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Trumpeter Test Shots.....Why IPMS Phillipines?

etripke

By etripke,
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etripke

etripke

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Ok, I'll ask......How on earth does IPMS Phillipines always get the preferential treatment from Trumpeter? Why doesn't Trumpy "Show some love" to the west IPMS chapters?

If there is a Trumpeter Rep available to explain, or IPMS Phillipines member who can explain this sweetheart relationship, I think many of us are interested in hearing about it.

Edited by etripke
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speedlimit

speedlimit

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Maybe they were the first group to step forward and initiate contact which has proved fruitful for both. Building a viable and lasting relationship.

I think you got it. They made ties with trumpeter so every now and then they get test/prototype kits for them to set a review.

Incidentally, Hobby Boss, one of their major sponsors, ran a limited production run of the M706 with the AFP turret configuration included in the kit. AFP markings! Yup, a limited edition run. This will be a collector's item that every IPMS Philippines BAC member must have. Kit will be exclusively sold to IPMS Philippines BAC members only.

Note the commemorative 40th Anniversary and IPMS logo in the box. (Photos borrowed from IPMS BAC archive)

TrumpAnniversary-2.jpg

TrumpAnniversary.jpg

Eric

Edited by speedlimit
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dedalus

dedalus

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First of all, great freakin' question. I've always wondered. Somebody at Trumpeter hiccoughs "F-16" under his breath, and next week, IPMS Philly gets the sprues shots. But I've read they can tear into it on their forums, too. Haven't read them myself. Can someone confirm? I don't remember whether it was not in English or not accessible, but I've read that they are not blind to errors, too. Besides that, the purpose of those advance shots should be to fish for errors, to get feedback. Forums can be gold mine, and it shouldn't matter the attitude of the response. If someone says, "The nose sucks eggs," he or she (that's the English teacher in me, but usually "he") might be saying it wrong, but I'll bet the nose is wrong. Hmm, might want to fix it. "The wing tips are retarded!" Hmm, let's get a short bus for them. But if the advance shots are just PR and free advertising and marketing, then I'm glad this is a site who won't play that game. The sprue shots are still there. I would be just as close to the sprues if they were at IPMS USA, IPMS Philly, or IPMS Mars--what would the download be like, though.

Edited by dedalus
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Buck

Buck

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Just a shot in the dark...

Lots of Chinese investment in the PI (shoot, in SEA in general), maybe there's a manufacturing or at least packaging plant there? I believe Tamiya has something similar in the PI, cheap labor. I know BANDAI has a big plant just south of Bangkok, wouldn’t be surprised if Trumpeter has something similar in the PI. If so, maybe there's an agreement of some kind between the IPMS PI & Trumpeters "local" rep... Again, if that is in fact the case :D I don't know why folks are getting a bit spun over this, I'm just happy we get to see some test shots out there! Think it's a benefit for everyone :P Believe it keeps cost down as well, at least in most of Asia anyway (Trumpy kits are pretty cheap in China, Thailand, & the PI, oddly NOT in Japan). Think we can thank a certain North American distributer for jacking up the prices for the rest of us, if you’re get tweaked about something get tweaked about that! ;)

Ahui Hou :cheers:

Mark

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AnthonyWan

AnthonyWan

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I think you got it. They made ties with trumpeter so every now and then they get test/prototype kits for them to set a review.

Incidentally, Hobby Boss, one of their major sponsors, ran a limited production run of the M706 with the AFP turret configuration included in the kit. AFP markings! Yup, a limited edition run. This will be a collector's item that every IPMS Philippines BAC member must have. Kit will be exclusively sold to IPMS Philippines BAC members only.

Note the commemorative 40th Anniversary and IPMS logo in the box. (Photos borrowed from IPMS BAC archive)

TrumpAnniversary-2.jpg

TrumpAnniversary.jpg

Eric

Would one be able to modify one of those to make one of these??

guardian3.jpg

Totally off topic...but whatevers? :P

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speedlimit

speedlimit

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Just a shot in the dark...

Lots of Chinese investment in the PI (shoot, in SEA in general), maybe there's a manufacturing or at least packaging plant there? I believe Tamiya has something similar in the PI, cheap labor. I know BANDAI has a big plant just south of Bangkok, wouldn’t be surprised if Trumpeter has something similar in the PI. If so, maybe there's an agreement of some kind between the IPMS PI & Trumpeters "local" rep... Again, if that is in fact the case :D I don't know why folks are getting a bit spun over this, I'm just happy we get to see some test shots out there! Think it's a benefit for everyone :P Believe it keeps cost down as well, at least in most of Asia anyway (Trumpy kits are pretty cheap in China, Thailand, & the PI, oddly NOT in Japan). Think we can thank a certain North American distributer for jacking up the prices for the rest of us, if you’re get tweaked about something get tweaked about that! ;)

Ahui Hou :cheers:

Mark

Well for one thing, there IS a Tamiya plant in southern island of the Philippines, Cebu. Check the nex boxing of their F-117 with hummer I think the box says its made in the Philippines.

AWAN: The limited edition kit contains the standard boxing and the PALAR decals and you get a newer style resin turret which features the fifty-thirty MG arrangement found in later PA M706s.

Eric

Edited by speedlimit
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Youngtiger1

Youngtiger1

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Think we can thank a certain North American distributer for jacking up the prices for the rest of us, if you’re get tweaked about something get tweaked about that! :thumbsup:

Ahui Hou :thumbsup:

Mark

Cause of this certain distributor more and more kits are sitting of store shelves and folk at trumpy are not happy. I even heard that they are looking for a new distributor.

Mike

Edited by Youngtiger1
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etripke

etripke

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I apologize that I am not in the position to volunteer any information, I guess I can put it in three words:

Our good reputation

:thumbsup:

BT6 <Proud member of IPMS-BA>

There is no doubt that you guys have a great club. You're VERY active, take a lot of pride in the club, your functions, and seem well organized. I by no means meant this thread as a slight directed at you guys. Many of us wonder how the test shots always end up over there, and nothing makes it to the chapters over here. But it is what it is. Please continue the good work, and keep posting the photos etc of those test shots!!

Also: What has happened with the AV8 kit from last summer. I thought that would have been built, painted, and displayed by you guys.

Eric

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etripke

etripke

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Think we can thank a certain North American distributer for jacking up the prices for the rest of us, if you’re get tweaked about something get tweaked about that! ;)

Ahui Hou :thumbsup:

Mark

There was a lengthy discussion of Stevens Intl on Armorama over this very issue. It came about with the test shot photos of the upcoming T-62 release and everyone guessing the retail pricing here in the states. Some guessing was $60-$80 for the kit, which would surpass Tamiya's cost. Needless to say, the price increases over the past 18 months have been extreme and IMHO unwarranted. Oil prices have certainly had an impact, but when there was the increase last spring of 20% and then another 20% this fall I just can't believe that oil is behind all of it. An example of gouging is the 1/16 scale M16 Motor Gun Carriage. It debuted at about $229 retail in early fall and now is over $280 retail. The notice in flyers to vendors was simply "hey here comes another rate increase".

Importer mark up is 40% here in America. What my friends hobby shop must do is NOT order the high priced kits until he has a customer who wants to special order it. That keeps his stock down on the shelves, and offers less eye candy for the customers coming into the shop. Even still, most people are not going to want to walk into a shop and pay retail when they can find it online for much less.

Just my 2 cents.

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cousinvinny

cousinvinny

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Posted
There is no doubt that you guys have a great club. You're VERY active, take a lot of pride in the club, your functions, and seem well organized. I by no means meant this thread as a slight directed at you guys. Many of us wonder how the test shots always end up over there, and nothing makes it to the chapters over here. But it is what it is. Please continue the good work, and keep posting the photos etc of those test shots!!

Also: What has happened with the AV8 kit from last summer. I thought that would have been built, painted, and displayed by you guys.

Eric

Hello!

I am cousinvinny from the IPMS-Philippines BA test shot team. Permit me to volunteer some information.

We do get a lot of test shots from Trumpeter, but if you are a visitor to our site you would have seen that we have done test shot reviews for other manufacturers too like Tamiya. There was even a couple of product reviews from Eduard and even one or two reviews of products of Red Star Hobbies (An AM Company based in Vietnam and specializing in Vietnam War AM Products).

Our club maintains good relationships with these manufacturers, however I do not think that this relationship is one of a kind. Note that the website of ipmsusa or ipmsstockholm contains far more product reviews than our website. We are not even close to the kind of product review volumes of the more popular modelling websites such as ARC or Hyperscale or even PMMS.

The test shots given to our club are very early mold calibration shots. This makes sense, because it is cheaper for manufacturer to give test shots than provide us with market ready kits with all the bells and whistles.

We were told that the test shots given to us are usually from the first 10 or so calibration shots. Thus they are quite crude. Some parts are warped, bubbled or even in some cases deformed. The clear parts are sometimes frosted. In some instance the metal parts are not provided. And did I mention that in many instance, no instruction, painting guide, PE fret and decals are provided. As such, building the test shot from pure guesswork is one of the toughest part of reviewing it.

and no box art. :wave:

Sometimes we do get test shots of kits that does not even appear in their catalogs. In those instances, we have to wait for their go signal before we post it.

Here is a picture of a box of test shots now sitting in my garage.

VincentBelmonte2.jpg

The test shot of the 1/32 Typhoon is quite evident there. I usually take out the main assemblies and tape them together. This is not a recent photo. There are now three Typhoon test shots in my garage, as well as two more kits (one in 1/32 and one in 1/72) waiting to be reviewed (alas work is truly a distraction to modelling.lol). Stay tuned.

Now, as to the why IPMS-Phils Bert Anido is first. I guess, it boils down to good relations. Nothing more.

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