Britains at the London Toy Soldier Show 24 March 2018. (1 Viewer)

[enricoquinto]

Whilst for several years when I first started collecting, I only bought WB, but as time went by and wanting to expand on the themes that interested me I started collecting other manufacturers products. Now if it is a close fit in size,I don't worry too much. Such as the TG Royal Americans with the WB Clash of Empire figures.
Whilst I will continue to collect WB as they are released, I do think their Business plan apart from the current problem, isn't doing them any favours with their long production runs compared to others and would do better with smaller ones and by getting them to their outlets for their customers to buy and adding new figures more often.
Also at present I see so many WB figures being offered at great discount prices presumably from overstock which presumably is part of the same problem, especially when they do figures in poses that do grab much interest and which of course is not great news for those of us who paid full price.

Another problem I see is I don't think only effects WB but other manufacturers and that is of course price increases, sure inflation keeps prices rising, but the steady increase in detail to the figures, whilst as collectors are happy about this the more detail equates with higher prices on top of inflation leading, as I see it to collectors being able to buy fewer figures leaving less money for dealers to operate on and leading to their closures and loss of another outlet for the manufacturers. K&C are trying to cut prices by not adding things like backpacks to the figures which with strap details such as in their USMC line as these would be bound to take up the artists time.
On the other hand if you're doing a battle diorama say, you want some enemy figures to add. But probably don't really want to pay more for them then you do for the figures whose side you are interested in. Such as TG's Romans and Dacians. Most collectors I would think are more interested in the Roman figures than Dacians and also with Romans you might want several figures in the same pose, where as for their foes unless it is a mass battle scene you want differences in the figures and yet their Dacians are more detailed with things such as tattoos.

Of course this is all just me waffling on with the frustration we all feel when we're in the dark about things !:rolleyes2:

Steve

Hi Steve,

I agree with every word you said... I saw myself while I was reading your post...

Cheers

Enrico :salute::

 

[Thin Red Line]

A car is not a toy soldier.

More importantly, please hash out this stuff in person. I have never had any trouble getting in touch with Britains -- they always answer the phone. This forum is not a place to air dirty laundry.

On your first point I agree with you a car is not a toy soldier?

On your second point I disagree with you the Forum is for discussing anything related to toy soldiers, as long as its not abusive its one of the only ways of obtaining information on whats going on.

Theres still a complete lack of any info unfortunately , my brunswick sapper is now almost sixteen months since ordering I'm still looking forward to getting him ,but if it was any other product i would have cancelled long ago.

 

[thebritfarmer]

Twelve new figures being shipped to Britains this week and followed soon by another grouping. The second shipment of 2017 figures are also on the way.

 

[jazzeum]

Why not post here the news they posted on Facebook?

Secondly, it’s now April and this is their first shipment :rolleyes2: Compare that to other companies.

It’s not exactly a cause for fanfare.

 

[uksubs]

Twelve new figures being shipped to Britains this week and followed soon by another grouping. The second shipment of 2017 figures are also on the way.

Thank for posting the information

 

[thebritfarmer]

Why not post here the news they posted on Facebook?

Secondly, it’s now April and this is their first shipment :rolleyes2: Compare that to other companies.

It’s not exactly a cause for fanfare.

Just passing the information along. It's not law they need to post on here is it?

I'll not bother next time.

 

[Napoleon1er]

First, they are not obligated to post here. That said, many have correctly pointed out that a lot of the public conversations about the hobby take place here.

That said, keep in mind that although this site is a major asset to the community, the vast majority of the community are not members here. Even those who are don't necessarily check it regularly like many of us do. If you consider the edition numbers of figures and look at how fast certain items sell, you realize that there are many that choose to pursue this hobby either in solitude or solely though in-person interactions at shows and local clubs.

Maybe the folks at WBritain have reasons they don't want to post here. I won't speculate about those reasons, but I am sure they are compelling given that it seems they are making a deliberate choice.

 

[jazzeum]

No, they are not obligated to post here but this Forum is a major means of publicizing what you are doing and getting news to collectors. Together with Facebook, they’re the principal methods.

Why do you think other companies post here? Just to shoot the breeze? I have no doubt that when any of the majors post here, dealers receive emails ordering this or that.

The difference between the majors and WB is that the former are releasing product on a steady basis whereas WB is backed up, causing some frustration as seen on these pages.

One of the reasons they don’t want to post here — maybe the principal reason — is they know they’re going to get criticized. No one likes to get criticized but the ostrich approach is not a winning strategy. For those who use to order H & A products before WB was sold, this is a rather familiar lament.

 

[Gazza]

No, they are not obligated to post here but this Forum is a major means of publicizing what you are doing and getting news to collectors. Together with Facebook, they’re the principal methods.

Why do you think other companies post here? Just to shoot the breeze? I have no doubt that when any of the majors post here, dealers receive emails ordering this or that.

The difference between the majors and WB is that the former are releasing product on a steady basis whereas WB is backed up, causing some frustration as seen on these pages.

One of the reasons they don’t want to post here — maybe the principal reason — is they know they’re going to get criticized. No one likes to get criticized but the ostrich approach is not a winning strategy. For those who use to order H & A products before WB was sold, this is a rather familiar lament.

As I posted on another WB thread – New 88 Pic – Ken and the team are fully aware of the strength of collector feeling. At London Collector Club Event in December the Q&A session got quite heated. Ken did not duck this issue at all; he is always very open and honest in talking about all things toy soldiers, including their delivery issues. Therefore, I think the fear of criticism is not a reason they have not posted.

Again at risk of repeating myself, I suspect that the lack of communication is probably because they can not comment at this stage because of the issues with production; which are probably commercially sensitive. The production schedule they have will have been the one First Gear had in place (before WB was bought out).

Note on FB Ken references returning from China, so to me that is hopeful.

 

[jazzeum]

Gazza, it is great that Ken didn’t duck these issues at the Collector Club Event but I’m sure that event only involved a small number of collectors. This Forum and FB reach a large and larger number of collectors so why not address it here? What people don’t like is not to receive any news. I’m sure that if WB addressed collector’s concerns in a larger forum (no pun intended), people would be mollified. I have learned over the years that keeping customers satisfied requires communication.

 

[Gazza]

Gazza, it is great that Ken didn’t duck these issues at the Collector Club Event but I’m sure that event only involved a small number of collectors. This Forum and FB reach a large and larger number of collectors so why not address it here? What people don’t like is not to receive any news. I’m sure that if WB addressed collector’s concerns in a larger forum (no pun intended), people would be mollified. I have learned over the years that keeping customers satisfied requires communication.

Brad

There are several hundred people at each collector club event; most people I talk to have never heard of TF. There are a lot of glossy collectors - you would fit in :smile2::smile2::smile2:

No one disputes that communication is important to customers but as I am sure you agree, sometimes in business you can not always answer customer questions due to commercial sensitivity. Sometimes because you do not know the answer.

I share the same frustrations as most; I want to know delivery dates (for me the new AZW) and so until they can answer that any response on here will be simply dismissed as 'same old Britain's promising but failing to deliver'.

Gazza

 

[jazzeum]

Gaz,

Lately my collecting habits are all over the map as I indulge in some Russian figures. Not too much glossy lately to attract me. I need to get over to London one of these days.

I agree that you cannot always say (nor is it necessarily wise to do so) what the issues are but as I learned the hard way over the years a simple statement to the effect of “we hear you and are trying to resolve the issues as quickly as we can” goes a long way. Silence only invites speculation.

Parenthetically I note the following from the report about the Midwest Show:

Thanks for the comment. I remember that they were frustrated by delays and were at the factory in China. I think that some new figures are in transit to them. Saxon Archers was one of them. I think they said a dozen new figures are coming soon.

Brad

 

[Toy Soldier Brigade]

First, they are not obligated to post here. That said, many have correctly pointed out that a lot of the public conversations about the hobby take place here.

That said, keep in mind that although this site is a major asset to the community, the vast majority of the community are not members here. Even those who are don't necessarily check it regularly like many of us do. If you consider the edition numbers of figures and look at how fast certain items sell, you realize that there are many that choose to pursue this hobby either in solitude or solely though in-person interactions at shows and local clubs.

Maybe the folks at WBritain have reasons they don't want to post here. I won't speculate about those reasons, but I am sure they are compelling given that it seems they are making a deliberate choice.

Good points, I'm always amazed that the members on the various forums I participate in think that they are the sole customer base for that specific hobby. 80% of of my customers don't even know that this forum exists, but they all know about Facebook.

 

[nysoldiers]

If all their dealers are frustrated and disillusioned that is a truly bad sign. I speak to quite a few dealers and none of them are happy with WB.
If your sales force is not happy nor motivated the marketing gets a lot tougher. I have run very large distributor networks and worked for electronics'
distributors. If you cannot give them confidence in your products and deliveries they will sell something else. No distribution business can survive on "promises"
or at best erratic deliveries. TS dealers get regular deliveries from K&C, JJD, FL, TG and others so thats where they will put their efforts.
WB has a long way to go to restore confidence and credibility........hopefully they can do it.

 

[kogu]

Twelve new figures being shipped to Britains this week and followed soon by another grouping. The second shipment of 2017 figures are also on the way.

I really hope for them that this is true.
A prefered announcement would haven been: “Twelve new figures are being shipped to dealers/customers this week” and then “second shipment of 2017 has also been received and will ship to dealers/customers within the next days”.
You know what I mean.
“Followed soon by another group”, “Shipments on the way”, we heard those kind of announcements a lot for years from another mfr that starts with a “C” and ends with an “e”. A 5-letter word :wink2:

Hopefully Britains is able to get out of the current/recent situation and get back to a successful business.

Konrad

 

[Arnhemjim]

W. Britain's lost 88mm German gun will soon be achieving the mantle of notoriety synonymous with the Lost Dutchman Gold mine. Living in Arizona perhaps I should start soliciting donations in order mount up an expedition to search for both under the hypothesis that they are both to be found in the same location.
Arnhem Jim
Arizona Territory

 

[jomartvr]

Greater probability of finding Bigfoot than finding the 88.