22-07-2025 - Newsletter #258

Time for feedback!
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I'm considering relocating the Mini-Kiwiland Hobby Shop as the lease comes to an end. The current location isn't ideal, but finding a suitable alternative seems impossible.
I'll have to settle for less. In that case there are several options:

1 - Petone, a side street halfway down Jackson Street. A commercial area.
2 - Taita. Close to the railway station. Industrial area.
3 - Upper Hutt. Industrial area.
4 - Churton Park - Residential, by appointment only, flexible hours.
5 - Paraparaumu Beach - Commercial area.
6 - Paraparaumu - Keeping it as it is.

I'm interested in whether residents of the Wellington region and Manawatu see a move as a difference. Would it change the frequency of visits?
Please respond how the different locations as mentioned above would affect you, not "what is best for Mini-Kiwiland Shop or the hobby industry."
For example, I'm not really interested in suggestions for a busy shopping street to generate more visitors. Something like that just does not seem to work, unfortunately.
The Mini-Kiwiland Shop remains primarily an online store with the option for customers to pick up orders and have a browse. A destination shop.

What would keep you away from a specific location? Parking? Opening hours? Accessibility? Public transportation?

Many thanks for any feedback!

Robert

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13-07-2025 - Newsletter #257

A new brand for the Mini-Kiwiland Shop is 'I Love Kit'. 'I Love Kit' is a Chinese plastic kit set manufacturer. A few kits have already arrived to test the demand. Please let me know if this brand is of any interest to you.

A large Academy kit sets shipment is on its way to New Zealand by sea. It contains sets that have never been in the Mini-Kiwiland Shop.

Special offers this week include 1:18th scale diecast cars, HO scale Best Of Show models and several HO scale items from Busch.

Robert

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08-07-2025 - Newsletter #256

Gamers Grass has released 20 new flowers and tufts sets. All will be stocked and are expected by the end of this month.

Oxford Diecast has also announced quite a few new releases. Nearly 90!
All Oxford new releases are stocked as well. None of the new announcements are yet available however. Stock is expected by the end of this year.
Only 8 Oxford models of the new announcements have been listed on the Mini-Kiwiland Shop website so far. More will follow in the coming weeks.

Among the special offers this week are 28mm Gamezone figures and HO scale Brekina cars.

Robert

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30-06-2025 - Newsletter #255

I am working on a new system for placing pre-orders on the website and ordering out-of-stock products: 'Special Orders'.

Ordering out-of-stock items on the website was possible before the pandemic, but unfortunately that was not successful. More than half of the orders were cancelled after arrival. This while at that time everything was shipped quite quickly by air to New Zealand and in a period, when suppliers had a good stock level.

Nowadays a lot comes in by sea transport and many suppliers and manufacturers do not have everything in stock.

The new system will therefore have some restrictions. I will start with suppliers, who have a reliable stock and can deliver reasonably quickly.

I would like to start with the following brands:

- Noch (landscaping items and HO scale model railway)
- Warhammer 40,000
- Hornby
- Scalextric
- Fujimi
- AMT

Note: placing 'special orders' is not fully operational yet.
If you are interested in trying out 'Special Orders', please let me know. 'Special Orders' needs to be activated per customer.

Robert

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22-06-2025 - Newsletter #254

A new improvement to the website ensures that popular items sell out less quickly. New stock is automatically ordered before an item sells out instead of waiting until there is no stock at all. The better an item sells, the sooner more stock is purchased.
This was already done with certain paint ranges, but is now fully automated for all products on the website.
This not makes it much less likely that best-sellers sell out, but it also saves me a lot of time keeping an eye on low stock of thousands of products.

AK Interactive has released a new paint line: AK Quick Gen.
Quick Gen is a contrast paint, like the Speedpaint from the Army Painter and Xpress Paint from Vallejo.
The Mini-Kiwiland Shop will stock the entire range of 79 colours plus all the accessories and sets. The first shipment is expected within a month.

Robert

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15-06-2025 - Newsletter #253

The procedure for picking up an order in the showroom has changed on the website.
The setup was still based on the previous location, where it was possible to choose a time slot outside opening hours for pick-up.
However, it was not possible to do this on the same day, because a lot of stock was not in the showroom, but at a storage location one street further away.

Choosing a time slot or day is no longer required from now on, as long as the order is picked up within a week.
An order can also be picked up on the same day, but it can take up to 2 hours before an order is ready.
In addition to the order confirmation by email, you will now also receive a confirmation that the order is ready for pick-up.
Because this is new and I am not sure whether everything is useful and clear, I would like to receive feedback on this from those who use this service. Can things be better? Is a second confirmation confusing? Or was something of the previous procedure more convenient?

Among the new arrivals are the entire new Ionic acrylic paint range from AMMO by Mig Jimenez. 180 colours!
I also received some nice big 1:16 scale Trumpeter kits en 1:72 scale HaT military figure sets.

I received plenty of useful feedback after my intention of stocking Arma Hobby kits. I decided to give it a try. Stock is expected within a month.

Many thanks,

Robert

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