Hobbico goes Chapter 11, here comes that sinking feeling...

[c44]

Don't know how much it all means, but Hobbico (the largest U.S. distributor of hobby products, including Revell, Monogram, Italeri and Hasegawa) is in deep financial trouble and may not survive. Even if it does, this could mean higher prices on plastic models and other stuff coming down the road...somebody convince me this news is not as bad as it sounds...

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/ ... -next.html

https://www.hobbico.com/company-news.php

[[CAT]CplSlade]

Chapter 11 protects you from creditors and gives you an opportunity to restructure. Not a great thing to have to do, but not as final as other bankruptcy types.

[grunt1]

There is a great super short book called "Who moved my cheese". The short of it is that there are two mice. One knows where the cheese is because it's in the same place every day. He consistently gets there faster and gets more of it because he gets there first. The other mouse explores and when they finally move the cheese, he not only gets all of it, but lives while the other mouse dies.

Amazon's success is taking a toll on a wide variety of industries. It would be hard to imagine that Hobbico is immune. Through low prices and a super simple buying experience, mostly trustworthy reviews, etc.. Amazon ended up getting between many companies and their customers which ends up redirect two really important streams of revenue that were historically enjoyed by most OEM (manufacturers) and their longstanding partners in the retail community.

By impacting both existing revenue Hobbico could count on from their customer base and their growth revenue that often comes when you(or one of your brands) own a market there has been a one-two punch effect. Amazon can provide the same items for a reasonable price _and_ they've enabled the introduction of new competitors or maybe more critically enhanced the visibility existing competition.

This is forcing a lot of manufacturers and retailers into a bit of an identity crisis. They need to sell direct to consumers to compete and keep as much margin as they can, but have or risk alienating their brick and mortar hobby store partners.

As Slade said, this will give them some time to figure it out. Hopefully enough. Though worst case, I can see them start to sell brands eg. Italeri to others better positioned to keep them going and even help them perform better.

And this is without Etsy, Shapeways, home printing, etc.. yet to come.

[[CAT]CplSlade]

Revell of Germany has stated the filing shouldn't affect their upcoming releases or distribution.

Good thing since their new P-51D early kit is just now out.