Singing: I wish me a Merry Christmas, I wish me a Merry Christmas...

@franklemire - Thanks, Frank.  There literally is no real backstory.  I saw the model was available on eBay, so I negotiated a deal with Tony K. that was accepted.

@perrone1 - The "Story of Humanity" is a common paradigm of doing business in China.  I have my own personal story. 

In 2020, as is my habit of being a lifelong entrepreneur, I started an import business bringing in COVID supplies.  I've always known that doing business in China was extremely problematic.  However, I learned that lesson with my own personal experience.  The corruption there is intense.  And forget suing for financial relief.  Their court system is as corrupt as the general business community. 

I won a bid for the largest quantity of my product in the item's history.  It was for 208,000 pieces when a 500-piece order was considered gigantic.  Needless to say, with an order that massive, I was the talk of the industry on a global scale.  I left no stone unturned.  I hired Karen, a personal Taiwanese friend of my Taiwanese wife, to go to China and act as the personal point of contact.  Due to the common questionable behavior of a significant portion of the Chinese business community, coupled with the common corruption, it is vital to have someone at the factories to ensure that the items are produced and sent.  There are common stories of unsuspecting businesses that would send their money to purchase goods and receive rocks or hay instead of their goods!  To ensure that didn't happen to me, Karen would also ensure the items were made and the shipments took place. 

My massive order required three separate shipments.  Two shipments would fill two containers and were loaded on container ships.  The first shipment, the smallest quantity, which needed to meet an arrival deadline, was flown in by air.  All three shipments had deliverable deadlines, but the first was the most critical.  If the first shipment deadline was not met, the remaining order, comprised of two filled containers, would be canceled.    

The Chinese manufacturer I was doing business with had 5,000 items already in inventory.  I negotiated a deal to purchase the entire inventory, which they would hold until they completed producing the first small shipment.  I sent the money to secure the inventory for my items.  I later learned that the items I paid for in advance were sold to a Japanese buyer who showed up with a briefcase full of cash!  What???  YOU SOLD MY ITEMS THAT I ALREADY PAID FOR?????  I was pissed-off to no end!  But I had to contain my anger and bite my lip.  That's because the Chinese factory had me over a barrel as I needed the first smaller, flown-in shipment to arrive by the critical first deadline!   

Then, on the second shipment, there was a global container shortage, and the factory I was doing business with could not find any units.  I had to locate containers that were already in China.  That required "greasing" some palms, and I had to pay 5 times the usual price for a container!  The container had to be trucked to Hong Kong for loading on a container ship.  Because COVID was raging, shipments were backed up crossing the border into Hong Kong.  More palms had to be greased to get the truck with my container across the border to the Hong Kong port in time for the second shipment deadline. 

The third and final container shipment arrived at my client's location in the USA without any issues.  But the first two were just freakin' nightmares.  Hence, I have a personal understanding of Tony K's woeful tale.  The stuff that happens there could not happen in the USA without there being significant legal ramifications.  Doing business with Chinese companies is fraught with corruption, fraud, and unethical practices.   It ain't for the faint of heart.   

@marty-johnson 

This is me, shaking my head, sympathizing, here in Tennessee Marty. You should be able to hear it rattle there in Cali.   

Posted by: @marty-johnson

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"Doing business with Chinese companies is fraught with corruption, fraud, and unethical practices.   It ain't for the faint of heart."   

Well, there goes your Christmas gifts......    😔 😏 😔 

@chris

@marty-johnson I sympathize with you as far a dealing with China but Tony's problems, particularly with this car, go a lot deeper than that. He was being sued by Jim Hall for making and selling models of Chaparral cars without permission or paying proper royalties. The same thing happened with Ferrari. Tony still owes me for two cars he had me pre-pay for and never delivered. Tony was not exactly the poor honest model maker he projects himself to be. That said, he made great models and I sad that he is no longer actively in the business of making new ones.

Posted by: @perrone1

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@marty-johnson 

This is me, shaking my head, sympathizing, here in Tennessee Marty. You should be able to hear it rattle there in Cali.   

Tony, please shush up... We've already had a few rockin 'n rollin earthquakes here lately so we don't need any more !

Dear dear Marty, and we're sure that your "Missus" is going to receive an absolutely awesome Christmas gift also...👍🙌  Congratulations on the acquisition !  Steve 

@franklemire - I understand your dismay.  Your story is not dissimilar to others I've heard.

Posted by: @100ford2003

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Dear dear Marty, and we're sure that your "Missus" is going to receive an absolutely awesome Christmas gift also...👍🙌  Congratulations on the acquisition !  Steve 

@marty-johnson Ironically one of the cars I pre-paid for was the 2J

@franklemire - OMG!  That's truly screwed up!  I'm so sorry to hear that happened to you.  You deserve better! 

@franklemire I'm surprised you have no monetary recourse options with either Paypal  or your credit card company - assuming you used either for payment.  Each are excellent at discharging quick reimbursements for situations such as this - I can provide firsthand testimony.  😉