bk1009
It's that + banking on the kit 'maker' 's brand recognition to drive sales compared to the same kits sold by ICM and Zvezda (in the case of the T-26). Same reason why Tamiya's kits go for 2x the price of competing kits with more details with the new KV-1/2 being particularly WTF-y at 50Eur which is 2x a Revell/Zvezda kit (with the -1 having full turret interiour and the -2 having partial one) or about the same price as a way more detailed RFM or Meng 😄
Edit: Wait, 25Eur for the T-26?! The bloody T-35 multiturreted monster's around that price point...

Gluefinger
>> Same reason why Tamiya's kits go for 2x the price of competing kits
Tamiya isn't really that expensive if you look at the SRPs and actual street prices in Asia. The main problem (as with Hasegaawa etc.) is the absurdly high markup which their official European distributors are adding on top of the original price. They seem to do their business based on the "high markup, low volume" principle as opposed to most Chinese manufacturers who do it the other way round.

And yes, I was very happy with the Trumpeter 15€ kit that I built my KV-2 from, and wouldn't pay triple for another kit. 😉

I do not expect we ever go back to pocket money kits now that the hobby has become an old farts' (me included) pastime. But if I were running the marketing departments of some manufacturers I would seriously start thinking of offering more less-overengineered kits at a substantially lower price point. And they easily could if they would only engineer their kits like Monogram did in their heyday (with lots of molded-on detail) instead of providing hundreds of miniscule separate parts just to make the count look more impressive.

bk1009
I'm not sure I agree about the markup (on our end here in Europe at least) to be driven by anything but brand recognition (and milking it for all it's worth) given that lower volume/more upmarket (in terms of details and extras like Takom/Meng/etc) kits retail for similar prices while being subject to the same economic factors, but represent a leap in quality. Unfortunately I'm seeing Tamiya start to lose steam on the paint+extras side of things too with Gunze starting to steal people away with lower prices and stuff like the pre-made 4BO 😄
As for the overall trend in kits, unfortunately Revell/Airfix seem to've entrenched themselves in the lower-priced segment and are comfortable enough in there to keep churning out the same old kits in newer boxes (ie the nteenth HMS Hood reissue), with only the occasional rebox from elsewhere and even rarer new tool kit breaking up the monotony from time to time. Sadly, I reckon that given this hobby's nowhere near as popular as it used to be (judging by the rate at which hobby shops seem to be closing), the future will be just more of the same for the cheaper stuff - gimmicky releases to tie into other properties with the prices slowly creeping up without really improving the core product. Hell, if I were say Revell, I'd actively go for a bit more interactive experience either by playing around with augmented reality (ie to bring to life a kit*) or at the very least do some sort of quick history vid/booklet on the stuff one's building.
Also thanks for mentioning your KV, because that led me down the proverbial rabbit hole to Trumpeter's KV-85 (I've been looking for a decent one for ages 😄), which should hopefully reach me before my stash reaches critical levels 😄

*As some museums like for example Sinsheim have tapped into - nothing gets kiddos' imagination going quite like a moving and roaring Panther or locomotive (though in their case they used animatronics)

Ben M
I guess at least it keeps kits in print. When I was a kid I don't think there were anything like t-26 or leichttraktor kits available.

Gluefinger
>> Hell, if I were say Revell, I'd actively go for a bit more interactive experience

Well, they do, to some extent, with their "Technik" line of kits - where they add 10 Euros worth of electronic components and 75 Euros of sales price.

bk1009
Eh, I was thinking less Tamiya's RC control addons for some of their kits (I didn't even realize Revell tried that as well, lol) and more along the lines of short documentary/booklet about where this tank/plane/ship was made and where it fought sort of thing. Sort of like this page I found when I was looking up a Panther Ausf. D (mikesresearch.com/20..thers-at-kursk-1943/), only a bit more polished. Hell, I just realized that given their ties with WoT, they could work out a deal to get them access to the Chieftain (and the lads)'s vids on the various kits..
@Ben M - Eh, the variety was there, but the quality/detail level is indescribably better. To put things in context, thanks to the kits I first started out with, I've noticed that even the worst Revell and Airfix re-re-releases still shine in comparison (and the ones I used to make haven't improved judging by the quality or lack thereof when I tried building a pair of Czech Avia's)