Ok guys, I have a nice Master Grade Gundam still in the box now for a couple months, and every time I go to the hobby store, their Tamiya paint section is blown out. I asked them last time and the guy said that they have had production problems since the tsunami last year and the hobby store has a ton of paint on backorder. It seems like a legit reason, but has anyone heard anything to support this ? I really love the Tamiya spray paints and am trying to be patient!
As I understand it, the problem is twofold.
First, Tamiya had to change the labeling on their paints in order to meet the requirements of a new law passed in California. Since they weren't about to make special labels for sales only in California (and probably suspecting other U.S. states would eventually follow California's lead) they changed the labels for all paints to be sold in the U.S..
Second, while in the process of getting approval for the new labels, the earthquake/tsunami struck Japan. Businesses owned by Tamiya were hit pretty hard and getting things cleaned up and back in operation were made a priority, which made the labeling problem a low priority issue.
Thanks for the info, I'll just hold on to the model kit until I can get the paint I need.Zombie_61 said:
You're welcome. It's just what I've read on the 'Net, so I have no idea whether or not it's accurate, but it sounds reasonable.
It wasn't just paints for sale in the US, Tamiya was trying to get a common label approved for every English speaking market and so they had to deal with red tape from more than just one country in the process. Where I live locally, the backlog seems to have been resolved as my LHS has all the Tamiya colors back except for maybe four or five total on the spray rack (only color I've heard that is discontinued is their clear gloss spray). And six months ago, the Tamiya racks there were just as empty as other places in the country.
I admit if a lot of shops are trying to get the stuff, that could be causing a back log with some shops around the country as the demand is probably still causing some shortages until the supplies fully catch up. But it might not be a bad idea to have your LHS call their distributor directly and see if there could be some other reason for them not getting their backorders yet (changed part numbers perhaps, or a snafu in the ordering system).
Try ordering online. I'm having no trouble getting Tamiya paints locally (Australia).
That's weird, I thought the production picked up again a while ago---a lot of online places got stock in, even my local Hobbytown had new stock in.
I'm with the rest, all my LHS's tamiya racks have been stocked for 6 months or better
I've had no issues with buying Tamiya paints or products from Megahobby.
Tommie
It has been one of my suspicions that the people running this Hobbytown just weren't ordering it. They are always pushing the Testor's and Citadel paints and have never had a fully stocked Tamiya rack. As much as I hate to, I'm going to have to try ordering it online, even though the last time I looked, shipping was crazy. Thanks for all the feedback !darthviper107 said:
Well, if it is a Hobbytown you shop at, then they've got no excuse (my two LHSes are Hobbytowns and I worked for both for the better part of nine years). The empty rack at your store is because they aren't restocking the stuff for their own reasons (unless there was some sort of ordering system snafu, which can happen once in awhile, but typically not for long). Great Planes and Horizon (the two main distributors to Hobbytown) are fully stocked except for a tiny handful of spray colors (four or five total).weaselhammer said:
Tamiya paints are readily available, on-line. Since I have no LHSs, it's the only way I can get them.
If you want your store to carry tamiya, there's only one simple solution. Ask to speak to a manager and politely inform him, that since he, nor his associates refuse to re-stock the tamiya paint line, you will now be doing all of your hobby business, on-line. If he's a smart business man, he'll put in a large order, fairly soon. If not, on-line is generally cheaper, anyway.
-Fred
It was the owner who gave me the tsunami story, and I did mention to him that I'd check online, They seem to only want to sell RC stuff and Warhammer, so I think I shall take my business to the online stores too. Thank you to everyone who replied, you've been very informative !Gigatron said:
Sounds like my Hobby store which takes 2 buses and a train to get to, and when I go there they never have the basic Tamiya paints and don't even carry the spray Primer it's like your shop all they want to do is focus on R.C. stuff which is cool but if your going to run a hobby store atleast have the basics, I don't bother making the trip anymore I just buy online.weaselhammer said:
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