Tamiya not to renew Martin's contract

[Neil Skull]

Skye,
You are missing the point.
Yes we can get everything made in china and quality would maybe be okish.
But the fact its made in Japan makes it special. What if Ferrari was getting made in China? Maybe it would make more sales but would lose the essence of what the product is.
Also I don't mind you being insulted by my beliefs and opinions but calling people names is offensive.

Don't forget that many big name companies including Tamiya, and big electronic companies have gone to China with great products to be made cheaper for the masses only to find copies of part or all the components being made and sold under different brands. like the recent Apple v Samsung lawsuits.
China is cheap but has no respect for privacy and copyright, they just copy. some companies make good quality products many do not. You have to keep very tight QA to assure of this. Japan is a country that has strong belief and Honour, something rare in todays fight for sales. I just hope these Chinese copys of French Nuclear plants being installed into uk are better quality than many things coming this way. or maybe its a way for China to put Nuclear Bombs in the UK???

[racingdwarf]

I agree with neil. Tamiya name has always been about quality, back in the 80s hotshots and hornets droped together,the build quality was just fantastic.then you sat down and built and rc10, or the original swb cat,the tamiya instructions were a work of art, the schumacher ones....well they were art alright
Tamiya plastic model kits just can't be matched for build quality, a friend of mine was building an F1 car a few years ago for Tamiya modelling magazine the kits parts quality was so good that they had left no tolerance for a coat of paint! before painting the bodywork fitted together perfectly, after painting he has to gently sand the panels so it would all fit again! if tamiya say part A fits into B it does! you just don't get that with revel,airfix etc

I would rather the quality stayed, and we don't get another charge the same price but the quality is out of the window greedy company!

why are we calling a company greedy for being proud of the high standards they produce?

Also china would soon work their magic, within months we would have the hongnit, fastshot

[justleanitupabit]

Originally Posted by Neil Skull

Skye,
You are missing the point.
Yes we can get everything made in china and quality would maybe be okish.
But the fact its made in Japan makes it special. What if Ferrari was getting made in China? Maybe it would make more sales but would lose the essence of what the product is.
Also I don't mind you being insulted by my beliefs and opinions but calling people names is offensive.

Don't forget that many big name companies including Tamiya, and big electronic companies have gone to China with great products to be made cheaper for the masses only to find copies of part or all the components being made and sold under different brands. like the recent Apple v Samsung lawsuits.
China is cheap but has no respect for privacy and copyright, they just copy. some companies make good quality products many do not. You have to keep very tight QA to assure of this. Japan is a country that has strong belief and Honour, something rare in todays fight for sales. I just hope these Chinese copys of French Nuclear plants being installed into uk are better quality than many things coming this way. or maybe its a way for China to put Nuclear Bombs in the UK???

A) Samsung is Korean
B) Samsung make quite a lot of components for Apple
C) The Apple and Samsung court room stuff is all about patents, not counterfeiting.

and most interestingly

D) iPhones are made in china.


Although I agree there is a huge amount of counterfeiting going on.

[neallewis]

Originally Posted by justleanitupabit

A) Samsung is Korean

Finally!

[vinny20]

Lee always got on the podium with Tamiya and get the results for them and this is the sort of guy who will bust his ass off working hard and trying his best and get the best results he possibly can, also tamiya did the exact same with elliot harper after years with them they did not renew his contract either one of the best uk driver.

[Neil Skull]

Originally Posted by justleanitupabit

A) Samsung is Korean
B) Samsung make quite a lot of components for Apple
C) The Apple and Samsung court room stuff is all about patents, not counterfeiting.

and most interestingly

D) iPhones are made in china.


Although I agree there is a huge amount of counterfeiting going on.

Samsung is Korean but still get stuff made in China!!!!
The courtroom patents is exactly point I made, about copying ideas and designs not making dodgy copies! I phones made in China again this is the point I was making about what happens when you design a great product and get it made in China! They studied the I phone gave the info to the Koreans who gave to Samsung!! Ok maybe this did not happen exactly but that was the point I make! Kyosho have used factories in the past in China for some manufacturing. Then when contract is finished the factory make there own version of the product and sells cheaply to the worldwide market, not always a counterfit but sometimes under a new name. There is a company that openly sells copies of all the big name models out there but using such cheap material and badly bad mouldings.

[badger5]

This thread has obviously gone a bit off topic but here are my thoughts.

Good luck to Lee with whatever manufacturer he goes with for 1/10th, I would love it to be Schumacher to push forward a Great British company but the rumours are he will drive for Yokomo whom I'm also happy to see making a comeback from a few dark years and is another quality product.

Some of the comments on here are just not acceptable in my view, if people want to have an argument then go and do it in private. Such comments scares people from trying our excellent hobby/sport and also makes the sponsored drivers who could offer invaluable advice uneasy and reluctant on posting comments on oOple.

The theories banded about on this thread about TRF don't really stack up, yes the exchange rate hasn't helped with things made in Japan but Kyosho and Yokomo are still manufacturing there. TRF is an exclusive brand that many people would of paid the premium for if the products were actually able to be brought openly in the UK. Yes you could buy from the Far East but even then kits weren't easy to get hold of, and for many who want to support model shops in the UK and want local support this is a big stumbling block. IMO TRF wasn't about making money or profit but to showcase what Tamiya could do, like HRC for Honda. Perhaps they have had to rethink things due to budget constraints or is a re-alignment of their business strategy.

Many companies do have things produced in the Far East, it can be cheaper but from my experience (I work in a heavy engineering environment) this is more for high volume production like iPhones etc where companies can post their own QC staff in the Far East as well. You cannot rely on the factory that's going to make the products for this quality control, by the time the products are back in the the UK or wherever it's too late and just costs you money. The smaller the devolopment and production runs the worse this issue could be. Products like smart phones are devoloped to death so that production will have a high yield and near zero comebacks. They can do this because of the volumes sold.
For smaller production volumes it's just as cost effective to produce most things in the UK, factories in the Far East want to do production runs in the tens of thousands and not the hundreds like would be needed for RC race cars. If you leave things totally to the factories in the Far East then you can easily get a reputation for poor quality and cannot respond quickly to these complaints or to demand, who remembers when Durango couldn't even supply wheels or other parts for their kits? I couldn't race for a few weekends because the parts I needed weren't available. Tamiya (and others) keep production in Japan because they can control the quality, design updates and production volumes.

I have worked in both China and Japan (Japan for six months) and the cultures are very different, copyright laws are blatantly ignored in China and the quality can be let's just say variable. Japan is very different, failure and poor quality are not things they will accept.

[Jamesk]

Well done Badger for making sense, all manufacturers go thou ups and down's and its just a shame that Lee was left in the open at the last minute. Honda and Toyota left F1 in the same way, but both manufacturers are still racing as its core to there company, Honda are back to making F1 engines plus touring cars and Toyota are back with sports car racing and looks like going back to Rallying again.

So if there are some rule changes like there has been with top level motorsport and the rules are stabilized (especially in 2wd offroad) then they could be back quicker than we think, i think Tamiya will be back as they have had good success in the past and will be back to prove that they are one of the top racing car producers.

jK

[SH71]

My take on the situation for Tamiya reducing it's off road program is this,

They are poring it's racing budget into it's on road section due to it being a ISTC worlds year, they are primarly focused on developing the 418 into the best it can be & let's face it Yokomo have a mighty team this year & would be Tamiya's biggest threat. While I believe Lee was there primary international driver, it still ate somewhat into TRF's allowable budget for it's race program & with a world title to defend the decision was made to lay focus in 2014 with it's race program.

I could very well be wrong, but with Yatabe part of the world stage in 2015 perhaps Team TRF will return in 2015 stronger than ever?