ATTENTION: SMALL BLUE PLANET GOING OUT OF BUSINESS

mwanz · Post by **mwanz** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 10:26 am

I just got this email announcing what appears to be their "going out of business sale" as of 9/30/05.

Needless to say, I am very bummed about the 1:18 SS that I pre-ordered (which was pre-paid). Seeking imemdiate refund for that!

The only 1:18 I see on line looks like a pilot for $1.19.
-----------------------------------------
!! Final Clearance Sale !!

Small Blue Planet will be closing on Sept 30, 2005

Take advantage of these incredibly low prices while you still can.

85-95% off Suggested Retail Prices

All orders shipping via US Mail.

www.smallblueplanet.com

Good luck.

MW

Jericoeagle1 · Post by **Jericoeagle1** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 10:31 am

Theres no big surprise there, they've really had nothing to sell the past few months. I'm glad I cancelled all my preorders months ago.

75th Ranger · Post by **75th Ranger** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 10:54 am

"ANOTHER ONE BUYS THE DUST!"

toyktdlgh · Post by **toyktdlgh** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 5:35 pm

See ya SBP! I always thought your customer service was crap! Still sorry to here of one less resource.

tankduel · Post by **tankduel** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 5:41 pm

Maybe it would have helped if they had actually allow people to buy from them, (they would not take my perfectly good VISA card).
Bon Voyage SBP

ARMY GROUP 1 · Post by **ARMY GROUP 1** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 7:26 pm

YES I HAVE APPLIED FOR MY SS REFUND ALSO. HOPE I HAVE NOT DONE MY MONEY.

DVSk89 · Post by **DVSk89** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 9:27 pm

i don't really care much....i've ordered several things from SBP and never recieved them.

Jesse James · Post by **Jesse James** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 9:59 pm

I got figs and some PTE stuff from them a while back, so it's one less place I guess... Sucks when competition falls off for any of us though so a bummer. That's it though, maybe someone'll step in as a nice replacement.

Timbo · Post by **Timbo** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 10:20 pm

Good Riddance! I had to fight with them for 5 weeks to get refunded on an item they never sent me.

Post by **p51** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 2:27 am

I'm not surprised either. Actually, for a while back I thought they HAD gone out of business!

Website · Post by **Teamski** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 5:36 am

Well it's pretty sad to me. At least I had the fortune to hit some of their warehouse sales at their old location. Man, did I have fun blowing the $$$. My wife was really understanding too. I was literally a boy in a toy shop! Alas, it is to be no more.....

-Ski

Threetoughtrucks · Post by **Threetoughtrucks** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 6:09 am

I guess I'm one of the few that had no problems with SBP. The stuff I bought from them, always received quickly. One time I ordered a 21C 1/6 Jeep and it arrived with the windshield broken. I called and they sent me a new windshield in two days, priority mail.

Guess, I was lucky, to hear you guys. Well, I guess I can kiss my Avenger pre-order good by

I'll get another Avenger pre-order and wait another 18 months

Good bye SBP.

TTT

SuRrEaLNJ · Post by **SuRrEaLNJ** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 7:44 am

Id give them that they were 50-50 at best. I havent even gone near their site in atleast a year, because theres just so many other places to get the stuff stuff either easier, or cheaper.

WGP Klaus · Post by **WGP Klaus** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 8:00 am

It was only a matter of time, their customer service was quite lacking, their "issues" with preorders in the past came back to haunt them, so it's really no suprise to me, I wrote them off quite sometime ago.

demetrop · Post by **demetrop** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 12:50 pm

The problem I had with them was that they would sometimes anounce on their website an item as "in stock" while they did't have the item at their store yet. This had happened to me two times. The last item I had ordered from them was the 21st Century 1/18 P-40 Flying Tiger that they listed as "in stock". I had to wait 3.5 weeks until it was delivered. This happened a year ago and since then i never ordered from them again.

hworth18 · Post by **hworth18** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 1:20 pm

demetrop wrote:The problem I had with them was that they would sometimes anounce on their website an item as "in stock" while they did't have the item at their store yet. This had happened to me two times. The last item I had ordered from them was the 21st Century 1/18 P-40 Flying Tiger that they listed as "in stock". I had to wait 3.5 weeks until it was delivered. This happened a year ago and since then i never ordered from them again.

That is probably a good reason why they are Closing...
Nothing is more frustrating to order something that is supposedly "In Stock", only to wait 2-3 weeks for delivery.. Online retailers that practice that will probably soon follow SBP's lead and go under, because only so many people will tolerate that..

Gunner · Post by **Gunner** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 4:00 pm

I have to admit that I lost faith in SBP when they moved to their new location and shut down their storefront.

My job or other interests would occasionally take me near them, and I would always stop by and drop $100 or so. After they moved, I called and e-mailed several times, asking if they were going to have a storefront open, even just on a Saturday, but never received a response. I recall that they had ONE Saturday event with the local 1/6 club, but I didn't find out about it until just a few days before it happened, and couldn't justify a special trip from DC (the tolls alone were about $20 each way, which pays for a LOT of shipping).

gustav · Post by **gustav** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 5:58 pm

no problems here with sbp and i ordered three or four times from them. in fact, i used to split my orders between them and bca to spread the wealth and to support the PA presence.

oh well, no more paying sales tax on my orders.

i wish them well.

Post by **aferguson** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 8:36 am

To be frank, i find it kind of gratifying when i see a business which has very poor customer service, go out of business. I run into businesses all the time that have sloppy, rude or just plain poor customer service and it's pretty irritating and frustrating. It's normally because the owner(s) are being cheap and are understaffing their customer service department, paying poorly, treating their employees badly etc.

Many is the time i have wanted to see one of these places go under, and on occassion, i have. And now SBP has too.

Maybe business owners will sharpen up and start to realize that offering good customer service is not the waste of money that some of them seem to think it is..

grockwood · Post by **grockwood** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 8:19 pm

After TRU's stopped selling XD, I purchased all my stuff from SBP. Never had a problem with them. Talked to their Customer service and they were very nice. I will miss them.

Website · Post by **Teamski** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 3:30 pm

Gunner wrote:I have to admit that I lost faith in SBP when they moved to their new location and shut down their storefront.

My job or other interests would occasionally take me near them, and I would always stop by and drop $100 or so. After they moved, I called and e-mailed several times, asking if they were going to have a storefront open, even just on a Saturday, but never received a response. I recall that they had ONE Saturday event with the local 1/6 club, but I didn't find out about it until just a few days before it happened, and couldn't justify a special trip from DC (the tolls alone were about $20 each way, which pays for a LOT of shipping).

It was definately the move that killed them. I visited their new site in hopes of getting a plane quite a while back and I lost all respect for them when they wouldn't sell one to me on the spot. I don't know what the hell made them go from hero to zero like that. Their warehouse crash and dent sale was something I will always remember in my XD collecting.....

-Ski

Razor17019 · Post by **Razor17019** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 10:11 pm

Digger and I bought out the last of their 1/18 stuff about a month or 2 ago. Got all the items I ordered without a problem. I ordered from them a few times before and had no problem.

When we lose an online retailer, even a bad one, it causes the remaining retailers to be less HUNGRY! Competition is a nice thing to have for us consumers. 20 years ago - if we had someone like Bill Gates start up an alternative power source company - We wouldn't be paying 3 bucks a gallon for gasoline!!!! The oil companies would be begging for our business with .99 cent or lower a gallon! Does anyone remember when was the last time you paid less than a buck for a gallon of gas???

Have we got a sticky for online retailers of XD products???
I would like to see the one started updated and on a stick if possible.

We as the main consumers of XD products need to promote and warn each other of the online retailers that deal in 1/18 XD items.

Sorry for the gas rant...

Jesse James · Post by **Jesse James** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 11:34 pm

I wish Entertainment Earth would start pushing 1:18 military stuff... They're a reliable company, probably one of the most reliable toy retailers on the internet, and they'd fill the void SBP is leaving...

I had nothing but positive experiences with SBP myself, so I'm in the group that's sad to see them go, but mostly because I am sad when any form of competition is lost. They don't sign my checks and did me no wrong so I have no complaints, but I can see where complaints are based against them.

I got al otta stuff from them... Wish I'd gotten more stuff like PTE that I missed out on. Still don't have many hedgehogs from them, and they seem overpriced to me at the GI Joe website they're at now (they were always cheaper, even not on sale, at KB Toys). Oh well, them's the breaks I guess.

newwavepop · Post by **newwavepop** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 1:24 pm

i never had a problem with them.

i was very upset that the schutzstaffel set i pre ordered didnt ship before closing.
they never did email to tell me that the set would not be released, i emailed a few times to ask if they wouls still be doing the set and never heard, ive been hopeing someone would make a set like that for years.
hope someone does something similar soon.

does anyone know if they set did ever come out in any way anywhere else?