Germany (DHL) stopped shipping to New Zealand three months ago and it doesn't look like they will be shipping again soon.

DHL basically has a monopoly position in Germany. Their rates are quite low compared to shipping from the UK and the USA. This is because they mainly use passenger flights to ship packages. Freight flights are more expensive, which makes shipping to New Zealand for German DHL rates not feasible for DHL.

Even when Germany (DHL) is going to ship to New Zealand again, it will be with a lot of delay (and at higher prices). There are simply not enough flights. This means that it is unlikely to receive shipments from Germany this year.

This obviously has an effect on our sales, as most of our model railway products come from Germany. Our stock is getting critically low.

The German brands that are affected (with links to our remaining stock) are:

* Brekina
* Busch (Stock List)
* Faller (Stock List)
* Juweela (Stock List)
* Kibri (Stock List)
* LGB
* Marklin
* Noch (Stock List)
* Pola G (Stock List)
* Preiser (Stock List)
* Viessmann (Stock List)
* Vollmer (Stock List)

I am looking for a freight forwarder to ship German products by sea. This is a lot cheaper than air freight, but takes longer. Although air freight from other countries in Europe takes an extremely long time at the moment. We still expect shipments sent three months ago.

It would be ideal if the shipments of many German suppliers could be combined in one container, but this seems complicated at this stage.

Combining freight and shipping by sea is much better organized from the USA. This is why I will focus on American import for model railway for the time being. Sea freight from the USA is also a lot faster than from Europe.

For the future I already intended to use sea freight anyway to keep costs and our prices down. It just needs to be done earlier for European and UK suppliers than anticipated.

All will be sorted in the end. There's no need to worry. It just takes longer to get everything organized in these crazy times.

The above has no effect on Die Cast- and Military/wargamers shipments. Those do not come from Germany. They arrive in stock as usual.

Kiro

It has been my intention to get large model railway shipments from the USA by the end of this year, but as nothing is coming in from Germany, I will organize such a shipment this month.

Buying in bulk from America allows me to get better prices plus shipping will be a lot cheaper when this is done by sea instead of by air.

This will still be a test. Former model railway shipments from the USA have been unsuccessful in the past. The last time we received items was some time ago. Our customer base has grown considerably since then.

If the coming shipment proves to be successful, we will obviously repeat this. The more sales, the faster a new bulk shipment can be organized.

We are talking about thousands of American model railway products, while only a small part is on our website. It takes a long time to enter all those products in our database. If you are interested in products not on our website, please let me know and I will prioritize those by listing them. Without obligations of course.

It is also not possible to stock everything. Items placed on watchlists are more likely to arrive in stock.

Kiro

26 American Diorama 1:18 scale figures have been listed on the website. Below are 4 examples:

For a list of all American Diorama 1:18 scale figures listed on our website so far click here.

The following Auto World models arrived in stock recently and are on sale:

Land Rover releases models that can only be bought at Land Rover dealerships. We received two 1:76 scale promotional sets of their 'Land Rover Experience' campaign that were made by Oxford. One of the sets is on sale:

The buildings kit sets Walthers have been reduced in price. Not all Walthers kit sets have been listed on our website yet. Below are just a few examples.

Stock is expected in August.

For a list of all Walthers HO scale buildings listed on our website so far click here.

The buildings kit sets Walthers have been reduced in price. Not all Walthers kit sets have been listed on our website yet. Below are just a few examples.

Stock is expected in August.

For a list of all Walthers N scale buildings listed on our website so far click here.

All Woodland Scenics products have been reduced in price on our website. The entire Woodland Scenics catalogue contains nearly 2000 products, while only 347 of those are listed on our website.

If you are interested in Woodland Scenics products that are not listed on our wesbite, please let us know and we'll list it as soon as possible.

Items on watchlists are more likely to arrive in stock.

Stock is expected in August.

To visit our Woodland Scenics page on our website click here.

Most of the beautiful detailed ready-made buildings from Woodland Scenics have been reduced in price by $10 or $15. HO scale as well as N scale. Below are just a few examples.

Stock is expected in August.

For a list of all Woodland Scenics buildings (HO + N scale) listed on our website so far click here.

All electrical products from Woodland Scenics figures have been reduced in price. Most of these products have not been listed on our website yet. Below are just a few examples.

Stock is expected in August.

For a list of all Woodland Scenics electrical items listed on our website so far click here.

The Woodland Scenics figures have been reduced in price by around 10%. HO-, N- scale as well as G scale. Below are just a few examples.

Stock is expected in August.

For a list of all Woodland Scenics figures (all scales) listed on our website so far click here.

All landscaping products from Woodland Scenics figures have been reduced in price. Most of these products have not been listed on our website yet. Below are just a few examples.

Stock is expected in August.

For a list of all Woodland Scenics landscaping items (all scales) listed on our website so far click here.