Tamiya- Irish Distributor?

larry1

Looking to locate some Tamiya products. Is there an Irish distibutor/agent or do I have to go to UK. Heard a guy called Douglas MacKenzie from Drogheda was the agent? anyone got contact details?

Many thanks

coolwings

larry1 wrote:

Looking to locate some Tamiya products.

There is no Irish contact for Tamiya.

larry1 wrote:

Is there an Irish distibutor/agent

You will have to contact the UK distributor if the distributor is what you need. Are you a hobbyshop? (The UK distributor would not sell to personal consumers).

If you are a modeller looking for some kits ....
Dickie - Tamiya die cast models are available in Ireland from Irish Decal Products in Dun Laoghaire.

Tamiya plastic kits are available in Green Hobby & Model, Dublin hobby shop.
They keep in stock Tamiya 1/72th and 1/48th WWII scale planes and armour - tanks, artillery & so on and accept orders.

The Doktor

I have always found the UK option best. I am a lover of Tamiya plastic kits and RC stuff. The agent in the UK is called "the hobby company".
I have always found them great to deal with. Any time I had a damaged part in a kit (even some I have damaged myself:rolleyes: ) they have always replaced them free of charge.
I have often wanted particular kits that the shops in Ireland have been less than helpful in getting, and have found that my business has now gone totally to the UK.

coolwings

The Doktor wrote:

I have always found the UK option best. ..... The agent in the UK is called "the hobby company"..... found them great to deal with. ....often wanted ...kits that the shops in Ireland have been less than helpful in getting.....

Maybe that's because that particular company has distribution rights for UK and Ireland, so Irish shops are forced to deal with them but for some strange reason (go figure) Irish shops find it almost impossible to actually get Tamiya stuff at a reasonable price, or in a reasonable time. Even getting a simple telephone call returned can be a challenge requiring time and many outward calls.
Coolwings
(Who thinks the "UK option" stinks - from a consumers point of view)

g5hn710m4xpdwy

thats the buisness of green hoby tlakin!:D but yeah it porblably sure is hard on yous...

coolwings

I make no secret I am involved in Green Hobby, that it is not just my own opinion. I am into all kinds of modelling from Meccano to RC personally. I have done website work for model clubs too.
Now if I am a modeller , and if I do a lot more modelling than most other people then I spend more time at it. So I am likely to be a bit better informed than most as to how it works.

The UK companies that distribute to UK and Ireland have an arrangement which is debatable whether if it is legal or against EU laws. Almost always you will find that the products these companies sell to Ireland are priced over the international average when they get here. That is no coincidence IMHO.

Others have voiced exactly the same views in this forum before.
Have a look at what Billyblanks says in this post here and make your own mind up.

BTW I've no axe to grind over Tamiya either - I really like their kits. I don't do much plastic kits these days, but I also found Tamiya hard to get when I looked for it round here.

As Billyblanks says, this will get sorted out soon - the modern Irish shops are too professional to allow it go on - and are all pushing Tamiya to get it sorted out. It's only a matter of time.

Spitfire666

I recently done a search around for decent tamiya plastic models because i liked the high detail and resonable ease of making and customising the kits and found that its realy hard to get a hold of car models and the reason i was given by more then one model shop is that tamiya only have one supplier in ireland and as he is the only supplier he takes his time dealing with people and alot of shops have had confrontations with him over this and so refuse to deal with him. An example of this was a guy who ordered a large model car and was told he would be called when it came in and then forgot about it until he got a phone call a year later telling him that they had the kit he ordered.One or two shops by-pass him and will get models in from uk suppliers for you although they are not technicaly allowed to do this.

The Doktor

The first time I went abroad to get a tamiya kit, was when I saw the RC Tiger tank. I had to have it! I went into a model shop (which will remain nameless), and said "I want a Tamiya RC Tiger 1".. he said "Its really expensive"... I said "I know, I dont care, I just want it, do you want me to pay up front? Or a substantial deposit"... he said " Its really expensive" ... I said "can you get me one or not??" .... "Eh yeah... but its really expensive"... "OK how much do u want"... "Eh its really expensive... eh.. I dont think I can get one"
I am a customer.. I want something, and I was giving him license to put the arm in, as the way I saw it at the time, I didnt mind waiting, or paying a good bit extra, to 1. Get what I wanted and 2. Give an Irish shop the business.
I went to a couple of different places and got no help. So.. I ordered from a shop online, and had my Tiger in 4 days. Since then I havent bought a model (except a couple of RC helicopters) in Ireland. I spend at least €300 euro a month on plastic models, and the various bits I want.
Also while going to the UK I discovered the wonderful world of aftermarket parts for plastic kits, that seem near impossible to get here.
I understand that the market here is just nothing like the market in the UK, but none the less, I am the customer and I want what I want (trying not to sound like a spoiled child). As a customer, I dont care what the supplier does or doesnt do, or weather he can be bothered doing a good job of supplying the Irish shops properly. This goes for all business here, if the customer doesnt get what they want, they go somewhere else.

coolwings

I expect this type of discussion takes place in every smaller country that is beside a bigger country. The bigger, more long established model suppliers in the big neighbour abuse their position and put a stranglehold on the newer smaller suppliers in what they see as "their" sales territory.

It is a transition phase and it will be over when most Irish model shops are big enough to ignore the messing about that these household names do and get on with buying the gear direct.

At the moment only one or two Irish model suppliers can do this. Unfortunately for you Doktor, the more specialist the item, and the smaller the demand for it here, the less chance there is of an Irish supplier sorting out that one. So in the case of really unusual stuff, it will be many years.
But dragging ourselves out of the slime is already well in progress.
For many mainstream model products, the main Irish model shops are already able to sell in Ireland at lower cost, and lower hassle, than the same item in UK.
In some cases Irish model shops are selling to modellers in US what they cannot get at a reasonable cost in their own country.

The Doktor wrote:

As a customer, I dont care what the supplier does or doesnt do.... if the customer doesnt get what they want, they go somewhere else.

Absolutely right. If we didn't do that, there would be no incentive for shops to improve and become more professional.
For me the test is: did you have a pleasant experience with the gear the last place sold/recommended to you? That includes all factors that make a "pleasant experience", price, advice, suitability of the item for the purpose intended, backup, reliability...everything.
If the supplier passes the test - I keep on doing biz with them. If not I look for better.

Spitfire666

I was told that its more tamiya themselves that wont deal with other supplyers as i know two guys who own model shops that have hounded tamiya at shows to be a supplyer but they said no.