Hobbico For Sale!!!
03-22-2018, 04:54 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Hobbico For Sale!!!
Not trying to start any rumors, but did I read somewhere that "HOBBY KING" was in negotiations to purchase
Hobbico & all of the subsidiary companies. Please say this isn't so, they have ruined this hobby already with
their cheap junk............
Hobbico & all of the subsidiary companies. Please say this isn't so, they have ruined this hobby already with
their cheap junk............
03-23-2018, 02:40 AM
#4
Thread Starter
Hobbico, Tower Hobbies & Great Planes always had first class service, Hobby King, especially the
USA warehouse might be lucky if they can qualify for 3rd class service. They seem to like waiting
for 4 to 7 days before they even ship your order. They say it is due to the extremely "high volume"
of orders they receive.
USA warehouse might be lucky if they can qualify for 3rd class service. They seem to like waiting
for 4 to 7 days before they even ship your order. They say it is due to the extremely "high volume"
of orders they receive.
03-23-2018, 04:23 AM
#5
Reading from an article Hobbico is setting a minimum bid of 38 million for the entire company. They will also entertain separate bids for certain parts(brands) of the company. The judge will have to approve all bids.
Hobbico hopes to find a buyer at auction set for March 26 | News-Gazette.com
I have to laugh when folks mention HK buying them ! I suppose anything is possible and I'm sure HK will be there at the auction waving a dollar bill ! HK has always seemed to be the company that needs help getting dressed in the morning before heading out the door yet they seem to be able to keep the lights on in spite of themselves.
As most do, I hope that some reputable company purchases them and continues on.
Hobbico hopes to find a buyer at auction set for March 26 | News-Gazette.com
I have to laugh when folks mention HK buying them ! I suppose anything is possible and I'm sure HK will be there at the auction waving a dollar bill ! HK has always seemed to be the company that needs help getting dressed in the morning before heading out the door yet they seem to be able to keep the lights on in spite of themselves.
As most do, I hope that some reputable company purchases them and continues on.
03-23-2018, 11:21 AM
#7
The sale of Hobbico directly ties in with my thread down in the AMA sub forum one year ago , "Our Industry is Suffering" quoted from M.A. magazine April 2017, and I don't expect things to be getting any better any time soon . Whether or not HK or anyone else buys Hobbico , the sad fact is that the RC model airplane hobby isn't growing , and once the drone fad is replaced by the next greatest thing for the young techies who were us when we (and the hobby !) were young , will there really be enough of us left to support an "Industry" that's seen it's best days behind it ?
03-23-2018, 11:34 AM
#8
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Milan,
IN
Posts: 233
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I might be wrong, but I suspect liquidation is around the corner due to the soft hobby industry. The only parts that may survive will be the profitable ones without a lot of debt. It depends on how they have the businesses packaged up.
03-23-2018, 11:49 AM
#9
I know if I was an investor of one who is looking into this purchase, I would be extremely against it. Between the drone tech industry, and by 2020, possible heavy regulation too burdensome for the average hobbyist, the market screams of heavy risk.
03-23-2018, 10:30 PM
#10
Not only that if Hobbico can't make it after being in business for many years and being a top company at one time I doubt anyone else will do any better.
03-24-2018, 04:04 AM
#11
If I am not mistaken though, their problems came from some bad business purchases and business model changes (just from online reading - I don't have any proof). I think this business could be purchased and could work, especially now that our administration wants things back in the US and it might even be possible for the potential buyer to appeal for some serious breaks under the current administration.
03-24-2018, 06:59 AM
#12
Horizon Hobby is going to make a bid for part of the company:
Horizon Hobby agrees to make $18.8M bid for Hobbico units | News-Gazette.com
I'm not entirely sure that's a good thing, though. Horizon deals almost exclusively with ARF's. The only kits they have are Guillows.
Horizon Hobby agrees to make $18.8M bid for Hobbico units | News-Gazette.com
I'm not entirely sure that's a good thing, though. Horizon deals almost exclusively with ARF's. The only kits they have are Guillows.
03-24-2018, 08:34 AM
#13
Horizon Hobby is going to make a bid for part of the company:
Horizon Hobby agrees to make $18.8M bid for Hobbico units News-Gazette.com
I'm not entirely sure that's a good thing, though. Horizon deals almost exclusively with ARF's. The only kits they have are Guillows.
Horizon Hobby agrees to make $18.8M bid for Hobbico units News-Gazette.com
I'm not entirely sure that's a good thing, though. Horizon deals almost exclusively with ARF's. The only kits they have are Guillows.
To be honest , I'd way rather see HH buy it than HK , at least with HH we have some hope of warranty replacement of equipment that shows up DOA ....
03-24-2018, 12:26 PM
#15
My Feedback: (28)
Hobbico, Tower Hobbies & Great Planes always had first class service, Hobby King, especially the
USA warehouse might be lucky if they can qualify for 3rd class service. They seem to like waiting
for 4 to 7 days before they even ship your order. They say it is due to the extremely "high volume"
of orders they receive.
USA warehouse might be lucky if they can qualify for 3rd class service. They seem to like waiting
for 4 to 7 days before they even ship your order. They say it is due to the extremely "high volume"
of orders they receive.
Last edited by Desertlakesflying; 03-24-2018 at 12:33 PM.
DARN!
03-26-2018, 06:36 AM
#20
03-26-2018, 03:17 PM
#22
I'm not worried about it. Tower hobbies is basically the Walmart of the hobby industry. One stop shopping. You can still get a multitude of airplane junk direct from the manufacturers. So maybe you will have to shop around a bit to get something. Nothing google can't handle. There is also a growing number of cottage manufacturers out there, especially kit makers. Some of them are so swamped with work they can't handle the load. They will be expanding.
We're going to be ok. The industry just needed to turn a sharp corner.
carl
We're going to be ok. The industry just needed to turn a sharp corner.
carl
04-01-2018, 02:11 AM
#23
Man, Hobbico's auction organizers sent out info packets to literally hundreds of potential interested parties, but none responded except the already flagged bid by Horizon for the RC business.
Horizon the sole bidder for Hobbico's RC business News-Gazette.com
Horizon the sole bidder for Hobbico's RC business News-Gazette.com
Last edited by KiwiKid; 04-01-2018 at 02:16 AM.
04-01-2018, 05:35 AM
#24
Thank God HH got it , it's truly great indeed that with all of the HK rumors there obviously wasn't even a bid put in by HK ! The last thing the hobby needs is more HK type no service businesses . Funny that with the HK faithful it's always about how great they are for the hobby by making it "affordable" when the reality is that those "discounts" come at the price of fellow hobbyists getting defective equipment for which there is no recourse , I really don't need such "affordability" at the expense of a fellow flyer getting screwed !