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Wingnut Wings closing down


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Just dug out the promotional literature for the 1/32 Lanc that I picked up from Scale Model World,  Telford....😪😪

 

2020-04-12_12-59-11

 

2020-04-12_12-59-59

 

Edited by t15dja
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Now you are going to make me cry after posting the Lancaster brochure. Not that I wanted or needed a 1/32 Lancaster in my life, I will buy one if it turns up! I did some quick math, at my current WnW build rate I have 30 years of WnW to build in the stash, yes, one a year...... I hope the team at WnW do get to carry on, having been through multiple layoffs in me career, it is not fun.

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i find what is going on quite disgusting.

On one mans word with nothing written to confirm what he said from those that matter everyone has immediately jumped to conclusions the opposite what is published on the WW site.

When and what WW choose to do us up to them and its certainly not up to some random to publish information true or “not” without being official.

We now have people running around commenting that your money isnt safe with a WW purchase.

Its quite disgusting anyone with this info would release it on a non official level damaging the brand to score internet traffic.

If Peter Jackson had come to me and said “Hey Dazz things look pretty grim” i can tell you the very last place id be writing it is on the internet.

Its up to him to put that out when he wants and in an appropriate format and manner. 

Its up to WW to broadcast their intentions which they have now very clearly and nobody else.

I only hope this has not damaged their brand but he has certainly cost them sales.

Utterly disgraceful.

 

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Well said. The only thing I have seen has been a message on Facebook from WNW themselves saying that due to the current "difficulties" deliveries might take a little longer than usual, nothing about them closing down permanently at all.

 

Personally I have never bought one of their kits, mainly due to the fact that I could never do them justice, but I'm more than a little interested in the Lancaster nose section.

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23 minutes ago, DarrenH said:

he has certainly cost them sales.

From what I hear, the exact opposite is true.*

 

* That wasn't heard from rumours - it was from a retailer.

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1 hour ago, DarrenH said:

i find what is going on quite disgusting.

On one mans word with nothing written to confirm what he said from those that matter everyone has immediately jumped to conclusions the opposite what is published on the WW site.

When and what WW choose to do us up to them and its certainly not up to some random to publish information true or “not” without being official.

We now have people running around commenting that your money isnt safe with a WW purchase.

Its quite disgusting anyone with this info would release it on a non official level damaging the brand to score internet traffic.

If Peter Jackson had come to me and said “Hey Dazz things look pretty grim” i can tell you the very last place id be writing it is on the internet.

Its up to him to put that out when he wants and in an appropriate format and manner. 

Its up to WW to broadcast their intentions which they have now very clearly and nobody else.

I only hope this has not damaged their brand but he has certainly cost them sales.

Utterly disgraceful.

 

Calm down, Darren!

 

This is not "on one man's word" - several sources have said the same thing i.e. WNW is in deep trouble & may close.

 

The WNW website has a holding statement, I'm sure it will be updated next week.

 

WNW are, I'm afraid, very reliant upon us customers for a future, so we need information as well.

 

Nobody is " running around commenting that your money isnt safe with a WW purchase"(Sic).

 

The information is out in the wild. It's been affirmed by various WNW related people. Who is benefitting from this "to score internet traffic"?

 

The "pretty grim" comment was in reply to a request for information. It was given voluntarily, knowing it would go to a forum & then the world.

 

It's up to PJ to decide, but it's also up to all of us to decide if we should buy more kits, order from retailers, etc. Knowing WNW's plans makes this a lot simpler!

 

"Its up to WW to broadcast their intentions which they have now very clearly and nobody else". Dude, seriously?! "Very clearly"? Where?!?!?!

 

WNW's sales have gone through the roof, as people look to stock up, just in case. That has not "damaged the brand".

 

With what is happening around the world, this is the hill you chose to die on?!

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1 hour ago, Julien said:

Maybe we all need to calm down and wait for something from the company?

 

Also keep it civil

I’d expect some news soon, considering the unofficial statements made. I doubt he’d go out with that and then let rumours breed for very long.

 

The rumours have certainly made effect, I’m seeing distributor stocks going down.

Edited by Torbjorn
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5 hours ago, LN-KEH said:

So after emptying the shelves for

Baby formula (Australia)............. there are an estimated 60-80,000 daigou in Australia and I shall keep an eye on WNW purchases to see if a black market has to be declared!

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7 hours ago, LN-KEH said:

So after emptying the shelves for yeast (Norway), toilet paper (UK), marihuana (Netherland), guns & ammo (USA); the next thing to hoard are WNW kits?

Guilty as charged. After reading this topic I finally decided to hit the button for their Eindecker before it's too late. I hope we'll still see the Triplane. 

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4 minutes ago, Tony Oliver said:


Wow. There’s an hour of my life gone reading and learning about that 😂

 

I hate and love google search. 

I had also never heard of this before? 

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12 hours ago, Torbjorn said:

I’d expect some news soon, considering the unofficial statements made. I doubt he’d go out with that and then let rumours breed for very long.

 

 

I agree, Richard Alexander knew exactly what he was doing when he made his reply to Dave Wilson on WW1aircraftmodels (everyone should read the original statement and make their own mind up whether this is wild speculation or not) . He will have known that it would go viral and how we would react. When the General Manager of any Company makes a statement like that, whether it was through an official channel or unofficial, the reaction is always going to be the same because it has come from 'the horse's mouth'. RA is no newcomer to his job, he takes the Company's reputation very seriously so for him to go public with his "grim" assessment should be taken at face value.

Anything and everything else written is speculation at this time but the General Manager of Wingnut Wings did fire the first warning shot that is quite clear. He has either overstepped the mark (which given his previous track record of keeping things so close to his chest would seem so out of character) and will be replaced in due course or he's spot on, time will tell.

 

Duncan B 

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15 hours ago, dekenba said:

WNW's sales have gone through the roof, as people look to stock up, just in case. That has not "damaged the brand".

All kits we buy online from shops are usually pre-sold to distributors & retailers. They already have most of that money as manufacturer.

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16 hours ago, sroubos said:

Guilty as charged. After reading this topic I finally decided to hit the button for their Eindecker before it's too late. I hope we'll still see the Triplane. 

Ditto Albatros Dv here

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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16 hours ago, alt-92 said:

All kits we buy online from shops are usually pre-sold to distributors & retailers. They already have most of that money as manufacturer.

True, but it could be enough to see the company through the rough times ahead. Selling all that stock in the shops or at the distributors will create a demand for more, especially if a "rumour" does the rounds to accelerate this.

 

The company I work for did similar in the days before lockdown. We had managed to build up a good amount of stock, but management announced a massive sale (biggest I've seen discounted!) and the entire supply went within 2 days!

So, empty storeroom shelves but hopefully a bank account able to pay the bills and get us through a few months ahead and keep the company in existance.

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Looking at the original post, it all seems to hinge on the credibility of "Dave W" and "Ninetalis Scale Models". Does anyone know them? Can anyone vouch for them?

I have never heard of either but that doesn't mean anything.

Fortunately I have a lifetime's supply of WnW so it won't affect me!

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1 hour ago, Tom R said:

Looking at the original post, it all seems to hinge on the credibility of "Dave W" and "Ninetalis Scale Models". Does anyone know them? Can anyone vouch for them?

I have never heard of either but that doesn't mean anything.

Fortunately I have a lifetime's supply of WnW so it won't affect me!

This is Dave W:

https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?action=profile;u=3
He is an honest man, man!

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5 hours ago, hairystick said:

True, but it could be enough to see the company through the rough times ahead. Selling all that stock in the shops or at the distributors will create a demand for more, especially if a "rumour" does the rounds to accelerate this.

Read this again out loud to yourself taking into account the timing wrt current lockdown/supply situation.

 

 

How would you resupply that demand ?

Besides that, quite a gamble with your reputation at stake.

How trustworthy does a pump & dump make you as a company?

Edited by alt-92
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5 minutes ago, alt-92 said:

How would you resupply that demand ?

Besides that, quite a gamble with your reputation at stake. How trustworthy does a pump & dump make you as a company?

Resupply as and whenever possible. I'm sure the customers would see that as acceptable in the interim period and caused by the impact of this virus. It does not seem as if anyone has been "ripped off" as dealers have made their sales at normal prices (unless unsrupulous dealers have hiked their profit margins...), modellers have obtained their deired items and finally the company survives to manufacture kits in the future.

"Pumping and dumping" depends on perceptions, which a good company and marketing/PR department should be able to address.

Hopefully WnW pull through the other side.

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How many times has WNW said they are going to discontinue a kit and then release said kit later, ok they discontinued the originals but re-release the kit with new decals.

Yes it seems a bit drastic to say it's looking grim, but that can be taken many ways and thats when the rumores start flying around.

Anyway when the supplies start to get out again, the way WNW kits are flying off the shelves, they will be one company racing to get their stock back out with everyone who's a fan of theirs breathing a sigh of relief and stocking up just incase 😉

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6 hours ago, hairystick said:

True, but it could be enough to see the company through the rough times ahead. Selling all that stock in the shops or at the distributors will create a demand for more, especially if a "rumour" does the rounds to accelerate this.

 

 

This is not the type of company that would start a false rumour to improve cash flow. I think we have already seen their attempts to improve it: a host of re-issued Albatrosses and kits without decals. Maybe that was not enough, but I would be very surprised and highly disappointed if they resorted to such methods.

 

 

Edited by Torbjorn
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