I just called Tamiya customer service today to find out more info on when and where TamiyaCon 2009 will be held and was told it was cancelled.
After three straight years of cancellations - looks like that’s it for TamiyaCon. Last show was in 2006.
Strange - all R/C events are on and the track at Aliso Viejo (old headquarters) is still operating.
Looks like Tamiya plastic models is taking a back seat to R/C.
Well I can understand '07 being cancelled due to the IPMS nationals being near the same time/place. But it sucks to hear that they are bowing out again. Since it is nearby, I do like to visit and see whats up there.
If TamiyaCon is any near the same time as any of the other major expos such as the Tokoyo or Nuremberg, Tamiya will opt to go to those. Tamiya believes in an all out effort with their displays and those displays are very large and expensive to ship. They, so I have been informed won’t do a second show at the same time with a toned downed or small display representation. All or nothing. Tradeshows of any kind are expensive…very expensive! The logistics of getting the display to/from, setup/torndown and staffing them…hotels/meals is costly.
That said Tamiya gives preference to display where they’ll get the best return on their investment. They haven’t appeared at any event in the US…even the two largest such as IPMS Nats and iHobby. We’re just a fraction of their market.
R/C is seeing a slight decline in popularity. As the economy tightens, those big ticket purchases get scrutinized more carefully.