
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