jazzeum
Four Star General
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2005
- Messages
- 38,434
Joesgis posted the following at the Hobby Bunker Forum and I thought people would like to see it here.
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I have a quick report report from FL at the Westcoaster. Sorry for the delay, but I worked the show with Toy Troops out of Huntington Beach this year. I would like to thank Sierra Toy Soldiers for hosting the first FL event at the Westcoaster. It's the kind of experience you can only get by going to a show. It was structured much the same as K & C events in the past w/ a brief but very informative history of the company and it's operation. I was happy to hear, for instance, that the sculptors and painters that FL uses are actual employees of FL, thus part of the reason for quality consistency. I really enjoyed Matt's presentation, and he answered many questions about existing and future products.
Among them were various topics including a helicopter from the Vietnam range, mounted Mamluks, mounted French for the Agincourt range, and the possible introduction of Greek and Indian war elephants for the Alexandrian figures. There was also talk of projects further down the line like the Battle of Kursk (Tiger ?), and the possibility of Rome/Carthage Punic Wars at some point.
Matt also wouldn't rule out a Peninsular War sub-range, but there are no plans for it in the immediate future, as he has other things he would like to do first. He also respectfully declined to ever produce any LAH or Hitler and friends figures.
There were many other things discussed, so my apologies for not recalling them all. I should have taken notes. One thing I observed is Matt is quite the skilled speaker, and a lot of what's not being said speaks volumes.
He did say there was a special set or line coming based on a classic painting that he will be bringing to life in miniature, but I embarrassingly can't recall which one. I believe it's NAP oriented. Sorry for dropping the ball, but if I recollect I will let you know.
There were discussions about manufacturing materials and how labor intensive/time consuming assembly of the vehicles are and how scheduling of production time is a constant balancing act as to not let some ranges languish in obscurity.
Someone asked how long does it take on average to produce a figure? Matt said from concept to being shelf ready is about one year. Another question pertained to how many of each figure is produced and that dovetailed into the mold making process and mold viability, etc. Matt said FL only releases production numbers for their strictly limited sets. Otherwise they like the flexibility to manufacture more of any given figure if they want to. So there is no set number of figures produced, but Matt did say it is not a particularly high number.
There was a good discussion about the mass battle range. Matt emphasized that the MB figures are not lower level painted versions of their already existing figures. They are all different. He had samples on hand of the first MB release. There's a washed out picture below. The figures are very nice with the same sculpting as we're used to seeing from FL and tidy paint lines. There's just less highlights and shadows. Matt said there are no current plans for Romans in the MB range. However, he is considering a Zulu MB foray, but for starters it will be ACW, Naps and possibly American Revolution as well.
Sierra/FL gave out a figure to all in attendance. I'm not sure if everyone received the same figure, but the one came home with is a fantastic figure from FL's NAP catalog. Thank you Sierra and FL for the nice figure and fun event. Hopefully we get to repeat the good time next year.
The event was well attended and was a real breath of fresh air.
Please see the pics of a diorama shown at the event showcasing the Retreat from Russian line. The diorama was made in England by David Marshall of TM Terrain (who just made a very nice castle wall for me). Many more figures are just around the corner for this range including a French sledge retreating in combat and mounted Cossacks in chase. There was a flyer that I took a picture of showing some of the forthcoming figures; sorry for the flash glare.
****
I have a quick report report from FL at the Westcoaster. Sorry for the delay, but I worked the show with Toy Troops out of Huntington Beach this year. I would like to thank Sierra Toy Soldiers for hosting the first FL event at the Westcoaster. It's the kind of experience you can only get by going to a show. It was structured much the same as K & C events in the past w/ a brief but very informative history of the company and it's operation. I was happy to hear, for instance, that the sculptors and painters that FL uses are actual employees of FL, thus part of the reason for quality consistency. I really enjoyed Matt's presentation, and he answered many questions about existing and future products.
Among them were various topics including a helicopter from the Vietnam range, mounted Mamluks, mounted French for the Agincourt range, and the possible introduction of Greek and Indian war elephants for the Alexandrian figures. There was also talk of projects further down the line like the Battle of Kursk (Tiger ?), and the possibility of Rome/Carthage Punic Wars at some point.
Matt also wouldn't rule out a Peninsular War sub-range, but there are no plans for it in the immediate future, as he has other things he would like to do first. He also respectfully declined to ever produce any LAH or Hitler and friends figures.
There were many other things discussed, so my apologies for not recalling them all. I should have taken notes. One thing I observed is Matt is quite the skilled speaker, and a lot of what's not being said speaks volumes.
He did say there was a special set or line coming based on a classic painting that he will be bringing to life in miniature, but I embarrassingly can't recall which one. I believe it's NAP oriented. Sorry for dropping the ball, but if I recollect I will let you know.
There were discussions about manufacturing materials and how labor intensive/time consuming assembly of the vehicles are and how scheduling of production time is a constant balancing act as to not let some ranges languish in obscurity.
Someone asked how long does it take on average to produce a figure? Matt said from concept to being shelf ready is about one year. Another question pertained to how many of each figure is produced and that dovetailed into the mold making process and mold viability, etc. Matt said FL only releases production numbers for their strictly limited sets. Otherwise they like the flexibility to manufacture more of any given figure if they want to. So there is no set number of figures produced, but Matt did say it is not a particularly high number.
There was a good discussion about the mass battle range. Matt emphasized that the MB figures are not lower level painted versions of their already existing figures. They are all different. He had samples on hand of the first MB release. There's a washed out picture below. The figures are very nice with the same sculpting as we're used to seeing from FL and tidy paint lines. There's just less highlights and shadows. Matt said there are no current plans for Romans in the MB range. However, he is considering a Zulu MB foray, but for starters it will be ACW, Naps and possibly American Revolution as well.
Sierra/FL gave out a figure to all in attendance. I'm not sure if everyone received the same figure, but the one came home with is a fantastic figure from FL's NAP catalog. Thank you Sierra and FL for the nice figure and fun event. Hopefully we get to repeat the good time next year.
The event was well attended and was a real breath of fresh air.
Please see the pics of a diorama shown at the event showcasing the Retreat from Russian line. The diorama was made in England by David Marshall of TM Terrain (who just made a very nice castle wall for me). Many more figures are just around the corner for this range including a French sledge retreating in combat and mounted Cossacks in chase. There was a flyer that I took a picture of showing some of the forthcoming figures; sorry for the flash glare.
