Ever wonder what your fellow collectors are buying? Here's your chance to find out. We have compiled a list of the top five best selling ship models of 2017.
We limited this to ship models and the results only reflect what we sold here at 1250Ships.com.
OK, here are the top five best sellers for 2017:
#5. Hospital Ship Solace by Saratoga Model Shipyard
The iconic film of the explosion of USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor was shot from the deck of the hospital ship USS Solace. Ships that were present at Pearl Harbor are always good sellers and this beautiful Saratoga model was no exception.
#4 Fleet escort Richmond K. Turner by 1250 Models
It is very pleasing to see the first of our Leahy class releases make the list. If we had included hull number variations of this mold it would have moved up the listings to the #2 position. We aim to do the other Leahy class variations in 2018 and we will have a few other interesting models in the line up as well.....
#3 Escort carrier Long Island by Spider Navy
Long represented in our scale solely by a wartime model by Bessarabis, the Spider Navy model of the first escort carrier of the US Navy was well received. The delicate lattice structures are one of the reasons it took decades for a producer to tackle the model.
#2 Destroyer Zumwalt by Rhenania Junior
While not the first 1/1250 scale offering of USS Zumwalt this was the first version to reflect the ship as she was actually completed rather than models based on her proposed appearance. Master derived from a 3D printed master the Zumwalt with her 1800's tumblehome manages to look both old and new at the same time.
#1 Battleship Florida by Spider Navy
The Spider Navy Florida was a steady seller all year long despite costing over $100 a copy. In fact it outsold the Zumwalt by a substantial margin running out of stock on several occasions. Coming complete with a float plane it is a gorgeous model and well deserved the title of best selling model of 2017 here at 1250Ships.com.
Further Thoughts
We limited the eligible models to ships. If we had not done so the #2 best seller would have been the painted version of the F6F Hellcat by Neptun and #3 would have been the Quay Strait three pack by Triang, both of which outsold the Zumwalt model.
You may have noticed all five of the top sellers are warships. In fact no civilian ships made it into the top 50 best sellers with multiple models 10+ years old outselling brand new civilian releases. The American market remains overwhelming interested in warships.
The top selling civilian ship was the Dedo model of the ill-fated New Zealand ferry Wahine. This was a limited run of 50 pieces and it likely would have sold additional copies if they had been available.
The second best selling civilian model was the re-issue of Titanic by Albatros. This proves that Titanic is the one ship you have to have in your collection because it the one ship your non-ship loving friends will ask if you have.
Hope you enjoyed this and thanks for your support in 2017.