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  #1  
Old 02-10-2012, 07:10 PM
Rangerdog Rangerdog is offline
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PMI in business?

Is Paper Model International still in business? I understand it was sold a year or so ago. I can't relly tell from the web if the ads are current or leftover form several years ago.

Thanks,

Rangerdog
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Old 02-10-2012, 07:58 PM
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Darwin Darwin is offline
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After the years of waiting to see anything change on the website, I've pretty well concluded that PMI is a thing of the past.
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Old 02-10-2012, 09:12 PM
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I'm thinking that the new owner bought the business just so he could get all of those models for himself. It's just awful... I wish I thought of it.
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Old 02-11-2012, 04:53 AM
Rangerdog Rangerdog is offline
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That's sad. Thanks guys.
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Old 02-11-2012, 11:37 AM
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ARMORMAN ARMORMAN is offline
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From PMI:

Access to the PMI website and catalog are the same. PaperModels.net The new phone number is (510) 995 8960, Pacific Time. And the new email is [email protected].

Other US Sites (For printed/import kits):

http://www.papermodelstore.com

Welcome to Jimbo's papermodelworld

EDIT: I just spoke with Mark Baird, the new owner of PMI, and he's waiting for your orders, ladys.

Last edited by ARMORMAN; 02-11-2012 at 11:58 AM.
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Old 02-11-2012, 02:33 PM
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Darwin Darwin is offline
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If the paper model vendors in North America are still alive, it would be in their best interest to update their websites and let us know. When you open the webpage and see the most recent update is a year or (much more) old, it doesn't give the prospective customer a warm feeling about how serious the owner is about his business. And in this particular hobby, where the quality of the printed kits has been making such strides in improvement, having new inventory to offer is a must to get any of my hobby budget.
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Old 02-11-2012, 04:06 PM
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ARMORMAN ARMORMAN is offline
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Soo...using a phone or emailing as I did to get answers was too hard? Have you considered that the guy at PMI may be busy with other aspects of the business and have let it slip? Perhaps this is a part time venture because there is (unfortunately) not a large market for paper models in the U.S.?
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Old 02-11-2012, 05:35 PM
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Gil Gil is offline
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Part Time - Really?

Last update to the catalog "New Items" was made on July 20, 2009.

This suggests the business was acquired to sell off existing inventory with no intent in maintaining an ongoing customer relationship.

It would be nice to be in error on this point. Mark should drop in and say hello - give us some idea of his interest in the hobby...,

+Gil
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Old 02-11-2012, 06:27 PM
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ccoyle ccoyle is offline
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Armorman, your point is well taken, but I agree with Darwin and Gil -- if Mark is serious about business, he shouldn't be 'waiting' for anyone to order; he should be keeping his web site up-to-date. Two years of no updates and a catalog full of out-of-stock items (the catalog hasn't been updated since the going-out-of-business sale) won't entice too many customers. I recently ordered from Kartonmodell Shop precisely because their site and inventory are current; I would have gladly ordered stateside if the goods were available stateside, but they weren't -- or at least I think they weren't, because neither PMI nor PMS had them in stock on-line. I have ordered from PMI and Paper Model Store in the past and was satisfied with the transactions, but I suspect Krys and Mark are both losing business to dealers who are more engaged with their market segment.

Regards,
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Old 02-11-2012, 06:34 PM
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Yale Yale is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Darwin View Post
If the paper model vendors in North America are still alive, it would be in their best interest to update their websites and let us know. When you open the webpage and see the most recent update is a year or (much more) old, it doesn't give the prospective customer a warm feeling about how serious the owner is about his business. And in this particular hobby, where the quality of the printed kits has been making such strides in improvement, having new inventory to offer is a must to get any of my hobby budget.
Hearty agreement, Darwin! An important rule for any business is that the easier you make it for people to be customers, the more customers you're apt to have. Conversely, if you expect customers to accommodate you, you're not likely to keep enough customers to remain in business. This rule applies to any business, whether the owners run it full time or part time. The only companies that can get away with ignoring this rule are the hobby businesses that get infusions of cash from elsewhere -- or the businesses deliberately run at a loss for tax advantages elsewhere.

The fact that the various tabs of the website all display the same message, and have since 2009, creates the impression that PMI is not at all being run as a real business. If Joe designs models as a hobby, making them available for free, I'll snap them up gratefully. But if buy models, I expect professional behavior from the company.
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