Odbal Decals merged thread of recent discussions

Hi All:

I was putting together an order for some Frisco (and other) decals from Oddballs Decals. As I did, I read on another forum that the decals that I have depended on for quite a while was rumored to not be currently available. The rumor stated that our main source of Frisco decals, those produced by Oddballs Decals, was currently shut down due to a terminal malfunction of the decal printer. Thus, there were no more decals available, nor would there be until the decal printer could be replaced.

I determined that the best way to learn if this rumor was true or not, was to go to the source: Tom Stolte, owner of Oddballs Decals.

I sent a note of inquiry to Tom, and learned that yes, it is true: He is out of business until he can procure funds to purchase another decal printer. Obviously, if one derives their living producing specialty model railroad decals, there isn't a large surplus of funds available in which to spend several hundred dollars at a moments notice. Every penny is hard earned and it takes a tremendous amount of decal sales to produce the hundreds of dollars of profit needed to purchase another printer.

If Oddballs Decals ceases to be, we as a group of modelers will be left with essentially no ready source for GOOD Frisco decals. (As well as decals for dozens and dozens of other very needed mid-west roads.) Oddballs IS our Frisco and mid-west roads decals source. This is especially true for N, S, O, and even G scale modelers, for all Oddballs Decals are offered in all those scales. This is NOT the case with other decal suppliers.

I have offered a proposal to Tom Stolte to see if I, as well as any others that would be willing to help, could aid in getting him back into business so he can fill outstanding orders, catch up his HO stock, and fill his N, S, O, and G scale orders. (Those scales much be printed on an "as received" basis.) I proposed a temporary "Prepay Plan".

The "Prepay Plan" would work like this: Those of us that are willing to put together a large order (that we likely have been procrastinating anyway!) and prepay for said decal order, Tom will then use our prepay funds to obtain the new printer and get back into production. He would then fill our orders as soon as practical for him. This would help generate the needed funds to purchase the printer, thus getting Oddballs back into production, and continue the supply of needed decals for our modeling.

I am prepared to prepay in excess of $100 worth of S scale decals. IF only 4 others can also prepay for the same amount, Oddballs will have the funds to purchase the printer and resume filling orders and producing decals. If $100 is too much, then 8 more people prepaying for $50 dollars of decals will accomplish the same goal. Only 10 HO decal sets will meet that $50 goal!

Prior to posting this notice, I sent the proposal to Tom Stolte, and he is more than willing to accommodate such a plan that would help him to get into production again. We will need to put "PREPAID ORDER" on our order forms/emails so that he will know who we are and what we're doing. Denoting the order thus, frees him up to use said funds to procure his new printer and get back into production, instead of having to return the funds on account of the inability to fill the order.

Obviously, the reason I am posting this notice is to alert fellow Frisco modelers (and those of us that model other mid-west roads alongside the Frisco) of this situation in regards to Frisco decals, in the hopes that others will get on board with me and do what we can to help Oddballs Decals via a few short-term prepaid orders.

It would be a tremendous loss for us to lose Oddballs Decals.

Would you please consider helping out so we can all benefit from the continued production of the Oddballs Decals line?

Prepaying for an order of decals with the understanding that the funds sent will be used to purchase the printer isn't a "loan", nor is it a donation, it is merely being willing to send in a purchase NOW in order to help Oddballs Decals to get back into production. Not a loan, not a donation: You WILL receive goods for your funds once Oddballs is up and going again.

It is my hope that those of us that help, will do so for the good of the whole in order to keep the Frisco modeling resources we need available, so all of us can build models that use Oddballs Decals into the foreseeable future.

Thank you very much for reading this, and if you are willing to help out in advance via the above PREPAY idea: You can't be thanked enough!

Don't forget to mark your order "PREPAID ORDER".

Here is a link to Oddballs Decals: http://mopac1.tripod.com/oddballs3.htm


Sincerely

Andre Ming

 

Re: Willing To Help Oddballs Decals?

Andre,

I will see what I can do to get on board. My main problem is that I am not a master builder or custom painter. Living "10,000" miles from Texas means I have to have everything shipped to me. The shipping isn´t the problem but finding the person to do custom work for me at a reasonable cost (I don´t mean pennies!) has derailed my plans to re-enter model railroading. I do have a good friend living about 10 miles out of Tulsa and I will see if he has interest to do some custom work/painting for me.

Ed Chambers is the man in question. He custom painted for Hall´s Hobby House (Bobbye Hall) for several years but currently isn´t active in the hobby. He is a 100% Katy fan but not to exclude the Frisco! He told me recently after asking him if he ever modeled the Frisco. Yup, in O gauge (Lionel) back in his teens. I still want an S scale Baldwin rebuild EMDized switcher, the #29, and Sloan Yellow wood caboose, # 823. They were assigned to the Denton Local during last summer I spent in Texas (1961) before my folks moved back to Tampa, Florida.

I need to do research for a model of a Frisco GP7. This means a unit that was assigned to Irving in 1961. It needs a wood caboose too!

If Oddballs Decals cannot produce decals in the scales you mention (Z, TT, for example) then contact Jerry Glow. He also produces custom decals. In regards to the other scales then I think it is our responsibility to help Tom get up and running his business ASAP.

I would like to ask all the Frisco Folks who have a need for decals to contact the other historical groups that they maintain an interest in to pass on this information to them as well. This would include the TRRA, KC Terminal, and Southwest and Southeast roads as well. All modelers need decals at some point and a pre-order now is the time to act to help a Frisco Friendly business remain active.

Also, Andre or Frisco Mike, contact Tim Blackwell at www.cowcatchermagazine.com and pass on this information so he can put it in the next available issue of The Cowcatcher Magazine. Feel free to call him on the phone or Email him. For you guys and all Frisco Folks, his magazine continues to grow and covers Frisco territory as well as Louisiana. It is to me, a blessing to the railfan community in the Great Southwest as it covers the regional rail news, prototype and model, so dear to our hearts. Continued support means increased content and there is plenty of room for him to cover Frisco subjects too!

The website lists the shops that carry The Cowcatcher and there might be one in your neck of the woods so you can pick up a copy and see what his magazine is all about. I just purchased all issues back to #1 and have signed up for a subscription. It is a quality bi-monthly publication and I am more than happy to have a "back home" magazine not lost in this ultra modern high tech age where the traditional (I name no names!) magazines I have read since 1960 consider me just another subscriber number and address label whereas Tom´s publication makes me feel right at home again!

Tom helped the late great Miss Bobbye Hall write her biography in her book titled "Tracks From Texas to Tokyo" and published by his Ballpark Impressions as is The Cowcatcher. I had Bobbye sign my copy and miss her, The Lady, and her shop in Dallas. Big D just isn´t the same!

I am not plugging The Cowcatcher to Frisco Folks but I think a visit to the website will interest you and if and when I do get my S scale layout up and running will find a place in the pages of Tom´s publication!

Joe Toth
The Trinity River Bottoms Boomer

 

Re: Willing To Help Oddballs Decals?

If Oddballs is unoperational indefinetly, in the meantime, is there another source to get decals for an undecorated 4-8-2 that i want to turn into SLSF 1529 very soon? I realize that wouldn't help Oddballs but I haven't seen the support yet that you're inquiring about. If Oddballs doesn't get up and going again soon, is there any other source for the decals I want?

 

Re: Willing To Help Oddballs Decals?

trainchaser07:

I'm not aware of any other decal supplier that makes SLSF steam decal sets. This is a very good example of just how important a niche Oddballs Decals fills.

Klr:

Then we're halfway there! I will be putting together a Prepaid Order for at least $150.

Andre

 

Re: Willing To Help Oddballs Decals?

FYI:

According to Tom Stolte, Oddballs Decals WILL print all decal sets in TT scale, if desired. You will need to note TT scale during your order.

Andre

 

Re: Willing To Help Oddballs Decals?

It is pleasing to know that Oddballs will produce decals in other scales like TT. I doubt if there are any Frisco modelers in TT though there is at least one in Z. I met a young lady on the platform in Nuremberg, Germany, several years ago when I was employed with Deutsche Bahn as a passenger service rep, who was in Z scale. Alas, she boarded a train to Frankfurt never to be seen again. I cried a tankcar full of tears for three days! No, I´ve been married 44 years and counting, to the same lady! She doesn´t give a hoot or a holler about trains despite the fact her grandfather had been a tower operator in East Prussia in the WWI years and her two brothers who were with the Deutsche Bundesbahn. But that is another story.

It has never been more important than today to support your local Mom & Pop manufacturer or hobby shop. It is sad to read in the pages of The Cowcatcher Magazine, www.cowcatchermagazine.com, that another Mom & Pop operation has shut down. The manufacturers provide the products the large corporations won´t produce due to the low profit margin. The local hobby shop provides service also, above and beyond the call of duty, to give the customer the satisfation he or she wants. If it doesn´t stock a specific item you need or doesn´t carry your scale be sure and ask if it can be special ordered before you go to the computer and do business with a non-human!

If your order at the hobby shop arrives damaged or is the incorrect product you can talk with a real human across the counter without contacting some non-human talking machine who might put you on hold or connect you with a person who can´t solve your problem until you go to the trouble to repack and return the item in question. This costs gas, blood pressure and displeasure as well. It is a pity that all hobby shops do not maintain this added service and some have closed their doors for these reasons. In this case we are probably better off without their shop in the first place!

So PLEASE, run an inventory of your decal stock and order ASAP to keep Oddballs in business. Remember, it doesn´t have to be made up of just Frisco, so order the sets you plan to use at a later date, be it another railroad or industry owned or leased freight car. Let us not open the pages of The Cowcatcher Magazine and read that we have lost yet another Frisco friendly manufacturer!

The Cowcatcher Magazine is published bi-monthly and covers Frisco territory West and Southwest of St. Louis. Many hobby shops offer complimentary copies that are located in Frisco territory and like Oddballs is a Mom & Pop operation. It is a quality publication and has room to grow including coverage of Frisco related material be it prototype or model.

Joe Toth

 

Re: Willing To Help Oddballs Decals?

Hi All:

Welp... I've done my part! My order was WELL in excess of my original estimate.

Come'on... if you've been putting off an Oddballs Decals order... do it! Any small amount will help.

Andre

 

Re: Willing To Help Oddballs Decals?

Yes he uses an alps Printer, but it has failed and he needs to buy another one.

 

Re: Willing To Help Oddballs Decals?

"Dr. Bill" paid me a visit so I have had to postpone my planned order to Oddballs Decals. I have drummed up an order that will come from Tampa, Florida. Best I can do for now. At least a few more $ will help out I hope.

Joe Toth

 

Re: Willing To Help Oddballs Decals?

In view of the problems that OddBalls Decals has encountered and the quest to locate other manufacturers producing Frisco decals please refer to my thread Decals/Dry Transfers.

Perhaps another solution can be found for a decal source?

Joe Toth

 

Re: Willing To Help Oddballs Decals?

Exchanged e-mails with Tom Stolte earlier today (Weds., 7/26). No promises, but he thinks he MIGHT be back up and running in a couple of weeks.

GS

 

Re: Willing To Help Oddballs Decals?

I had placed an order with Tom on April 11 and exchanged many emails with him about my order. Unfortunately, At first he said he had in stock what I was looking for. Then I received emails indicating he was waiting for his printer to be returned from the manufacturer in Japan. Later his response was he was waiting for his girl friend to show up with her ALPS printer. I did weekly emails to him and he indicated she had car thouble and didn't make it. This exchange went on for several weeks so early this month (August 2012) I email Tom and told him it had been more than four months and I really need the decals or my money back. He says he never got my order or the check (which I am following-up on). I did some google searches and found a thread on the Model Railroader magazine site that indicated others were given the same story, but at different times than I was.

I don't know Tom and cannot comment any further on what is going on, but if any of you have any extra sets of Oddball decals Frisco #180 I would like to buy them.

Thanks.

 

Re: Willing To Help Oddballs Decals?

I do not know Tom personally, but I have had some dealings with him as far as ordering decals. I sent a small order to him with a USPS money order. He sent me an email and told me he would send me the decals in 2-4 weeks, so I waited and he finally came through. Lately though I have heard some pretty bad stuff concerning Tom and his printer woes. I can't comment on this problem as I always had success with Tom, howbeit slow.
George

 

Re: Willing To Help Oddballs Decals?

I think we're seeing a pattern here.

I'm afraid this doesn't bode well for those of us who, in good faith, tried to aid the situation with pre-paid orders. (And some of us placed large orders.)


Andre

 

Re: Willing To Help Oddballs Decals?

In light of everything I have read here, I only had one slight problem with To, I ordered several sets of FRISCO METEOR Decals for y 4500 hallmark engine, and when my order arrived I noticed that the tender numbers were WHITE and where the numbers go on the tender is WHITE, SO I wrote Tom and he quickly sent me out sets of BLACK numbers for my tenders at no extra charge.

However I have read the same reviews and I have a solution for Tom, if his girl friend also has an ALPS Printer, and his printer is in route from the manufacturer in JAPAN, he has plenty f time while his printer clears customs to MARRY HIS GIRLFRIEND AND MOVE HER AND HER ALPS PRINTER IN WITH HIM, get to the business of filling orders and when his printer arrives, double up on his business. in the end everyone smiles!!! I see a win win win situation here!!!!

 

Re: Willing To Help Oddballs Decals?

OH, and he should be a good boyfriend and look into getting her car fixed!!!

 

Re: Willing To Help Oddballs Decals?

Maybe he should use the money we sent him to buy her a wedding ring, ya think?

 

Re: Willing To Help Oddballs Decals?

As hit and miss as these stories I keep reading are I'm hesetent to order from him when the time comes if I need decals. Hope it gets straightened out for those of you that he ows decals.

Ethan