I was shocked to see Microscale discontinuing LV N scale decals,started looking at others..Well,nearly EVERY SINGLE decal I buy are discontinued,out of stock,or just plain not there anymore.EL,LV,CNJ,all gone,out of stock,or only there in small numbers..I guess modeling is dead....
I don't think they are discontinuing it is just the continual state of flux. They periodically re-release decals that have been out of stock and not produced for awhile and there is proven demand. However that said if a particular set of decals don't move well, if at all, after an initial release then you probably won't see that set again. They still actively issue new sets of previously unproduced decals. But I do share the pain. Try finding SP&S. Which is why I recently bought a stock of the remaining SP&S in anticipation of future projects but also GN steam decals and Turtle Creek Central. And try finding CB&Q passenger car decals. Every set but the one I wanted. From a business sense its not good on the bottom line to maintain inverntory that doesn't move from year to year and have to pay tax on that inventory. Your best bet may be to try some of the smaller venders that do special runs. They maintain smaller inventories and produce on demand.
They are certainly working themselves into a catch 22. They don't run decals due to low demand, but by the time they do re-run them, people have either given up or figured out a way to do it themselves. That's what I've come down to, though only applicable to dark colored decals. Not as nice as screen printed, but at least i can get it done. Hit up the internet groups and see if anyone still has old copies. I also recommend scanning a set in at high resolution, to have on hand in case you need to print some off on a decal sheet. Not nearly as nice as a screen printed set, but the only valid option sometimes.
I was trying a couple of months back to get a decal that was available in HO that I knew was at one time available in N I called and they had it in N. But on their web site it did not show at all. So it wouldn't hurt to call them. I know they told me there are slowly redoing the older decals to a new format for printing.
There was a time a few years ago when they stated they were going to retire several unpopular sets. This was when MS was being sold I think. Recently, they have been running tons of new sets that have been out of stock forever, like MBTA for example. They are not abandoning anything, but it may be a few years before you see the set you want run again. Always follow the rule of modeling: hoard while its still in stock.
The topic of this thread is a little harsh.... and misleading. Micro Scale has not announced they are discontinuing thier N scale products as far as I know. They do massive runs of hundreds of sheets at a time, and don't rerun them untill they are all out. More than likely if they are out of something popular they will get them back quickly, and stuff that wasn't so popular is probably over stocked in lots of hobby shops or online and won't be rerun for a while. I've had pretty good luck googling the Micro Scale part number for sheets they don't list in stock on their website and comming up with them still available somewhere. A while back I stocked up on their DM&E locomotive decals. I can't imagine demand for them was real big and I'd be shocked if they reran them ever, but they made so many of them they are still available and probably will be for some time.
Yes, the title is a bit misleading. However, there are several decals that they are currently out of stock and after having called them, said they would not be rerunning them due to poor sales. Most recent of which were the CB&Q E unit decals. Obviously, they can not keep all decals in stock and frankly, how many would they really sell of some of the regional roads? And, having just read that they have been trying a new printing technique, checked their site and found some of their sets back in (though still many passenger sets absent).
First of all,I meant N scale decals in general,never said ALL of them..To me,it IS all of them,since every single set I need right now,about 13 sets for 25 locomotives,are ALL gone,or out of stock..However,seems the same decals in HO are doing just fine...For me,right now,trains are dead,if I can't get decals,might as well buy a fishing pole...
First of all,I meant N scale decals in general,never said ALL of them,it was a question,not a statement,hence,the question marks..To me,it IS all of them,since every single set I need right now,about 13 sets for 25 locomotives,are ALL gone,or out of stock..However,seems the same decals in HO are doing just fine...For me,right now,trains are dead,if I can't get decals,might as well buy a fishing pole...
For decals of Northeastern roads, Highball Graphics may have what you're looking for, or could make them...http://mgdecals.com/homepage.htm.
Have you checked Caboose Hobbies in Denver Col. They always have a bunch of decals in both scales. Rick
I am surprised they haven't tapped into the Micro-Trains heavywight cars. I would think there would be a market for them.
As to the subject matter of this post implying all N-scale decals are being discontinued...Yes it does. Thankfully, that's not the case! Cheers! Bob Gilmore
. John if you need Turtle Creek Central decals i have about a dozen sets that i can't use asi got them when i was modeling csx 1986 but that changed as i'm modeling freelance $3 each + shipping if interested i only charge actual usps cost
It is true that MS does do this run until "discontinued" thing from time to time, but as a person who used to own a custom paint shop, I can tell you that modelers that paint and decal are a minority now. When I started painting back in the 1980's, very few of the large manufactures produced the New England road names that were popular in my area. I made a lot of money painting B&M, MEC, CV and others painting HO and N scale up until around 1997 when I moved to the midwest. In the late 1990's and early 2000's I painted a ton of BNSF in H1 and H2. It took a while to have those from the factory in N scale. Once more and more of the work was done in China and the limited release factor was thrown in, many started not only producing the less popular roads but the short lines as well. I only detail, paint and decal for personal enjoyment, taking on an occasional project for someone, but the days of having a two year waiting list are all but done. The projects would pile up because getting decals continued to get more and more frustrating. Remember Longs Drug? They used to be one of the best sources of decals for me. They (at least the decal end of the business) are long gone, no pun intended. Don't get me wrong and don't flame me for being a Debby Downer, there will always be guys like us who will paint and decal their stuff. Specifically if you want to model a small short line or fantasy line, but MS is seeing the impact of better looking locomotives in N and realizing, decals are no longer a priority with the N scale market. It wasn't that long ago, even the decorated locomotives needed number boards, so if you were serious, you buckled down and learned to center 2 to 4 numbers on that plastic number board. Now everything is ready to go. In HO, many of the locomotives have details added that are prototype specific, it won't be long until N scale comes next. What we can hope for is more cottage industry decals from some of the companies we know. The corporate mentality of some of the larger hobby companies has made it frustrating for the end modeler. These smaller cottage companies can and hopefully will, realize there are holes in the supply chain and will fill them in. Where the big guys find the decals they discontinued as a non money maker, the smaller companies will gladly accept the "what is large to them" customer base. I use BLMA as an example (although within the detail world but not that far removed from the scope of this post). In the end, MS will not totally discontinue it's N scale decals, it is a business, so it will use the tools any business will use, forecasting, reports, etc, to determin what will be produced next and in what numbers. Until then, the little guys can pick up the slack and turn a profit in the process.
This is why I buy things I think I may need up the road, because you never know what will happen to the availability of any item, Buy early and buy often.
I ran into a similar issue about three years ago when I was trying to find decals for Seaboard System. At the time, I actually called and spoke to Vickie at Microscale and they said they would be more than happy to do a custom run for me provided I ordered a minimum of 150 sheets. As I recall the cost was going to be around $250-300.00. Granted, the cost wasn't going to be insignificant, but it wasn't going to be completely out of reach either. With 150 sheets you could keep as many as you'd ever need and then sell the remainder to other modelers of your road that are likely in the same boat. Win-Win..you get your decals, other modelers get a few, and you can recoup some if not all of the costs. Mike
That happens with Microscale from time to time; as they sell out of a type of decal the rerun time might be a way off. Especially if the decals that your looking for are in low demand. Heck I was looking for a few SP sheets awhile back and couldn't find them either. But I emailed Microscale and they were more than happy to let me know the approximate time frame of the rerun. In the int-rum I posted here on TB my needs and was able to find a couple of the sheets from one of our Vendor/supporters. You might try that route
