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1/48 - Grumman F-14A/B & D Tomcat by AvantGarde Model Kits (AMK) - F-14D released


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4 hours ago, Martin @ AMK Hobby said:

Thanks Muzz. I have a polycyclic chronic illness that knocks me out for a week at a time. Not good.

 

I’ll try to be here more often.

 

 

 

Take care of yourself. Business can wait.

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15 hours ago, colin said:

You can pre order from Hannants, but I'd still like to know what the cost of the kit will be, especially as you can pick up the Tamiya kit for about £60 now

Yeah I know but likewise I'm wary of ordering a kit with a 'TBA' price tag :)

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I find this strange asking the end user / modeller to place pre-orders for such a mass produced article, especially when there is no quantified price as yet.

Surely the world wide agents are the people that are the ones who will know what sales are possible throughout there dealer networks. I struggle to see how 5000 or whatever the numbers is or will be will be fed back in an accurate method. Also there will also be cancellations and people who will pull out of the deal, for many varied reasons.

I could understand this process for a short run and real limited type model, through a small company as I did similar things in the past myself and may do so again in the future, but that is direct to the modeller and not going through a whole distribution network, and the price and final details are known.

 

I fully support the AMK products and I too am looking forward to the Kfir and the Tomcat, however I am struggling to figure this business model as it stands.

If as it looks the factory space will be better utilised doing other projects OR other customers work between now and December then that is what must be done, and AMK must take that decision and just tell the modellers that is what is going to happen, and then obviously say with 100% conviction that the model will be released at MONTH 'X' in 2018 or whenever. 

The way it is now it looks like right now, AMK will then say well it was our fault, when we do not get a Tomcat under the Christmas tree, because we did not get 5000 or 5001 pre-orders in time, never mind that for some network issue 1 or 100 pre-orders may not get through. Also what is the tolerance, if only 4995 orders make it then will it not happen? Even if 6000 order are obtained then depending on the final management decision or factory work load at that time, the production is also delayed..........until it suites. We as modellers will never know what the world wide audited figure will be.

 

Bottom line AMK it is your company and you need to run and rule the company as you see fit, and take the calculated risks that you need to take.

 

Martin, as I know you will read this, this is not a stab at you, and is not to be taken as a SLANT against AMK as I have quite a few of your models and I WILL purchase more when they come available.

 

cheers Ali

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Hi Ali,

 

I get your point but I don't think it's a matter of 'will AMK produce enough  or not' but more a kind of modeller's experience to get the feeling to be one of the few to have this kit as soon as it is released. Instead of waiting for your LHS to have it in stock.

 

The same is going on in the gaming industry, you can always pre-order Call of Duty. But nevertheless it's sold 30 million times. When AUDI releases a new model you can buy it/pre order even without a show model or a test drive....and people do buy it and no Audi is not depending on the pre orders.

 

Evert

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This is what my usual retailer mentioned today on his online sales site

 


AMK will start production of this kit by the end of 2017 if it receives pre-orders for 5,000 pcs.

Pre-orders are valid until 16/05/2017.

For all pre-orders placed before 16/05/2017 you receive a 20% discount.

Final price of the kit if pre-ordered before 16/05/2017: 56,25 € (inc. VAT + Delivery cost)

Final price of the kit pre-ordered after 16/05/2017 or purchased without pre-order: 75,00 € (incl. VAT + Delivery cost)

Only pre-orders with payment of a deposit (10,00 €) will be valid.

In the event that AMK does not receive its order quota of 5000 pcs on 16/05/2017 the receipts will be refunded
.

I must add that on his Facebook page AMK says to send no money, so I presume each retailer will have it's own way to handle pre-orders.

Should there be any concern about this post breaking some copyright, commercial  or site rules, would the administrators be so kind as to remove it.


 

Edited by PattheCat
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Quote

Preorder clarification and distributor list

Hi, All,

Since we announced preordering of Tomcat, we got many feedbacks and many of you may not understand how it works. We clarify all the terms here and list all the distributors taking preorders below.

1. We are taking preorder of Tomcat until the end of May, 2017, possibly some days extension.

2. We hope to achieve a goal of 5000 pcs preorders. So that, we can produce this Tomcat at full speed, and release it by 1st of December, 2017.

3. If we cannot achieve this goal, we will still produce it but at a relatively slow rate.

4. To confirm achievement of this goal, we may have a summary of orders from all distributors and from some other way, by the end of May.

5. Our distributors may not need to pay us until we confirm achievement of the goal.

6. To value a preorder, modelers may have to pay when they are placing a preorder. Otherwise, irresponsible ordering may happen.

7. There could be possibility that we cannot achieve the goal. If so, we planned to refund to modelers, but this could cause troubles to our distributors and many modelers expressed the willingness to keep the preorders. Now, we leave this as your own choice. You can choose to have refund, OR keep your preorder with incentive price but wait for a longer time.

8. The incentive price, is a price with 20% off of the normal price. The normal price, is the same as MIG-31 as a reference. Be noted that, the market price is not the same in different markets. USA market is exceptional for some shipping cost consideration.

9. We suggest you to preorder from your LOCAL distributor. Otherwise, shipping cost may cost more than what you should pay.

10. For those countries without distributor taking preorders, modelers can check internet shops in Hong Kong, OR wait for SOME OTHER WAY, which we will announce shortly in a few days.

11. Below we have a list of all distributors taking preorders. We may not have direct contact with retailers or shops in some countries. Contact our distributor for conformation.

What we are trying to do right now, is to balance all the expectations from all of you. If this causes any inconvenience to you, we apology for that!

So, let's do it as good as possible! like AMK kits!

Thank you very much for your support!

Cheers!

Sio

Below is a list of all distributors taking preorders:

HONG KONG
康田模型/Continental Models & Toys Co.
Contact: Mr. Shiu
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet shop:sincerehobby.com

TAIWAN
吉欣模型/AKO Hobby
Contact: Mr. Liu
e-mail: [email protected]

MALAYSIA
World Hobby Miniatures
Contact: Mr. Ming
E-mail: [email protected]

KOREA
D-Corporation
Contact: Mr. Doogi Howser
E-mail: [email protected]

THAILAND
Model World
Contact: Mr. Tony
E-mail:[email protected]

CZECH, SLOVAKIA, and POLAND
Annetra s.r.o.
Contact: Mr. Ladislav Jares
E-mail: [email protected]

ITALY
Steel Models
Contact: Silvia Mazzucato
E-mail: [email protected]

USA
Stevens International
Contact: Mr. Michael Bass
E-mail: [email protected]

USA
Victory Models
Contact: Mr. Bob
E-mail: [email protected]

AUSTRALIA
Hobbyco
Contact: Mr. Rhyan
E-mail: [email protected]

SPAIN
Robotines s.l
Contact: Mr. Yann
E-mail: [email protected]

CROTIA
Cro-hobby Shop
Contact: Mr. Filip
E-mail: [email protected]

GREECE
Eagle Aviation
Contact: Mr. Yiannis
E-mail: [email protected]

CHINA
AMK 国内总代理
Contact: Mr. Zanes Gao
E-mail: [email protected]

 

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On 2017-5-10 at 08:59, elmerdavis said:

Hobbyeasy has it for preorder for 44.90 USD

I think that's where I'll be getting mine. Only catch is you have to pay in full to get the pre-order. Still, it's a great price and you have until May 31 to place your order to get the 20% discounted price.

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On 2017-5-10 at 11:24 PM, Masinissa said:

Hannants has them listed for Pre-order

See =>

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AMK88007

 

Here in the USA there's no one set up - yet - for pre-orders :rage:

There is no mention of a price on the Hannant's site where I have mine on pre-order.....hopefully Hannants customers will still get the discounted price if applicable?

Also, are AMK taking note of all pre-order through Hannants since they were not listed in AMK's list of retailers?

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5 hours ago, t15dja said:

Also, are AMK taking note of all pre-order through Hannants since they were not listed in AMK's list of retailers?

 

Well, not only through Hannants but all of the other distributors taking pre-orders worlwide too. Were I Martin, Sio or AMK at all, it'd be very wise to let those modellers interested in the kit know what the pre-order toll is doing worldwide, like, perhaps that number could be published weekly on their Facebook page, or even on this very same thread? - I don't know.

Think it'd be a lot helpfull to both those interested modellers AND AMK to publish the figures periodically in order to encourage more pre-orders by letting the figures be known to see whether the 5000-kit quota is still far or it's reachable before December the 1st.

 

Use some spark, blokes @ AMK, as I don't think your comms skills are being intelligent at all so far.  

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On 10/05/2017 at 11:24 PM, Masinissa said:

Hannants has them listed for Pre-order

See =>

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AMK88007

 

Here in the USA there's no one set up - yet - for pre-orders :rage:

 

It is my understanding that Hannants will not be handling future AMK distribution. I've had a Ltd. Ed Mig-31 on back order with them for an age now, even though they were released about six months ago. All I am saying is that when it comes to AMK products, be weary of Hannants being able to supply.

Edited by March
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On 5/13/2017 at 0:44 PM, March said:

 

It is my understanding that Hannants will not be handling future AMK distribution. I've had a Ltd. Ed Mig-31 on back order with them for an age now, even though they were released about six months ago. All I am saying is that when it comes to AMK products, be weary of Hannants being able to supply.

 

For information, here's the response from Hannants to my question to them about pre-orders for the F-14.....

 

"We are trying to resolve the issue with supply of AMK. Long story short, we have sent them a couple of orders over the last few months which they have acknowledged but no order has so far been received. They have a European agent who unfortunately has had health issues and has been off the scene.

 

I received details of the F-14 at the end of last week and once I can establish what is happening with our outstanding orders, we can hopefully start taking advanced orders for the F-14"

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  • 2 weeks later...

AMK 1:48 F-14D Tomcat

Please be aware that we will be stocking the new AMK 1:48 F-14D Tomcat once it becomes available from the manufacturer.  We are aware of AMK's pre-order program to see if they can obtain enough dealer orders to have the kit released in December 2017.  We are participating in this pre-order.  Once we have confirmation that AMK is going through with the December 2017 release, we will begin accepting pre-orders with the special pre-order price.

 

 

Sprue Brothers has this information posted on their website.

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???

 

So SB will only offer the kit for the pre-order discount after AMK have stopped giving the pre-order discount, and only if AMK has already sold all 5000 kits and thus decided to speed up production.

 

 

That doesn't make sense.

 

I wonder if this is about SB trying to save themselves a massive headache with their e-commerce platform - if the kit ends up being delayed, they'd have to cancel a bunch of transactions and deal with a bunch of accounting issues.  My hunch is that SB have probably pre-ordered a number of kits, so any pre-orders they get in future will be pulled from that inventory pool, then the rest can be sold at MSRP when it's released.  Assuming they bought enough to cover all the pre-orders.  (not that it really matters to the customers; just interesting to see how the sausage gets made)

 

I can't help but think that someone is going to be left in the lurch on all of this when all is said and done.  I'm just not sure whether it'll be the manufacturer, distributors, retailers or customers.

 

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5 hours ago, ICMF said:

???

 

So SB will only offer the kit for the pre-order discount after AMK have stopped giving the pre-order discount, and only if AMK has already sold all 5000 kits and thus decided to speed up production.

 

 

That doesn't make sense.

 

I wonder if this is about SB trying to save themselves a massive headache with their e-commerce platform - if the kit ends up being delayed, they'd have to cancel a bunch of transactions and deal with a bunch of accounting issues.  My hunch is that SB have probably pre-ordered a number of kits, so any pre-orders they get in future will be pulled from that inventory pool, then the rest can be sold at MSRP when it's released.  Assuming they bought enough to cover all the pre-orders.  (not that it really matters to the customers; just interesting to see how the sausage gets made)

 

I can't help but think that someone is going to be left in the lurch on all of this when all is said and done.  I'm just not sure whether it'll be the manufacturer, distributors, retailers or customers.

 

 

That's the way I understood it - SB themselves have ordered a number of kits and if the target is made you can then put an order in with SB and get them at the discounted price. If they get more pre-orders than they have already ordered the will just order more on pre-order.

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6 hours ago, ICMF said:

???

 

So SB will only offer the kit for the pre-order discount after AMK have stopped giving the pre-order discount, and only if AMK has already sold all 5000 kits and thus decided to speed up production.

 

 

That doesn't make sense.

 

I wonder if this is about SB trying to save themselves a massive headache with their e-commerce platform - if the kit ends up being delayed, they'd have to cancel a bunch of transactions and deal with a bunch of accounting issues.  My hunch is that SB have probably pre-ordered a number of kits, so any pre-orders they get in future will be pulled from that inventory pool, then the rest can be sold at MSRP when it's released.  Assuming they bought enough to cover all the pre-orders.  (not that it really matters to the customers; just interesting to see how the sausage gets made)

 

I can't help but think that someone is going to be left in the lurch on all of this when all is said and done.  I'm just not sure whether it'll be the manufacturer, distributors, retailers or customers.

 

 

 

Agree. What they say makes no sense, according to AMK's plan!

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7 hours ago, DIO said:

 

 

Agree. What they say makes no sense, according to AMK's plan!

 

Well maybe I'm misunderstand it be it makes sense to me.

 

For example SB put in a pre-order with AMK for 200 kits which goes towards the 5000. If AMK reach the 5000 then you can then put in a pre-order with SB for the reduced price and get your kit in December.

 

Is the first production run going to be 5000 kits? Which means SB will only sell those 200 kits at the pre-order price, or will AMK up the production run if they get more preorders?

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My take is that AMK will do a production run of more than 5000 kits, they just want to know by getting a preorder of 5000 kits to start with, it is worth it to them stopping production of their other stuff to do this run.

No point stopping production of the main stuff that pays the bills to do a run of kits and have them sat there,the first 5000 pay the bills, the others are then the icing on the cake and can take longer to sell if need be

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Saw this last night on FB. Now up to 945$ of the 40K wanted.

Still not sure I fully understand this. Eg.

Do the prices included shipping? I know they say ships worldwide but....

Do you get money back if total not reached?

Who is getting the money?

Do I need a tee shirt.

Hopefully Hannants or someone will get on board and make it easier for the UK market at least.

Heres hoping that it will eventually appear at an affordable price.

Good luck AMK.

 

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