Britains Website (1 Viewer)

WBritain

WBritain

Master Sergeant
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The New Britains website is under construction. Would appreciate any ideas and feedback from you all about what features you like/want. What you like about other sites, what you do not like, etc. Of course we may not be able to incorporate all of the ideas - but will try to do as much as we can initially and then build on it.
 
The Treefrog Treasures site has the capability to show 360 degree photos of some releases. It would be good to see something like that. Either photos or video.

Perhaps a history file of all releases, even after they are retired, to use for reference (like Bill Sager's site at toysoldiersusa.com).

Photos or video of the product from conceptulization, scuplting, maufacturing, painting, and to shipping; something like the out-dated video on Frontline' web site.
 
Hi Guys,

Great Question!

I have a lot of ideas on this and know its going to take me a while to put it in a logical format, but here is some of the ideas I have.

Try and make the site more comprehensive, have seperate pages for various items of interest such as the current cataloge with a links or phone numbers page to dealers.

Detailed cateloge for all WBritains offering not just the current Club sets. Maybe a collectors classified for buying and selling or a wants list.

Make the club pages seperate with links to an updated club calender, which comes out quarterly now with the printed Standard but sometimes it comes too close to an event for people to schedule.

Please consider a digitized version of the Standard with deeper or more detailed articles and a place where we can send the authors questions or links to a digital bibliography of sort where we can dig into a subject, the Standard is great and I keep all of mine handy for research but sometimes it would be great to know more about an articles sources so I can really dig in.

Since we have a forum here a Britains Club forum might be considered overkill but I would support it.

An item that comes up a lot lately is a need for comprehensive list of WBritains offerings by set number and date of issue, I would break this into several categories like Hollowcast 1890 - 1946, Modern issues Plastic and metal diecast, Modern issues 1990 - 2007 etc with categories such as the WWII, ACW, AWI and the Durbar (Of course!). Collectors Club special issues or Limited Edition Sets. I have seen a lot more questions for this type of information because we have some very specialized collectors. There are many folks out there who are extremely knowledgeable about this hobby such as James Opie member number 11 who is an expert. Perhaps he or someone like him could be requested to help with a list like this. I have posted a comprehensive list for the Durbar and some of the Indian Army Sets on this forum if you want an example.

Put a place on the site where we can see a set or a figure developed from drawing concept too completed casting. I for one find this particluarly interesting and am sure there are others out there that do too.

I will close here for now since I have to get the kids ready for school but I will jot down some more ideas and post them later.

All the best

Dave
 
I would definitely like to see an Upcoming Releases section with photos of future releases in design and sculpting stages.
 
Gentle Friends,

I want to add my support for a comprehensive listing of all the W. Britains offerings, with pictures if possible. Many times, I look for information regarding figure/set identification, set numbers, release dates, and production figures. I know all of this information may be difficult or impossible to determine, but having what is available in one location would be a huge help to me. The suggestion of utilizing James Opie as a concultant is an excellent one as I know of no better informed authority on the subject of W. Britains.

Whatever happens, I appreciate the time you are taking and the effort you are making to improve the website. I know it is a huge project, but the improvements will serve the toy soldier public more effectively. Good luck with the project! And,...thanks for asking for our suggestions!

Warmest personal regards,

Pat
 
Great website suggestions so far, perhaps I can add and summarize, in no particular order:

1) Discussion Forum Section
2) Photo Gallery Section, figures by series, period, years of production, with recommended prices, hyper-linked to retailers, catalogue ref, 360 degree video views, photos of box labels
3) Catalogue Section, photos of all pages going back to 1998. Should be posted same time its released in hard-copy.
4) Links Section, retailers, magazines, museums, other manufacturers, private collections, James Opie site, Norman Joplin site
5) Britains Identification Guide. Ebay and Geoff Duin has good starts.
6) Recommended Reading. See Duin or Joseph F. Saine lists.
7) Collectors Club Section, password necessary, for special deals on retired items, prizes, news, hyper-link to calendar.
8) Standards - photos of all issues and all pages, could be in private members' area
9) Britains history Section - Archives photos you show at shows, perhaps this would be area to show figures from concept to production.
10) Britains Comprehensive listing of figures produced since 1893. This is when you can hire Joplin or Opie:cool:
11) The current Sections On-Line Shop, Membership, Terms & Conditions, and What's New (with new releases) should all continue, perhaps not in the same form.
12) Club Memorabilia Section? I have a W.Britains tie I purchased in the 1990s. Not sure if you want to look at mugs, ties, pens... the usual other club merchandise.
13) Calendar - News, events, dates

All Sections should be hyper-linked as much as possible to make it easy for the user.

Sorry if I forgot some but I'm sure Richard is keeping notes :D
 
I too would appreciate a comprehensive listing of past W. Britains offerings.
 
jrsteel said:
I would definitely like to see an Upcoming Releases section with photos of future releases in design and sculpting stages.
Click to expand...

I like that idea! Kind of like what the conte site does with a preveiw of up coming figures but hopefully without the 10 year waiting period for the figures to hit the market.:p Some nice diorama set ups featuring the britains figures would be nice also.

How about a picture tour of the britains plant showing the figures in the process of being made(molded,painted,packaged,ect.) to give us an idea of how its all done.
 
Hi,
How about some ideas for displaying figures. That is from simple displays to basic dioramas. Or have Britains collector's send their picks.

I think that it is important to post pics of figures on the workbench, it keeps up a certain level of excitement.

Benjamin
 
Definitely need a forum. Most of the talk on this forum is about WW2 German Army tanks.
 
Dear Richard,
thanks for a chance to give our two pennies worth.
Lets face it the real funtion of this web is informative and a sales support not a profit centre i would image.
There have been some great ideas mentioned, i would like to see some real history and research on the actual models being produced, ie actual real life photos, drawings, stories etc from WW2 , WW1, ACW, etc , that would give more life to the models.

It would also be great to have a couple of competitions - best sugguestion of the Month etc and a monthly model from the past that is discussed.
regards
Andrew
 
Send me the Zulu War figures and I'd be more than happy to supply the mini dioramas and photos.....It's me again Richard....The Lt.
 
Good stuff guys! I particularly like the ideas about - how to display them, how we make figures, how we research sets, etc. sections that give more depth and life to the figures.

Am taking all this in and prioritising it for our design sessions with the web guys. Please keep the ideas coming - have another week or so before thigns start solidifying.

One question - do you prefer to see a stand alone "Whats New" section that shows all or some new releases or would you prefer to see "Whats New" sections under each category - ie - American Civil War - Whats New?
 
WBritain said:
do you prefer to see a stand alone "Whats New" section that shows all or some new releases or would you prefer to see "Whats New" sections under each category - ie - American Civil War - Whats New?
Click to expand...

Richard,

Michigan Toy Soldier Co is an example of how to show new releases. I would think all new releases should be shown, hyper-linked back to the main series page.
 
WBritain said:
Please keep the ideas coming - have another week or so before thigns start solidifying.
Click to expand...

Richard,

I realize your priority will be NEW figures but please don't forget the Vintage and pre-1966 lead, plastic and even pre-First Gear figures. To this end, here is a good article for lead collectors on lead rot by author George R.R. Martin and his pages on knights.

Other useful Website sections
FAQs
Site Map
Help
Blog for Members - place to post photos of figures, dioramas, news from members. I'm not sure how this would linked to the Discussion Forum.
Live Chat room linked to Discussion Forum/Blog
Future Planned/New Releases
PayPal capability
Historical Time Line - good start was in a 2005 Standard, perhaps expand on it and hyperlink to archive and figure photos in rest of site.
Links to related militaria hobbies - such as Murrary's military cigarette cards, best military movies, modelling, military books and prints
--These would help in informing Club members about the history behind WBritains figures and would be a way to expand interest in military miniatures possibly bringing new collectors in the field.
 
Richard,

Here is an example of a company that uses Flash and other web technology well to describe the company ANRI, a world renowned wood carving manufacturer. I like the sections on the ANRI Factory that you can zoom into, get 360 views, as well as the development and history of the company's owners using painting, drawings, and photos.
 
WBritain said:
Good stuff guys! I particularly like the ideas about - how to display them, how we make figures, how we research sets, etc. sections that give more depth and life to the figures.

Am taking all this in and prioritising it for our design sessions with the web guys. Please keep the ideas coming - have another week or so before thigns start solidifying.

One question - do you prefer to see a stand alone "Whats New" section that shows all or some new releases or would you prefer to see "Whats New" sections under each category - ie - American Civil War - Whats New?
Click to expand...

Hi Richard,

I would prefer to see a "Whats New" sections under each category. I personally believe it is easier to navigate and it assists in helping you go directly to your point of interest.

Revwarbuff
 
Hi Richard,

I agree with RevWarBuff. I would prefer to see a "What's New" section under each catagory. I think he is correct in stating such organization will aid the collector in finding what is of greatest interest to him/her.

Warmest personal regards,

Pat
 
Other sections:
Guest Book or Comments
Collectors' Classifieds
Guided Site Tour or First Time Visitors
Webmaster Blog to track lastest changes/additions to site
Dioramas - Conte's "Action Photos" link are a great adverstisment of figures. Maybe you could run competitions for the best diorama, and the winner is posted and also gets a prize/set?
News, Flash News or News Ticker - WBritains in the news, Exibitions, events, linked to more detailed info
New to Collecting - See K&C for example

Finally, and then I'll stop posting :D , I think most website homepages are not user friendly. Even K&C, which is good, could be improved. I always like to have everything at my fingertips with the least amount of scrolling. Clicking is easier. Thus, the Homepage should act as a portal to the rest of the site. One should not have to scroll on the Homepage. This is the key in my mind. All relevant links should be clearly displayed at first glance or available in drop down menus. Photos or images on the HomePage should be dynamic Flash or alternating among several, which should be changed to keep interest.:)
 
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