burakol 462 Posted February 16, 2021 Folks in the US. Tower Hobbies is having a flash sale. Their Sand Scorcher is currently 20% off, and the Blackfoot and CC02 as well. Grr... wish I had some spare funds.. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mike in pa 64 Posted February 17, 2021 I grabbed a Sand Scorcher with 4 minutes left, $323 with tax/ship. It will keep my two original Rough Riders company, plus other Buggys. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
burakol 462 Posted February 17, 2021 1 hour ago, mike in pa said: I grabbed a Sand Scorcher with 4 minutes left, $323 with tax/ship. It will keep my two original Rough Riders company, plus other Buggys. Nice! I was very tempted to get one myself but currently trying to limit expenses... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonathon Gillham 4595 Posted February 17, 2021 Its lucky for me that Tower don't ship down this way... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mike in pa 64 Posted February 18, 2021 19 hours ago, burakol said: Nice! I was very tempted to get one myself but currently trying to limit expenses... I hear you, but at that price I had to grab one. The SRBs are quite expensive even the re-re units. I thought about getting a fighting buggy, but decided to grab the sand scorcher to go with my two original rough riders. I am restoring my original 1980 RR plus a MKI RR. I already have a hornet and lunchbox to build and the SS will be on the bottom of the pile. The only other Tammy I really want is the new Benz Unimog that is supposed to be out in May. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Finnsllc 917 Posted February 18, 2021 Id really enjoy the kit but im done overpaying for kits. Scorcher is an icon of Tamiya. and absolutely a "must" have. just having trouble lately justifying what i personally feel is just a bit more than what i get in return. However. I still want one. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kwkenuf 184 Posted February 19, 2021 I guess I will say it... don't be fooled by these 20% sales from Tower. They have coupon codes you can use on selected brands everyday, and Tamiya is one of the brands. Do your homework when looking at it. Take the Sand Scorcher sale. @mike in pa got his for $323 during the sale. Right now Tower has a code for $50 off an order of $335. Do the math, and that means you can get the Sand Scorcher for $323.80... any day you want. If you are a "premium" member, which costs $10/year, you can get $65 off a $330 order, bringing the SS down to... $308.80. And that also is everyday. What I am saying is Tower is doing a wonderful marketing job with these sales. They also do switch up their levels of coupon codes, so take that into consideration also. I have found that these sales are really just to "trick" you into thinking it is an amazing price, when in reality, it is basically the same everyday price. Just my public service announcement to help my fellow enthusiasts. Do your homework and buy when you feel it is right. 5 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pinoy808 32 Posted February 19, 2021 Tower had better deals before the merge Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Norco Kid 61 Posted February 20, 2021 4 hours ago, Pinoy808 said: Tower had better deals before the merge They were doing 25% on a few Tamiya kits every week or so which i thought was fantastic. Looks like they lowered it to 20% now. My biggest beef is shipping to Canada used to be $15 now its $40-60 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tamiya Fan 1 114 Posted February 20, 2021 "Tower" used to be the place to buy kits. Couldn't beat the price, but now - not so much. I miss those days! I don't use as much as I used to. kwkenuf - You are correct. Tower is not the same, but they do have fast shipping usually. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kwkenuf 184 Posted February 20, 2021 Tower is still good... just maybe not as great as they used to be. They did drop Traxxas... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tamiya3speed 461 Posted February 20, 2021 Kwkenuf, you have to take tax into consideration there too. Mike in PA paid $323 due to local tax being added. Without tax that 20% deal means the kit itself was probably closer to $300 (at today's $373 price) before tax was added. This has just started being collected in most ares from major online retailers and inflates that final number. While the Tower sales may not be as good as they seem at first glance, they have the biggest Tamiya range of any online US retailer. And have better coupons to boot. Quick check on the Scorcher between Tower and Amain shows the same price at both retailers. The difference being that Tower has a $50 off coupon ($65 for premium members). Amain only offers $30. Both will charge me 7.5% on top for local sales tax. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tamiya_1971 608 Posted February 20, 2021 10 hours ago, kwkenuf said: Tower is still good... just maybe not as great as they used to be. They did drop Traxxas... That's because Traxxas sued them (Hobbico). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kwkenuf 184 Posted February 20, 2021 It seems like we agree on pretty much everything. My whole point was that these sales "gimmicks" that slot the final price extremely close to the available everyday prices. Did Mike end up getting the best price on it... yes, by $4.33. I have one in my cart with "premium" membership discount for $327.33. If that almost $5 savings (or even $15-$20 in taxes...) is your margin for buy a kit or not... either you shouldn't be buying a kit, or you are just way too anal on price. I get everyone wants the absolute lowest final price. But for me, that $5 is worth the convenience of buying it on my own time. For the record, I never said anything negative about Tower. I just pointed out their advertising tactics, which is the same as literally anyone in the world selling a product, including Tamiya. I always end up back at Tower due to price and shipping, which for me is usually next day, or two days after ordering. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mike in pa 64 Posted February 21, 2021 It was $299, plus tax and $6 bucks fed ex shipping and I received it in 3 days, versus 2-3 weeks with "free" shipping. Almost 41 years ago I bought my original Rough Rider from Tower Hobbys. None of the LHS had one in stock. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
87lc2 2658 Posted February 21, 2021 Tower definitely used to be better, but agreed that they are still the best place to buy Tamiya kits in the US due to their discount codes as a premium member. Just picked up a couple Blackfoot 2016 kits today (one for my father, he loves his original but it's falling apart...) and with the premium member discount they came out to around $140 each, good enough deal for me and better than I could find anywhere else. Excited to finally have a Blackfoot. That Sand Scorcher was tempting, might have to get one of those at some point too. Looks like a fun build. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
burakol 462 Posted February 21, 2021 55 minutes ago, mike in pa said: It was $299, plus tax and $6 bucks fed ex shipping and I received it in 3 days, versus 2-3 weeks with "free" shipping. Almost 41 years ago I bought my original Rough Rider from Tower Hobbys. None of the LHS had one in stock. Didnt anticipate this thread will garner some posts as i inly intend to share what i thought was a decent deal that I came across... fwiw, ive tried both of their shipping methods; paid the premium for faster shipping time, as well as tried the free economy shipping... on both occasions i got my order within 3 days upon placing the order and it was shipped via FedEx both times. Don’t get me wrong. I think $6 shipping for a faster service is very reasonable considering the size of the box... For me, Tamiya USA is sometimes hard to beat when they have a heavily discounted kit since i dont get charged with tax and shipping... however, it is a hit or miss when that will happen.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kwkenuf 184 Posted February 21, 2021 13 hours ago, mike in pa said: It was $299, plus tax and $6 bucks fed ex shipping and I received it in 3 days, versus 2-3 weeks with "free" shipping. Almost 41 years ago I bought my original Rough Rider from Tower Hobbys. None of the LHS had one in stock. Holy crap. 2-3 weeks? Honestly I find that hard to believe. What service did it go through? The free shipping for me is next or two days, seeing as their warehouse is in Chicago area and I am just north in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. 12 hours ago, 87lc2 said: Tower definitely used to be better, but agreed that they are still the best place to buy Tamiya kits in the US due to their discount codes as a premium member. Just picked up a couple Blackfoot 2016 kits today (one for my father, he loves his original but it's falling apart...) and with the premium member discount they came out to around $140 each, good enough deal for me and better than I could find anywhere else. Excited to finally have a Blackfoot. That Sand Scorcher was tempting, might have to get one of those at some point too. Looks like a fun build. 12 hours ago, burakol said: Didnt anticipate this thread will garner some posts as i inly intend to share what i thought was a decent deal that I came across... fwiw, ive tried both of their shipping methods; paid the premium for faster shipping time, as well as tried the free economy shipping... on both occasions i got my order within 3 days upon placing the order and it was shipped via FedEx both times. Don’t get me wrong. I think $6 shipping for a faster service is very reasonable considering the size of the box... For me, Tamiya USA is sometimes hard to beat when they have a heavily discounted kit since i dont get charged with tax and shipping... however, it is a hit or miss when that will happen.. I always compare both Tamiya USA and Towers prices. Sometimes TUSA has a kit for significantly less. I just picked up an Aqroshot from TUSA, and Tower doesn't even carry it. I have found those two sources to be the best deals on Tamiya kits. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mike in pa 64 Posted February 21, 2021 4 hours ago, kwkenuf said: Holy crap. 2-3 weeks? Honestly I find that hard to believe. What service did it go through? The free shipping for me is next or two days, seeing as their warehouse is in Chicago area and I am just north in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. It stated "table rate", cheapest rate possible, 2-3 weeks. $6 bucks and it went through Fed Ex. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kwkenuf 184 Posted February 21, 2021 Dang. That sucks. The free shipping I do is always through UPS. I placed an order Saturday with their free shipping promo. I expect it to show up Tuesday, see if I am right or not. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tamiya3speed 461 Posted February 21, 2021 My last two orders (both kits) came FedEx using the basic shipping. Usually 2 days or less from order to delivery here in Ohio. When I have ordered smaller items, I have seen slower pick & pack and longer delivery times via USPS. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites