Its a nice idea. I have been running Tamiya TC`s for a few years now. Slowly the spares availability has grown within the UK as more people run them. Until there is a full spares back up ill continue to send my money out of the country sadly

I got a quote for a 416 from my local model shop via the UK agent, but it turned out that the cost to him was considerably more than a NIB kit shipped from HK to me direct.
Im no expert on economics so dont pretend to be. A lot of it is down to £ vs $ though. Some people avoid the brand as they are frightened of spares availability. Personally though, i have found it quicker to get spares sent direct from HK than i have ordering out of stock parts by other manufacturers here in the UK.
Not many importers or main agents seem to hold any quantity of stock here