Die Cast Lighted 1/350th TOS Enterprise (TOMY crowd funded)

weisshaupt said:
Hence we know there some large unknown at play.
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We don’t know anything of the kind. It could be a matter of them underestimation the time it takes to prepare and ship 2,800 packages. Saying “this isn’t the 1970’s” is just a BS whine. I worked in logistics for a major aerospace company in St. Louis (you might be able to guess which), responsible for millions of dollars of inventory and you don’t prepare and ship this many units all over the country (and the world) in one day. They said they’d start on the 6th and they very well may have. TOMY isn’t required to tell us anything else.
 
JiminSTLouis said:
We don’t know anything of the kind. It could be a matter of them underestimation the time it takes to prepare and ship 2,800 packages. Saying “this isn’t the 1970’s” is just a BS whine. I worked in logistics for a major aerospace company in St. Louis (you might be able to guess which), responsible for millions of dollars of inventory and you don’t prepare and ship this many units all over the country (and the world) in one day. They said they’d start on the 6th and they very well may have. TOMY isn’t required to tell us anything else.
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Haha. True. I hope I don't get a notification until late October. I'm on vacation then. So I can wait...lol
 
JiminSTLouis said:
We don’t know anything of the kind. It could be a matter of them underestimation the time it takes to prepare and ship 2,800 packages. Saying “this isn’t the 1970’s” is just a BS whine. I worked in logistics for a major aerospace company in St. Louis (you might be able to guess which), responsible for millions of dollars of inventory and you don’t prepare and ship this many units all over the country (and the world) in one day. They said they’d start on the 6th and they very well may have. TOMY isn’t required to tell us anything else.
Click to expand...

Become A Reseller

us.tomy.com us.tomy.com

"We sell through more than 25,000 retail outlets located in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia Pacific."

How many shipments do you think TOMY does just at Christmas? North America is the second largest market for them after Japan. In the NA they do $200 Million in wholesale sales just in the 4th quarter of the year. . If a retailer runs out of some hot product on Dec 7th, do you think TOMY just tells them.. oh well you won't get anything till January 10th? Much less, "we have no idea when those will ship?" That is lost sales for the retailer and lost sales for TOMY. And the retailer needs to know - because he can sell 16 units if they arrive by next week, but will want only 4 units if they don't arrive by Christmas. And when those retailers order , you can be they order 10-12 of this, 15-20 of that, and 3 of the other thing. . TOMY has an excellent idea of the time it takes to pick and ship product, and you can bet it is a metric they track carefully. TOMY isn't some small boutique prop-master shop who doesn't need to know how to ship 2800 units in a day. And of course TOMY isn't "required" to tell us anything else just like their customers aren't required to buy anything from them again either. Good communication is simply a solid business practice. They can't afford to NOT think about this.




"
Q. What are the reasons for the increase in inventory compared to the previous fiscal year? Will the
inventory level return to a suitable range in the second half of the year?
A. (Kojima, Representative Director President & COO) This term we proceeded with goods
preparations early, through advance orders for example, in order to mitigate disruptions in logistics.
Preparations for the Christmas sales season were completed ahead of time. "

Nor did I suggest all 2800 units would ship in one day. "Starting to ship" means units leave the warehouse. ( I have certainly seen resellers ship out 3000 + units in a day. Its a matter of motivation and having a system set up in advance to do that. ) But as Bloodthirst reported TOMY sent an email saying " We are starting the process to start to ship with UPS the Enterprise."

In your logistics job have you ever used this combination of words: "starting the process to start to ship" with a customer? If so, did you know how long that process would take? If a customer asked when you would start have them out the door, could you give them a "barring unforseen issues, that will be in X days" answer? Could you tell them the last unit was likely to leave? I am betting you could - especially if you knew you that that intem in inventory ( uncertainty occurs when you DON'T have the item on hand) . It is very unlikely that the warehouse process poses some new and unique issue for TOMY. The only thing that might change is the shipper - someone who can deliver residential ( like UPS) vs. to store docks... But then with a year to plan, one would think they would have a relationship in place. In fact, given they were offering free shipping, it would be foolish not to - as over the year+ this crowdfund took - shipping prices - and therefore the margins- might change dramatically. Especially on a large and bulky item. Could the responsible parties at TOMY be so incompetent that they only started looking for a shipper on Oct 6th, or preparing whatever else needed preparing on that date? Could they really not know how long it would take to get things out the door? Sure. I guess anything is possible, but given a year to plan its just hard to believe. But then, we have already seen some unbelieveable stuff, haven't we?
 
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weisshaupt said:

Become A Reseller

us.tomy.com us.tomy.com

"We sell through more than 25,000 retail outlets located in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia Pacific."

How many shipments do you think TOMY does just at Christmas? North America is the second largest market for them after Japan. In the NA they do $200 Million in wholesale sales just in the 4th quarter of the year. . If a retailer runs out of some hot product on Dec 7th, do you think TOMY just tells them.. oh well you won't get anything till January 10th? Much less, "we have no idea when those will ship?" That is lost sales for the retailer and lost sales for TOMY. And the retailer needs to know - because he can sell 16 units if they arrive by next week, but will want only 4 units if they don't arrive by Christmas. And when those retailers order , you can be they order 10-12 of this, 15-20 of that, and 3 of the other thing. . TOMY has an excellent idea of the time it takes to pick and ship product, and you can bet it is a metric they track carefully. TOMY isn't some small boutique prop-master shop who doesn't need to know how to ship 2800 units in a day. And of course TOMY isn't "required" to tell us anything else just like their customers aren't required to buy anything from them again either. Good communication is simply a solid business practice. They can't afford to NOT think about this.




"
Q. What are the reasons for the increase in inventory compared to the previous fiscal year? Will the
inventory level return to a suitable range in the second half of the year?
A. (Kojima, Representative Director President & COO) This term we proceeded with goods
preparations early, through advance orders for example, in order to mitigate disruptions in logistics.
Preparations for the Christmas sales season were completed ahead of time. "

Nor did I suggest all 2800 units would ship in one day. "Starting to ship" means units leave the warehouse. ( I have certainly seen resellers ship out 3000 + units in a day. Its a matter of motivation and having a system set up in advance to do that. ) But as Bloodthirst reported TOMY sent an email saying " We are starting the process to start to ship with UPS the Enterprise."

In your logistics job have you ever used this combination of words: "starting the process to start to ship" with a customer? If so, did you know how long that process would take? If a customer asked when you would start have them out the door, could you give them a "barring unforseen issues, that will be in X days" answer? Could you tell them the last unit was likely to leave? I am betting you could - especially if you knew you that that intem in inventory ( uncertainty occurs when you DON'T have the item on hand) . It is very unlikely that the warehouse process poses some new and unique issue for TOMY. The only thing that might change is the shipper - someone who can deliver residential ( like UPS) vs. to store docks... But then with a year to plan, one would think they would have a relationship in place. In fact, given they were offering free shipping, it would be foolish not to - as over the year+ this crowdfund took - shipping prices - and therefore the margins- might change dramatically. Especially on a large and bulky item. Could the responsible parties at TOMY be so incompetent that they only started looking for a shipper on Oct 6th, or preparing whatever else needed preparing on that date? Could they really not know how long it would take to get things out the door? Sure. I guess anything is possible, but given a year to plan its just hard to believe. But then, we have already seen some unbelieveable stuff, haven't we?
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Relax man. We will get our beloved enterprise.
 
Flanman said:
Relax man. We will get our beloved enterprise.
Click to expand...

I didn't say we wouldn't, but I am not buying TOMY can't start shipping cause of ordinary logistical issues. Hence I think its a valid question as to what the issue is, and why they can't provide a new estimated date.. as managing expectations would be common and a sound business practice at this point.
 
weisshaupt said:
It is waaay easier to cut them slack and be patient when they communicate accurately and in a timely manner . i.e. "We expect to ship on Oct 6th, but please treat that as a tentative date, as there are still some variables that are outside our control. If we end up not being able to meet the target date, we will provide a new estimate shortly thereafter."

I do have complete faith we will eventually get them or a refund. If we get them I expect to be "plenty happy." But there really isn't any reason that they can't be communicating with customers more clearly. I work a support job, dealing with very unhappy customers, most of whom are suffering large impacts to their businesses when I get involved, and 90% of my tickets is managing expectations . Keeping customers updated as to what progress towards a fix there is, notifying them of any delays , and setting expectations to appropriate time frames is often far more important than getting them a fix. They understand things break. They understand it takes time to fix them. But not communicating with them clearly... especially if its bad news, makes a bad situation worse every time.

A group Email sent on Monday explaining the situation - or at least setting a new expected ship date - would have done wonders. Maybe they run every communication via a PR/Legal dept. Maybe that email comes on Wednesday because of that. But even those contacting Tomy directly are not being given such a date.. and one can only presume that is because they really don't know when they will ship - not even well enough to say " within two weeks" or "before Dec 1st "or whatever they feel they can commit to. Hence we know there some large unknown at play. It could even be something very good, like - "we are investigating replacing every stand with one that displays the port side, or providing an option to do either side, and we are waiting on those bids and timeframes. We heard the complaints and understand that this is causing an unwanted delay, but felt this was the required to provide you with the best quality product." Its not so much the lack of shipping product that is the issue. It is the lack of communication .
Click to expand...

weisshaupt said:

Become A Reseller

us.tomy.com us.tomy.com

"We sell through more than 25,000 retail outlets located in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia Pacific."

How many shipments do you think TOMY does just at Christmas? North America is the second largest market for them after Japan. In the NA they do $200 Million in wholesale sales just in the 4th quarter of the year. . If a retailer runs out of some hot product on Dec 7th, do you think TOMY just tells them.. oh well you won't get anything till January 10th? Much less, "we have no idea when those will ship?" That is lost sales for the retailer and lost sales for TOMY. And the retailer needs to know - because he can sell 16 units if they arrive by next week, but will want only 4 units if they don't arrive by Christmas. And when those retailers order , you can be they order 10-12 of this, 15-20 of that, and 3 of the other thing. . TOMY has an excellent idea of the time it takes to pick and ship product, and you can bet it is a metric they track carefully. TOMY isn't some small boutique prop-master shop who doesn't need to know how to ship 2800 units in a day. And of course TOMY isn't "required" to tell us anything else just like their customers aren't required to buy anything from them again either. Good communication is simply a solid business practice. They can't afford to NOT think about this.




"
Q. What are the reasons for the increase in inventory compared to the previous fiscal year? Will the
inventory level return to a suitable range in the second half of the year?
A. (Kojima, Representative Director President & COO) This term we proceeded with goods
preparations early, through advance orders for example, in order to mitigate disruptions in logistics.
Preparations for the Christmas sales season were completed ahead of time. "

Nor did I suggest all 2800 units would ship in one day. "Starting to ship" means units leave the warehouse. ( I have certainly seen resellers ship out 3000 + units in a day. Its a matter of motivation and having a system set up in advance to do that. ) But as Bloodthirst reported TOMY sent an email saying " We are starting the process to start to ship with UPS the Enterprise."

In your logistics job have you ever used this combination of words: "starting the process to start to ship" with a customer? If so, did you know how long that process would take? If a customer asked when you would start have them out the door, could you give them a "barring unforseen issues, that will be in X days" answer? Could you tell them the last unit was likely to leave? I am betting you could - especially if you knew you that that intem in inventory ( uncertainty occurs when you DON'T have the item on hand) . It is very unlikely that the warehouse process poses some new and unique issue for TOMY. The only thing that might change is the shipper - someone who can deliver residential ( like UPS) vs. to store docks... But then with a year to plan, one would think they would have a relationship in place. In fact, given they were offering free shipping, it would be foolish not to - as over the year+ this crowdfund took - shipping prices - and therefore the margins- might change dramatically. Especially on a large and bulky item. Could the responsible parties at TOMY be so incompetent that they only started looking for a shipper on Oct 6th, or preparing whatever else needed preparing on that date? Could they really not know how long it would take to get things out the door? Sure. I guess anything is possible, but given a year to plan its just hard to believe. But then, we have already seen some unbelieveable stuff, haven't we?
Click to expand...
Well said. They also can't claim they've never produced or shipped something as large as the Enterprise as these images show. All we want is information, even if the answer is just, We don't know when they will ship because we are having a problem with ....
 

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Don't know what's so surprising. They've shown in the past couple of months that they're slow to communicate (unless forced) and they're unable to meet their own expectations and promises.

Having said that, I'm sure you'll eventually receive it. It's never easy waiting, while knowing there are collectors in another country who've had theirs for a while. Usually, it's those in Asia, or the USA who get first batches etc; it's rarely the case that it's Australia, as we more often than not used to get things last.
 
Phoenixblazes said:
Don't know what's so surprising. They've shown in the past couple of months that they're slow to communicate (unless forced) and they're unable to meet their own expectations and promises.

Having said that, I'm sure you'll eventually receive it. It's never easy waiting, while knowing there are collectors in another country who've had theirs for a while. Usually, it's those in Asia, or the USA who get first batches etc; it's rarely the case that it's Australia, as we more often than not used to get things last.
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Yeah, Australia only gets things first when the crowdsourcing specifically says "Not shipping outside of the United States" Joke's on us! Australia's had theirs for nearly a month now.
 
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Phoenixblazes said:
it's rarely the case that it's Australia, as we more often than not used to get things last.
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Just to be clear, I don't begrudge anyone for having theirs safe in hand, and I greatly appreciate the pictures, video and information you and others have provided. Its great you got to be first for a change. It was stupid decision to sell only into the US to begin with. But the fact that the whole advertised process was bypassed to then ship directly to another country is a further indication that something isn't going according to plan that caused a change , or that there isn't a plan being followed at all.
 
weisshaupt said:
Just to be clear, I don't begrudge anyone for having theirs safe in hand, and I greatly appreciate the pictures, video and information you and others have provided. Its great you got to be first for a change. It was stupid decision to sell only into the US to begin with. But the fact that the whole advertised process was bypassed to then ship directly to another country is a further indication that something isn't going according to plan that caused a change , or that there isn't a plan being followed at all.
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I'm also grateful for the videos on YT. They helped convince me to keep my Enterprise. No offense intended. Just confusing not knowing what TOMY's up to.
 
1138sw said:
Everybody should just chill. After dealing and hearing about horrible vendors sellers and bankruptcies this situation is a cakewalk compared to what has happened to many of us in the past years of collecting.

We will get our Enterprises. People who have gotten them are plenty happy. That to me is a definite plus. This is TOMY's first big attempt at offering a high end product at a mass produced quantity and price. Obviously mishaps occurred and still continue to occur but I am sure we will get our products in due time. If not we'll all get refunds...and TOMY was good enough to offer us refunds and many took them...and that will be that.

But for the ones who stayed, like me, be patient. They'll get to us. And once we ALL DO, I am sure many of us will be plenty happy! : )

Like I said this is TOMY's first attempt at this so give them some slack. I for one will love to see more high end die cast products from them warts and all. Because no. 1 TOMY, makes HIGH end die-cast replicas at decent AFFORDABLE prices unlike other replica makers. Not all of us are millionaires/billionaires. : )
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Mistakes were made lol. I’m keeping mine because there is no competition in this space / price point and I can tolerate the defects. The entire experience has been “NOT AS DESCRIBED”. Takara Tomy Company, Ltd. is not my friend - they’re a business. Deliver what you promise or face the wrath (or much worse - the disappointment) of your customers. I’m a first time customer and my CSAT rating is “disappointed”.
 
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Ant1988 said:
Yeah. Just showed up. It's also much smaller then Tomy said. Doesn't look at all like the photos or those YouTube videos. Weird....oh well. :cool:
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That's OK. TOMY has lowered the bar. Honestly, you should probably keep it in the box. Any attempts to assemble it will probably disappoint you anyway! :)
 
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