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Top force evo!!! Thunder dragon !!! 2021

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1 hour ago, mud4fun said:

I know I'm probably an odd case but not much has changed for me. I would normally buy from UK wherever possible. Only if I could not find parts here would I order from abroad. In most cases I needed those parts (eg. To fix a broken Egress) so I would just pay the increased price anyway, in fact in most cases I needed the parts fast so I paid for rapid delivery. In virtually every case of rapid delivery I had to pay customs and duties etc. Most of my orders were to Japan, Hong Kong or other parts of Asia. As a percentage of the order cost it was expensive but I was happy to pay that to get my buggy fixed and back in operation. I have had a couple of orders completed since 1st Jan and not noticed any significant increase, certainly nothing to make me avoid placing orders in future. The only orders I used to escape duty on where non rapid postage, they would often escape duties BUT would take months to arrive. I was happy to pay the additional £20 or so in duties to get the parts faster.

As I say though, I may be a special case.

We each have different ideas of what 'expensive' is. For example, I honestly don't understand collectors thinking about a few hundred £ profit on a Tamiya kit when my house has fluctuated from being £50K in negative equity to £150K in positive equity in the space of 15 years!  My classic Land Rovers have appreciated in value from £2K to £20K in same time, I spend hundreds a month on cigarettes and in the last 12 months I've spent £5K in finance, VED and insurance on a modern car that has only done 400 miles due to lockdowns!! (My old 109" Land Rover has been used more) So for me a few hundred pounds profit is hardly worthy of my time or storage space and an extra £20 on an order is the least of my problems. :)

PS. Anybody else noticed the government and insurance companies still charging same prices for VED and insurance policies despite us being severely limited in using our cars? Nice scam! 

I must admit it baffles me when people (not just in rc) horde in our case kits to sell them on and probably give themselves a few extra £ the classic latest example is the two schumacher cats? the day it was announced schumacher was ending production my local hobby shop owner said he had dozens of phone calls asking if he had any in stock and at the time he did have one of each but most of the phone callers wanted multiple kits! his two kits had been sitting on the shelf for weeks before the schumacher announcement!!..........he sold them to his regular customers!

Up until a few months ago I never had a local hobby shop so I would buy from abroad for two reasons firstly I will always save and justify my purchase of kits because they are as a whole expensive and like my avante black special it was gone from UK shores by the time I'd saved and other than people like i mentioned above who had them on Ebay etc I couldn't get one but tamico had a few and the second reason is it was also cheaper even after p&p but now I have a local hobby shop my custom is all going there and he's already said anything I need he can get and he will put kits to one side with a  small deposit and as a returning customer discounts will apply! Win win 

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1 hour ago, moffman said:

I must admit it baffles me when people (not just in rc) horde in our case kits to sell them on and probably give themselves a few extra £ the classic latest example is the two schumacher cats? the day it was announced schumacher was ending production my local hobby shop owner said he had dozens of phone calls asking if he had any in stock and at the time he did have one of each but most of the phone callers wanted multiple kits! his two kits had been sitting on the shelf for weeks before the schumacher announcement!!..........he sold them to his regular customers!

This. I can't fathom why people think this is more viable than making an extra downpayment on their mortgage, stuff some extra £ in their bank account or putting them in an equity fund. Not to mention wanting to drag their hobby into some sort of side venture, money is the last thing I want to associate with stuff I do for fun. 

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Does anyone know if you ‘pre-order’ from tamico or fusion do you have to pay the full amount up-front?

Are Stella doing pre-orders?

Luke

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1 hour ago, luke.jenner said:

Does anyone know if you ‘pre-order’ from tamico or fusion do you have to pay the full amount up-front?

Are Stella doing pre-orders?

Luke

With Tamico you have to pay the full amount when placing the order. 

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i placed a order for my top-force evo a couple of days ago with my lhs and they never ask me for deposit or pay for it until it turn's up 

the same for the ta-02 claibra i orderd at the same time 

i spose thats the personal service you get from a long time lhs :)

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Agreed, but unfortunately there are no LHS where I live, nearest is 250km away and in Australia none can guarantee they will get the kits due to very sporadic supply.

Tower currently not shipping to Australia.

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Tower has the Top Force Evo for pre-order now at $399. With a coupon it's close to $300 with free shipping.

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2 hours ago, Saito2 said:

Thunder Dragon pre-ordered from Tower and the price was sane :).

whats a sane price? it sounds very interesting.  is it a Canadian site? $181 is a sane price.

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1 hour ago, nel33 said:

  is it a Canadian site?

Tower Hobbies is a US site. After hearing some of the potential prices being tossed around and seeing the rather high price of the VQS (IMO) I wasn't overly hopeful. I told myself if it was priced more than the recently higher spec Terra Scorcher, I was out. It came in under that even with the pre-painted body so for $181, I went for it. Honestly, the Evo isn't terribly bad price-wise, especially after the coupons. I might have considered it too if it wasn't out of my interest range.

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9 minutes ago, Saito2 said:

Tower Hobbies is a US site. After hearing some of the potential prices being tossed around and seeing the rather high price of the VQS (IMO) I wasn't overly hopeful. I told myself if it was priced more than the recently higher spec Terra Scorcher, I was out. It came in under that even with the pre-painted body so for $181, I went for it. Honestly, the Evo isn't terribly bad price-wise, especially after the coupons. I might have considered it too if it wasn't out of my interest range.

atleast some USA sites are getting info on this model to preorder so Canada should be getting something soon. $230 CAD isnt that bad if its a close comparison. i was fearing it would be +300 without taxes.

TBH the TD was the only one on that release list that really got me look forward to. im not saying the others are ugly but they're not my styling.

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I was on the fence about the TF EVO and a for sure on the Thunder Dragon.  Seeing prices its going to be hard to turn town the TF EVO.  Price seems extremely fair after all the VQS complaints.  Also glad to see a decent price on the Thunder Dragon.  

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22 hours ago, nel33 said:

atleast some USA sites are getting info on this model to preorder so Canada should be getting something soon. $230 CAD isnt that bad if its a close comparison. i was fearing it would be +300 without taxes.

TBH the TD was the only one on that release list that really got me look forward to. im not saying the others are ugly but they're not my styling.

What USA sites are getting info? Tamiya usa says coming soon, and my local shop said he preordered all the new models coming but tamiya usa wont commit any dates and basically said they have no idea when they are getting any new stock. 

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On 2/6/2021 at 1:52 PM, Saito2 said:

Thunder Dragon pre-ordered from Tower and the price was sane :).

Saw this and preordered as well! After one of their discount codes and tax it's $188. 

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38 minutes ago, Rb4276 said:

What USA sites are getting info? Tamiya usa says coming soon, and my local shop said he preordered all the new models coming but tamiya usa wont commit any dates and basically said they have no idea when they are getting any new stock. 

All I know that tamiya USA is playing dumb about the price and preorder status. I'm using that site as a temp gauge as it seems they will announce at last min. I'm not monitoring any other USA site as it won't help me in Canada. I sent an email to my LHS but no reply for a week, it could do something about the lockdown atm... i still know no Canadian site that has it and Rc mart don't have info yet. I'm checking 2 CAD  sites and Rc mart at the moment.

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RC Mart had the TFE available for pre-order for 399 US for a couple of days then it jumped to 469 and now it says available for pre-order but there is no link available.  Kinda seems like they have quit taking pre-orders.  Thank goodness for Tower where it is listed for 399 then at the moment there is an 85 dollar coupon code.  The TamiyaUSA site always seems to be behind.

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50 minutes ago, jdh6fan said:

RC Mart had the TFE available for pre-order for 399 US for a couple of days then it jumped to 469 and now it says available for pre-order but there is no link available.  Kinda seems like they have quit taking pre-orders.  Thank goodness for Tower where it is listed for 399 then at the moment there is an 85 dollar coupon code.  The TamiyaUSA site always seems to be behind.

Thanks just preordered from tower, they must of just added that in the last day. I was checking and only the original top force showed

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1 hour ago, jdh6fan said:

RC Mart had the TFE available for pre-order for 399 US for a couple of days then it jumped to 469 and now it says available for pre-order but there is no link available.  Kinda seems like they have quit taking pre-orders.  Thank goodness for Tower where it is listed for 399 then at the moment there is an 85 dollar coupon code.  The TamiyaUSA site always seems to be behind.

those potatoes are straight out of the oven... i hope im in a good position to order the kit i want when info comes out.

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On 2/6/2021 at 3:52 PM, jw3333 said:

Tower has the Top Force Evo for pre-order now at $399. With a coupon it's close to $300 with free shipping.

Wow that's a very decent price.  About $100 less than I had figured.  With the coupon, it's tough to not pull the trigger even though I have a brand new Top Force I haven't even run yet.  

No Egress info yet....which is weird as it was announced before the TFE and TD.  

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Any word on the Fire Dragon in the States? It shows up on Tamiya USA, but not yet available. Tower doesn't have a listing for it yet, even though it was announced before the Evo and Thunder Dragon which both have pre-orders up currently.

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Just now, Saito2 said:

Any word on the Fire Dragon in the States? It shows up on Tamiya USA, but not yet available. Tower doesn't have a listing for it yet, even though it was announced before the Evo and Thunder Dragon which both have pre-orders up currently.

Not that I've seen.  None of this is making much sense as far as announcement equating pre-orders.  Although as far as up-to-date websites, Tower is the only game in town for us yanks.  If they don't have the FD listed yet, nobody will.    

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9 minutes ago, A-Baum said:

If they don't have the FD listed yet, nobody will.

Yeah, I'm hoping this isn't like the recent Novafox run (or upcoming Egress run for that matter). I don't remember Tower ever listing it either. 

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18 minutes ago, Saito2 said:

Yeah, I'm hoping this isn't like the recent Novafox run (or upcoming Egress run for that matter). I don't remember Tower ever listing it either. 

I forgot about that.  I never saw the Novafox on tower, that was a weird one.  Roll the dice I guess.  Worst comes to worse, you can get hosed on shipping from one of the leading shops in HK.

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4 hours ago, Saito2 said:
3 hours ago, A-Baum said:

I forgot about that.  I never saw the Novafox on tower, that was a weird one.  Roll the dice I guess.  Worst comes to worse, you can get hosed on shipping from one of the leading shops in HK.

Tamiyausa has the novafox in stock

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6 minutes ago, Rb4276 said:

Tamiyausa has the novafox in stock

Strange it never made it to Tower. That price is typical Tamiya USA "painful" to protect retailers. I hope the Egress and Fire Dragon don't get "stuck" at Tamiya USA not making it to Tower for those in the US that want them.

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