Squadron advance order for Trumpeter????

No. It's in my current store sheets as a December arrival by the importer (Stevens International). Perhaps Squadron has sold out what they are getting?

Dave

I think they may have been short shipped on some recent new Trumpeter releases by Stevens International, the US distributor, and are just trying to cover their butts in case it happens again. There was a post on Hyperscale a couple of weeks ago where Squadron, in their usual diplomatic way, complained about Stevens not importing enough of a new kit to meet demand.

John Benson ------------------------ IPMS El Paso Web Guy

I do not wish to point the finger at anyone here, but having worked with supply- chain issues for many years it may not be as simple as many might think.

If Squadron were to commit to an order of the 'correct' quantity in the first place (meaning some six months or so before the kit is actually released), I am sure Stevens and Trumpeter would be happy to oblige. The problem is trying to forecast the sales volume, expecially for a company that is expanding the market by producing kits that are big in size and the shipping takes months. Having had problems with variations in quality and accuracy in the past does not help, I am sure.

Trumpeter are typically aiming at the 'higher' end of the modeler spectrum. By that I mean that as the kits are expensive (but still cheap compared to other kits of the same size/complexity), it is typically the older and more experienced modelers that buy them. These are the ones that wait for the review before deciding whether to buy the kit and this is where the quality of Trumpeter kits come into play. It has varied to a degree that one kit was not even issued in the US as it first arrived! Trumpeter has gone to great lengths to rectify this (I heard the CEO was in the US warehouse stuffing updated parts in boxes!), but the damage is done. If they keep the quality up for some time, I am sure demand will be easier to forecast.

As it is now, I can understand if Stevens are not willing to stock up too much on a kit with the risk of having stock that is all but impossible to sell. That could put a company out of business very quickly.

Another case of noone accepting responsibility for a very tricky issue. This seems to be the norm these days. We cannot expect supply and demand for large scale kits to work as smoothly as it does for milk or bathroom tissue. Just look at what happens at the threat of a snow storm, though...

Sten Sundelin (Nope, no affiliation with Stevens, Squadron or Trumpeter)

Thanks for your opinions. I checked the Hyperscale post and I hope this "situation" doesn't affect orders from Squadron. They are great to deal with! Rich IPMS #11470