We had hoped that by the end of the summer, the logjam plaguing most of America’s west coast ports would have abated and product intended to reach consumers for the holiday season would again flow in plentiful supply. As of today, that seems to be wishful thinking.
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that things have gone from bad to worse in the Port of Los Angeles, the principal port of entry for most goods bound for the USA from Asia. All sorts of reasons for the problems were cited in the report, from COVID to big box retailers attempting to bring in their shipments ahead of schedule. What this means for a smaller retailer such as ourselves is anyone’s guess as the holiday shopping season looms and consumer expectations begins to rise. Many of the items we are currently anticipating for a November and December releases will likely be shunted into the new year, and items we are pinning our hopes on to arrive in the next 60 days may instead show up just before the close of the holiday season. At least that’s how we see things stacking up for the next few months unless things continue to worsen.
As always, we strongly recommend ordering those items either listed as being in-stock or expected within the next 30 days or so if they are intended to be gifted away to a friend or family member. Otherwise, we urge you to remain patient and stay abreast of the issues continuing to affect the global supply system since this is the best barometer of judging whether or not product will arrive as expected. The full text of the WSJ article can be found here.
Update: After speaking with a representative at Historic Sales, it does look as if the last couple of Hobby Master shipments will arrive much later than originally slated. Their December roster, for instance, will almost certainly arrive sometime in early 2022 and their November spate will likely show up some time after the new year. No word if the October HM shipment will arrive in time for the holiday season or if it too will be pushed back into 2022. Our guess is that it won’t be ready for the holiday season although this could change if herculean efforts to clear the ports meet with overall success.
We haven’t received any updates from Corgi regarding their third and fourth quarter shipments, but here again its likely these too will be affected by the port congestion problems previously highlighted. Although they receive shipments further north and nowhere near Los Angeles, the port congestion issues discussed affect virtually every major port of entry up and down the length of the west coast. Likewise, smaller manufacturers such as PMA, Panzerkampf and others are in the same boat, figuratively as well as literally, and may or may not materialize in time for the holiday season. I know this is tough news to hear but better you should learn it first hand before the holiday season commences than peg your hopes on receiving items that simply won’t be available for the holidays. We will continue to update our release schedule as further news continues to trickle in.
