Hetzers sold out (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Kollos
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tmanthegreat
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Thanks Kollos, glad to hear you enjoy seeing my pics! And sorry to delay your purchase, lol, though the Hetzers are still showing in stock at First Legion. My Hetzer (the camouflage version) should be coming this week. I’ve got a small vignette already planned for it… I didn’t order the winter whitewash version, but may very well do so in the future. I’ll have some pics up in a few days, hopefully. Still, glad to see the Hetzers are selling!
tmanthegreat
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I misspoke there, Kollos. I saw the Hetzer listings in the FL site, but didn’t click on the links. They are indeed currently out of stock on the FL website. I’m certain Julie will keep us posted on when they’re back in stock!
tmanthegreat
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Stug, I am very glad to see I’m not the only person to receive a busted First Legion Hetzer! I received my BB078 camouflage Hetzer today, and have exactly the same issue with the shattered tracks. It is immensely frustrating!!
I cannot easily repair mine and have the tracks retain any sort of rigidity - and one shouldn’t have to make that kind of repair on what is supposed to be a $315 quality model.
My box was in good condition…
I ordered my Hetzer from Minuteman TS - is that where you got yours from? I am in no way blaming George on this, but if yours also came from him, then maybe he got a bad batch? Alternatively, I wonder if this is more of a production wide issue? The box mine came in was in perfect shape and that indicates to me this damage did not occur in transit and happened at the factory.
I’ve already reached out to George see about a an exchange or refund on mine, but it’s going to be bad if more of these FL Hetzers have such issues…
Ive seen this so many times with all manufacturers. Its not done at the factory - even though the box is not damaged its shaking which causes it. The tank then bounces up and down for a long period while in a bouncy courier van or whatever and its this long term bouncing which causes them to break off. just tough luck. get it replaced. You can repair them but need the patience of a saint.
All of the manufacturers need to be more careful with packaging - softer foam needs to go under the tracks to protect them like K&C started doing years ago and no space for the tank inside the box to bounce or move in any way. TGM having the same problem right now with their new US howitzer. repeated tests of different packaging always result in a high breakage rate.
I once lost a box of 10 vehicles I posted to France from UK. Every single one had broken tracks! the courier must have been bouncing all over the place. No damage to any box or the overall box. When they left me they were fine. oh well.
All of the manufacturers need to be more careful with packaging - softer foam needs to go under the tracks to protect them like K&C started doing years ago and no space for the tank inside the box to bounce or move in any way. TGM having the same problem right now with their new US howitzer. repeated tests of different packaging always result in a high breakage rate.
I once lost a box of 10 vehicles I posted to France from UK. Every single one had broken tracks! the courier must have been bouncing all over the place. No damage to any box or the overall box. When they left me they were fine. oh well.
tmanthegreat
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I guess what I find interesting is that I’ve ordered some 17 FL vehicles and tanks over the last 6 years and this is the first time I’ve ever had this kind of quality control defect. That another collector (Stug) also has the exact same issue seems to indicate the issue could be more widespread…
And to be clear, I’m not blaming the dealer I bought mine from for this issue as I’m convinced it’s more of a factory error, but I am hoping they can resolve and work with First Legion to address the issue.
And to be clear, I’m not blaming the dealer I bought mine from for this issue as I’m convinced it’s more of a factory error, but I am hoping they can resolve and work with First Legion to address the issue.
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For the record, we open and inspect all our First Legion before allowing it into our Inventory and able to ship.
So sometimes you may wait a bit more when ordering from us, but we catch any issues before we are willing to ship!
Julie
So sometimes you may wait a bit more when ordering from us, but we catch any issues before we are willing to ship!
Julie
tmanthegreat
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Yeah, the tracks felt like plastic instead of the rubber they’ve traditionally used.
Also, you can see in my pics there was no piece of foam placed under the vehicle better tracks for additional support and cushioning… What you see in my pic of the box is what was there. Like sfarrelly indicated in his post above, such cushioning would have better protected the model when getting jostled around during transit. Nothing else on my model was broken, just the tracks.
tmanthegreat
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Fantastic to hear, Mike! I’m jealous, lol, and it will be a few weeks before I hopefully have a replacement. I’ve never had such level of QC issues with an FL product before, but as Stug’s post shows, the damage to my vehicle wasn’t an isolated event, so hopefully other collectors don’t have similar issues.
Perhaps. Or poor design or poor quality.
Sorry you drew the short straw too.
Good but ominous.
Maybe but unlikely here.