They were made to move out the door. Quality was of no concern. There are good sounds to be made from MIJ`s but quality of build is a factor in the comments you get. They stencil copied other companies to help with the sales pitch. The wood is fast growing luan mahogany with little acoustic values. Plating is done right over the steel or poorly covered in copper first. Not built to last but built to infiltrate the US market. They made toys and drums to export to the US. Pearl and (Hoshina )were the parent drum companies. You will find that heads make the difference in getting any good sound out of MIJ vintage drums. You will hear the phrase firewood used as a description of the shells, because that`s pretty much what the shells are good for.

Today the quality has gone a bit up. But the criticism is mostly the copy cat marketing when it comes to vintage MIJ.

SONOR is German.

You`ll be lucky to get $150 for them.

WOW!!I cant tell if you appreciate these drums or not by your comments, which a lot of are true, but most are just your opinion.They are a budget kit, not designed for a touring band, but more for a rehearsal or weekend warrior work like a lot of players here. This subject is best covered off by people with hands on experience, like myself. I LOVE my MIJ kit in church, low volume gigs,house parties etc, but i would not expose the kit to the rigors of constant tear downs and set ups Are they worth 150??..Every penny imo.

they were a better series..

just the shells with the snare easily $300/..$400 with the higat foot pedal (no cyms)..

that's what they go for here in Canada/Toronto

Kinda,

My sister has a brand new Yammy Gigmaker and it isn`t a whole lot better in quality than the older MIJ that I`ve had chances to play with.

I don`t have great experiences with them like a lot of guys here. But you wont hear me say bad things about the wraps that came out of Japan.

I have never played a MIJ that made me .....Wow !i

Japan companies can`t afford to out bid furniture and floor companies for wood lots up for grabs. If they did, they would have to cut corners on round drums.

I don`t see a hundred dollars a drum here.

Stencil drum values are mostly in the wraps, especially the odd or rare ones.They do sound better now than they did when new but that may only be in part to the age, better modern heads are probly alot of it. That and havin actual edges put on em.

What is great about MIJ kits is that they have survived, in spite of how cheaply they were made.

They will never compete sound-wise with a solid hardwood kit from the same era.

just my 2 cents and I love 60's MIJ kits.

I play these every week and they never disappoint