Frustrated Indian Collector

[karansharma8783]

KV, this post just melted my heart. It's really great to know that somebody like you is taking charge of the situation and actually taking proactive steps to create awareness about a hobby.

I think I suggested some thing like we collectors creating a common demand which people like you can forward to the importers. But the most problematic thing about it is the sheer variety related to this hobby. Everyone has different tastes and everyone has different purchasing capabilities and purchasing inclinations. What we can do however, is come to some kind of consensus on the particular makers of diecast cars which we would like to see in the Indian market. As Winston suggested, Solido and Norev are good quality brands which are at the same time affordable and hence, would appeal to most collectors here, just like Welly does.

Minichamps coming in to India is not so exciting because of the price range but at the same time, I would definitely agree that it's a start, atleast we are moving ahead from the world of Maistos, Buragos and Autoarts.

[winstoncds]

Nikhil does sell some extremely expensive models. Those 40000 Rs. Rolls Royce resin models were a big hit for him. There was also a lovely 1:12 Lotus F1 raced by Senna to his first victory in the Portuguese GP . The model was so spectacular that I took out my wallet to pay for it until my wife brought me back to reality with a slap on my wrist. I still think that at 16K it was a bargain which I will never get again. It would have been a family heirloom. There was a Tamiya F50, Pocher F40 and 911, so many now that I cannot remember. There is a market but it is a very miniscule one.
There was this one guy who brought some CMCs and Franklin Mints in one shot in front of my eyes. Total was more than 25K rs. I don't know much more than that since the guy (around 25-28 year old) was not keen to talk much about diecast.
What I want to say is that Minichamps importer probably started on the wrong foot. The cars are no doubt expensive but the bikes that you Saleel have is what should have started the ball rolling for Minichamps here. It is like buying foreign bikes here. Maistos are like Bajaj and Hero Honda. Everyone can afford them. But the Minichamps bikes are like Yamaha R1s and Hayabusas. Everyone wants them. It is an aspirational thing.
Sites like Modelissimo.de offer fantastic discounts on Minichamps, Autoart and Kyosho every now and then. Indian sellers don't do that. They simply do not have the volumes to afford to do that.
KV, what you have said in your post is absolutely right. You simply have to increase and educate the customer base to further this hobby. This hobby is a luxury. Parents will buy their kids video games and music cds but how many parents will go out and buy their kids model cars worth even 1000 rs. To 99.9% of them, these are very expensive toys. Young people in college and young professionals are what the focus of attention should be.

[MotoS]

Guess ultimate die cast would be Amalgam model in large scale, would have to win some sweepstakes to afford that, Minichamps bikes are certainly becoming costly, yes bargains are missing here, growing up as kids my parents would always buy us matchbox cars still have boxful of them , again depends on parents me and my brother always used to assemble aircraft kits, I gave up after Tamiya NSR 500 of Doohan no time and a bug of perfection which affects me results in too much painting and stripping for right result

[kvsk4]

Welly stock dries up in India

The story goes like this..... On Sunday, when it was chilled out there and raining, I went to my distributor to buy Welly 1:18s but I could get only six pieces of 1:24s and 15 pieces of smaller scale, little less than 1:43. Looking at my shocking expressions the distirbutor's employees jokingly commented that these were only 'samples' more will arrive later.

Yesterday, I received a call from Zapak's Ludhiana office saying that the stock I saw on Sunday was all that they had. Everything has dried up at Zapak warehouses and no more 1:18s will arrive until fresh stock is imported into India. Hearing this I got so frustrated, furious and about to scream hysterically when the voice again spoke from other end—“Sir its not my fault, I had ordered around Rs.2.50 lacs worth of stock for Punjab and received only Rs.48000/- worth, without a single piece of 1:18. I’m embarrassed that my managers treat this region so lightly. Most of the stock was sold out in southern region of India and only few reached Delhi. They should have distributed equally.” And he is right they should have distributed equally so that everyone could get the taste of it. Its not just me but I came to know that even other retailers here knew that Welly has arrived and were curiously awaiting the 1:18 stock.

I called Zapak’s Bombay office but the concerned person wasn’t available on seat. Couldn’t call today as I got busy in procuring for a corporate order but will certainly speak to them tomorrow. And I ask all SMC members to call their office as well so that these guys feel this pain as well. I think Zapak managers are fools, not realising the big hidden demand potential yet to be unleashed and captured and are concentrating on few areas only.

[winstoncds]

You don't want to know how much love we suburban Bombayites have for Reliance. Everybody and their neighbor is now changing over to Tata power from Reliance power. The chaps at Reliance have indiscriminately increased power tariffs and the most pinch is felt by small industries and domestic suppliers. Everyone knows that the culture at Tata is to distribute a fair measure of their wealth among the people. Completely different story at Reliance. After the terrorist attack happened in Bombay, Tata paid some compensationto affected families. On the other hand, one of the Ambanis brought his wife a private plane on her birthday.
Edit: Reliance owns Zapak and like everything else, they don't gives a rats arse about the end customer.

[karansharma8783]

Thanks for the kind words about the Tatas Winston, my dad's been working there ever since he joined back in the 80's!!!

[karansharma8783]

Sad news about the Welly stock. I had better inquire from the Indore shop guy here whether he has still some left with him. I was thinking of getting the Pontiac Transam, it looks killer. And the Mustang Boss and the Lambo Miura were also in my wishlist. He also had the Porsche 911 GT3 RS when I got the Eliminator from him. It looked good but then I won't buy it coz I have the Maisto Porsche 911 Carrera and every modern Porsche looks the same. One 911 from each generation is enough for me.

[vaas2000]

Diablo Wrote:Nikhil does sell some extremely expensive models. Those 40000 Rs. Rolls Royce resin models were a big hit for him. There was also a lovely 1:12 Lotus F1 raced by Senna to his first victory in the Portuguese GP . The model was so spectacular that I took out my wallet to pay for it until my wife brought me back to reality with a slap on my wrist. I still think that at 16K it was a bargain which I will never get again. It would have been a family heirloom. There was a Tamiya F50, Pocher F40 and 911, so many now that I cannot remember. There is a market but it is a very miniscule one.
There was this one guy who brought some CMCs and Franklin Mints in one shot in front of my eyes. Total was more than 25K rs. I don't know much more than that since the guy (around 25-28 year old) was not keen to talk much about diecast.
What I want to say is that Minichamps importer probably started on the wrong foot. The cars are no doubt expensive but the bikes that you Saleel have is what should have started the ball rolling for Minichamps here. It is like buying foreign bikes here. Maistos are like Bajaj and Hero Honda. Everyone can afford them. But the Minichamps bikes are like Yamaha R1s and Hayabusas. Everyone wants them. It is an aspirational thing.
Sites like Modelissimo.de offer fantastic discounts on Minichamps, Autoart and Kyosho every now and then. Indian sellers don't do that. They simply do not have the volumes to afford to do that.
KV, what you have said in your post is absolutely right. You simply have to increase and educate the customer base to further this hobby. This hobby is a luxury. Parents will buy their kids video games and music cds but how many parents will go out and buy their kids model cars worth even 1000 rs. To 99.9% of them, these are very expensive toys. Young people in college and young professionals are what the focus of attention should be.

Unfortunately we all are not on same plane when it comes to money. So i think there is market for every brand, they have their target audience. The Big But here is volumes, you might have R1s and busas but how many do you see on road? compare that to bajajs and herohondas, they are flooded everywhere! Herohonda and bajaj are sitting on stock piles of reserve cash from such volumes where as yamaha and suzuki are still struggling to show volumes.
How much benefit does someone get selling 1 piece of minichamp and selling 3 pieces of maisto/burago for the same price? The shelf life of luxury brands are more, they tend to sit at retailers for long time, check out number of autoarts and the Big F sitting in model art here from ages. Where as they are always out of stock of maistos/buragos!
That being said, i think Minichamps or autoart won't be expecting to rake in numbers like budget brands but will want to tap the niche audience. So they will be there for name sake for budget collectors to oogle at the retailers while his (now wellys) maistos and buragos are getting billed

kvsk4 Wrote:Welly stock dries up in India

The story goes like this..... On Sunday, when it was chilled out there and raining, I went to my distributor to buy Welly 1:18s but I could get only six pieces of 1:24s and 15 pieces of smaller scale, little less than 1:43. Looking at my shocking expressions the distirbutor's employees jokingly commented that these were only 'samples' more will arrive later.

Yesterday, I received a call from Zapak's Ludhiana office saying that the stock I saw on Sunday was all that they had. Everything has dried up at Zapak warehouses and no more 1:18s will arrive until fresh stock is imported into India. Hearing this I got so frustrated, furious and about to scream hysterically when the voice again spoke from other end—“Sir its not my fault, I had ordered around Rs.2.50 lacs worth of stock for Punjab and received only Rs.48000/- worth, without a single piece of 1:18. I’m embarrassed that my managers treat this region so lightly. Most of the stock was sold out in southern region of India and only few reached Delhi. They should have distributed equally.” And he is right they should have distributed equally so that everyone could get the taste of it. Its not just me but I came to know that even other retailers here knew that Welly has arrived and were curiously awaiting the 1:18 stock.

I called Zapak’s Bombay office but the concerned person wasn’t available on seat. Couldn’t call today as I got busy in procuring for a corporate order but will certainly speak to them tomorrow. And I ask all SMC members to call their office as well so that these guys feel this pain as well. I think Zapak managers are fools, not realising the big hidden demand potential yet to be unleashed and captured and are concentrating on few areas only.

Whoa! that's what happens when you give quality at decent prices and give fresh models in market. Was sick of seeing same lambos and hummers everywhere! So any news about when they are planning to import next batch of wellys to India? and more importantly i hope they add more variety to their stock in the next batch!

karansharma8783 Wrote:Sad news about the Welly stock. I had better inquire from the Indore shop guy here whether he has still some left with him. I was thinking of getting the Pontiac Transam, it looks killer. And the Mustang Boss and the Lambo Miura were also in my wishlist. He also had the Porsche 911 GT3 RS when I got the Eliminator from him. It looked good but then I won't buy it coz I have the Maisto Porsche 911 Carrera and every modern Porsche looks the same. One 911 from each generation is enough for me.

+1 on porsche, i didn't pick it up for the same reason. Miura was out of stock, else i would have been in real $hit

[MotoS]

Collectors will upgrade in their choices when they get more interested and look for something more than budget, also wondering why Hotwheels Ferrari's normal and Elite are not to be seen at least online, lots fan following for the brand since Shumi, anybody having Elite or Super Elite model of Hotwheel how does it stack against Kyosho Ferrari's.
Any comparison between Autoart and Sunstar rallying models.
We need some big store online or real retailing the entire gamut from Die Cast, R/c to kits , trains, airplanes whatever one can think in this area.

[kvsk4]

MotoS Wrote:Collectors will upgrade in their choices when they get more interested and look for something more than budget, also wondering why Hotwheels Ferrari's normal and Elite are not to be seen at least online, lots fan following for the brand since Shumi, anybody having Elite or Super Elite model of Hotwheel how does it stack against Kyosho Ferrari's.
Any comparison between Autoart and Sunstar rallying models.
We need some big store online or real retailing the entire gamut from Die Cast, R/c to kits , trains, airplanes whatever one can think in this area.

You are right about a big store retailing the entire gamut from Die Cast, R/c to kits , trains, airplanes, etc, etc. Lack of such hobby stores in India is what caused lot of frustration to me and my brother since our childhood and this is the reason DreamCarModels.com was started. I wish we can be all that you have said up there


edited: soon coming are the fuel powered buggies alongwith r/c scale models. Let me know if someone interested in r/c racing.