stalal Posted November 21, 2023 Share Posted November 21, 2023 (edited) 4 hours ago, Dave Williams said: The high shipping charges have cooled me on buying from LM much these days. Even their surface shipping of $20 for months of shipping time isn’t much of a deal IMHO. I’ve got mine preordered from Squadron, and they say they are supposed to arrive after Thanksgiving. Post pandemic, the shipping charges are so high now, I cant buy anything from HLJ, for example. Lucky model is the same. Edited November 21, 2023 by stalal Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Niels Posted November 22, 2023 Share Posted November 22, 2023 On 11/21/2023 at 9:07 AM, Specter1075 said: They show it as in stock, but my pre-order still says waiting for product. 🤨 You gotta give them time to process the orders. You are likely not alone in pre-ordering 😉 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Robert Garelli Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 On 11/21/2023 at 9:22 AM, Dave Williams said: The high shipping charges have cooled me on buying from LM much these days. Even their surface shipping of $20 for months of shipping time isn’t much of a deal IMHO. I’ve got mine preordered from Squadron, and they say they are supposed to arrive after Thanksgiving. Not sure what your zip code you live in Dave, but if you choose the "Local UPS.com (4-7 days) is shows shipping to Tampa for $13.29 yours might show something different depending where you are. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Williams Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 The local UPS option only really works if it’s in stock in their U.S. warehouse. You can select it, but if it isn’t in stock at their U.S. warehouse, it will be delayed until stock shows up at the warehouse, which may take a while for the initial shipment because I believe they are sent by ship. If you search by country, they aren’t in stock in the U.S. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sigtau Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 (edited) You have to know what you are getting into when using the cheap surface shipping with LM. I was one of many members here that used their free surface shipping last black Friday. Never again. It took 6 months and basically 4 months of that was my order sitting in their overseas warehouse waiting for space to be thrown into their own shipping container. So what that means is they were shipping kits to their US distribution center, but leaving my order for the same kits to sit and rot in China. Zero tracking and broken promises about it being on the boat, etc. etc. LM made it right in the end, but it's simply not worth the surface shipping roulette. As for their domestic USA warehouse shipping, it rocks! I've gotten some awesome deals using that method. Edited November 23, 2023 by sigtau Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Specter1075 Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 I don't think it's misleading, I think people just don't read the details. It literally say up to 6 months with surface shipping, and the status while waiting is Queued to FCL shipping, which is exactly what you described: the shipping container moves only once its full. If people don't want to wait, then don't choose the slowest option. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sigtau Posted November 24, 2023 Share Posted November 24, 2023 1 hour ago, Specter1075 said: I don't think it's misleading, I think people just don't read the details. It literally say up to 6 months with surface shipping, and the status while waiting is Queued to FCL shipping, which is exactly what you described: the shipping container moves only once its full. If people don't want to wait, then don't choose the slowest option. I didn't say that the shipping method is misleading. I said you need to understand what you are getting into with this shipping option. The misleading part was an initial China post tracking number that ended up being fake, along with the multiple customer service responses saying the container had shipped and I should get it by a certain date. Rinse and repeat that 2-3 times over 6 months. LM made it up to me and then some by shipping two kits direct from their US warehouse right at the 6 month mark. The other two kits that shipped direct from China showed up out of the blue another month later via UPS, well after the Paypal claim deadline had passed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stalal Posted November 24, 2023 Share Posted November 24, 2023 Hobby Easy, another Hong Kong based retailer, is also showing it as available. https://www.hobbyeasy.com/en/data/x346brvwjpsvpzhxwz71.html?t=1700852593 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dustiepal Posted November 24, 2023 Share Posted November 24, 2023 It is the hobby shops in the Toronto area. https://wheelswingshobbies.com/tamiya-1-48-lockheed-martin-us-f-35b-lightning-ii/ https://www.greathobbies.com/productinfo/?prod_id=TAM61125 Dave Quote Link to post Share on other sites
is it windy yet? Posted November 24, 2023 Share Posted November 24, 2023 Got a ship notice from wheels and wings. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scooby Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 In hobby shops in Edmonton, I passed on it, had one in my grubby hands. $139.99 Cdn. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Specter1075 Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 20 minutes ago, Scooby said: In hobby shops in Edmonton, I passed on it, had one in my grubby hands. $139.99 Cdn. Was that Hobby Wholesale? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Roof Posted November 28, 2023 Author Share Posted November 28, 2023 Just received the shipping notice for my first 6 from my wholesaler, which are expected to arrive on Friday! Only 18 more to order over the next few months! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Williams Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 (edited) Shipping notice from Squadron. Also, in stock at Scale Hobbyist for $85. Edited November 29, 2023 by Dave Williams Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Robert Garelli Posted December 1, 2023 Share Posted December 1, 2023 Looks like Sprue Brothers received their shipment in. https://spruebrothers.com/tam61125-1-48-tamiya-f-35b-lightning-ii/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ST0RM Posted December 1, 2023 Share Posted December 1, 2023 Mine should be at the house today. I'll check it out Sunday when I return home. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grindcore Posted December 1, 2023 Share Posted December 1, 2023 I'd check Scalehobbyist Order 2 or more to offset s&h and it's a crazy good price Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Raymond Chung Posted December 1, 2023 Share Posted December 1, 2023 On 11/24/2023 at 6:23 AM, sigtau said: You have to know what you are getting into when using the cheap surface shipping with LM. I was one of many members here that used their free surface shipping last black Friday. Never again. It took 6 months and basically 4 months of that was my order sitting in their overseas warehouse waiting for space to be thrown into their own shipping container. So what that means is they were shipping kits to their US distribution center, but leaving my order for the same kits to sit and rot in China. Zero tracking and broken promises about it being on the boat, etc. etc. LM made it right in the end, but it's simply not worth the surface shipping roulette. As for their domestic USA warehouse shipping, it rocks! I've gotten some awesome deals using that method. Our “flat shipping” services actually coload the pre packed order into our regular restock of Kinetic item, and it absorb the shipping cost from Asia to KS, the shipping cost charged only used to offset some local UPS shipping charges, the downside is it takes times. having check the surface mail option provided from post office, the lasted updated shipping time around 5-6 months if it don’t get lost. Although it has the tracking but it does not means it can get delivered these days. the Cross country postage system has changed a lot since the pandemic, if anyone who travel nowadays the ticket hotel almost double vs before. so for the good old days air mail shipping with local cost and 7-12 days arrival, it is over. At least in the coming 3-5 years. Even postage rate from Post office is even more expensive than the air mail rate before 2020. Thus any new item send by air mail would become more expensive than buying locally. as for our FCL shipment it is different from post office, those packed parcel cannot not have a tracking until it reach the US Center, all we can show is whether box is queued for the FCL or on sailing to USA. We can only assign the tracking once it reach UPS locally. about the case that happens, it sometimes happen when we close the container just after the order received. It will take around 45-60 days to queued for a new container plus the 45 days from port to inland KS, so it will take around 90-120 at least to reach the UPS depot. Once it reach UPS it will reach you in 3-5 days. this method does not fit for the new item demand, and it is now the world change from globalization to regionalisation. Some business back to local, that is good for local country. but we notice recently the stock availability in many countries starting to reduced owning to the slow down of hobby product demand after the pandemic. These give us another reason to offer product from Asia again. If the item is not in USA or local supply chain they need to go through the ordering process which takes at least 6 months to arrive. So what we are doing is linkage the supply from source to destination in new way. the past 36 months was really a difficult period where all transport parameter changing. Hope it settle stable in 2024 onward. of course if we can pre stock the item in USA that would make the deal good. But we cannot replicate the entire stock supply in USA unless we use the local supply chain, if so the price cannot be offered. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Williams Posted December 5, 2023 Share Posted December 5, 2023 Got my kits today. I have to say it looks great, and a lot of options. The instructions are pretty intimidating, 58 pages. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sodasorb Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 I just got mine from Squadron yesterday. Did the pre-order, now I just have to open the box to see the magic. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scooby Posted December 26, 2023 Share Posted December 26, 2023 On 11/27/2023 at 9:18 PM, Specter1075 said: Was that Hobby Wholesale? Nope, Great Hobbies. Cheaper than Hobby Wholesale, plus they give IPMS discount. They have more in stock. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stalal Posted May 13, 2024 Share Posted May 13, 2024 Just got the F-35B kit today. Its brilliant. Its 50+ page instruction book is quite daunting. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
eraucubsfan Posted May 14, 2024 Share Posted May 14, 2024 Its a nice kit, most of the instructions are for the various flight positions. Once you get everything painted, it goes together quickly and easy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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