Dear Balls of Brass friends, customers, dealers and importers,

Many of you may have already heard the very sad news that Bob Brass died on May 27th, 2009 after a valiant two-year struggle with cancer. We are trying our best to tie up all loose ends of his business in an honorable way. When asked a question that we could not answer, Bob was always there to answer your questions. We do not wish to continue Balls of Brass without his expert help.

Bob was one of the first discount brass dealers in the business. For many years he wrote and mailed The Brass Buyer's Guide to his customers. He also invented and sold a quartering tool that many people who took trains apart found very useful. We sometimes see issues of The Brass Buyer's Guide and the quarterer for sale on E-Bay. Over the years, he gave many customers advise about what to buy. He also talked with many importers suggesting to them which models to import.

Bob asked that any one who wishes to make a donation in his memory to please send a check to:

Har Shalom Building Fund
3035 South Russell
P.O. Box 3715
Missoula MT 59806

Over the last few years, he had been helping Har Shalom raise $350,000 to secure a home for our community. All donations to this cause are very much appreciated and are fully tax deductible, as Har Shalom is a 501(c)(3) organization.

If you are one of his many customers who are in the middle of a transaction with Balls of Brass, please be patient with us as we try to complete the transaction. His database and computer programs are not familiar to us so we are moving slowly and cautiously. We want to make sure that every request is fulfilled accurately. If you have some unfinished business with Balls of Brass and have not already done so, please email and let us know what is pending.

We are no longer accepting new orders for trains in his inventory nor new reservations for future models from the web site.

We are doing business by check or money order only. We are no longer accepting credit cards or pay pal.

If you already have reservations for upcoming scale train models with Balls of Brass, email a list of what you have reserved, and we will reply and tell you which reservations we will honor and which we will not be able to honor. In general, we will honor current reservations where the product will be here in 2009 (with the probability that some few might spill over to the very beginning of 2010). So, that said, we are asking each importer what they believe will be here by the end of 2009, and we will let you know what gives.

If you want to be sure you will receive a certain scale brass train model or models, we recommend you reserve models expected in 2010 or later with another reputable dealer. We will be working with each importer concerning which items we will pick up to fill reservations already in place for 2009, and which reservations to cancel so that items will not be double counted.

We have been in business for almost 40 years. It has been great! Thank you for being a part of it.

Best regards,

Bobbi

Bobbie Brass
Balls of Brass
P.O.Box 777
Stevensville, MT 59870
bobbrass@bigsky.net