[Mesa]

Greetings fellow FM diecast collectors:

I still collect FM Armour aircraft, albeit I'm getting increasingly frustrated at the errors made on the diecast planes vis-a-vis their real counterparts. Furthermore, what is the reasoning behind companies such as FM that eschew contact with the customers who collect their products? From what I can tell, even most of the FM dealers show no signs of being able or willing to contact the research & development folks at FM. It's a risky game when a company attempts to insulate itself from the folks who pay their bills. Why all the secrecy? Are the FM folks afraid of negative feedback about their products? I don't want to pick on FM exclusively because I suspect it's not much easier to contact other manufacturers.

Thanks for a great forum.

[Rush104]

Welcome to the nuthouse, Mesa! You're going to have fun here.
I don't know what the deal is with FM, but Hawkonevoodoo maintains contact with Hobbymaster. Thanks to his tireless efforts, HM definitely listens to its customers on the various forums.

[STARMAN 352ND]

Welcome to the Model Hangar and enjoy your stay here......
We all have seen the flaws they have in the products they make and yes it would be nice to have them listen to us once in while too
so they can get a idea of whats going on and how we feel about their products and what they can do to improve them...
It would be nice to have someone from FM come on here.
JP

[Mesa]

It is nice to be welcomed to this forum.

I began collecting 1/18, 1/32 and 1/48 diecast three years ago. It amazes me that many diecast companies don't seem to take the simple step of polling their customer base before producing a product. If FM would simply follow the 1/72 scale market then they'd have some consistently winning products. My anecdotal evidence is that FM would be advised to produce a Bf-110 and Ju-88 to bolster the ever-popular German planes. I give them credit for the He-111, which was long overdue, yet I wonder how long it will take for other airframes to appear.

As someone with marketing and management experience, I'd like just fifteen minutes to speak with a FM representative about improving their product line via three simultaneous approaches:

1. Being more consistent about the accuracy of their diecast aircraft;
2. Improving the special edition production & marketing of limited run models; and
3. Improving transparency with their customer base (including polling customers about new releases).

I have statistical analysis experience, and it would certainly improve FM's bottom-line if they'd have someone poll their retailers and consumers. I've never yet spoken with anyone who was called or written by FM about what type of proposed diecast aircraft they would be willing to buy. Where does FM get the impetus to produce a given product?

[Rush104]

A lot of the planes were no doubt inspired by the CDC Armour 1/100th scale line-up. CDC made a nice selection of planes prior to FM taking them over.
As to how they now arrive at the decision about which aircraft to produce, your guess is as good as mine...

[Captain Eddie]

Welcome to our little asylum, Mesa!

[Epapazian]

Welcome to the forum, Mesa. In response to your question, a number of factors seem to be involved. So far, except for Hobby Master and, possibly, Carousel 1, the manufacturers don't appear to be plugged in to their end customers---the folks who actually buy and collect their models. One reason for this is the distribution system, which uses big chains, plus hobby stores, eBay and online sellers to market such product. As a result, the manufacturers are not directly connected to their customer base, but must rely on the "middlemen" who make the actual sales, to guide them. The latter, are surveyed periodically and many claim that they make suggestions to the manufacturers directly or, less effectively, to their distributors and/or sales reps. How much of this "intelligence" actually gets through in an unfiltered fashion is anyone's guess.

Another issue--one that is becoming painfully evident--- concerns the manufacturing side. Since few, if any of these companies make their own products, they are at the mercy of the mostly Chinese factories, who do such work. Often, the Chinese fail to understand what levels of accuracy are required and" mistakes", such as the use of incorrect colors or camouflage schemes, oversized machine guns, missing parts, poor fits, etc. pose the dreaded "take it or leave it" problem. All too often, the answer is to "take it", rather than redoing the entire job, which is a disaster, business-wise. Since they operate under such uncertain conditions, it is not surprising that diecast "manufacturers" seem insensitive to their customer base. Many of them must feel lucky just getting their containers in from Asia, more or less on time.

I do agree, however, with the idea of keeping in touch with the marketplace via monitoring forums such as ours, or conducting their own website polls, as was done recently by Model Power. It surprises me that so few manufacturers take advantage of such opportunities.

[jim]

Hello Mesa and welcome to the funhouse. This is a great place to learn and get all your questions answered.
There are some very knowledgeable people on the forum so join in, post lots and have fun.

[gbeck]

Welcome Mesa,

It is good to have someone else who wonders as to what the Heck some of these Manufacturers are going to produce, and what it might look like once they complete it. HM has the Hawk, who is a member, and keeps them abreast of what a large majority of the forum expects and likes. They are one of a few who actually listens as to what is taking place with the Collectors. So hang on and enjoy the ride!

GBeck

[SKUNKY]

Originally Posted by jim

There are some very knowledgeable people on the forum...

...and don't forget to mention tank nut.

Hi Mesa..