[jazzy426]

F355 is one of my all time favourite and I went through quite a few over the years and I thought of taking some snaps of them being together earlier while I was examining the good old UT.

I got my first 1/18 of the F355 made by UT back in 2011. Then the Kyosho hi-end in 2014/5 when it was released over the HWE one. But eventually got the HWE spyder and Berlinetta as well.

Untitled by Jazzy 426, on Flickr

Left: UT Models
Middle: Kyosho
Right: HWE

Untitled by Jazzy 426, on Flickr

Untitled by Jazzy 426, on Flickr

Untitled by Jazzy 426, on Flickr

One of the most important feature of the F355. Working popup lights! Kyosho appears to have the best looking headlights much like their TS and 512TR.
Untitled by Jazzy 426, on Flickr

Untitled by Jazzy 426, on Flickr

The tail lights on Kyosho seems to be sticking out bit too much...
Untitled by Jazzy 426, on Flickr

Untitled by Jazzy 426, on Flickr

Untitled by Jazzy 426, on Flickr

Untitled by Jazzy 426, on Flickr

The brushed aluminium effect on the Kyosho one looks pretty neat
Untitled by Jazzy 426, on Flickr

Untitled by Jazzy 426, on Flickr

Untitled by Jazzy 426, on Flickr

Engine bay on the UT models
Untitled by Jazzy 426, on Flickr

Kyosho's engine bay
Untitled by Jazzy 426, on Flickr

HWE. The engine cover refused to go up any further and i didn't want to risk snapping it off
Untitled by Jazzy 426, on Flickr

Untitled by Jazzy 426, on Flickr

The 3 generations of the v8 Ferrari junior. All yellow with awesome popup lights!
Untitled by Jazzy 426, on Flickr

 

[jazzy426]

UT still holds up great IMO. I wish there were still brands that offered such a balance of price v quality.

I dare say most UT models hold up pretty well til this day. At present it would appears that Solido is filling in that void left by UT. Their stuff are great and definitely has the UT feel to them namely the Porsche 964 and BMW E36 series. It looks like they are quite popular among aussie sellers too but most retailed between $90 to $120 AUD. 😟

Nice comparison!
The Kyosho has better details compared to the HWE, but the HWE wins in the exterior shape.
Kyosho nailed the shape of the 308, 575GTC, Testarossa. To this day I don't understand how could they fail so miserably for the 355 which was released much later?

Agreed. Their F355 doesn't appear to be their best effort. I wonder why Kyosho never get around to make a road going version of the 575. The 575GTC is brilliant but a high end version of the 550/575 would be fantastic. The HWE one although it is pretty brilliant on its own but I feel Kyosho could make one that can easily rivals HWE.

Funny story. I just received a UT F355 in the mail today (bought on eBay for $25)...it's a fantastic model, but the lack of calipers is somewhat annoying.

Congrats on getting one. The model is simple but brilliantly made. Mattel made them too in the early days (before remaking them for HWE) and I always suspect it is a borrowed mold from UT. The Mattel one doesnt look as good as UT to be honest. The most sought after version as far as I know is the GTS one.

 

[jazzy426]

@Rapid66: I am not sure to be honest I guess maybe it is the cool factor of having removable roof? It be awesome of HWE tackled that subject as well just made another batch of 5,000 back in the day with the roof cut off haha. I actually almost forgot about the scene in James Bond where the F355 GTS was driven by the female villain. I guess it is time for me to watch Goldeneye again tonight haha.

Ah yes you are right Winston, I now remember about the subtle difference with the F1 paddle shift. UT models was active during the time where disc calipers started to become an essential feature on diecast models and they improved some of their newer releases by incorporating these into their models. Slightly off topic, Minichamps on the other hand don't seem to bother improving their re-released models and if anything they strip some of the more subtle features in their new models. They should have followed UT models footstep.

Initially I only bought the red HWE spyder version to replace the HW spyder. Then I came across a cheap yellow HWE F355 on offer and i remember it was Frank (ferrariforver) who told me to buy it asap which I did. Best suggestion from him

 

[jazzy426]

I love comparison threads like this, thanks for posting, Jazzy!

I don't have a F355, but I certainly got my eyes on the yellow HWE version. They're not particularly cheap or easy to find over in the EU, and with so many other models I want first, it's going to take some time for me to get one.

Thanks mate! Glad you enjoyed the thread. The one that i am missing is the 348TS in either red or yellow and have been keeping an eye out for one for quite a while now but not really willing to pay the asking price. Close to getting one when a local hobby shop was selling a red one for just $70 but i was being silly for not locking in the purchase the day before because when i called them up the next day someone else has already bought it. 😥

 

[jazzy426]

@X-Filer: Yea that is one thing I don't quite understand. Whoever made the first 1/18 mold of the F355 why did they decided to go with sealed bonnet?? Even the 1/24 Maisto I had from 25 years ago had working bonnet.

Thanks Sam! I too baulk at the idea of paying $100 for the humble Solido models. But all things considered it probably isnt too far fetch as the typical Maisto/Bburago/Motormax are also priced at around $80 nowadays. You might get them cheaper from local online stores as opposed to physical hobby shops but for the new Solidos, i still see them hovering around $80 the cheapest on eBay AU. I wonder if it is due to higher import cost from the Aussie distributors.. or the sellers think they can get away charging bit more due to "rarity" as Solido isn't as common as say Bburago and Maisto.

We probably can't use the Costco's $24 Maisto pricing as yardstick for pricing since Costco has special arrangement with Maisto to sell cheap Maisto and entice us to sign up for membership. I think the more realistic prices for typical Maisto here is either around 60 online or $80 at the shops. I do wonder if Costco Perth has already received 2021 Maisto pallet yet. Went there couple weeks ago and was told they are still on order.

 

[jazzy426]

@X-Filer: My local hobby shops appear still be stocking quite a few Motormax diecasts, in 1/24 and 1/18 although i am not sure if those are old stock or not. Not surprise it is hard to move these considering they are so pricey. The RRP on Maisto and Bburago definitely has almost doubled in the last 10 years. I remember once upon a time I could walk into any local Toys R Us and picked up any 1/18 Maisto for $39.95 AUD. Then they went up to $49.95, and every couple years later another $10 increase... 😞

 

[jazzy426]

F355 with tan interior would be gorgeous. All mine are black which looks bit uninspiring. You are right about UT being spot on with the F355 along with 550 Maranello. Although they can definitely use some improvements like. disc calier for the earlier release, better looking headlights for the 550 Maranello etc but overall they are great and can still easily rival modern day's diecasts in the similar range.