lov2flyrc

My Feedback: (24)

Due to recent developments, uncertainty and volatility of the marketplace, and eroded confidence; Dreamworks Model Products has concluded that it would be in our best interest to discontinue the sale of Skymaster Jets. Our decision was not arrived at easily and was the product of much deliberation and soul-searching. Dreamworks Model Products is working hard to fill the recent void, but this takes time. We are constantly looking for innovative quality products, and will be expanding our product offerings over the next several months. We want to take this time to thank our customers who have supported Dreamworks with your patronage and kind words over the years and may all your landings be good ones!



Many Regards,
Todd Witkoff
Dreamworks Model Products

ravill

My Feedback: (11)

Todd,

You scared me with the title of your post!! With all the turmoil and the recent goings on, I hope the jet community can weather the storm. It's already a PITA to have to mail order stuff from accross the country, but I couldn't imagine having to order consistently from accross the globe..

Thanks for being there for us!

Raf

Gordon Mc

My Feedback: (11)

Glad to see that your post wasn't "I'm giving up and starting up a Starbucks store", which is kinda what I feared when I saw the start of your post.

Gordon

Kevin_W

My Feedback: (1)

Same here, the mouseover wasn't very reassuring either.
Made me more than a little concerned since I just placed my first order with Dreamworks about 3 hours ago. [sm=thumbup.gif]

LGM Graphix

My Feedback: (22)

Hey Todd,
I can't say that I blame you. With all of the new "factory direct" next to no cost manufactures out there I think we are slowly going to see the death of smaller hobby stores, whether online or brick and mortar. I think that is sad, really sad. It's guys like Dreamworks, HelijetRC, etc etc etc who make people in this hobby successful. It's the people who sell the product and support it, stand behind it, that will be missed. The face of RC jets is changing bigtime, the asian market is fiercly competitve and seems that they will undercut as far as they have to just to get the upper hand. It's got to be difficult as a retailer to know who or what to invest in anymore, when Skymaster first came onto the scene they were incredible prices for jets. Now there are kits out there for 1/3 the price. The general modelling community has become very "instant gratification" with ARF everything, you can buy complete aircraft with radio's RTF. The jet community is going this way now too, there are getting to be less and less "modellers" and more and more "hobbiests". This isn't always bad, but what it does mean is that before long that customer support will not exist anymore. To me, having a good dealer who will support their products and be there when I need them is worth a few hundred dollars per kit more than having to try to pick the right time of day to call china and hope that somebody speaks english.

Glad to see you're not just closing the doors, but it's definitely getting harder.

Well, that's just my 2 cents.

avicom

My Feedback: (14)

Todd, you know better than us what makes you take that decision. It's look that we have lost the first US dealer that give support for the SM products. Who's next? Airpac?... I wish you best luck with others brands you can offer to us.

Rgds
Alejandro

cactusflyer

My Feedback: (4)

Whew!

Man I haven't "skim read" something that fast since "History 101" way back in '77! I, too, was expecting the worst from the title of the thread and then the first few words that you wrote caused an "Oh Crap" feeling..............but alas, all will be better. I truly believe that.

Tailwinds,

John

lov2flyrc

My Feedback: (24)

LOL...Sorry guys, didnt mean to scare anyone .
Dreamworks is here for the Long Haul.... Lots of new product offerings in the works. We Strive to be your number one source for Jet Model Products and will continue to provide the quality products and services you require.
Todd

yeahbaby

My Feedback: (21)

thanks for the heart attack!!!

I might have to sick Chuck Norris on you just for spite!! you know he CAN lead a horse to water and make it drink!!

BTW got anyBoomer XL Digitech struts? pre-milled for Robart 630s?

cheers

buck

doug l

todd;
you scared me..thought i was going to lose my over night supply line to canada...

John Casey

My Feedback: (4)

Hey Todd,

Go to europe for a new line of kits, arfs, and a wider selection. Hunters, drakens, migs,
and on and on..... face it we are f-15/16/18/22ed out already..

.time for some new wings in our skys.

rhklenke

My Feedback: (24)

A freakin' men to that! There's a lot of neat stuff over there I wish it was easier to get here. However, the margin on stuff from Asia is probably better...

Bob

ghost_rider

My Feedback: (20)

I was about to hit the delete button when you first posted it but after reading the entire post, I realized that you have not gone to DEFCON1 (lol).

Hang in there for the Gipper my friend.

Terry Holston

My Feedback: (1)

What's a "geeper"??????

John Redman

My Feedback: (8)

Funny to read this thread. When I saw the posting I nailed it before opening it. Keep in mind Todd had brought other post to life asking about buying direct from China and such over the last month. This doesn't come as a surprise to me at all. I have watched from the sidelines as Todd has grown from a small little guy to a serious jet supplier. Although he does not design and build models as per BVM (a company I am attached to) he is very close to, if not at the same level of support for the jet community, in both parts and experienced help. I will say this is quite an accomplishment with the avenue modelers have taken in the last 15 yearas. He has the sense and the knowledge to be here for the long term.

Whatever the reason you have Todd, I support you 100%, and I will say this decision was probably a tough one. Good business man in our room here guys. There just aren't many who live the test of time in the jet world.

AirPac Models

Todd,
Sorry to hear about your decision, but I can totally understand your concerns. Although AirPac will not be supplying Skymaster line (as your decision to discontinue Skymaster Line). However we will keep supplying you Airpower and other line of products that we’ve always distribute to you.


For existing or potential customers of Skymaster,

AirPac Models will keep supplying and and service for Skymaster line. We have worked and supplied for Dreamwork Models for a long period of time. We will continue to serve customers regardless if you have gotten Skymaster products from AirPac, Dreamworks or AirPac's other US dealers.

EASYTIGER

My Feedback: (119)

x

Gordon Mc

My Feedback: (11)

The problem with that idea is that 3 months after Todd has spent a load of cash developing & testing those new models, Anton would be selling the same model from his Xtremejets site at substantially lower prices.

Gordon

EASYTIGER

My Feedback: (119)

I doubt that. You don't even know if anton will still be in business in three months.
I see Tam selling his A-4s just fine, F-18's, too. And I see Bobcats, Kingcats, Vipers, Skymaster F-4s, PST Panthers, Airworld Hawks, JHH A-7s, etc etc etc, all seem to be doing fine, without instantaneous bootlegging.
But if it's hopeless and pointless to develop new products, because someone might bootleg them, then yes, everybody should stop developing new products, right?
A lot of products have life cycles. You get a half a year or a year to capitalize on it before it becomes old and before it becomes copied. And then you had better have the new product ready. It's the kind of stupid stuff they teach you in business school. They also teach you "nothing ventured, nothing gained", and if you don't take SOME chances on developing new stuff, you'll never really lead the pack. How long before someone decides to sell the exact same stuff as you do right now, and give the same service, at lower prices? Better move forward...you have the skills and the service, you just need some real stars, like your own airplanes. And I think it does NOT amount to that much cash to get the ball rolling, I think a lot of people would like you to BELIVE the initial investment is incredibly high, but I don't think it is.
Whatever you do, I wish you all the luck in the world, I know SM is far from the only thing you sell(sold) and that you will find other stuff to replace it.

tamjets

My Feedback: (2)

Todd,
The modeler will understand your deccision and will continues support you for the great service you had offer to the jet community.
Kept up with the good works.

digitech

My Feedback: (10)

well i am sure there will be more and better products coming your way.....

ravill

My Feedback: (11)

Although I don't know Todd personally, I have the pleasure to speak with him on the phone a few times as well as being a patron with his business. The whole asia thing sounds like a holy headace right now....

I don't think that having Asia build our jets is the only answer. It seems that the most margin is seen in accesories anyways.

How come no one is thinking about Mexico or other latin american countries to build these jets. With NAFTA, CAFTA etc..?? QC would be easier to attain, the language barrier would not be as intense and we latinos love to work!!! What you guys think about that???[8D]

Raf

afterburner

My Feedback: (18)

Raf,
If they start making the jets in Mexico, we'll be spending all our hobby money on overpriced fruits and vegetables!

Marty

joesabido

Hey guys, I live in the Yucatan (Mexico), and I can tell you that this land is blooming with industries mainly from the USA, I think you might have a shot here.

There are lots of people in need of work, many artisans with lots of craftmanship experience on their hands, of course they have never built a Jet before and you'll have to teach them.

You'd have no problem setting a medium size workshop here and hiring a bunch of workers with experience on wood and/or fiberglass, I can guarantee you that. Production might be a little more expensive here, but we're a LOT closer to the US and what you'll save on shipping (money and time) you could spend it on Quality Care, and of course you wouldn't need to go such a long way to check on your stuff, and of course we're 30 minutes from the beach [8D], you'd only need to think of a good excuse for the wife for going on a "business trip" and coming home with a tan.

Besides, as RAVILL says, the language barrier would not be as severe, take me for example, I can speak somewhat good english

The minimum wage in this area (as of today) is around $4 USD per day. Of course this is only a benchmark and I would advise against paying that low, but it could be usefull as a starting point for you to do the math.

If you need more info or is there anything I can help you with, send me an email to - joseph at imvisual dot com dot mx

Cheers

ravill

My Feedback: (11)

See?? I told ya!!

Hey Todd, you wanna go halves in a central american expansion??

Raf