BB009-BB018 German Waffen SS & Heer Panzer Grenadiers Pre-Order (5 Viewers)

[FirstLegion]

To accompany our new Panther we have a wonderful selection of superb Waffen SS and Heer Panzer Grenadiers with sets BB009-BB018. These figures are certainly the finest WWII figures we've created thus far with a variety of equipment and different camouflage patterns. While our intention specific for the release is for them to represent the 1st LSSAH division and PZ Grenadiers as part of any Heer Panzer Division for the Battle of the Bulge, the figures are generic and can do service on both the Eastern or Western front in a variety of divisions and settings. The figures are meant to be advancing alongside armor in the early thrusts of "Wacht am Rhein" and with this release our Battle of the Bulge series now starts to become a legitimate figure range that we plan on extending significantly with more tanks and troops of both sides. We sincerely hope you enjoy these figures!

BB009 German Panzer Grenadier with K98 $79.95
BB010 German Panzer Grenadier with MP40 $79.95
BB011 German Waffen SS Panzer Grenadier with Gewehr 43 $79.95
BB012 German Waffen SS Panzer Grenadier with MG42 $79.95
BB013 German Waffen SS Panzer Grenadier with Panzerschreck $89.95
BB014 German Waffen SS Panzer Grenadier with STG 44 $79.95
BB015 German Waffen SS Panzer Grenadier with Panzerfaust $79.95
BB016 German Panzer Grenadier with Gewehr 43 & MG42 Ammo $79.95
BB017 German Waffen SS Panzer Grenadier with STG44 $79.95
BB018 German Panzer Grenadier with Gewehr 43 $79.95
Ships Late January

BB009

BB010

BB011

BB012

BB013

BB014

BB015

BB016

BB017

BB018

Now if only the new Panther and our BOB Tiger had someone to ride on them. Hmm.....

Enjoy!

Best,

Matt
First Legion

 

[Sahara]

Great looking figures and I really like the last part of your post. Hopefully, some tank riders will be in the not so distant future.

 

[Lo1863]

These look very nice! Although with the ever increasing prices I am really going to have to start reconsidering my future collecting habits with First Legion. I understand the high detail in painting, but $80 for a single figure is now difficult. I believe when the Normandy Waffen-SS were first released they were $65 and still remain there. I'm not bashing FL in any way because I'm a huge collector of both their American Civil War and World War II ranges...just stating reality...

 

[FirstLegion]

These look very nice! Although with the ever increasing prices I am really going to have to start reconsidering my future collecting habits with First Legion. I understand the high detail in painting, but $80 for a single figure is now difficult. I believe when the Normandy Waffen-SS were first released they were $65 and still remain there. I'm not bashing FL in any way because I'm a huge collector of both their American Civil War and World War II ranges...just stating reality...

Unfortunately a lot of things were different six years ago when those figures were released. They remain at $65 because we produced them then, we haven't continued to produce them, so why would we change the price. So add on six years plus the new figures are orders of magnitude vastly superior figures, and the net is $80, which is a steal for the quality that we're offering. I do appreciate your point, but I'm just stating a reality. You get what you pay for and in this case you get more than what you're paying as given the relative costs and retail price as compared with the First SS figures we did, these should be priced well over $100 as they cost us almost twice as much to make but are only 20% more expensive.....

Best,

Matt

 

[sammy719]

Same here Cameron, love the BBG Germans but at 80.00 a pop it will be difficult for me to Continue, I love the toy soldier hobby but I guess at some point I'll be priced out.

 

[TomNT]

Same here Cameron, love the BBG Germans but at 80.00 a pop it will be difficult for me to Continue, I love the toy soldier hobby but I guess at some point I'll be priced out.

I agree Sam, the prices are forcing me to dramatically consider what I buy from now on. These figures and the new Panther look awesome but they are way to rich for my blood. The cost is even worse when the Aussie to US dollar exchange rate and shipping costs are taken into consideration.

I'm not bashing FL here and if people are happy with the prices verses product then good on them.

Tom

 

[chemiebay]

I will get all of them....but probably it will take me 3 years {sm2}

 

[Alexander the Great]

This is a very interesting predicament. The figures are exceptional like everything else that FL offers but they cost more (than figures produced in the past ) and to Matt's point you get what you pay for.
Are they worth the price...the answer for me is yes. I started collecting toy soldiers a year ago and only buy FL (I am still buying ranges that everyone else has bought already so still enjoying the lower prices, American Revolution at $49.95 for example ).

Reading the posts and the answers from Matt I see the following:

1. The figures are at a higher standard and thus cost more plus costs increased over the years.
2. Could figures be produced at a lower standard and cost less without compromising FL quality?
3. Would an FL collector buy more figures at $65.00 each vs. $79.95 each?
4. Is there a bell curve here of price vs quality (more FL collectors will buy at the lower price/standard of quality). Same reason we have the mass battle series.
5. For FL is this a price vs volume issue (a collector will buy more for less resulting in the same profit margin).

For me personally the higher price means that I will still buy it but I will buy less of it (instead of buying two at $65 and pay $130 I will buy one at $80 since I can not afford two at $160).

 

[sammy719]

I've been waiting a good while to add some winter First Legion to my ranks so I will be buying the new releases over the year if they do not sell out first, they are to good to pass up on, I already have picked the first 2 I want to get, as far as the Panther it will sell out fast I'm sure and I do not have the 350.00 to buy as in years past.

 

[Currahee Chris]

This is a very interesting predicament. The figures are exceptional like everything else that FL offers but they cost more (than figures produced in the past ) and to Matt's point you get what you pay for.
Are they worth the price...the answer for me is yes. I started collecting toy soldiers a year ago and only buy FL (I am still buying ranges that everyone else has bought already so still enjoying the lower prices, American Revolution at $49.95 for example ).

Reading the posts and the answers from Matt I see the following:

1. The figures are at a higher standard and thus cost more plus costs increased over the years.
2. Could figures be produced at a lower standard and cost less without compromising FL quality?
3. Would an FL collector buy more figures at $65.00 each vs. $79.95 each?
4. Is there a bell curve here of price vs quality (more FL collectors will buy at the lower price/standard of quality). Same reason we have the mass battle series.
5. For FL is this a price vs volume issue (a collector will buy more for less resulting in the same profit margin).

For me personally the higher price means that I will still buy it but I will buy less of it (instead of buying two at $65 and pay $130 I will buy one at $80 since I can not afford two at $160).

Matt-

these are very striking figures!!! Nice release!!!

ATG-

your's is an excellent post. I can say I have been collecting FL almost exclusively since they came onto the scene. True, there is some sticker shock here, but sit back and let the dust settle. I have found, that rarely do initial releases hit the shelves and immediately go into the "retired" bin. Some notable exceptions like the First Roman release and any flag bearer anymore, but for the most part, the tanks fly off the shelves (which is why I have decided not to buy any) but the grunts do stay in rotation for quite sometime- years mostly. Once the initial sticker shock subsides, one can get the releases they want relatively easy- again, just my observation as a rabid FL collector. The recent "50% off sale" on the Greek hoplites sort of supports my position. To address your points:

1- true, and all companies are wrestling with that- it is what it is.
2- perhaps but if that impedes on the FL model going under I don't want any part of that.
3- the initial response is "Well, sure, duh" but I don't know. The WW2 Normandy US airborne figures have taken heated criticism for having glaring inaccuracies- chevrons upside down, American flag attached on the sleeve, etc. So, I believe people will pay the higher prices to get what is more accurate.
4&5- I believe the answer to both is yes.

 

[lenswerks]

I don't collect FL WW2 but may have to work on getting these guys somewhere along the way.
They would look great alongside the Panther with some tank riders.

 

[Vicknor]

For those mentioning the price. The rise in price is around 5% per annum which seems fair for any and all products produced in China. In fact, living in HK as I do I can attest that a 5% per annum increase is fantastic and wish that’s all that had been applied to my weekly shop.

A pound of minced beef has gone from $2.50 USD to nearly $8:00 USD.

Go figure

 

[Lo1863]

3- the initial response is "Well, sure, duh" but I don't know. The WW2 Normandy US airborne figures have taken heated criticism for having glaring inaccuracies- chevrons upside down, American flag attached on the sleeve, etc. So, I believe people will pay the higher prices to get what is more accurate.

Honestly I really don't believe historical accuracy has anything to do with prices being higher. Just take a look at W. Britains products and how extremely accurate they get their figures. Granted you don't have the same high detail paint jobs as you do with First Legion, but I have to say they are very historically accurate. As you stated the 101st Airborne releases had those major issues with the chevrons and the flag patch. Even the most recent 101st releases still had the flag patch. I did purchase the original 101st figures however and still have them displayed in my curio along with my other First Legion figures, but it does bother me that they have those inaccuracies. The same can be said about some of the American Civil War releases such as the Federal cavalry uniforms and equipment, the dress of some of the Confederate soldiers, the operating of the cannons where many of the steps are being performed at the same time, and for goodness sake John Reynolds on a BROWN horse when he should be on a BLACK horse. I ended up selling my John Reynolds figure for that very reason. So like I said, I don't believe historical accuracy has anything to do with higher prices.

 

[Currahee Chris]

Honestly I really don't believe historical accuracy has anything to do with prices being higher.

Agreed. Thank you for your reply.

The question posed was would people be willing to buy more figures at the $65 price level or the $80 price level. My thoughts on that are well yes, generally a consumer buys what is cheaper. But, in the case of the FL WW2 figures, the Normandy US Airborne figs are $60- $65 each with some glaring accuracy issues, whereas these Germans appear to be spot on. I would think generally the consumers in this hobby would prefer (assuming they just didn't go buy the same figures from a cheaper priced company), the $80 figures given their closer accuracy..

of course this assumes the collector is buying either the Normandy US Airborne OR the BBG Germans.. a stretch indeed!!! ^&grin^&grin

 

[Lo1863]

Agreed. Thank you for your reply.

The question posed was would people be willing to buy more figures at the $65 price level or the $80 price level. My thoughts on that are well yes, generally a consumer buys what is cheaper. But, in the case of the FL WW2 figures, the Normandy US Airborne figs are $60- $65 each with some glaring accuracy issues, whereas these Germans appear to be spot on. I would think generally the consumers in this hobby would prefer (assuming they just didn't go buy the same figures from a cheaper priced company), the $80 figures given their closer accuracy...of course this assumes the collector is buying either the Normandy US Airborne OR the BBG Germans.. a stretch indeed!!! ^&grin^&grin

You're welcome for the reply and thanks for yours!

One thing to note is that even the newer 101st releases (NOR066, NOR067) have the flag patches and are priced $70 and $75. Price wise that is very close to these new BB Germans. Even with the higher priced figures you still run into "glaring inaccuracies." So in my opinion the only thing driving the prices higher for First Legion is their sculpt and painting (which are superb), not the historical accuracy.

 

[Combat]

Those are great, but I agree that $80 per is a bridge too far. I think affordability in this hobby is somewhat a function of what the collector intends to do with the figure. The higher priced Russian-made collector figures can be standalone displays, but the KC, John Jenkins and FL figures are to be displayed in mass. Which means you need several of them for a decent display. So the cost adds up pretty quickly when you need a dozen or so figures and a vehicle etc. You really have to think twice about jumping into those waters.

 

[sammy719]

Well fellas, when I bought one of my 1st metal toy soldiers sets some 10-11 years ago it was K&C Crossing the Road for a price of 89.00 for a set of 4, I have been hooked ever since, I've bought and sold, changed habits, cut back, bought more, wash and repeat!!!!! I guess in the long run we can take Matt and Andy's advice and buy and enjoy what we can afford, these days for me at least that will be less and less, folks can give me a hundred reasons why toy soldier prices are where they are today but in the end there is a limit to what I can collect, now this hobby is full of guys who can drop serious dollars in a blink on a whole range and not even think about it, but for the mid average income guys like myself our days are numbered at this rate. I apologize in advance to Matt and First Legion as I do not want to take away from the fantastic new BBG Range that has been announced, just disappointed that I may have to miss out on these fine figures and what may come for the future of BBG range.

 

[Alexander the Great]

Well fellas, when I bought one of my 1st metal toy soldiers sets some 10-11 years ago it was K&C Crossing the Road for a price of 89.00 for a set of 4, I have been hooked ever since, I've bought and sold, changed habits, cut back, bought more, wash and repeat!!!!! I guess in the long run we can take Matt and Andy's advice and buy and enjoy what we can afford, these days for me at least that will be less and less, folks can give me a hundred reasons why toy soldier prices are where they are today but in the end there is a limit to what I can collect, now this hobby is full of guys who can drop serious dollars in a blink on a whole range and not even think about it, but for the mid average income guys like myself our days are numbered at this rate. I apologize in advance to Matt and First Legion as I do not want to take away from the fantastic new BBG Range that has been announced, just disappointed that I may have to miss out on these fine figures and what may come for the future of BBG range.

...and this is exactly what made me ask the question earlier. Will the price of the figures exclude enough folks from buying them or buying enough of them to make it worthwhile for a manufacturer. Is it better to rely on volume vs per figure price to get to the same profit margin?

 

[jazzeum]

I’ve been a collector since 2004 and one of the original members of this Forum and since that time collectors have always been discussing prices and having discussions such as these. I don’t expect that to change. Collecting has never been an inexpensive hobby. I’m sure that price increases will cause some collectors to decrease their rate of spending or to leave the hobby. Although leaving the hobby is unfortunate, that is just the way things are. Collectors come and go for a variety of reasons, not just prices.

 

[Lo1863]

I apologize in advance to Matt and First Legion as I do not want to take away from the fantastic new BBG Range that has been announced, just disappointed that I may have to miss out on these fine figures and what may come for the future of BBG range.

Ditto.