BWD yes you could buy tooling and material yourself for 1500-2000 no problem.
the problem is time to build them... even with molds it is still going to take 20-30 hours from start to stop. So just a round about figure 400 in material 300 in labour ( and that is only 10 bucks a hour) you are still at 700 with out any extra for molds, hydro, shop supplies, etc.
A alum mold can cost between 2000-10 000 depending on a lot of thing, and you need 4 of them if you want to do production. Then you need the right press with heat.
A alum. foil would take about 6 hours or more just to cnc if you do it out of raw stock with a high end machine, if you cast it . the process would take about 4 hours the time you pour it and cool it to pop it. Every cnc around here is 110+ /hr , Yes LF can do it over sea for next to nothing but the 40%-40%-40% rule will still take effect. Which is a kite world standard for most. 40% from brand to dist , 40% from dist to dealer, 40% from dealer to end customer. the 6 years of being a rep that is what it was.
I for one wish there was a lost cost foil 1000 mark would be great, just don't think it is possible with the way the world is right now at $1.40 a liter here in Canada and hydro and natural gas talking about going up 40% in the next 5 years. I want to get into the foil world myself , just don't have the cash to buy one. So yes I am going to build one or 10 in the near future, I have all the material here and my time is free for myself to build myself one.
just my 2 cents
terrie