Christmas 2017 and Tamiya

[speedy_w_beans]

Is it just me, or does it seem like Tamiya kits are a little harder to come by this year compared to previous years?

I was browsing Tower's inventory of Tamiya, and quite a few kits are on order or expected late December or January.  There was no special Tamiya sale like they've done in the past for holiday shopping.

TamiyaUSA did not have a Black Friday sale as far as I can tell; they used to discount some nice products.  Plus, their web site had an invalid certificate for a few days.

Stella is showing a fair number of kits out of stock...

RCMart has more of a selection, but still there are some common kits out of stock.

What's the situation in GB and the EU?

Are people buying more and depleting supplies, or has there been a hiccup in the supply chain?  Or am I imagining things?

[Klausen]

Plenty of Tamiya kits in stock at Tamico.de in Germany. Haven’t noticed any difference in stocks at the European sites, I usually buy from.

[Kingfisher]

TamiyaUSA does have a "Black Friday" sale, but it's nothing special. 

 

https://www.tamiyausa.com/articles/black-friday-deals-745?category_id=3&type=article#.WhquV9KnGUk

 

Everything they list has already been on sale for the last few months. There is nothing new and on sale now just because of Black Friday or the holidays. Some of the stuff they list shows to be discontinued, and has been listed as such for a while now.

[tamiya3speed]

I have noticed Tower out of stock on a lot of stuff other than Tamiya lately (Castle, Robinson, Team Associated)  I wonder if they are trying to move to a leaner inventory model?  Or just pushing their brands more at the expense of other brands.

[Rb4276]

Tower has had alot of things on order. Hobbico supposedly has financial issues, i wonder if that has anything to do with it. I also know from another board people complained about a tire shortage from almost all companies,  associated parts for almost everything and some other companies too which so e saod was due to a change in production in a china warehouse. 

[Percymon]

On 11/26/2017 at 12:00 PM, Klausen said:

Plenty of Tamiya kits in stock at Tamico.de in Germany. Haven’t noticed any difference in stocks at the European sites, I usually buy from.

Tamico website front page  is set up for an advent calender - might be some good offers in the next few weeks 

[Klausen]

9 minutes ago, Percymon said:

Tamico website front page  is set up for an advent calender - might be some good offers in the next few weeks 

Yes saw it, will be nice with a great kit.

[pastimesteve]

Noticed the same thing Speedy. For those of us in the U.S., Tower is our best option for Tamiya kits due to coupon codes and shipping choices, and it seems as though -- at least for now -- that option is mostly off the table. Just about everything is listed as "On Order". Overseas shops referenced in this thread like Tamico just aren't legitimate options for North American shoppers due to high shipping costs. Very concerned about the future of affordable Tamiya kits and parts in the U.S. moving forward if Tower is indeed in some kind of trouble or moving to a leaner inventory model. Since I mentioned parts, Tower used to carry many Tamiya option parts and now have shifted to "not carried." Too bad.

Steve

[wolfdogstinkus]

On ‎11‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 4:12 PM, Percymon said:

Tamico website front page  is set up for an advent calender - might be some good offers in the next few weeks 

Bump.

Daily offers up now. Battery today, RTR WW2 tomorrow.

Edit (hate (they are great really) tamico, they make me want to buy things I never considered before, lol). Ordered from them once and the service was great, But the offers(they are too good) make you want to buy them every time.