Johnopfor Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 The article states it all. Layoffs may begin in April. http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2018-01-10/hobbico-files-bankruptcy-layoffs-next.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hans Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 uh oh... does this mean Revell-Monogram kits may soon become rare? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mario krijan Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 From a time when Hobbico takes Revell Germany, the price of kits went 50% up. Quality went down, even everything is outsourced, and not produced in Germany. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
southwestforests Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 Definitely news of the day; also being discussed at Starship Modeler, Ye Olde Rocket Forum, and The Rocketry Forum. I'm not in to RC but you know it is big news there. Here's Hobbico's own page on it, https://www.hobbico.com/company-news.php Last time I was in hobby retail was 2006 and the world has changed even since then. And will likely change even more as time passes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
southwestforests Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 (edited) This and the comments are worth the time to read, http://www.uavexpertnews.com/2017/01/industry-giants-flounder/ Quote This is a reflection of what I have been talking about with my staff for a long time. Most products in these, as well as in other industries are the same price, online or in a retail shop. However, due to the ease of letting your fingers do the shopping, merchants still struggle for a share of the pie. Consumer electronics and hobby products are products that tend to be easy compare prices on. That is to say, you really can’t price shop a sweater (that btw has a 300% gross margin), but you can easily price shop a Sony TV, a Horizon hobby Champ or a DJI Phantom. At the core, consumers only really care about price for these products. While you might think service is king, the reality is consumers sort by lowest price, while demanding the best before and after the sale service and support. But can you really have your cake and eat it too? ... Each industry is different, but in the US most customers simply do not understand (or care) how businesses work. Most are unaware that retail hobby and electronics stores operate on profits that have been driven to less than a 20% gross margin. What this means is that a typical beginner model airplane that might sell at a store for $99.99, cost the store $79.99. But to really get the full picture you have to do all of the math. For instance that model aircraft product that sells for $99.99 at the store (and online) has the following cost associated with it. Edited January 11, 2018 by southwestforests Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hajo L. Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 According to a german model-forum (which quoted the admin of the RoG-forum), Revell of Germany is NOT affected by that bankruptcy. HAJO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Johnopfor Posted January 12, 2018 Author Share Posted January 12, 2018 5 hours ago, Hajo L. said: According to a german model-forum (which quoted the admin of the RoG-forum), Revell of Germany is NOT affected by that bankruptcy. HAJO I seem to recall that Revell-Monogram & Revell-Germany parted ways a while back. They still work closely together with kit swapping, but that are run but different corporate entities. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sweier Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 (edited) 7 minutes ago, Johnopfor said: I seem to recall that Revell-Monogram & Revell-Germany parted ways a while back. They still work closely together with kit swapping, but that are run but different corporate entities. You're well behind the times. RoG became independent of Revell USA in 2006. Hobbico bought back Revell Germany in February 2012 - followed by the rapid disintegration of Revell Germany's position. Shane Edited January 12, 2018 by sweier missed a word Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Johnopfor Posted January 12, 2018 Author Share Posted January 12, 2018 Yep, I apparently missed that. That does raise a concern about their just announced 2018 release line-up.........I've been wanting to gat a hold of another 1/72 Hunter......... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kaz Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 If you haven't heard already, Hobbico an co. are going to try selling themselves off very soon as part of their bankruptcy filing. To anybody interested, there's this webpage containing several documents related to Hobbico's bankruptcy filing that keeps on updating as the case proceeds. It's a good look into the state of the company, particularly interesting are the organizations and individuals Hobbico has done business with and become indebted to. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
flanker27 Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Did I read wrongly, or did they own $2.4b to 32 debtors, plus others? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 (edited) They owe me three F-18F Super Hornets. I got a letter in the mail from a law firm about the bankruptcy. I don't think I'm very high on the list to be reimbursed. Edited March 27, 2018 by Darren Roberts Quote Link to post Share on other sites
viper730 Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 Before Christmas I had pre-ordered a 1/32 R-G P-51 they sent it to me last week....On Friday I ordered a Hasegawa parts tree for my friend who had a glue mishap and melted the nose off his 1/48 Growler, Ouch. They told me it should get to Tower in 8 weeks and it's coming direct from Japan. I hope they do....for his sanity!! I asked about the Chp. 11 deal and got the everything as normal response...so who knows. If they go under one of my main sources for kits and supplies will be gone!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 Hmmm...that explains their not getting back to me about the status of my Hasegawa spare A-7 canopy sprues. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tosouthern66 Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 All Hasegawa replacement parts all come from Japan. They do not have spares state side. I ordered a replacement fuselage top for the old 1/48 F/A-18A, it took me almost 8 months to get it. There was a message in the box that stated that they had to mold one and that it came from Japan. You should get it just don't expect to get it fast! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stalal Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 1 hour ago, crackerjazz said: Hmmm...that explains their not getting back to me about the status of my Hasegawa spare A-7 canopy sprues. You can always get Hasegawa replacement parts from HobbyLink Japan. Now that Hobbico is unfortunately going under. https://hlj.com/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 8 months, wow! Hi stalal, thanks for the Hobbylink Japan tip. By the way, was your Hobbylink order for parts from a kit you bought from them? 'Cause I see this: Please note that at this time we cannot accept orders for parts in general, but only for parts that arrived broken or missing in items received from HobbyLink Japan within the last 10 days. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stalal Posted March 28, 2018 Share Posted March 28, 2018 4 hours ago, crackerjazz said: 8 months, wow! Hi stalal, thanks for the Hobbylink Japan tip. By the way, was your Hobbylink order for parts from a kit you bought from them? 'Cause I see this: Please note that at this time we cannot accept orders for parts in general, but only for parts that arrived broken or missing in items received from HobbyLink Japan within the last 10 days. That was a long time ago. If I recall, there was a distributor in Alberta before Hobbico took over from them. This was a transition period between two companies and I was directed to HLJ then. But as always, someone on the forum was able to get me the parts I was looking for. :) With Hobbico situation, I think if you write to HLJ, they will be able to help. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scooby Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 20 hours ago, stalal said: That was a long time ago. If I recall, there was a distributor in Alberta before Hobbico took over from them. This was a transition period between two companies and I was directed to HLJ then. But as always, someone on the forum was able to get me the parts I was looking for. :) With Hobbico situation, I think if you write to HLJ, they will be able to help. No, the Edmonton company was Mikerian Mercantile, who were the North American distributor for Hasegawa. The moved to California and renamed to Marco-Polo and I think they renamed to Dragon now. Those were the good ole days. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VMA131Marine Posted March 29, 2018 Share Posted March 29, 2018 The notices of successful bids in the auction of Hobbico have been filed at http://www.jndla.com/cases/hobbico (Look under the docket section) The Hobbico RC business and Estes Rockets received successful bids, but no bids are recorded for Revell USA or Revell Germany. There was also an objection filed by Hobbico's creditors to the sale of the RC businesses. I can't help but see this as a bad thing for the future of both companies. It's clearly a step towards a straight liquidation of assets in which the survival of existing molds and 2018 release plans is no longer assured. We'll know more Monday, but with the sale of the largest part of Hobbico to Horizon. The ability of what remains to keep operating beyond the end of next week will be limited. Also of note. Horizon did not buy the rights to import Hasegawa or Italeri and, if it finds a buyer, Revell Germany will also lose its US importer as of next Friday. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kaz Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 Whether it survives or not, Revell may not be able to renew the Star Wars license for the US and Europe, leaving the door wide open for other companies to fill in that vacuum. According to the documents, Revell's license expires this year and the rights to sell the Fine Molds kits this August. I'm curious how much Lucasfilm used to charge for royalties before Disney stepped in. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Johnopfor Posted March 31, 2018 Author Share Posted March 31, 2018 29 minutes ago, kaz said: Whether it survives or not, Revell may not be able to renew the Star Wars license for the US and Europe, leaving the door wide open for other companies to fill in that vacuum. I think Ban Dai already has. Thier kits have been doing quite well in the US since Disney removed their export restrictions. Zvezda also has a license. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 I did not know Hobbico also owned Tower Hobbies. I've ordered from Tower in the past and had good service. The RC part of Tower is being bought by horizonhobby.com but apparently the scale model part is DOA. Note Horizon also acquired Tower's customer list so if you were a customer you may start getting RC related emails in your inbox. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Whiskey Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Whats this stuff about an email Hobbico sent out regarding customers information and possibly passing it on to future owners? Anyone else received that? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
modelingbob Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 5 minutes ago, Whiskey said: Whats this stuff about an email Hobbico sent out regarding customers information and possibly passing it on to future owners? Anyone else received that? I got it also. It basically says Horizon Hobby bought out their business and that includes all customer info. You can opt out of your customer info going to Horizon by clicking a link at the bottom of the page. I opted out since I don't do RC, which is what Horizon does. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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