Welcome to the fifth newsletter from the Mini-Kiwiland Shop
In this newsletter I would like to highlight Preiser products.
Preiser is by far world leader when it comes to model figures for modellers. The catalogue exceeds more than 3000 different sets in 17 scales. Besides the impressive range of products Preiser is also known for its high quality.
Preiser is actually the first brand that accepted Mini-Kiwiland as a reseller. Mini-Kiwiland started as a shop in 2016 with Preiser models only. At the time I had picked up modelling again and it surprised me that such an important brand for modellers was hardly available in New Zealand or for excessive high prices. I needed quite a few G scale figures and approached Preiser with the question how to get them in New Zealand. Starting a model shop had been my intention to support the Mini-Kiwiland attraction, but not in such an early stage. I decided to give it a try anyway.
As a newcomer in the market I tried to open accounts for existing brands in New Zealand at around a dozen NZ distributors, but not a single NZ distributor was and still is not interested in supplying the Mini-Kiwiland Shop. For some reason the hobby market in New Zealand seemed to be closed and blocked by and for certain brands.
This very limited market situation for New Zealand only encourages me to get existing and missing brands overseas instead. All our products are imported by the Mini-Kiwiland Shop. I am continuously looking out for new suppliers in different countries for fair prices. This does take time. Sometimes it takes months to set up an account. I need to take it brand by brand and check if there is actual demand for certain products in New Zealand as well. Listing products on the website is also very time consuming.
Some brands need to be taken to a higher level. Preiser is such a brand. There should be plenty of stock in New Zealand. Stock at the Mini-Kiwiland Shop is very low at the moment, but will steadily increase each month as soon as Preiser starts shipping to New Zealand again.
In future newsletters I will highlight more brands.
Kiro
Besides the many figures sets Preiser also has an interesting range of accessories. Below are some recent entries on the website:
For a list of all Preiser HO scale accessories on the website click here.
Preiser has released quite a few different farm vehicles. It includes kit sets as well as finished models with figures. Last week more were added to the website. Below are a few examples:
For a list of all Preiser HO Scale Farm Vehicles click here.
The Preiser catalogue contains over 200 different G scale sets in high quality. By far the largest selection of figures for garden railway G scale.
Last week more of these sets have been listed on the website. Below 4 examples:
For a list of all Preiser G scale products click here.
The Preiser catalogue contains 75 different 1:43 (O Scale) figures sets. Quite a few were only listed on the website just a week ago. Here are a few examples:
For a list of all Preiser O Scale figure sets click here.
Preiser also has some OO figures for the UK market. They have all been listed on the website recently. All sets are in stock at Preiser. Here are a few examples:
For a list of all Preiser OO Scale figure sets click here.
Preiser has 220 different N scale sets in its catalogue. Below are a few examples:
For a list of all 220 Preiser N scale products click here.
Preiser has a lot of 'Fire Brigade' figures, but also trucks and accessories. The trucks are ready-made, but can also be bought as kit sets. Below are some Preiser fire brigade items that have been listed on the website recently:
For a list of all Preiser HO scale fire brigade products click here.
Preiser has nearly 60 military 1:72 kit sets in its catalogue. Most are not in stock at Preiser unfortunately. Not all kits are on our website yet, but a few more were listed recently. All items have a link to the Plastic Soldier Review website where applicable.
For a list of all Preiser 1:72 items on the website click here.
Preiser has a budget 'Value For Money' series. These sets contain simplified painted figures for only $14.90 per set. At the moment Preiser has more than 130 of these sets in this series. Below are 4 recently listed sets on the website:
For a list of all HO Scale $14.90 sets click here.
Preiser has a catalogue of over 3000 different sets, but only around 43% of their products is actually in stock at Preiser. It seems that Preiser only starts reproducing sold-out products when they have enough new orders. This could take a few months, but also years. In worst case Preiser will decide not to reproduce and will discontinue an item.
Ordered items not in stock at Preiser will be placed in backorder for us. At some stage our backorder list was over 9 pages long.
Because of their exceptional low stock level we are often not able to supply many items quickly.
Once Preiser starts shipping to New Zealand again, we intend to receive shipments on a monthly basis. This way customer orders will arrive more quickly, but we can not guarantee any stock at Preiser. Preiser does not supply any information about (future) availability of items.
Like basically all German brands Preiser adjust its prices once a year to correct inflation. This means prices go up every year by a few percentages. Preiser usually does this every first of February. The Mini-Kiwiland Shop automatically corrects the Preiser prices to the new market value after Preiser has done this. A few percentage is not a lot, but it will add up over a few years.
When prices get recalculated the system will also look at average exchange rates in the past 12 months. Prices will not change after a bad or good exchange rate day. In the past years the value of the euro has been fairly stable, so this hasn't had any effect on Preiser prices.
Another factor that could change Preiser prices are changes in freight charges to New Zealand. This hasn't really changed significantly in the past few years, so this hasn't had any effect on Preiser prices so far as well.
Future Prices
A lot will change in the coming months, although I don't think this will have much effect on Preiser prices. I expect the Euro to get cheaper, but on the other hand I expect freight charges to increase significantly. This will hopefully keep the prices in balance.
Special Offers
Preiser does not do any special offers. No sales or clearance whatsoever. Special offers on the website are our own clearance of products that have not been sold in the past two years. The older the stock the higher the discount percentage.
Once sold these products will not come back in stock any more. Special customer out-of-stock orders only.
Discontinued items will not go on sale.
For the moment Preiser is not able to ship anything to New Zealand.
As soon as Preiser will start shipping to New Zealand again we will increase our stock to a much higher level, but we will still not be able to stock the entire catalogue of more than 3000 different sets. The intention is to stock up every month. Monthly shipments will also mean customer out-of-stock orders will arrive much faster, providing that Preiser stocks the ordered items.
For the moment many thanks for your patience!
