Are There Too Many King and Country Ranges? (1 Viewer)

[wadepat]

Yes.

Njja

Hi John,

I think I agree with your answer to the question, but I would like to hear the reasons that have lead you to your answer. Will you share your reasoning with us?

Warmest personal regards,

Pat

 

[Capitolron]

Capt. Ron-
I think you have actually worn Brad down with your numerous postings. Something that I did not believe possible. You are the Anna Nichole Smith of this forum.

NO Combat - I am the the FATHER of the Child - Who's youre DADDY???

 

[Capitolron]

Capitolron works as a stripper and married an old French geezer? Just kidding about the stripper part.

I would expect that from a Volunteer..............

 

[Shiloh]

Capitolron sorry about the brutality but you have made 2 or 3 post now with no mention of you know who. You were getting kind of crazy and I was just trying to bring you back.

 

[Capitolron]

I just kept having the vision on THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of French Old Guard Troops MARCHING AND MARCHING over the Union Jack

 

[Capitolron]

I just kept having the vision on THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of French Old Guard Troops MARCHING AND MARCHING over the Union Jack

YOU CAN HEAR THEM ............. Can't you???

 

[Shiloh]

Now that's the Ron I know and fear.

 

[Capitolron]

Now that's the Ron I know and fear.

I didn't say his name

 

[Shiloh]

It's the thought that counts.

 

[Capitolron]

I have another name for you -

ROBERT E. LEE

 

[binder001]

Andy,

Too many ranges? Well in the free market I think your sales figures will be an indication. You and your team are quite creative and always seem to be striving for better products, and I would hate to have your creativity stifled by placing too many limits on you. When K&C products don't sell, then you know you've gone into an area with minimal interest. Obviously you will have "core" areas or subjects that will always sell (for some reason people just can't have enough of those SS thugs on their shelves), the income from that can let you dabble in other areas that you may find interesting. Judging from your ranges so far you seem to have pretty ecclectic interests in history. It's your company, you might as well enjoy it! As for people who want "one of everything", well they will just have to sell a kidney. Myself, I will continue to get my WW2 subjects (at least the ones I can afford). Enjoy the process, life is short.

Gary

 

[Njja]

Hi John,

I think I agree with your answer to the question, but I would like to hear the reasons that have lead you to your answer. Will you share your reasoning with us?

Warmest personal regards,

Pat

Hi Pat:

Once again this is only my opinion but I worry about over production.

I think the current crop of items continue to show improvements in design

and construction. I just wonder how collectors can possibly hope to keep

up? Once a collector decides he cannot, he must choose to alter his

collecting strategy and this can be dangerous to dealers and manufacters.

I would be interested in hearing how other collectors intend to allocate their

collecting budgets.

Njja

 

[Louis Badolato]

I think there's merit within different ranges to produce a mini-series or two, eg in WWII there were German cavalry (GC) and Fallschirmjager (FJ) ranges, which no-one expected to fill into a giant DD or WS series but which were still collectible in their own right as the sets within each range bore a good internal cohesion, eg you could put all 7 GC together and one wouldn't be galloping away from the others. That aspect has been lost to a certain extent within the enormous ranges under current production, and the lack of consistency, eg kubelwagen in FoB to draw in collectors to that series, Winter Germans in the WS range instead of WS(W) or BBG, and so forth.

Personally I'd be happy to see a return to some American history themes previously explored, ie Rough Riders (RR), Vietnam (VN), the West (TW), and perhaps some more Ancients eg Greek -v- Persians (Thermopylae or Marathon or Alexander the Great), perhaps a few mini-series to compliment the existing ranges (ie a Napoleonic 'Eastern Front' theme on the retreat from Russia, or a 'Battle of Leipzig' to cover the French/Polish/Saxon -v- Austrian/Prussian/Russian/Swedish forces).

However, I can appreciate the time and effort it takes to plan and execute a series, and I'm quite conscious of the fact that quite a few themes which should be overwhelmingly popular (eg Fall of Rome/Barbarians) haven't hit the heights expected (but the linkage to the Ancient Egypt offers another dimension to both the Roman and Egyptian series).

More please, and retire the LAH please!

Joe, as usual, great insights. I wholeheartedly agree. I hadn't really thought about "mini-series", but you are right, Andy does toss them out there, and they are some of his most interesting stuff. And when you think about it, he has always done these "mini-series" on subjects he finds interesting (in the very beginning, you can look to the Guards Camel Corps, Egyptian Infantry and Kings African Rifles, the (modern and traditional) Hong Kong Police, the Commemorative Editions (various pilots, Churchill, Captain Clark Gable and Gulf War Marines) as some early examples of these mini-series. Your suggestions for some more mini-series are excellent. I would also love to see a return to Vietnam and the Rough Riders.

 

[victory]

Hi Pat:

Once again this is only my opinion but I worry about over production.

I think the current crop of items continue to show improvements in design

and construction. I just wonder how collectors can possibly hope to keep

up? Once a collector decides he cannot, he must choose to alter his

collecting strategy and this can be dangerous to dealers and manufacters.

I would be interested in hearing how other collectors intend to allocate their

collecting budgets.

Njja

I think the explosion of ranges does impact collectors. Personally, I started collecting ranges with the concept of collecting each produced piece just to have a complete series. It didn't take long for that to alter. I even purchased pieces when they were first released, riding the wave of anticipation built from the dispatches. Lately, I've been concentrating on pieces that have been around for awhile so although its is nice to see what is coming in the dispatches I know those will have to wait a while. The thrill has been numbed a bit. Prolonging the purchase does allow me to think more rationally. What I may have purchased upon released, I may now decide nope nevermind. Initially, passing on pieces was difficult. Now, it is very easy. Pure ecomomics from a collector's stand point.

 

[Rob]

Its difficult no doubt.I hear what your saying about taking a step back and rationally thinking about it.Its often heart over head.For instance i really want the EA Vickers tank straight away,but i know theres others that will be retired first so what do i do?.Maybe as Andy says just buy what you like.And i wonder what is the highest number of ranges collected by one person?.

Rob

 

[Pierre]

...I would also love to see a return to Vietnam and the Rough Riders.

Me, I'd love to see the Silk Road serie revisited.

Pierre.

 

[jazzeum]

Hi Pat:

Once again this is only my opinion but I worry about over production.

I think the current crop of items continue to show improvements in design

and construction. I just wonder how collectors can possibly hope to keep

up? Once a collector decides he cannot, he must choose to alter his

collecting strategy and this can be dangerous to dealers and manufacters.

I would be interested in hearing how other collectors intend to allocate their

collecting budgets.

Njja

I have to be honest. I'm more interested in the retired pieces and that's what really gets me going. The current production pieces, as good as they are, will be around for awhile.

 

[victory]

The one thing I have to imagine is true is that Andy has acquired more warehouse space. For some time now, the number of releases has greatly exceeded the number of retirements. Certainly representative of the expansion. It will be interesting to see how this continues.

 

[Rob]

I think and i may be wrong of course,that new releases will always outstrip retirements.Andy was saying in London that often things are retired when he thinks he could do them better.I think its good that things are retired slowly,gives people a chance to catch up.But as you say storage space must be a big issue for a constantly growing stock.

Rob

 

[Capitolron]

Its difficult no doubt.I hear what your saying about taking a step back and rationally thinking about it.Its often heart over head.For instance i really want the EA Vickers tank straight away,but i know theres others that will be retired first so what do i do?.Maybe as Andy says just buy what you like.And i wonder what is the highest number of ranges collected by one person?.

Rob

Rob

That is what my problem is as well. I didn't start collecting K&C until 2000 and so I have given up on the older pieces (like: Warbirds) and looked towards things out now. I also changed direction in what I was collecting from Rough Riders to Napoleonic for the ability to display more and involved with new releases.

You really have to watch those retirement dates - and balance your spending on new and old in the ranges you collect. To be honest - I dont know how you WORLD WAR II guys are keeping up!

Ron