Postponed Releases

[bill937ca]

HS has delayed another two releases until 'after December'.  Is anyone else being notified of delays?

 

Thank you for shopping with Hobby Search.

Regarding order number: 12-0414-0424

 

The pre-order item listed below

Nagoya Railroad Mo 750 `Scarlett` (without Motor) (Model Train)

( http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10183311 )

 

Was originally scheduled for release on Sep,

but has been rescheduled for release on After Dec.

 

We will ship out the item normally when it comes in stock.

 

I suspect there will be more of these delays which may be a by-product of the Japan-China territory dispute. Some Japanese factories and stores have closed all together.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/world/asia/japan-china-trade-ties-complicate-island-dispute.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[KenS]

Japanese firms have closed offices and factories in some parts of China due to the theat of violence against them (e.g., Honda, Canon), but do companies like Tomix,  Kato or Modemo have their own factories there, or do they just contract work to Chinese companies?  I wouldn't expect the current tensions to affect the latter, although that could change if the situation worsens and trade sanctions are imposed by either side.

 

Another article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19620114

[bill937ca]

Tomy (parent of Tomix) has had several factories since the 90s according a corporate timeline I`ve seen.  Most Micro Ace models come out of China.

Kato seems to be cagey on where its trains are actually made.

[keitaro]

this is one unsaid reason for kawaii too btw.

 

But yes most are in china greenmax are in jpn for half of there products.

 

Though there has always been delays all the time especially on micro ace products so it really is nothing to worry about.

 

BTW HS didn't delay the item the manufacturer did HS mearley informed you about the delay of that product.

[JR 500系]

HHhmmm.. You know, i've heard this phrase so often these days that it gets in my head: "Which product isn't made in China these days?"  China has alot of land and manpower resources, and it's only economically correct to produce your products there...

 

The recent Fishing Island contravesry has indeed created plently of tension and trade disturbances...

 

Kato is Made in Japan, right? Well that's what my 10-008 Kato E4 Max starter set, 10-411 Kirara and many others tell me behind the box. Or are they just printed so?  

 

*Just to add, i received HS email stating that the recent Kato Pro-boxes and Hiace vans are delayed till early Nov too.. Really wierd as the Kato Taxis, working autos and Hiace Super Long School bus versions are already out...

[keitaro]

i think it comes down to production order and not to do with the recent issues with china.

 

They obviously make a batch of x product and if x product is not to their standars or defective it gets run again causing delays to Y product and likely to x product also.

[KenS]

Kato is Made in Japan, right? Well that's what my 10-008 Kato E4 Max starter set, 10-411 Kirara and many others tell me behind the box. Or are they just printed so?  

 

I'm pretty sure some of their stuff is made in China.  I think I've seen that printed on some of the packaging.

 

But even something "Made in Japan" could be using components (e.g., castings, motors, etc) produced in China but assembled in Japan.  The meaning of "made in" varies by country and product class, but often means either final assembly and/or at least 50% of the components (which may be measured by value) are made in the specified location.

 

In particular, a lot of electronics made in China include specialty chips from Japan, which in turn use rare-earth metals sourced from China.  Globalization means everything is interdependent.

[linkey]

From HS and confirmed with KATO website: The Standard C62 class steam locomotive due out Nov has been delayed and will be out between Dec and After Dec. Meanwhile the EF81 Twilight Locomotive has been bumped up from late Nov re-release to late Oct re-release.

[Guest Closed Account 1]

Kato's 700T Shinkansen is still off the radar.

 

New Unitram plates should be released today.

 

Unitram switches are due in December now.

[cteno4]

just got the notice that the modemo Enoshima Electric Railway Type 1100 [skip Enonkun Go] (w/Motor) has been pushed from november to AFTER march. modemo seems to have quite a few released delayed.

 

china/japan sword rattling might be causing trouble, but i would expect with the amount that factories in China want work right now it would not cause to much of an issue for smaller companies just doing production that are not with a high public visibility.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[200系]

Received notion today, that the Tomix 200系 K formation (renewal) is rescheduled from December 2012 to January 2013

 

In related news, it seems the Tomix 800系0番台 and 800系1000番台 have been delayed as well.

 

It's kind off ironic to note that while their real world counterparts are almost always on time (to the second), their small cousins seem to have a somewhat difficult time staying on schedule (all the new/re-releases I've bought/reserved this year have been delayed at least once.)