PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING VERY CAREFULLY!
Friends,
It is with a heavy heart that I announce the following:
TMD WILL BE CLOSING ITS DOORS ON DECEMBER 31, 2022
This has been a long time coming, but it is finally time. I have thought long and hard about how I wanted to do this. I could either close my doors without notice and be done with it, or I could give all of you advanced notice. Because I have and will always consider you to be my friends, I decided to give you advanced notice. This way, if you want to do so, you have time to stock up on your favorite TMD items.
Now, having said that, things will have to change. I expect orders may get heavy, and I will get behind. If you are going to worry about losing your money with me, please, just don’t order. It has not happened yet, and I will not let it happen while we are shutting down, but I don’t want or need a ton of emails asking where your order is when I have dozens of them waiting in front of you. If I have not earned your trust by now, then it’s too late. I’ll just have to do without your business.
So, here is how things will go from this point forward:
I will keep taking orders until December 31, 2022. AT midnight on December 31 of this year, TMD’s web store will close and the web store page will be pulled down (it will still be available to me, but not to the public). At that point, you will have to do all your communications through the TMD BLOG page.
Between now and Dec 31, I will ship orders as quickly as I can, but my routine has changed. I pour one day, ship the next, pour the next, ship the next. This means, I ship 2 days one week, 3 days the next. So far, it has been working fairly well — even through the sale. I will take the entire month of December off. I will not ship a single order in December! I will resume shipping on Jan 2, 2023 and ship as hard and fast as I can until I have shipped every open order and handled any and all customer service issues. Once that is completed, I will close the doors on TMD for the last time and all Internet sites connected to my operation will be deleted.
I plan to go out the same way I came in and the same way I have tried to operate these past 21 years: ON TOP! Therefore, I will be operating better than I have all these years (if that is possible). Molds will be replaced as needed. In some cases, extra parts will be thrown in as a bonus. All of you have been better to me than I have deserved, and I plan to show my appreciation these next 5 months or so as TMD takes its final bow before leaving the modeling stage for good.
In addition to this: I have made my last master! There will be no new products coming from TMD. I apologize to those of you who are disappointed by this, but I have to start liquidating the company and its assets now. I need this finished by Dec 31 (for tax purposes).
Therefore, starting next week, I will be liquidating everything I have connected to modeling. There will not be time for this hobby in my new life, so…
EVERYTHING MUST GO! AND GO NOW!
I have given Karl first shot at my ‘stash,’ now Dave Hobbs will get the next wack at it. After that, I will start posting things on the TMD Facebook page. If they do not sell there, I will move them to EvilBay. Either way, THEY MUST BE SOLD BY DEC 31! That said, like all businesses, TMD has debts that will need to be paid, so this will not be a fire sale. I will be asking reasonable prices, but I will not be making any last minute show deals. So, please make a note of that. I will offer them direct first, but they will sell on EBay, so, what does not sell directly will go to the highest bidder.
Well, that’s it. I won’t be posting too many updates from now on as this pretty much says everything there is to say. I’ll still be here, shipping orders, handling customer service issues and answering emails. I’ll just be a lot slower than you are used to seeing from me. I pray you’ll understand and forgive me. I’ll check in again at the end of September. Until then, stay safe.
Joe
I had a feeling it was coming but bowing out gracefully and on top is best. Continued success on your new path.
Oh no, Joe, at the last moment of writing a response of Biblical Proportions (full of things about our freindship and brother hood in Jesus and how this isn’t the end of anything for you and I, I went to put in the website and lost the entire thing. My fault, not your web page. I wonder if it did send though, like you can see everything we do before we hit “go to checkout” and probably now. If not, drop me a note on any media, you and I have multiple connections including the one most important, Jesus! and I will be more than happy to rewrite it.
I do have an order from you. Let me call you later.
Joe,
I am sorry to see the end is nigh, but I also completely understand! Sending only the best wishes for whatever is coming next!
John Rauscher
Empire Models