Today marks a sad day for modellers worldwide, with the final closure of one of the best online stores for plastic models around, RainbowTen.
Many will remember R10 as probably the cheapest place to get Gunpla kits on the Internet for almost 10 years, with it’s permanent 20% of RRP prices and cheap SAL shipping. Despite just upgrading it’s online shopping system in the last year or so, the company suddenly announced that it was pulling out of the international online business.
We, Rainbowten, have reached a conclusion that we are closing down our mail order section and its relevant service as of 31st January 2012. This is due to a repeated and ever lasting financial hardship, resulted in downsizing of an entire business scale.
-R10
With that said, the company still lives on, operating their physical store in Shizouka, Japan, including a Japanese only version of their website and Facebook page.
I personally have obtained almost my entire stash of kits from R10 and it’s almost heartbreaking to see them go. As sort of a last hurrah, myself and couple of friends went all out and placed on final massive order:
At 90,000Y, it’s by far the most ambitious order I’ve seen, even eclipsing the time I ordered 3 PG 00 Raisers.
So farewell to Rainbow Ten, and perhaps we will see them again in better times.