Conte's back!!! (8 Viewers)

[Harrytheheid]

I have to admit to never collecting Conte or forming much of an opinion about them, but these long-winded rants leave a real bad vibe about the company. Lots of red flags there. No way would I do business with them.

Same here to be honest. I've been EXTREMELY interested in a few of Conte's 19th Century figures since I saw the first pictures of them last year, and have expressed that interest to both George and a couple of other members here in email messages. But I have to admit all this hoo-haa has put me completely off the idea of buying them now.

That's just the way it goes I suppose. Guess I'll have to find some other way to display those Britains AZW figures I bought SPECIFICALLY to put alongside the Conte figures I was going to display them with.

Rgds
H

 

[Patton]

I was accused of Conte bashing when I responded in good faith to a topic started by others.

I repeat that I have no ill-will towards Conte or his products- I just wish all the s**t would settle so I could comfortably buy figures that should be available if advertised.

BTW- I am in business and have been cheated by intellectual theft so I do understand Mr Conte's angst. However sooner or latter he will need to do a PR campaign.

Just out of interest, does Conte read these pages ?



cheers



Patton

 

[kilted vampire]

I was accused of Conte bashing when I responded in good faith to a topic started by others.

I repeat that I have no ill-will towards Conte or his products- I just wish all the s**t would settle so I could comfortably buy figures that should be available if advertised.

BTW- I am in business and have been cheated by intellectual theft so I do understand Mr Conte's angst. However sooner or latter he will need to do a PR campaign.

Just out of interest, does Conte read these pages ?



cheers



Patton

He says he does not, though I have invited him to.

 

[maddadicus]

He says he does not, though I have invited him to.

There was a tirade by him, some time back, where he trashed at least 4 forums ( no names, but inuendo implied to each one )as being anti-Conte. So either he reads the forums or pays someone to read them, because he was implicit about the different forum's percieved crimes against him..Michael

 

[Warrior]

Just out of interest, does Conte read these pages ?/QUOTE]

He either reads them or has a mole over here who reads what is written, twists words all around into a fable Aesop would be proud of and reports back, throwing collectors and dealers alike under the bus.

And by the way, many thanks to all of you who have gone out of your way to say nice things about me, I appreciate it very much.

Gee, noone's said a bad word about me and I got canned anyway; I guess nice guys really do finish last..............

 

[gk5717]

I don,t want to say I told you so, but I have been on this board for quite a while now pointing out some negative things about Contes business habits.
This is not the first manefesto, I love who posted that, that he has put out. Over the years there have been several with each and everyone of them blameing someone else for his so called woes.
A great toy soldier collector friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, received a personal manifesto from Conte a few years back, all with the same garbage in it. Long story short he was banned from buying Conte products.
Why is there that term "Conte Bashing"? Perhaps he earned it!
Gary

 

[Patton]

I'm sure I'm posting on the BEST forum (crawl crawl) but is one allowed to know the names of other toy soldier forums ? Simply for intellectual comparison (of course)



cheers



Patton

 

[Wraith]

I'm sure I'm posting on the BEST forum (crawl crawl) but is one allowed to know the names of other toy soldier forums ? Simply for intellectual comparison (of course)

cheers
Patton

'Intellectual' and 'toy soldier forum' in the same paragraph?
Love the optimism mate!

Simon

 

[eborris]

I'm sure I'm posting on the BEST forum (crawl crawl) but is one allowed to know the names of other toy soldier forums ? Simply for intellectual comparison (of course)



cheers



Patton

I know of two others one being Hobby Bunkers forum the other being a Marx Playset group a mainly plastic site.

 

[kilted vampire]

I'm sure I'm posting on the BEST forum (crawl crawl) but is one allowed to know the names of other toy soldier forums ? Simply for intellectual comparison (of course)



cheers



Patton

Canadian Toy Soldier Club for one.

'Intellectual' and 'toy soldier forum' in the same paragraph?
Love the optimism mate!

Simon

Speak for yourself bucko. Yesterday I couldn't spell intelligent, today I are

 

[Patton]

Hey, I'm a mere PFC

When I'm in officer-country, I always try to remember my manners (and my spelling)

When I was a kid I got taught my spelling good..


cheers


Patton

 

[kilted vampire]

Hey, I'm a mere PFC

When I'm in officer-country, I always try to remember my manners (and my spelling)

When I was a kid I got taught my spelling good..


cheers


Patton

No worries. The bucko was for Simon.

 

[sammy719]

I have to throw my hat in the ring on this, when I first got into collecting metal WWII soldiers about 4 years ago I went with Conte products, as I got around to talking to dealers all had the same response when it came to Conte soldiers, poor communication, slow releases, no releases, back orders galore, so I dumped my WWII sets and went on to start collecting my beloved K&C, my thing is that so many dealers and collectors said the same thing, how could RC not know his own business was running so poorly?? to put the blame on a bunch of other co-workers sounds to me like a cop-out to me big time, own up to your mistakes, all this non-sense about moving your company and being more involved maybe a little to late for alot of us collectors, and that list of dos and dont's is a joke, love your WWII items and playsets, dislike your business management...Sammy

 

[OzDigger]

I have to throw my hat in the ring on this, when I first got into collecting metal WWII soldiers about 4 years ago I went with Conte products, as I got around to talking to dealers all had the same response when it came to Conte soldiers, poor communication, slow releases, no releases, back orders galore, so I dumped my WWII sets and went on to start collecting my beloved K&C, my thing is that so many dealers and collectors said the same thing, how could RC not know his own business was running so poorly?? to put the blame on a bunch of other co-workers sounds to me like a cop-out to me big time, own up to your mistakes, all this non-sense about moving your company and being more involved maybe a little to late for alot of us collectors, and that list of dos and dont's is a joke, love your WWII items and playsets, dislike your business management...Sammy

I haven't bought any Conte sets because of collecting needs rather than any personal or other issues so I guess I can be more objective on this matter than some. It seems Mr Conte is like most other guys in this business - they make and/or sell this stuff because they like the hobby and are collectors themselves. Considering that I guess we can't be too surprised that sometimes they pay more attention to what they like to do rather than concentrating on the business and their customers.

Personal interest(s) is the same in EVERY business. For example just because you are a great mechanic doesn't mean you will be successful if you concentrate on fixing cars and spend little time on the customer/business side. You name any business, people (customers) are your 'commodity' not what product/service you provide. Customers go back to a retailer because they liked the last transaction not the product itself. Another example, a restaurant can serve the best meals in the world, but if their service is lousy few people will return. I wish more manufacturers and dealers would take note of this.

 

[kilted vampire]

Oz, I just got off the phone with R/C. We had an hour and a half conversation. Your first comment nailed it on the head. I sent him pictures of Spartans I have painted. He said he enjoyed them and was glad I sent them. He told me all kinds of good and bad things about making stuff. Here are some thoughts I had based on the conversation.

Point one Not everyone is going to be happy. Most people are.
Point two, Some people are always going to complain.
Point three, He is not in this for the money but for the fun. And he is happy doing it.
p.4 The move was a bear. Imagine 5,000Sgft 24ft high room filled with refrigerators. Now take the same room filled with 2 1/2 inch figures
p.5 A lot of stuff is marked incorrectly and needs to be re-inventoried. He is finding things that he thought were long gone.
p.6 He took responsibility for being an absentee owner.
p.7 To me he seemed a gentleman and was trying to take the high road in his dealings with the public.

These are my opinions based on one conversation. But he has tried several times to contact me by phone and email. I like the guy. I thought I would because he makes such great figures. I think there will be great things coming soon.

 

[jazzeum]

You know what they say about talk. Thank goodness I don't collect Conte.
Contrast their customer service with that of the other major companies.

 

[OzDigger]

Oz, I just got off the phone with R/C. We had an hour and a half conversation. Your first comment nailed it on the head. I sent him pictures of Spartans I have painted. He said he enjoyed them and was glad I sent them. He told me all kinds of good and bad things about making stuff. Here are some thoughts I had based on the conversation.

Point one Not everyone is going to be happy. Most people are.
Point two, Some people are always going to complain.
Point three, He is not in this for the money but for the fun. And he is happy doing it.
p.4 The move was a bear. Imagine 5,000Sgft 24ft high room filled with refrigerators. Now take the same room filled with 2 1/2 inch figures
p.5 A lot of stuff is marked incorrectly and needs to be re-inventoried. He is finding things that he thought were long gone.
p.6 He took responsibility for being an absentee owner.
p.7 To me he seemed a gentleman and was trying to take the high road in his dealings with the public.

These are my opinions based on one conversation. But he has tried several times to contact me by phone and email. I like the guy. I thought I would because he makes such great figures. I think there will be great things coming soon.

HI KV, he seems a passionate guy and I hope he can turn his business around but I have to say if I was him I would have a rethink about redoing the more popular Conte sets such as the D-Day Church etc.

 

[damian]

You know what they say about talk. Thank goodness I don't collect Conte.
Contrast their customer service with that of the other major companies.

I don't think anyone can dispute you there Brad.
If Richard Conte does deliver on his AZW line it will be great and I for one will buy them all as soon as they hit the shelves (you don't know how long they will remain in stock and resupply is unclear). If he does not well I will move on and continue to collect other manufacturers AZW offerings. I just don't let myself get beat up over things.

 

[kilted vampire]

I don't think anyone can dispute you there Brad.
If Richard Conte does deliver on his AZW line it will be great and I for one will buy them all as soon as they hit the shelves (you don't know how long they will remain in stock and resupply is unclear). If he does not well I will move on and continue to collect other manufacturers AZW offerings. I just don't let myself get beat up over things.

Good for you Damian! I think they will be marvelous. He did not think he would make them again as he thought it had been over done. But he has seen great interest so he started on them. I did not ask for a delivery date.

 

[marco55]

I was just on Conte's website and they just FOUND a bunch of metal Civil War sets that shipped from Vegas and have a listing of all that is available.
Mark