News

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  May 14th News!

  May 14, 2025

  Hello, folks! I hope you are all enjoying the lovely spring weather. We seem to be in a brief respite from the rain at the moment. In a last-minute decision, Hobby Bunker will be attending the Huzzah Wargame Convention in Portland, Maine, this weekend. Joe will be there all weekend (I will join him for a bit on Friday). Unfortunately, I will not be attending the Virginia Toy Soldier Show on May 31, but I hope to make it to the September show. This past weekend, my daughter graduated from Flagler College in St. Augustine. Congratulations, Emmy! St. Augustine is a charming little city rich in history. I even drank from the Fountain of Youth, so I suppose I will be selling toy soldiers, models, and games forever! Unfortunately, the tariff situation has changed somewhat, but it remains at 30% for goods ordered from China. As a result, we are effectively slowing down our order placements and collaborating with manufacturers who can help absorb some of the costs. While we have raised some prices, we are primarily absorbing most of the profit margins. We hope this situation will be resolved soon. Many attendees at the Gettysburg show inquired whether tariffs have affected us, and the answer is that they have indeed had a significant impact. We are beginning to overstock some of our popular gaming and hobby items, as well as accessories made in China, in anticipation of running out of stock or facing higher costs. With the exception of most of our toy soldier brands, approximately half of our hobby and gaming items do not originate from China. I have listed some of our toy soldier brands below and indicated in parentheses how each brand may be affected. We are planning to start purchasing more collections to help keep our stock fresh. In the past week, we have added a variety of stock and miscellaneous items to the website.
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  April 30th News

  April 30, 2025

   Greetings from the Warhammer store in Dublin, Ireland! Although this picture is from last week, it is still fun. It's been a quiet week here at the Bunker, but we have been busy tidying up the shop and preparing for the Gettysburg Toy Soldier Show. This will likely be my last show for a while! My truck is in the shop again, so I had to rent a van for the weekend. Unfortunately, the tariff situation has not improved. We have noticed some manufacturers raising retail prices by 10-20%. The tariffs have significantly impacted us. I just received some "gross" bills to pay! We are starting to experience price increases from various manufacturers, and some are postponing releases. We are beginning to overstock some of our popular gaming and hobby items, as well as accessories made in China, in anticipation of running out of stock or facing higher costs. With the exception of most of our toy soldier brands, about half of our hobby and gaming items do not originate from China. I have listed some of our toy soldier brands below and indicated in parentheses how each brand may be affected. We are going to start purchasing more collections to help keep our stock fresh.
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  April 17 News!

  April 17, 2025

  Hello, folks. It's been a fairly routine week here at the Bunker, with a lot of items coming and going. Unfortunately, the tariff situation has not improved. We have observed some manufacturers raising retail prices by 10-20%. While this has not significantly impacted us yet, I anticipate that we will experience some price increases in the coming weeks or months. We are beginning to overstock some of our popular gaming and hobby items, as well as accessories that are made in China, in anticipation of running out of stock or facing higher costs. With the exception of most of our toy soldier brands, about half of our hobby and gaming items do not originate from China. I have listed some of our toy soldier brands below and indicated in parentheses how each brand may be affected. I finally made it to The American Heritage Museum. I took my youngest child, and we loved it. The museum features an impressive array of military vehicles, aircraft, and artillery representing the years 1939 to the 2000s. It is housed in a building that spans over 66,000 square feet, located at the Collings Foundation’s headquarters in Stow, Massachusetts. The display and layout are outstanding.

• April 9th News and Tariff updates!

  April 9, 2025

  Tariff Update: Over the past month or two, we have been absorbing tariff costs. Moving forward, new toy soldier items and restocks may incur an additional surcharge or experience a price increase without prior notice, or the item may be canceled. We can no longer absorb all of these costs. The Chinese tariffs have reached 125% today.. Consequently, we will have to suspend importing new stock and restocks from China until these tariffs are reduced. Our costs will exceed the retail price. We are not saying we won't be ordering again; we just won't be placing orders at this time. We cannot honor any discounts currently. We have already raised our minimum order amount to $129.99 to qualify for the FREE SHIPPING THRESHOLD. Some items, such as tanks and airplanes, will likely incur an additional "oversize shipping" fee of $9.99. To date, we have paid approximately $5,000.00 in tariffs to date. Brands that will be heavily affected include John Jenkins Designs, King and Country, Team Miniatures, Expeditionary Force, War Park, and First Legion. Additionally, it could later lead to increases for BMC Toys, Toy Soldiers of San Diego, Paragon, and others. Our Free Shipping threshold is going up next week. $129.99 will be the new FREE SHIP "magic number" on most items shipments. Many Tanks, Airplanes, Diorama Accessories and large items will still have an "oversize" or shipping surcharge on them. We also ship mostly UPS Ground Savor and USPS Ground Advantage. These typically take 1-6 Days. The good old days with Priority Mail and quick UPS Ground are to costly for us to sustain. You can upgrade to these services if you choose so.
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  April 3rd News!

  April 5, 2025

  April 3rd Updates  Hello everyone! Spring has arrived, and we are preparing for this weekend's toy soldier show in Burlington, MA. Thursday is one of our busiest days, as dozens of gamers begin arriving around 4 PM to socialize, roll dice, and play Magic: The Gathering. Below, we have included the April game calendar. I had a fantastic time at the Wings and Wheels model show in Chicopee on Sunday. It was very well attended—primarily by older enthusiasts—but the modeling hobby is alive and well! A wide selection of new toy soldiers has just been added to the website (see below), and we have also received the new War Park Afrika Corps figures. Additionally, I have included a toy soldier collection on our website and added more model kits from that collection to the shop. Furthermore, we have upgraded our Sci-Fi model section with some premium X-Plus monster kits. We received several game restocks this week, and the new Magic: The Gathering card set, Tarkir Dragonstorm, will go on sale tomorrow. On Sunday, join us for a painting session with Albert. We invite everyone to come down and paint anything—gaming miniatures, model kits, or whatever you have. Don’t know how to paint? We can help! We also have some pre-primed miniatures available for free. TARIFFS! Well, folks, we have been holding off on raising prices for as long as possible. However, we will be increasing our shipping prices next week. Some brands, such as King and Country, John Jenkins, Team Miniatures, and others, will likely experience price increases or surcharges shortly. This will apply to older items and restocks. We have seen increases from 10% to 20%, and now possibly up to 54% on products from China. Additionally, we are now observing 10% increases on items from the UK and other countries from which we buy from. Buy now before prices get INCREASED!