Back from the beyond... (1 Viewer)

[Drum]

Greetings Treefroggers!

I am back from my self-imposed exile and ready to resume the work on our Imperial cataloging efforts.

We are the proud new owners of two domain names (www.imperialparade.com and www.imperialrollcall.com) and will be spending the Winter populating a website with a searchable catalog of the entire Imperial Productions line.

Although a thorough going newbie in the area of internet websites and so forth, I have enlisted the support of a crackerjack IT guy and that, along with the loving support of my brilliant wife, will ensure the best chances for success in this endeavor.

As we are certainly in the website assembly stage at this point, I would be thrilled to entertain any suggestions for content and organization, etc... frankly any suggestions at all from all of you.

I will, of course, keep you folks posted on any and all developments in this regard.

Merry Christmas to you all and may your trees be well stocked with pretty packages full of glossy masterpieces.

Cheers,
Drum

 

[VIRIATO]

May I suggest that these sites also have a buying and selling part? A dealership maybe? All the best and thank you in advance for some wonderful images...

Cheers,
Paulo

 

[Drum]

That is an idea we have been kicking around.

Speaking with David Cowe (months ago) about this, he seemed only vaguely interested in creating an online portal for ordering/buying his products. I got the sense at that time that he already had more work than he could comfortably do without any additional advertising or other sales efforts.

It may be worthwhile to include a small classifieds option, but my preference would be to link to treefrog for a forum community and the classifieds here.

Once we get a basic catalog up and running, we can discuss whether or not it is worth trying to create a book and/or a collectors' pamphlet.

Thanks,
D

 

[Nathan]

That is an idea we have been kicking around.

Speaking with David Cowe (months ago) about this, he seemed only vaguely interested in creating an online portal for ordering/buying his products. I got the sense at that time that he already had more work than he could comfortably do without any additional advertising or other sales efforts.

It may be worthwhile to include a small classifieds option, but my preference would be to link to treefrog for a forum community and the classifieds here.

Once we get a basic catalog up and running, we can discuss whether or not it is worth trying to create a book and/or a collectors' pamphlet.

Thanks,
D

Drum! I wondered how you were!

If I can help in any way, please let me know! As far as contributions go, I have photographs of the lovely store, the man himself, Early price lists, Magazine articles dating back to the early 90's with interviews and reviews of Imperial Productions - I'll just have to dig them up...

I'll probably be heading back over there in the New Year sometime, I might see if I can call ahead and have a chat with the man himself, perhaps take some requested photographs of workshop/paint areas - if there is consent, etc.

You could definately set up your own forums dedicated to the range through a link on one of your portals... Perhaps having a forum per collection, etc. It would certainly be great for collectors in the know to help educate the world with the untold stories... i.e. why the boxes contained two stickers, why they stopped with them, what was the Imperial store before it was the imperial store, The story behind the company, etc.

How's the cataloging going? Did you fall behind with a few of the cheveu-legger and Hussar series?

 

[Drum]

I think I am caught up, but I would be pleasantly surprised to hear that there were a few new sets to catch up on.

Last military set I have is #150, I think. And no T&A sets since the first ten from the First Empire set, right?

I appreciate the good ideas and I will definitely be hitting you up for pics and old printed materials Nathan.

Would love to figure out a way to justify a trip to NZ to facilitate all this archiving, but with all the cool friendly folks down there, I may not NEED to go.

Also, I did some photo reorganization last night and so I should have a Napoleonic update to the galleries here... possibly as soon as tonight.

Thanks again,
D

 

[VIRIATO]

Nap photo update? Oh yes! (no that is not Shakira across the street)...

Many thanks in advance,
Paulo

 

[Nathan]

I think I am caught up, but I would be pleasantly surprised to hear that there were a few new sets to catch up on.

Last military set I have is #150, I think. And no T&A sets since the first ten from the First Empire set, right?

I appreciate the good ideas and I will definitely be hitting you up for pics and old printed materials Nathan.

Would love to figure out a way to justify a trip to NZ to facilitate all this archiving, but with all the cool friendly folks down there, I may not NEED to go.

Also, I did some photo reorganization last night and so I should have a Napoleonic update to the galleries here... possibly as soon as tonight.

Thanks again,
D

What is set #150? I believe I'm caught up too, I just don't have a large enough display case ...

I'll try and ring this week and see if we've missed out on anything

 

[dkelly]

Drum,

You probalby have heard most of my thoughts before on the web page, but in summary form here are the highlights.

1) Color photos of each set ever made by Imperial (like you have done with your profile photos - which, by the way, look fantastic)

2) Accompanying the photos of each set, have the original box description of the set

3) Year produced info for each set (I wouldn't bother with year out of production because I think that would be hard to determine since we know David has revived sets)

4) Photos of the Imperial catalogs and old price lists

In terms of retail, I guess you could do a link for contact info for Imperial. It sounds like David has more demand than ability to fill, but I'm all about wanting him to keep doing this.

Let me know if there is ever anything I can do to help on this front. I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished product.

 

[Drum]

Your points are exactly similar to what I have been thinking, Dan.

I will respond with an update using your numbers;

1) Check; A recent inventory has revealed a few sets that need better treatment, but with an upgraded camera, this should be no problem.

2) Check; I have photos of all of the box legends. Additionally, about a third of the sets have been photographed with their original boxes.

3) Check; My Mom, patient soul that she is, kept detailed records of each and every set purchase. My folks had a standing order to purchase each new set as it was produced, starting in about 1987-88.
Extrapolating backward the few months that it took for these sets to make it from NZ to London Bridge and then to my folks should give a pretty close archive for release dates. Catalogs fill in the rest of the story.

4) I believe that I have a copy of each of the catalogs that were internationally distributed. The website will be a good place to collect that sort of paraphernalia. There are also the picture cards.

Retail is not a concern, outside of the possibility of organizing and publishing a book and/or a collectors' pamphlet for ultimate sale. I do not see the Cowes ever needing any additional sales help unless/until they might decide to gear up for wider production again.

My hope is to both promote and celebrate these masterpieces of the the toy soldierly art as well as provide a data point that where information about these pieces can be collected and shared.

Thanks for the thoughts,
PM inbound.

D