[kb466]

Originally Posted by Elmer

I am sure you would be a "nit-picking nuts cases" (check your spell checker dude) if HM or any other company wasn't offering choices that perked your interest. No apologies necessary on your part.

As far as nit-picking, William is a big boy and Hobby Master is a big company. They can take a little constructive criticism... it will probably make them stronger. All this HM "rah-rah" can't be healthy for the hobby. There needs to be some competition and criticism.

Some of you aren't going to like this but you can add my voice to those that find this "nit-picking" and criticism to be less than constructive. In fact, I am finding a lot of this to be a real turn-off. Sure, William is a "big boy" and I know that the you "critics" mean no harm. But the fact is that HM cannot please all of us with all of its releases. Some will find a release satisfactory, some will not. The sooner we all realize this, the happier we will be. There have been lots of releases I have purchased and others left me cold. However, others were thrilled at the releases that did not interest me. The fact is that the market for diecast is diverse and varied and no one product will please all of us. Why do I say all this?-- because I don't care to see people bashing releases that will thrill other elements of the market. Just because you don't want a Fury or an F3F, don't criticise the subject matter because by doing so you criticise those that want an F3F or Fury. The fact is that I could care less about Italian or Soviet biplanes, but I have kept my mouth shut and have not chosen to slam those that have advocated for one. If HM puts them out, that is great as far as I am concerned. I am pleased that many of you will be getting what you have long wanted. That is healthy for the Diecast industry. But I am not going to lecture William as to what a poor choice it is, because I realize that there are some out there that will buy these releases and be thrilled, even if I will not. By complaining that an announced release is not what we wanted and HM is making a "terrible mistake" by releasing a certain product insults much of the diecast market and frankly, sounds a bit like a spoiled child.

On the issue of "all this HM 'rah-rah'", I am not going to apologize for praising William and HM, because I think they have earned it. William comes on here and listens to us, tries to address our wants and desires, and does a pretty good job. However, I have made criticisms when I felt they were needed and I will probably continue to do so. I hope that you also will do the same. I just feel this latest line of "criticism" over the Hawker Fury is insulting and disrespectful to some parts of the diecast collector market and I am hoping we can all be more careful in the future.

Though I am sure I have offended some with this post and some will take what I have said personally, that was not my intent. If you take it that way, I am sorry. I am simply asking that we be more thoughtful about the impacts of our posted "criticisms". Okay-- end of rant or lecture...

I guess I had better hunker down in my bunker now to dodge the incoming...

[William]

Hi guys,

Please don't take all these all too seriously and personal.

The feedback from the forum is just one of the channels that help our decisions and communication. Another important channel is the dealer's feeback since they are the one who actually sell the items. Other channels include modelling magazines,plastic model kit development, etc.

The forum, I believe, represents the interest of a certain group of people. But for something like the Hawker Fury, it can be orientated towards some other group of buyers. Hence, dealers feedback is of utmost importance for this type of subjects. For the F3F which has none or little combat record, the reaction is not overwhelming in the forum but we just have the 1st livery sold out today (the last 12pcs).

The most importance for HM to strike a balance between the interest of different groups. HM will continue to develop more so called "obscure" subjects but at the same time we will not totally ignore the chances of doing some more popular subjects again.

W

[Cardinal]

Originally Posted by kb466

Some of you aren't going to like this but you can add my voice to those that find this "nit-picking" and criticism to be less than constructive. In fact, I am finding a lot of this to be a real turn-off. Sure, William is a "big boy" and I know that the you "critics" mean no harm. But the fact is that HM cannot please all of us with all of its releases. Some will find a release satisfactory, some will not. The sooner we all realize this, the happier we will be. There have been lots of releases I have purchased and others left me cold. However, others were thrilled at the releases that did not interest me. The fact is that the market for diecast is diverse and varied and no one product will please all of us. Why do I say all this?-- because I don't care to see people bashing releases that will thrill other elements of the market. Just because you don't want a Fury or an F3F, don't criticise the subject matter because by doing so you criticise those that want an F3F or Fury. The fact is that I could care less about Italian or Soviet biplanes, but I have kept my mouth shut and have not chosen to slam those that have advocated for one. If HM puts them out, that is great as far as I am concerned. I am pleased that many of you will be getting what you have long wanted. That is healthy for the Diecast industry. But I am not going to lecture William as to what a poor choice it is, because I realize that there are some out there that will buy these releases and be thrilled, even if I will not. By complaining that an announced release is not what we wanted and HM is making a "terrible mistake" by releasing a certain product insults much of the diecast market and frankly, sounds a bit like a spoiled child.

On the issue of "all this HM 'rah-rah'", I am not going to apologize for praising William and HM, because I think they have earned it. William comes on here and listens to us, tries to address our wants and desires, and does a pretty good job. However, I have made criticisms when I felt they were needed and I will probably continue to do so. I hope that you also will do the same. I just feel this latest line of "criticism" over the Hawker Fury is insulting and disrespectful to some parts of the diecast collector market and I am hoping we can all be more careful in the future.

Though I am sure I have offended some with this post and some will take what I have said personally, that was not my intent. If you take it that way, I am sorry. I am simply asking that we be more thoughtful about the impacts of our posted "criticisms". Okay-- end of rant or lecture...

I guess I had better hunker down in my bunker now to dodge the incoming...

KB466, your excellent post inspired me to come out of hibernation as your comments reflect my sentiments on this matter almost exactly. Although constructive criticism is beneficial, the same cannot be said of excessive obsessive nit-picking and selfish preferences of one's own diecast preferences over others with different collecting tastes (such behaviour only serves to diminish the enjoyment some may derive from this great hobby).

[wurger_high]

Originally Posted by lanslide

wurger_high, what's wrong with Dragon's Fw-190s? I thought they were good too!

Well, If you look at dragon's A8's, it's missing outboard cannons, which is standard for all A8s, and the pitot tube suppose to be on the outside of the wing, not middle. Thaz pretty big for me.

[smartd]

HM can gauge the success of a release by how quickly we open our wallets.

[Captain Eddie]

Regarding KB466's latest post: excellent!!!! And, regarding William's response: very good, William, you, and HM, are a class act!

PS: I wanted to add that I have not been personally offended by anyone's comments.

[Epapazian]

Originally Posted by kb466

Some of you aren't going to like this but you can add my voice to those that find this "nit-picking" and criticism to be less than constructive. In fact, I am finding a lot of this to be a real turn-off. Sure, William is a "big boy" and I know that the you "critics" mean no harm. But the fact is that HM cannot please all of us with all of its releases. Some will find a release satisfactory, some will not. The sooner we all realize this, the happier we will be. There have been lots of releases I have purchased and others left me cold. However, others were thrilled at the releases that did not interest me. The fact is that the market for diecast is diverse and varied and no one product will please all of us. Why do I say all this?-- because I don't care to see people bashing releases that will thrill other elements of the market. Just because you don't want a Fury or an F3F, don't criticise the subject matter because by doing so you criticise those that want an F3F or Fury. The fact is that I could care less about Italian or Soviet biplanes, but I have kept my mouth shut and have not chosen to slam those that have advocated for one. If HM puts them out, that is great as far as I am concerned. I am pleased that many of you will be getting what you have long wanted. That is healthy for the Diecast industry. But I am not going to lecture William as to what a poor choice it is, because I realize that there are some out there that will buy these releases and be thrilled, even if I will not. By complaining that an announced release is not what we wanted and HM is making a "terrible mistake" by releasing a certain product insults much of the diecast market and frankly, sounds a bit like a spoiled child.

On the issue of "all this HM 'rah-rah'", I am not going to apologize for praising William and HM, because I think they have earned it. William comes on here and listens to us, tries to address our wants and desires, and does a pretty good job. However, I have made criticisms when I felt they were needed and I will probably continue to do so. I hope that you also will do the same. I just feel this latest line of "criticism" over the Hawker Fury is insulting and disrespectful to some parts of the diecast collector market and I am hoping we can all be more careful in the future.

Though I am sure I have offended some with this post and some will take what I have said personally, that was not my intent. If you take it that way, I am sorry. I am simply asking that we be more thoughtful about the impacts of our posted "criticisms". Okay-- end of rant or lecture...

I guess I had better hunker down in my bunker now to dodge the incoming...

Neither "side" needs to hunker down, in my opinion, and I don't really believe that the "critics" were bashing HM's F3F and Fury, nor were they demeaning those collectors who are happy to see these models come out. They simply said that they felt that HM's priorities should be directed elsewhere. I think that this is a perfectly legitimate and constructive point to make. What set off the sparks was an unfortunate choice of words (" nut cases" ), which, not surprisingly, caused a reaction. I hope that we can all move forward, now that we have vented our feelings, and wish Hobby Master continued success. The very fact that some of us can get so emotional about this fine company's efforts shows how important it has become to us and our mutually shared hobby.

[lanslide]

...dboulais called us "nit picking nuts cases" - but I hope he was kidding! LOL

[William]

Originally Posted by Epapazian

Neither "side" needs to hunker down, in my opinion, and I don't really believe that the "critics" were bashing HM's F3F and Fury, nor were they demeaning those collectors who are happy to see these models come out. They simply said that they felt that HM's priorities should be directed elsewhere. I think that this is a perfectly legitimate and constructive point to make. What set off the sparks was an unfortunate choice of words (" nut cases" ), which, not surprisingly, caused a reaction. I hope that we can all move forward, now that we have vented our feelings, and wish Hobby Master continued success. The very fact that some of us can get so emotional about this fine company's efforts shows how important it has become to us and our mutually shared hobby.

Hi,

I agree with you about the "priorities" thing.

As explained, HM's decision will be market driven and forum's comment certainly contributes a lot. But there are other considerations that HM will like to into account as well. The development of the F2A is a good example I think.

Thank you for all you guy's inputs.

W

[Paladin18]

Originally Posted by William

The feedback from the forum is just one of the channels that help our decisions and communication. Another important channel is the dealer's feeback since they are the one who actually sell the items. Other channels include modelling magazines,plastic model kit development, etc.

Hi William,

Great to know that HM is pursuing a very pro-active stakeholder feedback strategy as an integral part of a successful and sustainable business plan, same as how I advice my clients in my consultancy day job.

OK, before my passion for my work gets me digressing, I have always wondered what feedback, if at all, do you usually get from your distributor/dealer in Singapore. The diecast aircraft market in Singapore, though comparatively smaller, is a very predictable one. American and Russian fighter jets from the 3rd generation and thereafter are always very popular.

The reason for the question is a simple one. I find it strange that my local distributor/dealer brings in HM models that sit on their shelves for months and remain there even during their regular sales where all store items enjoy at least 20% discounts. Yet till today, HM fans in Singapore have not had sniff of the Phantom. On at least two occasions when I was there, there were other collectors in the shop asking about the delivery of the HM Phantom. The answer is always a non-committal one, ranging from "the lack of stock from the manufacturer because priority goes to the US market" to "can't say for sure, we are definitely bringing in, but hard to tell when". Well, you get the drift.

Paladin18