You're welcome C855B! Alps' latest model, the MD-5500 was discontinued on 31st May 2010 but consumables will be made available until 2015 (plus whatever one can stash away in the meantime)
For more info see
http://www.alps-supplies.com/alps-status.htmlBut I'm sure these printers will pop up for sale for a long time on eBay. The problem is that they have a relatively fragile head which easily gets damaged by small debris in its path. Since head replacment is either impossible or more expensive than the printer itself, mot of those (slighty imprefect printers) are the ones which show up on eBay. Many clueless newbies buy one of them, then only when they realize that they have a defective printer, they find and join the Yahoo Alps group just to be told that the printer they just spend $600 for is a doorstop!
CoalPorter: While using these printers can be quite involved and complicated, many print jobs are much simpler (closer to what you would expect using a standard printer). I just detailed one of more complex jobs for the benefit of C855B. Even if some multi-pass printing is required, where else can you have one-of decal made for very small cost and right on your work bench?
Here is an example of a simple decal which was basically printed in 2 passes (one for all the colors and one for metallic silver for the grille).
This one didn't even need a white undercoat as the decal will be applied to a white colored truck.
You really think pad printing is that easy? Do you realize that you also have to design artwork for each color and etch metal ink plates for each? Then you have custom blend special inks needed for each pass. Next, you need to design a fixture to hold the car in perfect alignment and the rubber "pad" needs to be specifically selected for each job. It is not either easy or simple. Especially if you want to only make one or couple of decorated cars. That is why Micro Trains prices their cars accordingly to how many pad printing passes it takes to decorate a car. Also, ink pad machines are usually priced way out of reach of an average hobbyist.
There really isn't anything in the consumer market that even comes close to matching Alps' versatility and affordability. Pulsar FX dry transfer process is a possible alternative but it is very messy and much more compilcated than what you can get by using Alps printers.
