Empire MM
Corporal
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2014
- Messages
- 559
As one of the "new" manufacturers mentioned by Peiper in his original post I thought I should comment. Taken a while to think about it and consider the options but, as those folks that know me, I feel I should make my thoughts and opinions known. I expect to receive some flak, regardless of what I say so, here goes.
Firstly, the forum is simply great as it is. Myself, and a few others are newbies so, we are starting at the bottom and (hopefully) we will work our way up and grow. Pete very kindly expanded the other manufacturers columns to give several of us our own area within a sub category, something I was grateful for and something that has benefited Empire I am sure. I have NOT asked for this change or discussed it in any way so please, do not shoot the piano player {sm4}
Wherever we are placed, it is up to us to use the space wisely, for the good of the collecting community (and of course our own brand awareness) and to engage with collectors as this is a FORUM and not a publication or an advertising media. That is what makes this forum unique, makes it work, makes it enjoyable (mostly {sm4}) and enables us ALL to engage with each other and pass our opinions and comments. This has lead me into troubled water on a couple of occasions as I used to comment as a collector but had the comments taken as a manufacturer so, these days I do not comment on anything. A shame for myself as a collector but a right I accept I waived when I invested all this money into creating the business.
Product reviews are, I hope, written by impartial reviewers and long may that continue. Regardless of what advertising revenue any manufacturers spends, the reviews need to be impartial otherwise the magazines are not worth the paper they are printed on. Within these pages we have our products reviewed, by photo (which is not the best way by any stretch!!) by the people we endeavour to please with the products we create and release. As Martin say's, we take our chances and have to accept that sometimes a review or opinion will not be what we want to read. We all know and accept that but the one that really bugs me as a small manufacturer is being criticized without the balance of it being constructive. The one thing I would think collectors could do within a forum is to tell a manufacturer why they do not like a piece or what the company make rather than just making comments like "I personally do not like these" or "I would not buy them", it helps no one. A manufacturer does not know what he is perceived as having done wrong, they cannot rectify or improve (something new manufactures are bound to have to do over time) and above all else, other collectors have nothing to base the comment on and may by default decide not to look at or view an item that they may well like if / when they did view it at a show, a dealer or just on the web.
Rather than concentrate on expanding to have our posts visible, I would rather see our posts read by more people, ask people to be constructive in their critique and above all welcome and aid the new boys, me included. Us smaller guys spend days thinking up poses, thinking up ranges etc. We discuss with no one as we are on our own. We change our minds, our views and eventually,. we take the plunge to pay our sculptors our money to make the product available to our master painters, our factories and then to the collectors. That is a tougher road than most can possibly imagine and it makes those figures / ranges very, very personal to the manufacturer. Then factor in the financial outlay we are making (for us we are in a six figure investment of my own money!) and you can possibly see why this forum is so very, very important to us all and how well received any support is and, in balance, just how painful it can be to have negative comments passed to us with no foundation.
So, in summary. Thanks to Peiper for thinking of us small guys, it is appreciated and please, just support our efforts. We do it with love and with passion and also, with our own money so please, just be kind to us all, we are nice guys trying to eak a living in a nice hobby. If we get it wrong or do something you do not like or approve of it is not personal so please, do not make it so.
Thanks,
Malcolm. :salute::
Firstly, the forum is simply great as it is. Myself, and a few others are newbies so, we are starting at the bottom and (hopefully) we will work our way up and grow. Pete very kindly expanded the other manufacturers columns to give several of us our own area within a sub category, something I was grateful for and something that has benefited Empire I am sure. I have NOT asked for this change or discussed it in any way so please, do not shoot the piano player {sm4}
Wherever we are placed, it is up to us to use the space wisely, for the good of the collecting community (and of course our own brand awareness) and to engage with collectors as this is a FORUM and not a publication or an advertising media. That is what makes this forum unique, makes it work, makes it enjoyable (mostly {sm4}) and enables us ALL to engage with each other and pass our opinions and comments. This has lead me into troubled water on a couple of occasions as I used to comment as a collector but had the comments taken as a manufacturer so, these days I do not comment on anything. A shame for myself as a collector but a right I accept I waived when I invested all this money into creating the business.
Product reviews are, I hope, written by impartial reviewers and long may that continue. Regardless of what advertising revenue any manufacturers spends, the reviews need to be impartial otherwise the magazines are not worth the paper they are printed on. Within these pages we have our products reviewed, by photo (which is not the best way by any stretch!!) by the people we endeavour to please with the products we create and release. As Martin say's, we take our chances and have to accept that sometimes a review or opinion will not be what we want to read. We all know and accept that but the one that really bugs me as a small manufacturer is being criticized without the balance of it being constructive. The one thing I would think collectors could do within a forum is to tell a manufacturer why they do not like a piece or what the company make rather than just making comments like "I personally do not like these" or "I would not buy them", it helps no one. A manufacturer does not know what he is perceived as having done wrong, they cannot rectify or improve (something new manufactures are bound to have to do over time) and above all else, other collectors have nothing to base the comment on and may by default decide not to look at or view an item that they may well like if / when they did view it at a show, a dealer or just on the web.
Rather than concentrate on expanding to have our posts visible, I would rather see our posts read by more people, ask people to be constructive in their critique and above all welcome and aid the new boys, me included. Us smaller guys spend days thinking up poses, thinking up ranges etc. We discuss with no one as we are on our own. We change our minds, our views and eventually,. we take the plunge to pay our sculptors our money to make the product available to our master painters, our factories and then to the collectors. That is a tougher road than most can possibly imagine and it makes those figures / ranges very, very personal to the manufacturer. Then factor in the financial outlay we are making (for us we are in a six figure investment of my own money!) and you can possibly see why this forum is so very, very important to us all and how well received any support is and, in balance, just how painful it can be to have negative comments passed to us with no foundation.
So, in summary. Thanks to Peiper for thinking of us small guys, it is appreciated and please, just support our efforts. We do it with love and with passion and also, with our own money so please, just be kind to us all, we are nice guys trying to eak a living in a nice hobby. If we get it wrong or do something you do not like or approve of it is not personal so please, do not make it so.
Thanks,
Malcolm. :salute::