Let’s face it, no one wants to be seen as a Foxy Loxy, running around like a chicken without its head screaming, “the sky is falling!” Nevertheless, things in the supply chain aren’t looking particularly good, with dozens of containers ships still sitting offshore all along the US west coast awaiting their turn for offloading. Just to give you an ideas as to how bad things are, our May shipment of Hobby Master products, which was originally scheduled to show up in early May, will now likely show up the first week of July (keeping our fingers crossed) and the subsequent shipments will no doubt get pushed back even further as they fall victim to the same port congestion issues.

But that’s just the start of the problem. As August and September draws nigh, mass merchants such as Walmart, Target et al., typically start receiving their holiday ware, meaning lots more containers arriving and sitting idle until its their turn for berthing and unloading. On top of that, COVID seems to be once again raising its ugly head in South China, forcing containers and ships, already in tight supply, to pile up as those workers who haven’t contracted the virus do their utmost to keep things rolling along.

So what does this all mean for the average consumer? While we don’t sell Tonka trucks, Barbie dolls or Mr. Potato Heads, the same issues affecting the toy industry at large are playing havoc with the collectible diecast market. For starters, there won’t be nearly as much product available this holiday season as in year’s past, which, in turn, forces up the price of those items that are in stock and ready for immediate shipment. It also means retailers won’t have to do quite as much promoting to sell what they do have in stock, and instead will likely push product out the door at full price instead of having to slash prices.

We’ve already seen a number of newly arriving products sell for more than their original asking price and others, such as the soon-to-be-arriving Hobby Master U-2 spyplane, pre-sell out, and already fetching prices in the aftermarket venues well above their sticker price.

So, as always, we urge everyone to place their pre-orders sooner rather than later, even if it means having to wait an eternity for your prized possession to show up. While its not the optimal situation for collectors with fist fulls of cash, its probably the wisest recourse, particularly if you are looking to lay your mitts on some of the more coveted introductions expected this year.