http://www.network54.com/Forum/181015/message/1329327595/Revell+in+neuen+H%E4nden
What goes around, comes around. Revell was spun off into two companies years ago and so Revell Germany was born. Now the company that owns Revell USA has purchased Revell Germany. So this means that there is another American company making soft plastic figures. Perhaps we will see more American subjects from them in the future. With Imex going on hiatus from 1/72nd scale new figure sets these last few years it would be nice to have someone fill that gap agains.
Bunker Talk blog with 30,000 photos of my toy soldier collection of Roco Minitanks, Heiser Models, Fidelis Models, Airfix and Pegasus figures; and 54mm & 60mm plastic soldiers from Tim Mee, Elastowit, BMC, MPC. Be sure to follow Bunker Talk. Email at BunkerMeister45@aol.com. Get merch at: https://www.redbubble.com/people/bunkertalkwar/shop
Showing posts with label Hobby Business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hobby Business. Show all posts
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Look Out For It
Places to find good hobby stuff are everywhere. The key is to keep your eyes open to the hobby potential to everything you see in stores. A bird house if repainted could be a European farmhouse. A little Christmas village could be an American Civil War town. That child’s toy of an underground mole machine could be a burrowing machine as used by the combatants in the First World War. All kinds of interesting stuff is out there in hardware stores, dollar stores, drug stores, and toy stores. Different seasons of the year also feature different stuff that can be hobby useful.
In the winter the Christmas stuff can be very good for the winter wargames. The flocking and cotton used to simulate snow can make temporary snow on the wargame table. The reindeer can be used as both wild and domestic animals. Did you know that in WWII the Germans sometimes used reindeer to two sleds for them? I saw some weird leafless trees that were painted silver and used to decorate some cubicles at work. This would be an easy project to make and then use them for trees on other planets in a sci fi wargame. Trees on Earth are green, but trees on Cestus III might be silver. After Christmas sales are a good time to buy these items at a bargain price.
In the summer there are different kinds of toys. Cheap flying discs can be used for an alien invasion fleet. Toy boats can be used for harbors or coastal traffic, or invasion games. Even if these items come in bright colors or pink or yellow with the new plastic spray paints and some weathering they can often be made useable. In the fall when kids go back to school there are sometimes good deals on school supplies that have wargame applications. Rulers, maker pens, large format paper and even storage boxes to keep little model parts in can be cheaper than usual. In the springtime they often have sales on plastic or other fake flowers and plants. These make the basis for jungles, and other thick forests. A few years ago they had “Easter Bunny” village buildings in HO scale for sale at a local dollar store. Paint over the pastel colors and you would have a nice generic village.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
New Figure Sets
I belong to several groups for army men and it seems the same in every scale.
People don't understand the economic realities of this hobby. It can take a major company three to six years to design and produce a set of figures. The research alone can take years. Try and find out what kinds of buttons a French soldier wore on his trench coat in 1916. How many pockets on the shirt of a North Korean soldier in 1952? You can't sculpt the figures until you can answer those questions. And what if your sculptor is not reliable, or can't sculpt the human figure well, or does not know how to make figures that will come easily out of the mold?
The cost to produce a set is thousands of dollars, even tens of thousands of dollars or more depending on where they are made, who makes them, number of poses, etc. If you make a dollar profit on each set, you have to sell thousands of sets to recoup your investment. I have read people who write long passionate letters who beg for a particular set saying they have always wanted it and would buy as many as three sets if someone made them. So the company makes three dollars profit, on an investment of ten or twenty thousand dollars.
Typically the only sets that get made are the ones that have wide appeal, like the Alamo, World War Two US and Germans, American Civil War and Romans. We don't get sets on the War of Jenkins Ear because no one ever heard of that war. Then there are several basic ideas on what people want from a set. Some want to make dioramas and want figures that are seated, drinking, shoeing a horse, reading a book or a map. Others want to play wargames and want 27 different standing firing figures, while others who play wargames want 27 different marching poses, and still others want a variety of everything.
Generally companies only make plastic figures that will sell in large numbers and those sets have to appeal to a broad audience, so in some ways we will all be both disappointed and pleased with each set; it is too expensive to try and please everyone. Sets linked to important historical events, like the Alamo, sets linked to major blockbuster movies, like the 300 Spartans, sets linked to eras that have proven perennially popular, like the American Civil War are the sets most likely to see the light of day.
People don't understand the economic realities of this hobby. It can take a major company three to six years to design and produce a set of figures. The research alone can take years. Try and find out what kinds of buttons a French soldier wore on his trench coat in 1916. How many pockets on the shirt of a North Korean soldier in 1952? You can't sculpt the figures until you can answer those questions. And what if your sculptor is not reliable, or can't sculpt the human figure well, or does not know how to make figures that will come easily out of the mold?
The cost to produce a set is thousands of dollars, even tens of thousands of dollars or more depending on where they are made, who makes them, number of poses, etc. If you make a dollar profit on each set, you have to sell thousands of sets to recoup your investment. I have read people who write long passionate letters who beg for a particular set saying they have always wanted it and would buy as many as three sets if someone made them. So the company makes three dollars profit, on an investment of ten or twenty thousand dollars.
Typically the only sets that get made are the ones that have wide appeal, like the Alamo, World War Two US and Germans, American Civil War and Romans. We don't get sets on the War of Jenkins Ear because no one ever heard of that war. Then there are several basic ideas on what people want from a set. Some want to make dioramas and want figures that are seated, drinking, shoeing a horse, reading a book or a map. Others want to play wargames and want 27 different standing firing figures, while others who play wargames want 27 different marching poses, and still others want a variety of everything.
Generally companies only make plastic figures that will sell in large numbers and those sets have to appeal to a broad audience, so in some ways we will all be both disappointed and pleased with each set; it is too expensive to try and please everyone. Sets linked to important historical events, like the Alamo, sets linked to major blockbuster movies, like the 300 Spartans, sets linked to eras that have proven perennially popular, like the American Civil War are the sets most likely to see the light of day.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Make This, No Make That
I belong to several groups for army men and it seems the same in every scale.
People don't understand the economic realities of this hobby. It can take a major company three to six years to design and produce a set of figures. The cost to produce a set is thousands of dollars, even tens of thousands of dollars or more depending on where they are made, who makes them, number of poses, etc. If you make a dollar profit on each set, you have to sell thousands of sets to recoup your investment. I have read people who write long passionate letters who beg for a particular set saying they have always wanted it and would buy as many as three sets if someone made them. So three dollars profit, on an investment of ten or twenty thousand dollars.
Typically the only sets that get made are the ones that have wide appeal, like the Alamo, World War Two US and Germans, American Civil War and Romans. We don't get sets on the War of Jenkins Ear because no one ever heard of it. Then there are several basic ideas on what people want from a set. Some want to make dioramas and want figures that are seated, drinking, shoeing a horse, reading a book or a map. Others want to play wargames and want 27 different standing firing figures, while others play wargames and want 27 different marching poses, and still others want a variety of everything.
Generally companies only make plastic figures that will sell in large numbers and those sets have to appeal to a broad audience, so in some ways we will all be both disappointed and pleased with each set, because you can't please everyone. Sets linked to important historical events, like the Alamo, sets linked to major blockbuster movies, like the 300 Spartans, sets linked to eras that have proven perennially popular, like the American Civil War are the sets most likely to see the light of day.
People don't understand the economic realities of this hobby. It can take a major company three to six years to design and produce a set of figures. The cost to produce a set is thousands of dollars, even tens of thousands of dollars or more depending on where they are made, who makes them, number of poses, etc. If you make a dollar profit on each set, you have to sell thousands of sets to recoup your investment. I have read people who write long passionate letters who beg for a particular set saying they have always wanted it and would buy as many as three sets if someone made them. So three dollars profit, on an investment of ten or twenty thousand dollars.
Typically the only sets that get made are the ones that have wide appeal, like the Alamo, World War Two US and Germans, American Civil War and Romans. We don't get sets on the War of Jenkins Ear because no one ever heard of it. Then there are several basic ideas on what people want from a set. Some want to make dioramas and want figures that are seated, drinking, shoeing a horse, reading a book or a map. Others want to play wargames and want 27 different standing firing figures, while others play wargames and want 27 different marching poses, and still others want a variety of everything.
Generally companies only make plastic figures that will sell in large numbers and those sets have to appeal to a broad audience, so in some ways we will all be both disappointed and pleased with each set, because you can't please everyone. Sets linked to important historical events, like the Alamo, sets linked to major blockbuster movies, like the 300 Spartans, sets linked to eras that have proven perennially popular, like the American Civil War are the sets most likely to see the light of day.
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