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Rider400

Backorder. Is September for real?

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So most everything Tamiya backordered at Tower says next ship date Sept 21'. Are they pretty accurate when they say this? Or is this a pipe dream in this new world of everything is backordered everywhere no matter what your looking for??

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It used to be pretty accurate.  To your point, in COVID times I don’t trust any estimates anymore!  I just tell it to notify me when it’s back in stock.

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FWIW Tower has been very accurate thus far. They are basically pre-selling anything that Tamiya are sending them, so they don't build up much inventory, but do ship as expected (or have thus far for several orders this summer).

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If they are shipping Sept do you think they would have already announced anything new as far as REs go?

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As an aside, one of the raw materials I use at work has been "scheduled for delivery" for a week. Everyday its supposed to show up and doesn't. After a bunch of excuses, the supplier finally admitted we probably won't see the material until April 2022. 

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Apparently, there are 44 container ships anchored outside the port of Los Angeles waiting to be unloaded. I ordered some furniture back in April. It was supposed to be delivered late July, now they are telling me late October. We'll see if that happens. :blink:

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Kyosho is in similar situation. Their is a huge shortage of MiniZ kits, bodies, parts etc. Some stuck in long beach, others due to shortage of materials 

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3 hours ago, RichieRich said:

Apparently, there are 44 container ships anchored outside the port of Los Angeles waiting to be unloaded. I ordered some furniture back in April. It was supposed to be delivered late July, now they are telling me late October. We'll see if that happens. :blink:

Hurry up and unload that $&!^ already!

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4 hours ago, Raman36 said:

Kyosho is in similar situation. Their is a huge shortage of MiniZ kits, bodies, parts etc. Some stuck in long beach, others due to shortage of materials 

Yeah, figured as much.  I’ve been waiting on a USA-1 preorder and it has slipped from July to August to September and now October ☹️

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On 9/1/2021 at 2:12 PM, Raman36 said:

Kyosho is in similar situation. Their is a huge shortage of MiniZ kits, bodies, parts etc. Some stuck in long beach, others due to shortage of materials 

You have to "overnight parts from Japan"..  but even air freight from Asia is pretty bad right now.  

I just pay extra for USA availability, or order from the other side these days.. UK.  Luckily I'm not really into the brand new stuff so my items are usually fairly available.. if willing to pay some premium. 

I proactively ordered paints I will use this winter because chances are (with my luck), there will be Tamiya paint shortage.  

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Long time Tower hobbies member here, would I trust their ETA? Nope! The new Thunder Shot was supposed to be released August, I even had a pre-order for one. Then they updated it to this month, but not holding my breath on this one, more likely Oct-Nov release. Also, I found out Tamiya made another run of the Terra Scorcher, Tamiya USA has it in stock, along with a few other US based retailers. Reached out to Towers customer service to ask about ordering one, and was told no its been discontinued. I was basically told I was wrong, but tried to show them the Tamiya USA link, but again was told its been discontinued. Strange, they sold this kit before, I guess they cant be bothered with special orders.

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3 hours ago, Hobbimaster said:

Also, I found out Tamiya made another run of the Terra Scorcher, Tamiya USA has it in stock, along with a few other US based retailers. Reached out to Towers customer service to ask about ordering one, and was told no its been discontinued. I was basically told I was wrong, but tried to show them the Tamiya USA link, but again was told its been discontinued. Strange, they sold this kit before, I guess they cant be bothered with special orders.

Also long time Tower shopper. I was curious about that myself and what their explanation would be. The same thing happened with the Novafox. Tamiya USA got another run and Tower never chose to stock it. I miss Tower from the pre-Horizon days.

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I think like most folks in this thread I'm hoping September is IT!  I've been waiting for most of this year on 2 kits from Tower Hobbies - the Top Force Evo and a Thunder Dragon.  I hope these come in.  I could live without them, but if i can get my hands on them - why not.  I have a repro Thunder Shot body and decals for the Dragon, so plan on making it a Thunder Shot clone instead.  I already have a Top Force all hopped out.  I made my own orange rims.  I have a spare body and Evo decals, so worst case scenario is to go the clone route on that car as well.   

So we wait and see...its all we can do.  And if nothing comes in, I'll clone the TF Evo, and maybe do the Thunder Shot body anyways and stick on the Terra Scorcher every so often.

Ehhh...its a hobby.

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15 hours ago, Hobbimaster said:

Long time Tower hobbies member here, would I trust their ETA? Nope! The new Thunder Shot was supposed to be released August, I even had a pre-order for one. Then they updated it to this month, but not holding my breath on this one, more likely Oct-Nov release. Also, I found out Tamiya made another run of the Terra Scorcher, Tamiya USA has it in stock, along with a few other US based retailers. Reached out to Towers customer service to ask about ordering one, and was told no its been discontinued. I was basically told I was wrong, but tried to show them the Tamiya USA link, but again was told its been discontinued. Strange, they sold this kit before, I guess they cant be bothered with special orders.

Same with the Terra Scorcher. Finally picked up one on EBay from a hobby shop out of Utah.

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Tower in my opinion is very unreliable.  My WIld One backorder got pushed from March all the way to Sept and then canceled.  They also are very odd in what kits they carry and don't carry, and they have no interest in special ordering one for customers.  I only use it when they have kits in stock because of the coupon.  That's it.  That's the only redeeming value they have for me. Their electronics selection is miserable, and their spare parts inventory is all but nonexistent.  They aren't entirely to blame though. Tamiya is surely a 3rd or 4th class citizen in the US in terms of RC cars. 

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22 hours ago, GeoJohnF said:

I think like most folks in this thread I'm hoping September is IT!  I've been waiting for most of this year on 2 kits from Tower Hobbies - the Top Force Evo and a Thunder Dragon.  I hope these come in.  I could live without them, but if i can get my hands on them - why not.  I have a repro Thunder Shot body and decals for the Dragon, so plan on making it a Thunder Shot clone instead.  I already have a Top Force all hopped out.  I made my own orange rims.  I have a spare body and Evo decals, so worst case scenario is to go the clone route on that car as well.   

So we wait and see...its all we can do.  And if nothing comes in, I'll clone the TF Evo, and maybe do the Thunder Shot body anyways and stick on the Terra Scorcher every so often.

Ehhh...its a hobby.

I did the same with my Top Force some time ago. Dyed the wheels orange, painted the body gun metal grey, decals from MCI, and of course the full graphite chassis, and aluminum  hi-cap dampers. That is why I decided the EVO was not for me, I had already made a "replica" Evolution. I actually hate the word "clone" or "fake". Anyone outside of the R/C community couldn't tell the difference, or would simply care less.

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I have been a tower customer since 1994 and the last few years prior horizon days they was fairly accurate... Now??? Not so much I had a couple tamiyas myself get pushed back four or more times then dropped completely from their website... Their term of (Dis-continued) does NOT mean tamiya has dropped it.. It means tower CHOSE to drop all sales and support of the said kit... I consider this a complete & total d**k move on their part IMO... I no longer buy tamiyas from tower and go to amain or amazon to find them now... IF you go to amazon pay close attention to find the stores based in japan they have the real kits for a smidge higher then towers prices.....

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3 hours ago, Original Jardasius said:

I have been a tower customer since 1994 and the last few years prior horizon days they was fairly accurate... Now??? Not so much I had a couple tamiyas myself get pushed back four or more times then dropped completely from their website... Their term of (Dis-continued) does NOT mean tamiya has dropped it.. It means tower CHOSE to drop all sales and support of the said kit... I consider this a complete & total d**k move on their part IMO... I no longer buy tamiyas from tower and go to amain or amazon to find them now... IF you go to amazon pay close attention to find the stores based in japan they have the real kits for a smidge higher then towers prices.....

With or without the coupons?

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Tower now shows November for my Blockhead Wild One and Kyosho Turbo Scorpion that I ordered in Feb 21.  Turbo Scorpion had been pushed out 3 times.

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Still showing as October for my Super Avante pre-order.  Somehow I think all those container ships sitting off the coast will wreak havoc on these dates.  Certainly not Tower's fault, or any other vendor.  We just live in strange times.

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It seems like its slowly trickling in First the Brat became available and now the Blackfoot. Those were the two I was watching anyways.

 

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14 hours ago, Finnsllc said:

C01CAC86-2FF8-441D-81DD-3F26779A8FBD.thumb.jpeg.a2d47e940233c76c68c712e5ba17e579.jpeg

Insanity. International shipping has been like this for at least a decade, and the surge of activity during the pandemic has exposed a lot of its underlying weaknesses.

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