DaveW. wrote:Don't get ahead of us! We're probably going to stop making new ships altogether after the CVA-01 anyway.
Mike Bartel
Just a gentle 'leg pull' Mike as, for my money, you're doing a grand job.
The Marine Navale cruisers of the inter-war years are a particular love of mine so, when you announced the Mogador intention, the eternal yearning just bubbled over.
I suppose I'll just have to seek further solace with my books by Jean Guiglini, Albert Moreau, Jean Moulin, Jean Lassaque and Patrick Maurand (all fantastic authors) on this fascinating range of vessels.
PS I daren't ask if you'd ever consider producing the Dunkerque
DaveW[/quote]
I know, I'm not mad at you, but I'm tired of this business. I still like making kits but I'm sick and tired of not being able to sell them worldwide through distributors, like the Flyhawks, Revells and Tamiyas can. And dealers have mostly been unreliable. I thought it would be different with a mass-produced kit like the Colossus, but nothing has changed.
eBay is not an option because they don't move fast enough to get our investment back enough to turn it over and re-invest in new products. And the customers outside the USA (where most of the market is now; it's dead in the USA) have to pay so much extra to get it shipped and then the customs-import fees they have to pay. It puts them off. You need distributors to sell within their countries that have already dealt with all of that hassle. That's why the bigger brands do it that way. And we can't get distribution in the EU. The ones we talk to keep blowing us off.
I got someone from Canada on our FB page telling me our kits are expensive and hard to get there. So why aren't Flyhawk, Trumpeter etc. kits hard to get there or anywhere? Having a distributor that sells to shops in Canada has helped, but I've heard that too much over the years. As if I can do anything about it, or as if I haven't tried. No one wants to distribute IHP kits. And the independent, one-man dealers that purport to be ship modeling suppliers REALLY SUCK at being that. They prioritize Flyhawk, Combrig and other brands. It's hard to tell people that vendor is a source for kits in their country and then they still come to you saying they don't have anything in stock. And it's been like that forever.
And as far as I can tell, only Nick Shipp is actually building the Colossus kits.
A few of you folks have been great, but all I have ever gotten from the rest of the hobby and the business over 30 years has been rejection, indifference and grief. I'm sick of being treated like s**t and like I don't exist and I'm seriously thinking it's time to stop. Maybe focus more on trains now.
Mike Bartel
IHP
http://ihphobby.tripod.com[quote="DaveW."]Don't get ahead of us! We're probably going to stop making new ships altogether after the CVA-01 anyway.
Mike Bartel[/quote]
Just a gentle 'leg pull' Mike as, for my money, you're doing a grand job.
The Marine Navale cruisers of the inter-war years are a particular love of mine so, when you announced the Mogador intention, the eternal yearning just bubbled over. :sorry:
I suppose I'll just have to seek further solace with my books by Jean Guiglini, Albert Moreau, Jean Moulin, Jean Lassaque and Patrick Maurand (all fantastic authors) on this fascinating range of vessels.
PS I daren't ask if you'd ever consider producing the Dunkerque :huh:
DaveW[/quote]
I know, I'm not mad at you, but I'm tired of this business. I still like making kits but I'm sick and tired of not being able to sell them worldwide through distributors, like the Flyhawks, Revells and Tamiyas can. And dealers have mostly been unreliable. I thought it would be different with a mass-produced kit like the Colossus, but nothing has changed.
eBay is not an option because they don't move fast enough to get our investment back enough to turn it over and re-invest in new products. And the customers outside the USA (where most of the market is now; it's dead in the USA) have to pay so much extra to get it shipped and then the customs-import fees they have to pay. It puts them off. You need distributors to sell within their countries that have already dealt with all of that hassle. That's why the bigger brands do it that way. And we can't get distribution in the EU. The ones we talk to keep blowing us off.
I got someone from Canada on our FB page telling me our kits are expensive and hard to get there. So why aren't Flyhawk, Trumpeter etc. kits hard to get there or anywhere? Having a distributor that sells to shops in Canada has helped, but I've heard that too much over the years. As if I can do anything about it, or as if I haven't tried. No one wants to distribute IHP kits. And the independent, one-man dealers that purport to be ship modeling suppliers REALLY SUCK at being that. They prioritize Flyhawk, Combrig and other brands. It's hard to tell people that vendor is a source for kits in their country and then they still come to you saying they don't have anything in stock. And it's been like that forever.
And as far as I can tell, only Nick Shipp is actually building the Colossus kits.
A few of you folks have been great, but all I have ever gotten from the rest of the hobby and the business over 30 years has been rejection, indifference and grief. I'm sick of being treated like s**t and like I don't exist and I'm seriously thinking it's time to stop. Maybe focus more on trains now.
Mike Bartel
IHP
http://ihphobby.tripod.com