gk5717
2nd Lieutenant
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2005
- Messages
- 3,187
Emailed EF in regards to all us plastic collectors disappointment in the size of the WW2 figures. Scott, I presume the owner of EF emailed me the following.
Hi Gary,
Thanks for your note. Sorry to hear that our model size is not compatible with what you want.
As a model maker and business person, I have to invest much effort to design, make the tools, produce and package each of the ranges. I am an accountant by training and have been in a corporate career for many years but decided that I wanted to do something I truly loved in my remaining active years. In the pursuit of a meaningful life, having health and happiness is incomplete and has to include being contributing to our family/society/world at large. My choice of life contribution is to produce a range of model soldiers to span all history that will contribute to the excitement and vibrancy of the hobby that has given me so much pleasure for so many years. It’s understood to be taxing from a monetary perspective. However, the Chinese market for military model collection is slowly maturing. With a million men in the armed services, the potential is huge.
Frankly, I am also very disappointed that the choice that I made, in choosing 60mm to be in line with our recent ranges, has such an unexpected response from the very community that we had hoped to contribute to. The size issue was consulted on but unfortunately not properly enough, even when a few of the master sculpts were sent to be displayed on a few toy soldier shows earlier in the year.
But, such is life. We win some and we lose sum. There was a moment back when the models were being sculpted that we swayed between sticking to 54mm (matching our ACW range) or 60mm (matching our Greeks and Medieval ranges). Having too many different scales would make our model range a messy collection to collectors who like our style of models. Being a model soldier collector myself starting back in the 1960s-70s, besides model size, I was also very much affected by the style and materials of the models. Metal or plastic, flat or semi-flat or 3D, ‘wooden’ toy soldier marching or action posed, realistic or cartoonish, etc. As a result, I tended to choose a key manufacturer and stick to his products as much as I can. Airfix was mine. (Marx, Conte etc. are not available in Singapore and I have never seen one in the flesh!)
Over the years I moved from Airifx 1/72 to Airfix 1/32 (severely incomplete) to Minifigs 15mm (metal wargame miniatures) to Foundry/Perry 25mm. Each shift of size or style was driven by the need for better quality, completeness of range, and coverage of historical span. My move into production in a way is actually another shift in style and size, this time with personal investment in their creation.
My move into model soldier production was triggered by my frequent visits to China in my corporate career and getting to know some manufacturers producing Japanese animation models for the fantasy/cartoon market. It struck me as regrettable that such beautiful creations are confined to cartoons and anime subjects with nothing for the historical collectors. My company’s style then was to apply anime model making standards and technique to historical subjects. So far, the ranges that we have produced have received positive feedback from the retailers and collectors. It is a pleasure.
Being a Singaporean, our source of models when young had been Airfix. The spread of their historical subjects has been the inspiration for me ever since. My own ambition is to cover all history from the dawn of civilization to the gulf war, from the western world to the Asian countries. To achieve this, the style and size has to be consistent across the range for a pleasing effect. Much as a collector like you wanting consistency in your collection, there is a desire to build a range of products across the span of time that is consistent. It’s not just WW2 for me.
It is thus unfortunate and painful that our choice of 60mm turns out to be such a wrong one for WW2 for you and your fellow collectors. My hair is wet. Our plan is to soldier on, to do the desert campaigns and the Pacific war, and to do the necessary mechanised elements so definitive of the period: half-tracks & tanks, guns & howitzers, jeeps & jimmies, and some terrain pieces for the convenience of my collectors. It would have been so easy to do just 54mm but the die is cast.
Thanks for taking the time and effort to feedback to me. It is painful for me. To re-do the range in 54mm would double the costs and lead to tremendous waste. I am against wastage. It is now for other producers to serve the 54mm WW2 community while I, hopefully, develop a new one for the 60mm.
Nonetheless, we are both fellow hobbyists. I appreciate and look forward to hearing from you or your friends.
Cheers,
scott
Hi Gary,
Thanks for your note. Sorry to hear that our model size is not compatible with what you want.
As a model maker and business person, I have to invest much effort to design, make the tools, produce and package each of the ranges. I am an accountant by training and have been in a corporate career for many years but decided that I wanted to do something I truly loved in my remaining active years. In the pursuit of a meaningful life, having health and happiness is incomplete and has to include being contributing to our family/society/world at large. My choice of life contribution is to produce a range of model soldiers to span all history that will contribute to the excitement and vibrancy of the hobby that has given me so much pleasure for so many years. It’s understood to be taxing from a monetary perspective. However, the Chinese market for military model collection is slowly maturing. With a million men in the armed services, the potential is huge.
Frankly, I am also very disappointed that the choice that I made, in choosing 60mm to be in line with our recent ranges, has such an unexpected response from the very community that we had hoped to contribute to. The size issue was consulted on but unfortunately not properly enough, even when a few of the master sculpts were sent to be displayed on a few toy soldier shows earlier in the year.
But, such is life. We win some and we lose sum. There was a moment back when the models were being sculpted that we swayed between sticking to 54mm (matching our ACW range) or 60mm (matching our Greeks and Medieval ranges). Having too many different scales would make our model range a messy collection to collectors who like our style of models. Being a model soldier collector myself starting back in the 1960s-70s, besides model size, I was also very much affected by the style and materials of the models. Metal or plastic, flat or semi-flat or 3D, ‘wooden’ toy soldier marching or action posed, realistic or cartoonish, etc. As a result, I tended to choose a key manufacturer and stick to his products as much as I can. Airfix was mine. (Marx, Conte etc. are not available in Singapore and I have never seen one in the flesh!)
Over the years I moved from Airifx 1/72 to Airfix 1/32 (severely incomplete) to Minifigs 15mm (metal wargame miniatures) to Foundry/Perry 25mm. Each shift of size or style was driven by the need for better quality, completeness of range, and coverage of historical span. My move into production in a way is actually another shift in style and size, this time with personal investment in their creation.
My move into model soldier production was triggered by my frequent visits to China in my corporate career and getting to know some manufacturers producing Japanese animation models for the fantasy/cartoon market. It struck me as regrettable that such beautiful creations are confined to cartoons and anime subjects with nothing for the historical collectors. My company’s style then was to apply anime model making standards and technique to historical subjects. So far, the ranges that we have produced have received positive feedback from the retailers and collectors. It is a pleasure.
Being a Singaporean, our source of models when young had been Airfix. The spread of their historical subjects has been the inspiration for me ever since. My own ambition is to cover all history from the dawn of civilization to the gulf war, from the western world to the Asian countries. To achieve this, the style and size has to be consistent across the range for a pleasing effect. Much as a collector like you wanting consistency in your collection, there is a desire to build a range of products across the span of time that is consistent. It’s not just WW2 for me.
It is thus unfortunate and painful that our choice of 60mm turns out to be such a wrong one for WW2 for you and your fellow collectors. My hair is wet. Our plan is to soldier on, to do the desert campaigns and the Pacific war, and to do the necessary mechanised elements so definitive of the period: half-tracks & tanks, guns & howitzers, jeeps & jimmies, and some terrain pieces for the convenience of my collectors. It would have been so easy to do just 54mm but the die is cast.
Thanks for taking the time and effort to feedback to me. It is painful for me. To re-do the range in 54mm would double the costs and lead to tremendous waste. I am against wastage. It is now for other producers to serve the 54mm WW2 community while I, hopefully, develop a new one for the 60mm.
Nonetheless, we are both fellow hobbyists. I appreciate and look forward to hearing from you or your friends.
Cheers,
scott
