modeller_masa Posted February 20, 2020 Share #1 Posted February 20, 2020 (edited) When I was discussing about piracy kits with South Korean modellers, a person who may be an importer or retailer claimed that the Artesania is not dead! To clarify between my assumption based on his text and his testimony, I will use two kinds of color texts. (1) He may be a retailer or importer in South Korea. I don't know him, but all his text shows that he is working on distribution channel. (2) Artesania Latina didn't go bankrupt. (3) He met the president of the AL last year, and this year's meeting was cancelled. (The expression is not clear.) (4) The spain branch of the AL was run by the president's son, and he moved the company to Hongkong in China last year. (5) The president's wife is from Hongkong, and it is the reason they moved to Hongkong. Also, they moved stocks to Hongkong. (The reason doesn't represent main reason to move to Hongkong.) (6) The site is under construction. The site was ran by the Spain branch controlled by the president's son. The reason they closed the site is that (1) they closed the Spain branch (2) nobody manages the site anymore. The AL will reopen the site after renovation and etcs. (7) According to him, many plastic model kit companies and wooden model ship companies related with Asia region prefer facebook more than websites, so it may be difficult to reopen the site. (8) The AL doesn't have a new product. The sales of wooden model ship is not good, so they are renovating business model to the other. (The expression implies many meanings.) (9) If stock of some model is empty, retailers may not be able to restock them because they stopped production line for a while. (10) He got a request for order this week from the president of the AL. (11) "It is ridiculous to hear that the AL went bankrupt. They are just changing business model." (12) Some of the AL wooden model kits will be warehoused next month in South Korea. (Maybe, he could be a distributor agency of the US region, but I definitely think he handles Korean hobby shops.) (13) The company really went bankrupt was Revell USA (Monogram). They sold molds to Revell and Atlantis. (14) The president of the AL told him that they wants to go to the wooden aircrafts and toys rather than wooden model ships. He or they hold the wooden model ship business temporally. (15) The Hasegawa which is one of famous plastic model kit maker holds developing new aircraft model. The sales of aircraft is not good, so they want to concentrate on character fancy toys which is the trend in here. (16) Like the many other model companies such as Revell and Miniart, the AL also has lots of divisions like tools, doll house, and wooden toys. The AL will return to wooden model ship business when more people come back. (17) Now the headquarter of the AL is in Hongkong, and all the stocks are also in there. The shipping cost from Hongkong to Europe and the US is huger than before, so distributors of Europe and the US may give up to handle the AL kits anymore. Because of the same reason, he and many importers in South Korea also gave up importing famous kits in Europe and the US. 😉 (18) Because of the geological reason, he may continue to import the AL kits to South Korea. (19) The Hasegawa was almost dead, but they succeed to revive by the Macross goods. Companies sometimes encounter crisis, and they can fail or find a way to life with new products. The AL also can go bankrupt anytime if everything goes bad, but we don't know the future yet. and... (20) He is looking for wooden model ship kits from the other companies. I hope the companies are Model shipways, Caldercraft, and other exotic companies! Edited February 20, 2020 by modeller_masa mtaylor and Canute 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinB Posted February 20, 2020 Share #2 Posted February 20, 2020 Hmmmm, mtaylor and Canute 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvesvidal Posted February 20, 2020 Share #3 Posted February 20, 2020 Re.... Hmmmmmm Why would a Spanish company go to HongKong? So unstable and so far away from their normal territories. Maybe the wife convinced him.... That could be a disastrous situation. Maybe the "Son" does not care.... Yves Canute and mtaylor 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modeller_masa Posted February 20, 2020 Author Share #4 Posted February 20, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, yvesvidal said: Why would a Spanish company go to HongKong? So unstable and so far away from their normal territories. Maybe the wife convinced him.... That could be a disastrous situation. Maybe the "Son" does not care.... It is a 'rumor' level. The reason I translate his comment is that his are not in conflict with some posts about behind of the AL story on MSW in the past. Also, I want people do cross check his comments to make everything clear. I'm not the first source, and nobody completed cross check yet. Therefore, it is still a rumor that there is no reason to believe everything in this article, but it could be a true that may solve people's question 'What the AL is doing now?'. Edited February 20, 2020 by modeller_masa Canute and mtaylor 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvesvidal Posted February 20, 2020 Share #5 Posted February 20, 2020 This Spanish Economic Web site seems to imply that AL is "In liquidacion", meaning Chapter 11 in the USA, or "toasted" for the rest of the world: https://empresite.eleconomista.es/ARTESANIA-LATINA.html Yves Canute, modeller_masa and mtaylor 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amateur Posted February 20, 2020 Share #6 Posted February 20, 2020 Perhaps facebook is the preferred thing, but their facebookpage is quite dead. Last update a year ago. Jan mtaylor, modeller_masa and Canute 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modeller_masa Posted February 20, 2020 Author Share #7 Posted February 20, 2020 https://www.linkedin.com/company/artesania-latina-s.a.?trk=public_profile_topcard_current_company I checked the AL's Linkedin page and their employees, but found no updates since 2019. They've already disposed a factory in Hongkong. https://www.tradeindia.com/Seller-280331-ARTESANIA-LATINA-HK-LIMITED/ The AL Hongkong Ltd. was established in 2004. One of hobby shop claims that they had the office in 2001. Nothing new... Canute and mtaylor 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modeller_masa Posted March 3, 2020 Author Share #8 Posted March 3, 2020 (edited) Confirmed the first source. He is running a hobbyshop in South Korea. ( https://hobbyall.co.kr/ ) He opened me an information about future import kits in April. 1. Caldercraft - HMS Victory 1:72 - HMS Agamemnon - HMS Snake - HMS Cruiser - HMS Diana 2. Victory Models - Revenge 1577 - Mercury russ. Brigg - HMS Pegasus - HMS Vanguard - HMS Fly - HM Granado 3. Amati - Bireme griech It is the first time SK hobby shops sell wooden model ship kits except from the AL! Also, the Model Shipways, Constructo, Mamoli, Billing boat kits will come after these kits. Moreover, he has more plan to expand import lineup widely. Finally people in SK will know that the wood ship maker is not the only one. I hope it becomes a singularity for SK modellers. Edited March 3, 2020 by modeller_masa mtaylor, BobG and coxswain 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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