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Testors is Gone - International Sales Affected


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On 10/26/2019 at 10:48 PM, VADM Fangschleister said:

Then, they eliminate MM, cutting off dedicated modelers who've used it for years.  What is the motivation?  Is it some self-righteous move by corporate greenie-fiends who want to "save the planet" and decree that all enamel paints are evil?

 

Or, is it because some guy who built models stole their girlfriends?

 

I cannot, for the life of me, sort that it's a "business" decision.  Since they own the rights to the paints, no one can pick it up and produce MM paints? 

 

No, I am NOT interested in converting to acrylics.  No, I disagree that enamels are "bad for gaia" (eyeroll).

 

I have a large assortment of cusswords for them. 

 

On 10/27/2019 at 1:34 AM, VADM Fangschleister said:

I agree that they may be losing market share but it has more to do with sky-is-falling environmental BS imposed by over-controlling governments rather than modelbuilder preference.  Plus nanny parents who don't want their kiddly diddlies using that "toxic" enamel paint (based entirely on ignorance) as fumes from acrylics are as toxic, if not more so. 

 

I'm not buying your specious position. 

 

Ok boomer.

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On 11/8/2019 at 11:16 PM, niart17 said:

Ahh yes, the insult trend from a "woke" generation. Cute.

 

After all the hate heaped on millennials, I think a bit of turnabout is fair play.

 

Additionally, "Baby Boomers" have been referring to themselves as just that for how long? How did referring to a group by their chosen moniker become that offensive?

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6 hours ago, Hoops said:

 

After all the hate heaped on millennials, I think a bit of turnabout is fair play.

 

Additionally, "Baby Boomers" have been referring to themselves as just that for how long? How did referring to a group by their chosen moniker become that offensive?

LOL, ok fair enough. BUT you might want to rethink that last part. If you think it through you'll find that MANY times referring to a group by a chosen moniker is labeled hate speech...Just sayin'.

 

BTW, I'm not a boomer, I'm in the GenX crowd so it wasn't that I was offended...I just find that funny that kids are using that as an insult now days. It's basically the same as "ok pops" from the 50's or "whatever" from the 90's"...same old story, the youth knows it all. I guess that's a rite of passage.

 

And I also agree, the Millennial gen was dealt a pretty bad hand. For a great explanation check out some talks by Simon Sinek, he explains it perfectly. 
 

Edited by niart17
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9 hours ago, Hoops said:

 

After all the hate heaped on millennials, I think a bit of turnabout is fair play.

 

Additionally, "Baby Boomers" have been referring to themselves as just that for how long? How did referring to a group by their chosen moniker become that offensive?


As someone born in 1985, they're both trash

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10 hours ago, Jonathan_Lotton said:

 

1985 is pretty solidly part of the millennial  generation, which is fine.   There is certainly nothing wrong with being part of that generation.   Like every other generation the generation before doesn't like them, but that's just like old guys yelling to get off their lawn.   

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On 11/12/2019 at 4:22 PM, Dave Williams said:

OK, so we’re doing age shaming now?

 

Exactly.  How the heck we went from a discussion about the lack of availability of MM enamels to school yard name calling baffles me.

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Testors YouTube channel is weak.  Compare that with some of the newer brands.  And I don't see their products as often as I do Japanese, Mediterranean, and Eastern European brands on the more polished build videos done by the YouTube regulars.  However you feel about YouTube, that seems kind of important.  Because that's probably how a lot people who don't yet build models discover the hobby.  

 

They also seem weak, late, or absent from whole product categories, like weathering stuff for armor, special chemicals for painting figures, or innovative masking products.  I'd really like a glaze and retarder to try MM Acryl on figures, but I'd rather not have to experiment with Liquitex or some other brand that may or may not be compatible.  

 

I've been a loyal Testors (particularly "enamels) customer, but I've wondered if American brands like Testors and Revell USA really tried hard enough to develop their brands, messaging, and products for changing markets.  Compared to the revival of all kinds of geek culture and brands in the USA their misery, and the decline in military plastic modeling in the USA, seems a tad self-inflicted.  

 

 

Edited by Fishwelding
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4 hours ago, Fishwelding said:

Testors YouTube channel is weak.  Compare that with some of the newer brands.  And I don't see their products as often as I do Japanese, Mediterranean, and Eastern European brands on the more polished build videos done by the YouTube regulars.  However you feel about YouTube, that seems kind of important.  Because that's probably how a lot people who don't yet build models discover the hobby.  

 

They also seem weak, late, or absent from whole product categories, like weathering stuff for armor, special chemicals for painting figures, or innovative masking products.  I'd really like a glaze and retarder to try MM Acryl on figures, but I'd rather not have to experiment with Liquitex or some other brand that may or may not be compatible.  

 

I've been a loyal Testors (particularly "enamels) customer, but I've wondered if American brands like Testors and Revell USA really tried hard enough to develop their brands, messaging, and products for changing markets.  Compared to the revival of all kinds of geek culture and brands in the USA their misery, and the decline in military plastic modeling in the USA, seems a tad self-inflicted.  

 

 

Those are accurate observations.   

Testors and companies like Revell USA seemed to ignore that the internet is a thing.  Revell and Testors didn't stay relevant, they didn't improve, and they don't seem to understand their market.  

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9 hours ago, stalal said:

As was noted before the Testors site is not updated. It lists products we know were discontinued years ago. The only accurate site is the link I posted above. 

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26 minutes ago, Spectre711 said:

I dont know why they dont sell these off instead of killing the companies.  they had to know they weren't producing big ticket items before they purchased them.

 

Testors was a bigger brand in 1984 when RPM bought them.   They just haven't kept up with the market.    

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On 10/26/2019 at 4:48 PM, VADM Fangschleister said:

Is it some self-righteous move by corporate greenie-fiends who want to "save the planet" and decree that all enamel paints are evil?

 

Maybe the environmental and health regulatory issues matter, but Ammo, AK, and others sell what we call "enamel" products, available around the world.  These aren't paints in the traditional sense, but instead are things like washes, textured mixes, and even thicker "oil" paints.  They even sell thinners for these.  Perhaps they will now produce traditional paints if Testors, or its parent, appears to be disinvesting.  And of course, if they're a worthwhile market for them.

 

Apart from the fact that acrylics have gotten much better in the past 30 years (I remember the old days,) I think these enamel products are related to why acrylics are now used by so many people: if you want to use these weathering products, you can do so with greater confidence and fewer steps applying them over water- or alcohol-based paints that are resistant to things like mineral or white spirits.  

 

Regarding toxicity, lacquers and acrylic-lacquers have proliferated.  Testors half-heartedly produced some lacquer colors, and I don't know if even these few are available anymore.  I found their lacquer primer to be too aggressive for plastic; Mr. Surfacer is a better product.  But you can surely kill yourself breathing Mr. Color fumes just as effectively as MM Enamel.  

 

If Testors finally goes away, I'll miss their enamels, and their acrylics, too.  But I won't be surprised.  Perhaps if they had produced more innovative products, or made more aggressive efforts to reach audiences other than people like me, they'd be in better shape.  

 

As I suggested above, I feel the same way about Revell USA.  They essentially ignored the growth of Armor modeling, which was a huge pass.  I love me some World War II planes, to be sure, but maybe supplying me with a PV-1 Ventura was less of a good business move, when Japanese companies seem to be making global money on science fiction subjects that younger people dig. 

 

Gosh, what if Revell had continued their experiment with Halo, and made a line of kits from video game franchises like Mass Effect, or Fallout?  And then Testors could have produced dedicated paint and weathering sets specifically labeled for these games, too!  Like Bandai's Star Wars line, they may have introduced the hobby to people who didn't know it existed.

Edited by Fishwelding
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  • 5 months later...

Model Railroader Magazine reported the following this morning:
 

Seeking information about the status of the status of several of Testors long-standing paint lines, we have received the following from Vince Pierri, Senior Manager, PR & Corporate Communications for Rust-Oleum:

“With a long history of producing quality hobby kits and supplies, we are evolving our strategy to focus more keenly on Testors, our flagship brand. To that end, we are discontinuing our PACTRA, AZTEK, and Model Master brands as demand for these products continues to decline. We will continue to support the hobby market with a robust line of aerosols, brush paints, tools and accessories – always looking for opportunities to innovate in these categories.”

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On 10/26/2019 at 5:36 PM, nspreitler said:

Businesses are going to sell products that are profitable and can't sell products that aren't profitable.   I have no doubt that Testors has been losing market share for years.  With paint like Tamiya, Vallejo, MRP, Gunze, Hataka, Mission Models, and many more available a lot of modelers just don't use Testors paints now.   

With the exceptions of Tamiya and Gunze,  which have been around since at least the mid-80s, I’m curious if the rise of these new paint lines is a result of declining availability of Testors products, or is declining availability of Testors a result of additional competition?  

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5 minutes ago, Joe Hegedus said:

With the exceptions of Tamiya and Gunze,  which have been around since at least the mid-80s, I’m curious if the rise of these new paint lines is a result of declining availability of Testors products, or is declining availability of Testors a result of additional competition?  


Combination of both of those, Testor's completely missing the birth of the Miniatures market (where Vallejo for example is a major player) and the desire for acrylic paints that spray well (MM Acryl is not competitive in terms of its spraying & adhesive qualities) as well as the relatively recent boom in Laquer paints as an alternative to both enamel and acrylic paints.

Testors also tried to get out of the Model RR market, and shot themselves in the foot doing so (yeah, the paint market for MRR crashed with the move to mostly RTR models, but Floquil & Polyscale owned what was left, killing Floquil turned Testors from the dominant player to an also-ran as nobody trusted them after that)

Testors seems to have wanted to own the market without any product development. Their competition either died themselves or evolved. 

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