[CFBC]

Originally Posted by Lakota Mech

Please read Hawksonevoodoos reply. it is the 10th one on this thread. I do agree that we shouldn't bombard William. Nice to know thats he's willing to listen to us But lets not over do it and overwhelm him. LM

Thanks LM, that really is the point i am trying to make and Hawk1 kindly e-mailed me too which I will reply tomorrow too.

Last thing we want "as collectors" is not to overwhelm HM and then they do not know which direction to turn too and then pull the plug on listening to both the US and UK forums.

[weiwencheng]

It is great to hear William's reply, what other company would be so customer oriented as to show up on a forum, where half the time there is belly aching about their products. Great customer service.

[Shawn 507]

I do believe Hawk said he wasn't acting as the middle man anymore and that all suggestions should be forwarded to HM directly. I don't know why, nor do I feel the need for Hawk to explain it to me. Something happened obviously.
HM does great work in trying to support our needs, and we need to think about that when it comes to the "I WANT" e-mails. "You want" doesn't translate into "will sell". Perhaps HM needs more employess to accept the e-mail. But if they shut down on us, it wont be good for them or us.

[Shawn 507]

Oh I forgot. We should stop the "I wont get one if they don't fix "X" talk too ! We've all seen the pics of collections here, and there are some well known less than perfect planes in them. So its obvious, we do buy the imperfect diecast. Save all the hot air for balloons. You wanted these two Phantoms, and they are coming thanks to HM. I bet most of you will get them regardless of how the canopy looks.

[smartd]

Originally Posted by Shawn 507

Oh I forgot. We should stop the "I wont get one if they don't fix "X" talk too ! We've all seen the pics of collections here, and there are some well known less than perfect planes in them. So its obvious, we do buy the imperfect diecast. Save all the hot air for balloons. You wanted these two Phantoms, and they are coming thanks to HM. I bet most of you will get them regardless of how the canopy looks.

I'm getting mine, I don't give a shit if they fix it or not.

[David Hingtgen]

It shouldn't surprise anyone here that I'm picky enough to not buy most anything--I have in fact passed on the only model made of my absolute most-wanted plane in all of diecast-dom. (Though many people will admit that model was godawful, not merely "not excellent"---it was IMHO about the worst-made model of its scale in the past 8 years or so---and it had to be the plane/scheme I really wanted)

[kb466]

I agree that we need to be careful about burying William Liu and Hobby Master in meaningless or repetitive emails. However, there are some issues that should be brought to their attention, like the side windows and the rear canopy lug on the Phantom. I think issues like the missile markings and landing gear color are two additional areas where input is appropriate. As it turns out, it looks like HM was on top of most of these issues. However, I got the impression that William Liu appreciated correct and honest feedback. Therefore, I would suggest a couple of guidelines in emailing Hobby Master about problems with their releases. First, offer some substance-- don't just whine that quality control is lacking or some such thing. Instead be able to point to a specific issue and offer advice as to that issue. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, know what you are talking about. Before you email them on some issue, ask yourself if you know you are correct in the information you are sending them. It might be better if someone more knowledgable on that particular issue should contact Hobby Master on that subject. For instance, David Hintgen has pointed out that the missile markings are incorrect on the "Showtime 100" pre-production sample. While I think they are wrong too, I do not know what is right, so I am refraining from contacting HM about the missile markings. I hope David Hintgen steps up and emails them correct information instead. I did know that the canopy window and lug were wrong and I did email them on those issues. I also contacted them about some issues with the 1/32 SBD before it was released. I did this through Hawkonevoodoo. Happily, the issues I discussed with them were fixed on the SBD, whether through my input or not. So, let's stay in touch with William Liu and Hobby Master, as they do seem to appreciate our input. However, let's be careful about how we do it.

[smartd]

Originally Posted by kb466

I agree that we need to be careful about burying William Liu and Hobby Master in meaningless or repetitive emails. However, there are some issues that should be brought to their attention, like the side windows and the rear canopy lug on the Phantom. I think issues like the missile markings and landing gear color are two additional areas where input is appropriate. As it turns out, it looks like HM was on top of most of these issues. However, I got the impression that William Liu appreciated correct and honest feedback. Therefore, I would suggest a couple of guidelines in emailing Hobby Master about problems with their releases. First, offer some substance-- don't just whine that quality control is lacking or some such thing. Instead be able to point to a specific issue and offer advice as to that issue. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, know what you are talking about. Before you email them on some issue, ask yourself if you know you are correct in the information you are sending them. It might be better if someone more knowledgable on that particular issue should contact Hobby Master on that subject. For instance, David Hintgen has pointed out that the missile markings are incorrect on the "Showtime 100" pre-production sample. While I think they are wrong too, I do not know what is right, so I am refraining from contacting HM about the missile markings. I hope David Hintgen steps up and emails them correct information instead. I did know that the canopy window and lug were wrong and I did email them on those issues. I also contacted them about some issues with the 1/32 SBD before it was released. I did this through Hawkonevoodoo. Happily, the issues I discussed with them were fixed on the SBD, whether through my input or not. So, let's stay in touch with William Liu and Hobby Master, as they do seem to appreciate our input. However, let's be careful about how we do it.

I don't know, sounds like too much is being made of this by the thought police.

Most members here are not rivet counters and would no sooner email a manufacturer than tell someone how to vote, or think, or express themselves.

The Nazis tried that, they failed.

There are some members here, a few, who are knowledgeable enough to offer substantive input to manufacturers.
I'm happy that they can do this. I will not tell them to not to do so, or tell them what to say.

What members do in the big wide world outside of this forum is their business.

Some want to "protect" what they perceive as a valuable resource and they want to project their way of thinking on others.

Tough. Ain't gonna happen, unless you ask real nice.

And then I think about how valuable your input is to me.

[Cardinal]

Originally Posted by smartd

I don't know, sounds like too much is being made of this by the thought police.

Most members here are not rivet counters and would no sooner email a manufacturer than tell someone how to vote, or think, or express themselves.

The Nazis tried that, they failed.

There are some members here, a few, who are knowledgeable enough to offer substantive input to manufacturers.
I'm happy that they can do this. I will not tell them to not to do so, or tell them what to say.

What members do in the big wide world outside of this forum is their business.

Some want to "protect" what they perceive as a valuable resource and they want to project their way of thinking on others.

Tough. Ain't gonna happen, unless you ask real nice.

And then I think about how valuable your input is to me.

"Thought Police"??? That comment is a little extreme and I really don't think that anyone over here is trying to 'control' the flow of information. One of the major issues facing managers today is 'information overload', where receipt of excessive quantities of information - usually via email - leads to the recipient actually ignoring information/input that could have proved valuable.

The views expressed by Kb466 are in my opinion the voice of reason and will actually contribute to the improvement of the diecast that we covet. When providing input for improvements we need to think before we type and clog the digital atmosphere with needless whining and complaining that only serves to diminish any valid points that may be contained therein - 'shooting from the hip' a la John Wayne does not represent sound communication practise .

[Elmer]

Originally Posted by Cardinal

'shooting from the hip' a la John Wayne does not represent sound communication practise .

Yeah but when the Duke shot from the hip he ALWAYS hit his target. Maybe this should be restated "'shooting from the hip' a la George Bush or most anyone else."