ORIGINAL: Ex_Pat_Tanker
ORIGINAL: YHR
Mato has a chance because of the hugh volume they sell worldwide, and their position in the market place.
I would question that assertion to be honest, Dan (but not because I want an argument about it
).
Other than Mato's operation in Canada, and small time guys like Phil who found out about them because they were into the hobby already, who stocks the Sherman in North America? Certainly not the big online toy sellers that Google links to like Raidentech, etc.
The same is true for the UK, only Tankzone out of Googles top 10 links have them - and its a good 50 pounds more than the equivalent spec HL, so he's not going to shift too many to the casual buyer...
From what I can see, Mato really shot themselves in the foot by not having this made by Heng Long under their brand and sold thru their channels - we are still going to buy our tanks thru our favourite retailers because of the service they offer so Mato aren't going to loose too much themselves, but by not selling a product that the 'pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap' crowd (who can shift them by the container load) as well they have lost a lot of 'toy' sales that would have paid off the investment much faster.
This is by design. Mato wanted complete control of the product. I know this for a fact. They didn't want to deal with the Raidenetechs of the world. Instead they wanted Tank knowledgeable people to deal them. I think this has paid off. With all that has been wrong with them , nobody is really out bad mouthing them. Why???? Because problems have been dealt with to the satisfaction of the customers. Mato could never have ensured that by dealing with big online peddlers. Instead of shooting themselves in the foot, they actually demonstrated they care about what they are selling and their customer as much as making a profit.