We were talking about this in a previous thread. I think having O.S. Max drop the .40 LA as well as the blue LA series engines has created a ripple effect in Tower Hobbies' inventory. Tower had plenty of everything, but when the O.S. Max LAs got dropped/backordered it probably created a run on Tower's other less expensive engines. Now the LA series is back in stock, except for the .40 LA, and it's the other engine lines that are suffering from thin availability.

The most devoted of the O.S. Max enthusiasts will probably point to this as just another instance of all of the Chinese engine manufacturers copying O.S. again, but I'd simply chalk it up to supply and demand.