Could there be an opportunity to expand (1 Viewer)

[Peiper007]

Hello

On a few days off work on holiday, caught a cold and cannot go out, coughing, runny nose and all that stuff, plus feeling as if I have been kicked by a horse.

Checking through the threads and adding too, but got me thinking, is there room, technically, to add a couple more manufacturers threads to the list and take a couple out of 'other manufacturers', to increase the profile of the newbies, who are producing some great figures. I am thinking Cold Steel who for me are giving First Legion Naps a run for their money, would be good. Empire, young company, producing some really nice figures.

Is there an opportunity to have a members vote or possibly a rotating 'guest' manufacturers on the front page?

I know the front page is on threads and I can understand, but how are the newer manufacturing going to increase their profile on what for me is the best TS forum on the web? Plus we all know of certain manufacturers [I use that word loosely] who have not done anything in years, yet are high on the forum as they produce on line pictures and that is it....... Love their stuff that is on the market.

therefore could we have a vote on increasing the front page, if the tech geeks can do it?, by 1 or 2 more manufacturers or have a 'guess manufacturer on the front page' which rotates on a monthly basis.

Come on lets support the new blood in the TS Industry.

 

[Peiper007]

Hello

On a few days off work on holiday, caught a cold and cannot go out, coughing, runny nose and all that stuff, plus feeling as if I have been kicked by a horse.

Checking through the threads and adding too, but got me thinking, is there room, technically, to add a couple more manufacturers threads to the list and take a couple out of 'other manufacturers', to increase the profile of the newbies, who are producing some great figures. I am thinking Cold Steel who for me are giving First Legion Naps a run for their money, would be good. Empire, young company, producing some really nice figures.

Is there an opportunity to have a members vote or possibly a rotating 'guest' manufacturers on the front page?

I know the front page is on threads and I can understand, but how are the newer manufacturing going to increase their profile on what for me is the best TS forum on the web? Plus we all know of certain manufacturers [I use that word loosely] who have not done anything in years, yet are high on the forum as they produce on line pictures and that is it....... Love their stuff that is on the market.

therefore could we have a vote on increasing the front page, if the tech geeks can do it?, by 1 or 2 more manufacturers or have a 'guess manufacturer on the front page' which rotates on a monthly basis.

Come on lets support the new blood in the TS Industry.

By the way the term 'geek' is ironic as a TS collector and a Military historian buff I class myself as 'geek royality'.

 

[Hadrian]

By the way the term 'geek' is ironic as a TS collector and a Military historian buff I class myself as 'geek royality'.

good idea !
we could change and may be put conte and figarti to the retired manuf.
cold steel and one or two smaller companies would then be on the head site , would be fair and great !

 

[Cold Steel Miniatures]

Hello

On a few days off work on holiday, caught a cold and cannot go out, coughing, runny nose and all that stuff, plus feeling as if I have been kicked by a horse.

Checking through the threads and adding too, but got me thinking, is there room, technically, to add a couple more manufacturers threads to the list and take a couple out of 'other manufacturers', to increase the profile of the newbies, who are producing some great figures. I am thinking Cold Steel who for me are giving First Legion Naps a run for their money, would be good. Empire, young company, producing some really nice figures.

Is there an opportunity to have a members vote or possibly a rotating 'guest' manufacturers on the front page?

I know the front page is on threads and I can understand, but how are the newer manufacturing going
to increase their profile on what for me is the best TS forum on the web? Plus we all know of certain manufacturers [I use that word loosely] who have not done anything in years, yet are high on the forum as they produce on line pictures and that is it....... Love their stuff that is on the market.

therefore could we have a vote on increasing the front page, if the tech geeks can do it?, by 1 or 2 more manufacturers or have a 'guess manufacturer on the front page' which rotates on a monthly basis.

Come on lets support the new blood in the TS Industry.

I think it would be great for Cold Steel to have its own section on the forum. It would raise the profile of the company but I think it would probably be a bit to soon yet. It's has been me who has started all the threads about anything to do with CS and I am probably responsible for half the posts. I am only bringing soldiers out 3 or 4 times a year and I don't have all that many out yet.

Thanks Gray for bringing it up but probably a bit too soon.

Iwan

 

[jazzeum]

When I was a moderator, appearance on the front page was based on post count, which made and makes sense, because those are the brands that interest collectors. Otherwise, they wouldn't post about them. I doubt that it is likely to change.

 

[Charlie Brown]

When I was a moderator, appearance on the front page was based on post count, which made and makes sense, because those are the brands that interest collectors. Otherwise, they wouldn't post about them. I doubt that it is likely to change.

Surely if a manufacturer no longer produces. Then it's time to move them to a retired section in the forum (aka Conte). Otherwise how are the new guys such as Empire Military Miniatures going to get the visibility they deserve to promote their wares. Older manufacturers by default will generate more posts. Simply by virtue of having produced more previously. Should be rules for relegation.

 

[jazzeum]

I don't make the rules here and I'm not a moderator here so my opinion is as a member. Empire has 474 posts whereas the manufacturer on the front page (so to speak) with the lowest number of posts has almost 5 times that.

This Forum, in my opinion, is not the end all, be all, of the "place to promote their wares." Companies get a lot of posts because people like their products and want to talk about them. The more customers they have, the more they will talk about the product. It's that simple.

Ultimately, your appeal or Empire's should go to Pete.

 

[Charlie Brown]

I don't make the rules here and I'm not a moderator here so my opinion is as a member. Empire has 474 posts whereas the manufacturer on the front page (so to speak) with the lowest number of posts has almost 5 times that.

This Forum, in my opinion, is not the end all, be all, of the "place to promote their wares." Companies get a lot of posts because people like their products and want to talk about them. The more customers they have, the more they will talk about the product. It's that simple.

Ultimately, your appeal or Empire's should go to Pete.

I'm a Conte collector as well I should have added previously. However other than a Roman Galley there's nothing that I now wish to add to my collection. Nor am I WW2 or Napoleonic collector. Remove threads on these topics from the forum and it paint a very different picture I would imagine.

 

[jazzeum]

I'm not really sure what you're trying to say. Remove WW II and Napoleonic posts from this Forum (especially WW II) and, well, you have no Forum. WWII drives the bus here.

 

[sammy719]

I'm not really sure what you're trying to say. Remove WW II and Napoleonic posts from this Forum (especially WW II) and, well, you have no Forum. WWII drives the bus here.

No WWII threads oh the hummanity of it all

 

[LTC PaulN]

I guess what everybody is trying to ask here is: when on the sine wave/bell curve of interest/releases/posts does a manufacturer deserve to be a front page player, and when should they be relegated to the back bench; sent to the minors, as it were. Point taken that the weakest of the old guard has 5 times the number of post as a new guy, but if most of those posts were made over three years ago, the case to keep them on top is not so compelling.

Does Empire generate enough to "run with the big dogs," or not... some algorithm could probably figure that out for the mods. Conte was one that may have generated lots once upon a time, but in my opinion were overdue for their move out of the center ring.

 

[Baymax]

This forum has a number of areas. Does it matter where a company is? Can also someone tell me why the main sections are not in alphabetical order? I would have thought that seemed a good way to chronicle manufacturers.

I do not see poll positions as such and a collector interested in specific manufacturers just has to scroll around and find what they are interested in. The question may well be should manufacturers contribute to costs for their position on any part of the forum as they would have to do in magazines and similar. They are in a special position as they are getting free advertising to a world wide audience. Perhaps manufacturers should pay to dress their section up and input more for those interested in their wares

 

[Jack]

This forum has a number of areas. Does it matter where a company is? Can also someone tell me why the main sections are not in alphabetical order? I would have thought that seemed a good way to chronicle manufacturers.

I do not see poll positions as such and a collector interested in specific manufacturers just has to scroll around and find what they are interested in. The question may well be should manufacturers contribute to costs for their position on any part of the forum as they would have to do in magazines and similar. They are in a special position as they are getting free advertising to a world wide audience. Perhaps manufacturers should pay to dress their section up and input more for those interested in their wares

If they paid for a portion of the site they would be entitled, one would think, to moderate the content. It does not bother me too much although it might others.

 

[Baymax]

If they paid for a portion of the site they would be entitled, one would think, to moderate the content. It does not bother me too much although it might others.

That is a step too far. They should have no moderation access were they to pay a fee for the constant free advertising they now get. you do not have such privileges in periodicals so, why should they be able to do so on any other medium?

That would suggest a fear of being able to hear anything not be pleasing to their ears which I am sure you would agree would result in a one sided discussion creating a subjective rather than objective narrative

 

[Jack]

That is a step too far. They should have no moderation access were they to pay a fee for the constant free advertising they now get. you do not have such privileges in periodicals so, why should they be able to do so on any other medium?

That would suggest a fear of being able to hear anything not be pleasing to their ears which I am sure you would agree would result in a one sided discussion creating a subjective rather than objective narrative

I am doing some research at work that looks at the Australian government's push for immigration in the years prior to 1914. One writer argues that the Australian High Commission bribed English newspapers to run articles that presented a favourable view. They did this by purchasing advertising. The papers that presented a favourable view no doubt got the advertising dollars. I have not read too much further than that but the moment I read the initial post I felt that it was an obvious parallel. I am not suggesting that manufacturers should get control, nor am I refuting that it would shape discussions. I do, however, feel that if they paid for a forum they would do it as part of their promotional efforts. They would need to feel that it had a positive effect on sales. Treefrog runs the forum as part of their business. If the tone of conversation harmed their image they would either take steps to control it or in an extreme case might just close it down. I do not believe that your suggestion will come to pass but I thought the business connection between a forum and a manufacturer would be an interesting discussion.

 

[jazzeum]

I'm not sure what you mean by "main sections." If you mean the matte section, it's because King & Country and Britain's are the most popular manufacturers and many people want to see what's taking place in those sections when they open the Forum. It's similar to reading newspapers. The more popular or important stories are above the fold rather than below.

 

[Martin Tabony]

That is a step too far. They should have no moderation access were they to pay a fee for the constant free advertising they now get. you do not have such privileges in periodicals so, why should they be able to do so on any other medium?

That would suggest a fear of being able to hear anything not be pleasing to their ears which I am sure you would agree would result in a one sided discussion creating a subjective rather than objective narrative

If a manufacturer paid for an area on this site it would become an advertising space. In the same way as their own web site or their paid for advertising space in a periodical. Therefore if it was a paid for space , of course the manufacturer would expect to have control over what was seen there. In the same way as they control their web site and adverts.

This is a forum where people are able to give their personal opinion about any posted figures. In the same way, when a figure is reviewed in a periodical, the author of the review gives their personal opinion. Hopefully all comments are constructive if not always positive, but you takes your chances! .

Personally I don't think it much matters where a manufacturer is on this forum as I believe most collectors look through the whole thing and soon locate anything they're interested in and return there. Although I do think that the forum has been setup well in order to make the most talked about manufacturers the easiest to find. (and almost alphabetical ^&grin ) If I'm not one of them so be it.

Martin

 

[Baymax]

Martin/Jack,

I think some point you both made are similar so I will respond to both. This site offers free advertising to manufacturers and a number of other dealers to promote their wares and business. Whilst I agree its an unlikely concept for the owners to charge them a fee for this ''free' advertising lets say they did. It would work in a similar manner to the periodical publications for this hobby a couple of magazines and, many for the 35th scale. All the manufacturers and dealers pay for their input and products to be advertised.

I do not see a natural follow on from that where they gain some form of advantage where they can then ensure what commentary is made is favourable for their products and business. The Journalistic impartiality seems to override such an anachronism because I read several products getting reviewed and when necessary pulled to pieces especially so in the 35th scale hobby.

Martin's point of you pay your money you take your chance is very relevant. Payment for such services does not and would be far from my mind were this my site to then allow manufacturers to dictate what could be said in ''their'' section. I think that is a slippery slope to censorship and a very biased discussion. I think the periodicals and their way to impartially review products while charging is a perfect system.

Manufacturers can work with that in those circumstances and rightly so.

It is indeed an interesting discussion

 

[Martin Tabony]

Martin/Jack,

I think some point you both made are similar so I will respond to both. This site offers free advertising to manufacturers and a number of other dealers to promote their wares and business. Whilst I agree its an unlikely concept for the owners to charge them a fee for this ''free' advertising lets say they did. It would work in a similar manner to the periodical publications for this hobby a couple of magazines and, many for the 35th scale. All the manufacturers and dealers pay for their input and products to be advertised.

I do not see a natural follow on from that where they gain some form of advantage where they can then ensure what commentary is made is favourable for their products and business. The Journalistic impartiality seems to override such an anachronism because I read several products getting reviewed and when necessary pulled to pieces especially so in the 35th scale hobby.

Martin's point of you pay your money you take your chance is very relevant. Payment for such services does not and would be far from my mind were this my site to then allow manufacturers to dictate what could be said in ''their'' section. I think that is a slippery slope to censorship and a very biased discussion. I think the periodicals and their way to impartially review products while charging is a perfect system.

Manufacturers can work with that in those circumstances and rightly so.

It is indeed an interesting discussion

Actually my point was that you don't pay your money and you take your chances. If you pay money then as with all advertising you can control what is said about a product.
I think you'll find that in most cases, with any of the hobby periodicals the reviews are requested by the manufacturer, so they control what is sent for review.
I think forums are a lot more than just "free advertising".

Martin

 

[Baymax]

Actually my point was that you don't pay your money and you take your chances. If you pay money then as with all advertising you can control what is said about a product.
I think you'll find that in most cases, with any of the hobby periodicals the reviews are requested by the manufacturer, so they control what is sent for review.
I think forums are a lot more than just "free advertising".

Martin

They may control the products sent for review in periodicals to a certain extent in that what they send is invariably new for the market but, again, they don't control the review content. That is clear when you see how they get reviewed. long may that continue