Tales of Transparency

Tales of Transparency: The Court Says, “Turn Off the Tariffs!”

In a 6-3 ruling, the US Supreme Court today struck down the Trump Administration tariffs that were imposed in early 2025 citing that the executive branch has overstepped its bounds by attempting to add tariffs to countries we trade with to level the “economic playing field”. According to the Trump Administration, they will attempt to enforce the tariffs by other means, many of which take time to implement. Its not clear if these attempts will come before the Supreme Court at a later date and get reviewed much like the Trump tariffs.

In the meantime, monies collected under the Trump tariffs will have to be refunded to those entities that were forced to pay them in order to bring goods into our country. This includes import/exporters and distributors but does not include retailers nor customers of retailers that had to pay higher prices throughout the 2025 calendar year and part of 2026. What it will likely do is help to decrease the price of goods that have yet to be shipped to the United States. Countries such as China will likely benefit the most since these trading partners were charged some of the highest tariffs under the Trump plan.

In his press conference following the ruling, President Trump announced that the US will be imposing a 10/15% global tariff on every country around the world that trades with the US at least until the Administration can come up with other ways to address the tariff issue. Clearly the President has no intent on letting the matter drop or who he lashes out against to gain the upper hand. At this point in time, we are not certain Trump can tinker with the tariffs without Congressional approval since Congress holds the power of the purse, not the Executive branch. And, in light of the recent SCOTUS ruling, its highly unlikely they will approve any subsequent attempts at imposing a tariff even if he claims our nation is being hurt by unfair trading conditions.

For more information on the Supreme Court decision and Trump’s response, visit this link.

Takeaway: While it was hoped that the SCOTUS ruling would help to bring about certainty in an uncertain world, it may have had the opposite effect. Trump is still pursuing other methods of raising tariffs, some of which he may have the power to implement and others where he clearly has to defer to Congress to enact. As a retailer, its therefore difficult to determine what the going price should be for anything coming in from afar. One minute, we remove the tariffs from the price of an item, and the next we have to put it back on and at indeterminate levels. We had hoped that with the SCOTUS decision we and others would be done with this whole affair but our President seems to feel otherwise. Ultimately, it may take a change in the administration to bring about tariff relief — one more willing to deal with our trade partners — which is still two years away. An eternity for some, a death knell for others.

Share This:

Tales of Transparency: Aggressive Buyers

Recently we received a negative feedback on eBay and the marketplace seems unwilling to remove it even though we fully explained our side of the story. The reason this buyer decided to leave a scathing remark was because he received a large Forces of Valor tank that he claimed was slightly damaged during transit. Apparently, he was able to repair the minor damage but in so doing sent us a message indicating his displeasure and, more importantly, that we didn’t respond quickly enough to his missive during the busy holiday season. He did not indicate that he wanted to return the model; nor did he ask for a partial refund as compensation. Instead, his note to us was vulgar, as if to say we had a hand in sending him a broken model. While we don’t open each model ahead of time to inspect a product for any number of reasons, we do shake it a bit to see if anything is rattling around prior to its packing and mailing.

We don’t often get negative feedback on eBay — in fact, if you read our overall feedback you’ll see most comments are quite positive. In some instances, models arrive damaged from a courier mishandling the parcel so we do our best to work with the buyer to resolve the issue. If the customer cannot repair the damage, then they are free to open a return, whereby we pay for the return shipping and promptly refund the customer the cost of the sale. What bothers me isn’t so much the negative feedback. What does strike a chord, however, is the recent trend of running into aggressive buyers on eBay and elsewhere, where they feel as if they can dictate terms, tell us what they are willing to pay for an item, and, if need be, tell the world that we didn’t buckle to their demands. Our policy is simple. This is what we sell and this is what we sell it for. I don’t go into a local fast food restaurant and attempt to barter or negotiate with the manager to get a burger or taco at a lower price, and this is the way we conduct our own business. If you do not like this approach to the running of our business, then I have only one thing to say — buy the item from someone else. We are not here to be talked down to as if we are some sort of misbehaving junk yard dog nor do we deserve the brunt of your misplaced anger if your day isn’t going well. In short, I will not cave to your demands under any circumstances and, if need be, will resort to legal action if you decide to take things to another level when our response is not to your liking.

A couple of years ago, we ran into a similar situation on our e-commerce web site where one buyer demanded we lower the price of an item and wouldn’t take no for answer even when we explained to him that the manufacturer increased the cost of the item well beyond its initial asking price. He did his utmost to destroy our reputation, but never once told the full story behind his anger. As if that weren’t enough, he then went on to attempt to break into our Amazon Seller account to do as much damage as possible to our operation. I know this because we received multiple notifications that someone was attempting to access our account. To make a long story short, he was unable to break into our account but to this day still attacks us online.

To sum up, if you do not like the fact that we stick to our guns when selling an item, then move on. From my standpoint, life is too short to worry about why you feel it necessary to take a piece of diecast memorabilia so seriously and whether or not you can deal with someone saying no to your demands. There are plenty of other dealers out there who I can only assume are more than willing to cave to your demands. I won’t.

Share This:

Tales of Transparency: Its Been a Long Tough Year

To say that 2025 has been an incredibly tough year would be a terse yet severe understatement. Between my wife’s illness, her recovery, the new Administration coming to power, the recent government shut down and finally the effects of tariffs, all seem to conspire to work against us, particularly at this time of year when we should be up to our eyeballs in the latest and greatest product coming to market. I know our competitors feel much the same way, each dealing with the vagaries of business as best as they can, but it just seems to be hitting home at a time when we have to evaluate the world in which we play in discreet terms.

But then there’s the intangibles to consider. Earlier this month, Hornby USA shuttered its doors, all in an effort to consolidate its business and reduce costs. If you aren’t familiar with Hornby, they’re the blokes that sold us all sorts of Corgi merchandise, from 007-inspired motorcycles and copters to the complete Aviation Archives collection. Some lines we never carried, such as Wallace and Grommet kid-oriented products that has/had a devoted following over in Europe to the Thunderbirds puppet-based line of high-tech conveyances. Now I don’t know about you, but the Thunderbirds first appeared on television way back in the sixties when I used to watch it, so the license is a bit long-in-the-tooth for my taste. I’m sure it sold well, but I prefer something a little more current, such as Top Gun models or Star Trek starships, which help to define our industry to both old timers and newcomers alike.

Which leads me to the point of this post. Hornby decided to break up the distribution of its many US lines as a means of remaining in vogue with North American collectors. Unfortunately, this has led to several problems, most notably both pricing and pack sizes. While there’s no way of getting around the tariff situation unless the Supreme Court decides to put the kibash on the Trump-imposed taxes which many feel will occur in 2026, we’ve had to increase prices across-the-board to adhere to the latest bump up in MAP changes. But we’ve also noticed that the discounts we once received from Hornby have vanished and, along with it, an eye-popping increase in pack sizes. Whereas we were once able to purchase smaller aircraft in four-packs, we’ve now witnessed a threefold increase in some of the very same models, such as their Spitfires or World War I fliers. In one instance, their upcoming Stuka dive-bomber can only be obtained if we purchase in 36-piece lots, which is far in excess of what we feel we need in a standard business cycle. I’m not certain why they cannot be broken down further into smaller lots or re-packaged to accommodate the typical US re-seller beset by higher-priced merchandise. Now, the odd thing here is that the upcoming Me-410 destroyer can be obtained in single-serving packs, which makes the Stuka buy all the more problematic if we plan to continue stocking the line in 2026 and beyond.

To sum up, we cannot bring in some of their newest merchandise unless the pack counts decrease dramatically. While some dealers can no doubt handle these larger buys and tie up dollars for extended periods of time, we’ve decided to make camp along the banks of the Rubicon and wait it out until something is worked out between Hornby and our US distributor to make it worthwhile selling their products. Right now, something smells foul, and it isn’t my wife’s cooking.

Takeaway: While times are tough, manufacturers and distributors need to explore ways to make it as convenient as possible for dealers to sell their products before the clock strikes twelve and the coach in which we’ve rode in and reveled about reverts to an ordinary pumpkin. The mice have spoken…

Share This:

Tales of Transparency: Amnesty Day

I’m not certain what gets into some people, talking down to us as if we were misbehaving junkyard dogs for not listening to or acceding to their demands. Its something we’ve had to deal with ever since our inception — instances where a customer feels as if they are in the right despite what they are being told, shown or provided. I don’t think its a generational thing, since it emanates from every quarter and every demographic, nor do I think its directed at us personally, even though I sometimes have my doubts. In any event, their behavior is so abhorrent and/or despicable that we either have to close out their account with us on the web site or permanently block them from making any further purchases on our marketplace sites. Its sad, but I hear this type of behavior occurs with other dealers.

That said, once a year, usually on Thanksgiving, we temporarily remove any account blocks and permit these very same people from making another purchase from us. Mind you, if we still get an earful of ridiculous comments or they take unwarranted action such as cancelling the sale moments after they make it, they go right back on our “Naughty List” and are blocked from both communicating with us or making any additional purchases for an entire year. “Amnesty Day”, as we’ve come to call it, is our way of rolling out the welcome mat all over again to those individuals that, for whatever reason, go off on a tangent, rant or any other type of misguided attack but have promised to behave and follow the rules.

So, on November 27th, Thanksgiving Day, anyone that landed on our blocked buyer list can purchase an item(s) on eBay without any strings attached. Should that same person decide to unload on us all over again, then the sale is cancelled and their account is once again blocked. If the purchase goes through without any hitches, then they can resume purchasing from us after Amnesty Day, unless, of course, they decide to blow up all over again.

Takeaway: Amnesty Day falls on Thanksgiving. Anyone that may be on our blocked buyer list on eBay can make a purchase from us and demonstrate that they have things under control, thereby enabling them to make further purchases on eBay. Blow it, and you’re back on our Naughty List. In short, you can save the drama for your mama….

Share This:

Tales of Transparency: Ebay Feedback

In recent months, we’ve noticed an uptick in eBay buyers placing orders with us only to cancel them within minutes. Oftentimes, this occurred with buyers who had little or no positive feedback and seemed to be relatively new to eBay. We wondered why this was occurring since the buyer can theoretically review the invoice prior to commitment and sending us their payment. initially we thought it was buyer’s remorse but have instead reached the conclusion that buyers were looking to get a positive feedback added to their profile to make them look better to other sellers.

Our policy has always been to block these types of buyers from placing further orders with us since they are essentially wasting our time and screwing with the system. To combat this growing problem, we decided to go one step further when it comes to leaving feedback. Going forward, we have changed our policy by leaving positive feedback only after payment has been made, the customer has received the item and they have first left us positive feedback so that they cannot game the system. Once they have done this, then eBay will automatically leave them a canned positive feedback on their profile.

If you are a legitimate buyer, I strongly suggest that you refrain from this type of behavior or at least notify us why you are looking to scratch your order before attempting to cancel the transaction. Once we hit the “Block Buyer” button, you can no longer communicate with us through eBay’s messaging system and we are not going to reinstate you unless you have a good explanation as to why you need to cancel your order. We’re sorry to have to make this change but quite frankly we aren’t here to play games with buyers since we are upfront with our listing and feedback history. We hope everyone understands why we have resorted to making this change but a few bad apples have made it necessary for us to keep up with these types of shenanigans by altering our feedback policy.

Takeaway: Expect to be permanently blocked on eBay if you submit an order only to cancel it within minutes of its being placed.

Share This:

Tales of Transparency: The Motor Pool’s 25% Off 25th Anniversary Sale!

You heard right! We’re celebrating 25 years of doing business online by kicking off our once in a lifetime “25th Anniversary” 25% Off Sale! From now until December 1st you can deduct 25% off the price of any in-stock item in our vast inventory. This sale does not apply to pre-order or back order merchandise.

Please enter discount code “TMP285” in the coupon box (see red circled region within the shopping cart as shown below) just prior to final checkout.

Sale ends midnight, Wednesday, December 1st, 2025, at 12:00 AM. May not be combined with any other sales discount. Note: Please be aware that we do not retroactively enter sales discounts if you forget to apply the coupon code so please make sure you enter it correctly at the time you check out. Also, there are no longer any restrictions concerning which lines may not qualify for this discount.

Products Eligible for Discount: In-Stock Merchandise
Promotion Duration: November 23rd-December 1st
Classification: Sale Discount

Takeaway: You can save some hard-earned coin — 25% — by placing an order during our 25th Anniversary Sale for any in-stock item(s).

Share This:

Tales of Transparency: What’s Old is New Again

As we discussed in several previous blog posts, there’s a strong chance that we may not receive many of the 4th quarter releases we had expected, due in large part to the current trade war occurring between the US and China. Furthermore, even if we do receive some of the products listed in our November and December Upcoming Release sections, there’s a better than average chance that the prices will have escalated exponentially, well above the asking prices we had expected to sell them for prior to the current trade imbalance and ensuing tariffs.

So, to augment our current inventory we have decided to enter the market and look for deals on previously released lines that we once sold but are no longer available to us through our normal channels. Bear in mind that we intend to purchase items on a piece meal basis and in limited quantities based upon what is available for sale and their asking price. Over the weekend, we came across several of the older Minichamps 1:35 scale armor being sold on eBay and decided to snap them up and make them available for sale to devotees of the range that may not have access to the ‘Bay. Needless to say, all of these items will be sold at premium prices well above their original selling price and will be sold on a first come first served basis. If we see additional deals pop up, we’ll explore what’s available to us and go from there.

All of the items that are returning to stock are listed as new by the seller although we will inspect them closely to ensure they are as advertised. So, even though they were once part of someone else’s collection, they can still be considered new, much like a proof Morgan silver dollar may have languished for years on end in multiple collections since they were first introduced well over a hundred years ago. Please bear this in mind should you question their condition or where the stock came from. Anyway, we should have the first batch of vehicles in stock by the end of this week.

Takeaway: To augment our inventory for the holiday season, we’ve resorted to purchasing some stock in after market sales venues such as eBay. These items are being listed as new by the sellers and are being carefully inspected for defects before being listed on our web site.

Share This:

Tales of Transparency: 4th Quarter Pre-orders

Please note that due to the ongoing trade war between the US and China, items expected from November 1st onwards may be subject to increased tariffs above and beyond what was originally indicated. Therefore we will not guarantee the pricing of these items until we know — with certainty — what our costs will be based upon what our distributor/manufacturer charges us at the time the item is ready for shipment to us. If the price of an item increases, we will contact each customer and ask if they still want the item at the revised price. If they do not want the item, we will cancel their order and refund any pre-payment they may have sent us.

We are sorry to have to take this extraordinary step, but we are not here to sell products at a loss based upon a trade war between the US and China and the resultant whims of our executive branch. We hope you understand but no retailer can survive this situation which seems to change on an almost daily basis.

Naturally, we’re not sure where all of these tit-for-tat measures will lead now or in the future. Take this video, for instance. The host discusses a number of issues that are coming to the fore for both the US and the PRC, not to mention the rest of the world. If China is attempting to clamp down on the export of refined rare earth metals then a number of countries are affected, not just the US. In response, the Trump Administration is supposedly considering a 500% tariff against the PRC. If true, then all bets are off concerning any present and future shipments from China to the US, both in terms of rare earth metals as well as a wide assortment of finished goods that China manufactures. Short of a kinetic war, which many believe is coming in 2027 over Taiwan, then this pre-emptive economic strike clearly indicates that at least a trade war is brewing between the US and the PRC, much like the stance the US took against Imperial Japan in the lead up to war in the Pacific.

Share This:

Tales of Transparency: Tariffs ‘R Us

Well, the week ended with a big bang. Early Friday, President Trump announced on social media that the latest tariff talks with the PRC had broken down for various reasons and that he would be taking punitive action against China for failing to live up to their end of the bargain. According to his post, Trump would impose a further 100% tariff increase on China, purportedly to take effect on November 1st or perhaps sooner if he decides to play hard ball with the Chinese delegation. Needless to say, Trump was supposed to meet with President Xi of China in South Korea later this month, to discuss matters and hopefully bring a resolution to this trade war. In a separate matter, the US Supreme Court isn’t set to take up the matter of tariffs until November, which is far too late for most manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to take action for the upcoming holiday season.

There was a number of Chinese-made products expected to arrive in early November, which are obviously now affected by the recent rash decision by the Trump Administration to increase the tariffs to unassailable levels. Right now, we are in a quandary as to what to do, and waiting to hear back from our suppliers to see if further adjustments are warranted regarding both dates of availability and pricing. Its entirely possibly that these goods won’t even make it to our shores for the holiday season and could be placed on indefinite hiatus until something is worked out between the world’s two largest economies. Obviously, we can no longer guarantee pricing or release dates for said items and its entirely possible that these products will never materialize now or ever.

As the holidays approach, we strongly recommend that you place your orders for only those items marked as already being in-stock rather than pin your hopes on products slated for arrival in either November or December. To reiterate, the manufacturers that are affected by these increased tariffs include Air Force 1, Calibre Wings, Corgi, Dragon, Forces of Valor (Waltersons), Legion and Panzerkampf. Many of the remaining manufacturers we deal with are still affected by the original tariffs, so there is no guarantee that they are free-and-clear of these added tariffs either, particularly if the Trump Administration feels the need to impose across-the-board changes to their “Liberation Day” plans. We certainly don’t want to disappoint, but hope you understand that these circumstances are completely out-of-our-control.

In response to his threats, China, on Sunday, has vowed countermeasures against Washington if US President Donald Trump makes good on his threat to impose new 100% tariffs on Chinese imports.

Trump’s latest threat came after China unleashed a raft of export restrictions on rare earth minerals last week. The escalating tensions threaten to derail months of progress in trade talks.

“Resorting to threats of high tariffs is not the right way to engage with China,” a Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said Sunday, in Beijing’s first comments on the threat.

“If the US persists in acting unilaterally, China will resolutely take corresponding measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” the spokesperson added. “Our position on a tariff war remains consistent – we do not want one, but we are not afraid of one.”

From a business standpoint, we are entering the holiday season with the leanest inventory level we’ve ever seen in our twenty five years of existence. While our balance sheet is pristine and our credit rating has never been higher, we’ve had to raise the prices on many newly-received items in compliance with the MAP policies our distributors have had to implement and enforce due to the Trump tariffs. Additionally, many of the items we had expected to take possession of in the fourth quarter have either been delayed, cancelled or pushed back indefinitely, making it increasingly difficult to replace out-of-stock merchandise with fresh inventory. Consider too that we pared back our purchases largely because we weren’t sure what effect the Trump tariffs would have on end-user demands. Lastly, many customers are keenly aware of these collective issues and have shopped early for the holidays, recognizing that many items they had hoped to purchase won’t be available or may be negatively price-adjusted to take into account these escalating tariffs. All of this has accelerated sales, making it harder to keep product in-stock while the eye wall of the holiday shopping season approaches. Once again, food for thought if you plan on ordering something this holiday season that may or may not arrive.

Share This:

Tales of Transparency: Incoming

There seems to be no shortage of issues popping up of late which have direct effects on the sales of product coming into the United States. Recently, the Trump administration ended the De minimis Tariff Exemption that had been in place for several decades. “De minimis” is a Latin phrase meaning “about minimal things” or “trifling,” and it refers to something so small or insignificant that the law will not consider it. The term is used in various legal and tax contexts, such as the de minimis fringe benefit rule in tax law, which excludes small, infrequent benefits from taxable income, and the de minimis rule for imports, which allows low-value goods to enter a country duty-free.

The U.S. de minimis exemption started in 1938 when the Tariff Act of 1930 was enacted to allow low-value imports (initially $1 or less) to enter the US duty-free, saving the government the expense of collecting small amounts of revenue. The threshold was raised over time, most recently to $800 in 2015, but the exemption was ended for many goods on August 29, 2025. Needless to say it now costs quite a bit more to order goods from overseas and is designed to make online shopping from overseas a thing of the past. Some countries have even halted overseas shipments to the US until it becomes more clear who is responsible now for paying these duties.

Additionally, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held Friday that Trump overstepped his presidential authority when he imposed levies on virtually every country in the world as part of his April 2nd “liberation day” announcement. Before court action, Trump’s tariffs were set to affect roughly 69% of U.S. goods imports, according to the Tax Foundation. If struck down, the duties would impact just roughly 16%.

The ruling injects a heavy dose of uncertainty into a central tenet of Trump’s economic agenda, which has rattled the global economy since April. For now, the appeals court ruling states the duties on goods from most countries — as high as 50% for a few countries — will stay in effect until Oct. 14, to allow the Trump administration time to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Thus far, the tariffs have been applied to incoming product this summer but could be halted or even rolled back to pre-“Liberation Day” levels should the Trump Administration fail to overturn this decision. President Trump maintains that the tariffs are still in effect despite what the Appellate Court says, which could lead to the Supreme Court having to step in to settle the matter.

Needless to say, product manufactured in both Bangladesh and China — the two principal regions where diecast collectibles are presently made — may no longer be affected by Trump’s retaliatory tariffs, meaning both wholesale and retail prices could well be lowered significantly for at least the foreseeable future. Thus far we haven’t heard back from our suppliers as to what they plan to do and when and how it will impact our business.

Share This: