# China Factory Troubles for AFX-Racemasters !



## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

I don't know the whole story, but posted below is a Blurb from Steve of Racemasters. And I'm assuming he is referring to the New 1969 Camaro & Mustang bodies ...?
Steve says : <snip> "...BTW, don't lose those 69 shootout bodies. As I think I mentioned elsewhere, the body tooling was "lost" when the factory went away ( :-O ) so they will likely never be seen again. "


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## blue55conv (May 23, 2007)

That is really sad. I guess that makes them more valuable, but I was hoping that they would do more.


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## MSwaterlogged (Feb 5, 2014)

Basically, the factory producing the AFX cars went bankrupt with very little notice. That on top of the FCC mandates to fix the "horrible" emf issue with HO slot cars is why Steve has been pulling his hair out and trying to get new stock by Christmas. Unfortunately, it appears there will only be a few new things out before Christmas. He had to find a new factory and get all that set up as well as redesign the Mega G (hence the new G+). A lot of work for a small company.

Charlie


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## lenny (Feb 29, 2000)

MSwaterlogged said:


> Basically, the factory producing the (insert brand here) cars went bankrupt with very little notice.


I know the feeling.


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## JWSpeed (Jun 2, 2009)

Atlas has had a nightmare also and just now after a couple years are getting there products back in stock.


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## noddaz (Aug 6, 1999)

*Were those cars available individualy?*

Or were they set cars only...? A shame, those were really nice looking cars...

Scott


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## MSwaterlogged (Feb 5, 2014)

The camaro and mustang molds are missing at the moment. Steve says they may have been in the injection mold machine when the company went bankrupt. It is possible they will reappear if the machine gets sold, but Steve is not counting on it . The 69 set cars will be gone as soon as the sets are all sold. The carded mustang and camaro (yellow and blue) still have stock, so will be available for a while. Get them if you want them.

Charlie


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

Dash and Pioneer also had trouble with things made in China. Big companies sometimes have their own plants in China, but most people will use contractors to make their stuff and that can be a real crapshoot. If the company doing the work for you packs it in or just decides to stiff you it would not be possible to take them to court in China. I should say at this point that a lot of great products are made in China, but you do have to be more cautious in dealing with a Chinese company. When I was still working we did build our own plant in China, we also bought stuff from Chinese suppliers. In one case we were buying parts for our swimming pool chlorine feeders from a Chinese company, but ended up switching to an American company. In another case it became uneconomical to make a certain product, so we switched to material from a Chinese company, however chemical analysis of that stuff indicated that it was made by infringing on someone's patent.


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## MSwaterlogged (Feb 5, 2014)

No personal experience with China manufacturing, but I have heard some horror stories. You are correct Rich, you have no recourse if something happens. I am sure Steve wishes he could contract out the slots to a different country, but I bet that would be cost prohibitive.

Charlie


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

When the company that was making Pioneer cars simply dumped his tooling at the curb the owner decided to do his manufacturing in England rather than deal with another Chinese company.


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## super8man (Jan 29, 2013)

The sets are still selling on ebay, just an FYI if you are looking for the cars.


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