East of India (1 Viewer)

[Ken Clarke]

Continued from previous post ...

On the subject of the boat in the picture that Toricda kindly supplied. I actually bought her in Bangkok Thailand in 1995. It wasn’t cheep, and I forget how much it was, but worth every penny in my opinion. This craft is beautifully carved from teak wood (very expensive these days!) and all the rigging, pullies, cleats, rudder etc actually work! She looks great it full sail mode with all the canvas hoisted, but for this photograph I bundled away quite a lot of sailcloth (took me hours!) to give the impression that she had just landed on the beach.

She is allegedly a third century BC Mediterranean cargo vessel; so she suited the bill very nicely for both the time period and the picture. I know most movies show the entire Greek fleet in the war galleys of the time but surely this cannot have been the case. They had to bring in horses, supplies and extra infantry et al so I think this is what they would have used for transportation. I have stated my case and I am sticking to it!

I had so many enquiries on this boat at the Chicago show that when I was in Bangkok last year I returned to the shop that I bought her from back in 1995. “Alas it is no longer made as it’s too expensive” was the reply I received. They did have a similar type of BC transporter but it looked cheap, nothing worked on it and the bitter blow was that they wanted USD 2.000 for it! Oh my .. no way. Plus of course another USD 300 approximately to ship it to the USA. Sadly it seems this boat has also disappeared from the Market; eBay here I come!

On the subject of scale: In my opinion these phalanx figures are exactly 1:32 scale (or 54 mm) however I do agree that with the bulk of the armour and especially the height of the helmet and plume that they do look deceptively larger. I am not in the office today (as it is Sunday and we do take one day off a week!) but in the next couple of days I will photograph my Greek verses a 1:30th scale figure for your comparison.

Anyway, thank you again for all your nice comments and I look forward to showing you our new figure sellection very soon.

 

[Flammenpanzer]

I also like your ancients, they have very nice poses and painting. I have been looking to buy some sets for a while now. And your boat is fantastic.

 

[Currahee Chris]

On the subject of us being sleepy – I will ignore! Joking! Actually we are a very small company and also I run other businesses in Hong Kong the UK and in Spain as well. I am myself a collector and the reason why EOI got into the “toy soldier” market in the first place was to produce figures that I wanted in my collection but were not available in “bulk” at the time anywhere. To absorb these huge costs I of course had to sell into the market and due to an overwhelming response by lots of collectors like yourself I have managed to continue the business. The collection is growing and I try to make about 50 new figures a year. Sometimes we make more and sometimes less. We have 4 Cavalry and 17 infantry due to be released in the summer and the balance towards Christmas

More to follow ...

Hey Ken:

I just wanted to clarify what I meant when I said EoI was a "Sleeper" company- I think the meaning here may have been lost in translation.
The term "Sleeper" as I used it wasn't meant to mean define company as boring or unimaginative but that it is more of an underdog or a "Secret". I have several friends who are stock traders who describe certain stocks they deal with as "Sleepers" meaning the quality and value is there but for whatever reason, they are ignored by the mainstream. The sleepers they talk about are the kinds of stocks that have the potential to make people rich- which is what EoI can do for any of these collections out there- they can really enrich the enjoyment because the figures are of such good quality. Hope that clarifies that.

BTW- the Feudal Japanese castle I have seen in dioramas for the 47 ronin- is that another unique item you have acquired over the years?? That piece just makes that scene so incredible!!

Really looking forward to the cavalry. They will be great.

 

[Currahee Chris]

She is allegedly a third century BC Mediterranean cargo vessel; so she suited the bill very nicely for both the time period and the picture. I know most movies show the entire Greek fleet in the war galleys of the time but surely this cannot have been the case. They had to bring in horses, supplies and extra infantry et al so I think this is what they would have used for transportation. I have stated my case and I am sticking to it!

Funny you mention that as I pulled down some of my books which include artistic renditions of several types of mediteranean/ Spartan transport vessels from that period and you are right- it definately works. That humble pie I am eating doesn't taste too good right now

 

[Ken Clarke]

I also like your ancients, they have very nice poses and painting. I have been looking to buy some sets for a while now. And your boat is fantastic.

Thank you Flammenpanzer.

I hope with all these nice comments that my head will be able to fit through my front door!

If you need any sets you know where we are and I'm sure you know our dealers already.

 

[Ken Clarke]

Hey Ken:

I just wanted to clarify what I meant when I said EoI was a "Sleeper" company- I think the meaning here may have been lost in translation.
The term "Sleeper" as I used it wasn't meant to mean define company as boring or unimaginative but that it is more of an underdog or a "Secret". I have several friends who are stock traders who describe certain stocks they deal with as "Sleepers" meaning the quality and value is there but for whatever reason, they are ignored by the mainstream. The sleepers they talk about are the kinds of stocks that have the potential to make people rich- which is what EoI can do for any of these collections out there- they can really enrich the enjoyment because the figures are of such good quality. Hope that clarifies that.

Hi Chris,

I know that absolutey no offence was meant by you and of course none was taken by me; that is for sure. Yes we certainly don't produce new figures in the quantity that a collector would have to have a "defence budget" (using your great terminology) the size of China to keep up with!

This is party due to the reason I already stated but also due to the reasearch on these figures taking so long. If we were to manufacture say WW2 or Napoleonic’s then I could walk into any good bookshop and buy at least a linear yard of books on the subject. For the obscure subjects that we are producing I might be lucky to find 5 books and those would be books that I already have! I actually have a full bookcase, which I have collected over the last 7 years, on Samurai. However 95% of them are in Japanese. Great drawings in all these books but most of the content is text and of course in the Japanese language which I am unable to read.

Still I really enjoy the research piece of my work and I would guess in future we will continue to expand at the same managable pace.

Thank you again for your support.

 

[Alexdakar]

I just started collecting East of India and here is what I have so far.

 

[Ken Clarke]

I just started collecting East of India and here is what I have so far.

Wow Alex you have some rarities there!

Those are all figures from our first ever production back in 2000 of the Mori clan. The ashigaru marching were discontinued over 5 years ago and seem to be highly sort after. We still get many enquries for them. But we have moved on, as all companies, and we can't keep everything in stock!

Great set up and thanks for your interest in the Shogun Collection.

 

[Ken Clarke]

Hey Ken:


BTW- the Feudal Japanese castle I have seen in dioramas for the 47 ronin- is that another unique item you have acquired over the years?? That piece just makes that scene so incredible!!

Really looking forward to the cavalry. They will be great.

Hi again Chris,

Yes this "House of Kira" is another unique item as well as the Oda clan castle which I commissioned a couple of years ago (shown below). Alas these items are too big (and heavy) not to mention the market too small, to have these pieces manufactured in bulk on a commercial basis.

If they were European houses of the 19th centuary then yes definately worth producing, but Japanese castles have a small, albeit growing, client base.

I hope to have the new Persian cavalry figures to show soon.

But .. here is the other castle! Not a great picture as for some reason I could not upload the original. Best to click the link below.



http://www.eastofindia.com/images/2004/oda castle small.jpg

 

[Ken Clarke]

Some finer details of just a few of the Oda clan figures.

 

[HistoryfortheAges]

Hi Ken,

I just saw this post on the "House of Kira". Wow!!! This is what will take this hobby further beyond just the figures themselves. Is this something I can purchase from you in the future? It seems to me that backdrops, accessories and scenery are becoming a "necessary evil" for this hobby. Speaking for myself, the figures themselves are great but, adding a setting like this, takes it to a whole new level!!!

 

[damian]

Ken
I don't collect the Samurai or Colonial Collection. I do have all your Greek and Persian figures though. I will hopefully add the new releases at the end of the year. I agree with Chris. I think your product is fantastic and more importantly I can keep up.
Regards
Damian

 

[HistoryfortheAges]

East of India at Chicago

Hey there, did anyone get to see any surprises in the East of India room at the Chicago show?

 

[Steven Chong]

Re: East of India at Chicago

Hey there, did anyone get to see any surprises in the East of India room at the Chicago show?

East of India had their new French Marines for the Colonial Collection, and the Persian and Parthian cavalry for the Ancient Collection.

 

[Harrytheheid]

Some finer details of just a few of the Oda clan figures.

Hi Ken,

I'm aware that my good pal Churahee Chris has been nippin' yer heid for a "Bannockburn" range. Can I just add my plea's to his....??????

PS. I'll be lurking around HK on 21st Oct. Would it be possible for me to visit with you at this time?

Best Rgds
HtheH

 

[OldDragon]

Hi Chris,

... If we were to manufacture say WW2 or Napoleonic’s then I could walk into any good bookshop and buy at least a linear yard of books ...

Still I really enjoy the research piece of my work and I would guess in future we will continue to expand at the same managable pace.

Thank you again for your support.

Hi Ken

Your EoI pieces are beautiful .. what can we say to make you consider producing Napoleonics ? If you find pleasure in doing less mainstream figures/periods ... there's plenty of Napoleonic campaigns, other than Waterloo, spanning over 20 years.

For one ... the white coated Austrians are very under represented in the industry. Or say, the French in winter greatcoats.

OD

 

[Ken Clarke]

Hi All,

Just back from Chicago and that is my excuse for my rather tardy response this time! Thanks for all your nice comments since I have been away.

So now it looks like we have 2 collectors for the possible Bannockburn range! Any more? Of course guaranteed purchase agreements for a period of 5 years will be sent to every "would be collector" for signature and vast deposits collected if I were to make them

But seriously I will look into it. I have enough on my plate this year as I mentioned to Chris privately with production for the next year. I tend to take the spring months, where things get quiet over in HK, to heavily delve into research on new possible ranges.

Napoleonics is again, like the Romans, a subject matter that is dear to my heart; and there could be future offerings from us on that. It is a subject matter, rather like WW1, that is so vast that if every manufacturer decided to make it then I am sure after 10 years not every nationality, regiment, costume variety, seasonal variety etc etc would be represented.

Harry,yes please do drop by when you are in HK this month. You will be more than welcome. Please just drop me an email and we can sort out the plans from there.