Fresh Perspective (1 Viewer)

[RoughRider]

I am new to the Forum but have been a military miniature collector for a number of years and have monitored the Forum for approximately the last three. I have devoted the majority of my purchases to King & Country products with the focus on D-Day, Battle of the Bulge and the American Revolution.
Even though two of the three areas of my purchases have centered on WII product lines I would like to see an expansion of the K&C product line away from what I perceive as an infatuation with WWII Germans/Nazis. I think the products manufactured to date have been historically valuable to a military miniature collector. However they are starting to set a trend that will inevitably diminsh my purchases.
I am hoping that we will see more development of additional historic battles that would allow me to expand my collection.
The Spartans, Alexander the Great, The Boxer Rebellion, The French Foreign Legion and even development of a porduct line of special WWII units such as the Free French, The Devils Brigade, The Jewish Brigade, Carlson's Raiders, The UnderWater Demolition Units, etc. would be a nice change.
Please be kind enough to share your thoughts with me. Thanks.

 

[Combat]

I think the direction of KC and most other toy soldier companies is dictated by sales, sales, and sales. The WWII Germans are the most popular figures so I wouldn't count on KC moving away from those anytime soon. The trend seems to be just the opposite. There have been a lot of interesting discussion on this issue before, but it really boils down to personal preferences for each collector. I have a number of nazi figures in my collection and they simply represent historical personalities - no more or less, but I can understand that some may not be comfortable collecting them as part of a hobby.

 

[Harrytheheid]

I am new to the Forum but have been a military miniature collector for a number of years and have monitored the Forum for approximately the last three. I have devoted the majority of my purchases to King & Country products with the focus on D-Day, Battle of the Bulge and the American Revolution.
Even though two of the three areas of my purchases have centered on WII product lines I would like to see an expansion of the K&C product line away from what I perceive as an infatuation with WWII Germans/Nazis. I think the products manufactured to date have been historically valuable to a military miniature collector. However they are starting to set a trend that will inevitably diminsh my purchases.
I am hoping that we will see more development of additional historic battles that would allow me to expand my collection.
The Spartans, Alexander the Great, The Boxer Rebellion, The French Foreign Legion and even development of a porduct line of special WWII units such as the Free French, The Devils Brigade, The Jewish Brigade, Carlson's Raiders, The UnderWater Demolition Units, etc. would be a nice change.
Please be kind enough to share your thoughts with me. Thanks.

Some good suggestions there.
I would certainly love to see a Boxer Rebellion Range or a Foreign Legion range. Lots of possibilities there. But most of all, for me anyway, I'm longing for a Mongol and a Trojan War range to be released by any of the TS manufacturers and despite what certain friends have told me, I would much prefer to see these in matte and not glossy. But that's just me.
Cheers
H

 

[debrito]

I am new to the Forum but have been a military miniature collector for a number of years and have monitored the Forum for approximately the last three. I have devoted the majority of my purchases to King & Country products with the focus on D-Day, Battle of the Bulge and the American Revolution.
Even though two of the three areas of my purchases have centered on WII product lines I would like to see an expansion of the K&C product line away from what I perceive as an infatuation with WWII Germans/Nazis. I think the products manufactured to date have been historically valuable to a military miniature collector. However they are starting to set a trend that will inevitably diminsh my purchases.
I am hoping that we will see more development of additional historic battles that would allow me to expand my collection.
The Spartans, Alexander the Great, The Boxer Rebellion, The French Foreign Legion and even development of a porduct line of special WWII units such as the Free French, The Devils Brigade, The Jewish Brigade, Carlson's Raiders, The UnderWater Demolition Units, etc. would be a nice change.
Please be kind enough to share your thoughts with me. Thanks.

Welcome to the forum. You have good ideas here; I wish you very luck on yours suggestions. My advice to you; is to continue BULGE and if you like Dessert War, because those matter are the main subject for K&C.


Cheers

 

[Rob]

Welcome to the forum Rough Rider.Love the idea of the Foreign Legion,that would be a very interesting series indeed.

Rob

 

[Halo]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[APACHEJOL]

Some good suggestions there.
I would certainly love to see a Boxer Rebellion Range or a Foreign Legion range. Lots of possibilities there. But most of all, for me anyway, I'm longing for a Mongol and a Trojan War range to be released by any of the TS manufacturers and despite what certain friends have told me, I would much prefer to see these in matte and not glossy. But that's just me.
Cheers
H

Not sure if you are into Aero Art St. Petes, I have their whole Mongol line and they are really nice. Expensive but they are amazing! Thanks Joel

 

[Canadian Samurai]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing your thoughts. I like to collect a diversity of lines (whatever catches my eye) so I share your interest in more diversity. That said, manufacturers also have to continue to support their existing lines so I understand there is a limit to the number of lines they can have running at any one time.

 

[Saber]

Great suggestion. One thing I have noticed in most ranges and most manufactures is a limited line of specialty/allied troops. I would like to to see more napoleonic allied troops both on the British and the French side (Bavarians, Austrians, Brunswickers etc), not to mention some supply wagons/logistics types. As other forum members have pointed out I suspect there is not enough general interest in these other lines to warrant a production run. I know several casual collectors who only buy the well known items such as 24th Zulu War/Foot Guard Waterloo and so forth. I wonder if maybe some sort of advance subscription to a product line might make it less riskier for a company to produce that line?

Welcome aboard!

 

[storch]

There are many reasons why collectors are fascinated with WWII. Some were born when memories of the war were still relatively fresh; many of us grew up watching movies about the conflict; the war took place in virtually every continent and every conceivable geographic environment; it was a war with incredible technological breakthroughs (some of the most beautiful and efficient machines of war were produced in this era); the participants were interesting characters. And let's remember that the Waffen-SS soldiers are among the best warriors of all time.

As for the fascination with Germans and Nazis, we have to recognize that they produced the most interesting equipment (best planes, best tanks, best submarines, the first assault rifle, first missiles, etc, etc). And let us not forget the uniforms, with the exception of Napoleonic era uniforms, the German soldiers in WWII had the best looking uniforms ever (after all, Hugo Boss designed many of them), they are elegant with the advantage of being functional (many famous designers are copying -plagiarizing- some Nazi jackets and pants and selling them for hundreds of dollars a piece as "hip" fashion).

So it is understandable that K&C has to respond to the popularity of this subject. But obviously Andy realizes that there are other interests he keeps surprising us every now and then.

Gil

 

[Rob]

There are many reasons why collectors are fascinated with WWII. Some were born when memories of the war were still relatively fresh; many of us grew up watching movies about the conflict; the war took place in virtually every continent and every conceivable geographic environment; it was a war with incredible technological breakthroughs (some of the most beautiful and efficient machines of war were produced in this era); the participants were interesting characters. And let's remember that the Waffen-SS soldiers are among the best warriors of all time.

As for the fascination with Germans and Nazis, we have to recognize that they produced the most interesting equipment (best planes, best tanks, best submarines, the first assault rifle, first missiles, etc, etc). And let us not forget the uniforms, with the exception of Napoleonic era uniforms, the German soldiers in WWII had the best looking uniforms ever (after all, Hugo Boss designed many of them), they are elegant with the advantage of being functional (many famous designers are copying -plagiarizing- some Nazi jackets and pants and selling them for hundreds of dollars a piece as "hip" fashion).

So it is understandable that K&C has to respond to the popularity of this subject. But obviously Andy realizes that there are other interests he keeps surprising us every now and then.

Gil

I think that sums it up very nicely.As long as K&C continue to make their superb WW2 line i'll be a happy bunny.Also i like to 'Dip my toe' so to speak in other era's too.WW1,Zulu Wars,ACW etc.

Rob

 

[damian]

I only collect certain major battle themes for example
Waterloo and I focus on Neys charge against the squares and the action at Le Haye Sainte.
Gettysburg and I focus on the final moments of Pickets Charge
WWII is a bit more diverese
Anglo ZUlu war and I focus on Rorke's Drift and Islandwana.

Without taking it away from other conflicts that is what I find interesting and collect. I think that most collectors probably collect similar battles. Without taking it away from collectors who are after more exotic conflicts, they have often just not sold that well in the past. I would think that almost all conflicts have received the attention of manufacturers in some form or other over the last 100 years. This means that the onus is on people who want these more obscure conflicst to step up to the plate and support these themes when they are released by manufacturers. Hopefully the new Russians and Hessians will sell out in double quick time. That will give the correct feedback message to the powers that be to produce more of these sorts of figures. If they don't sell then that means they are not popular and the response will be more Hitler staff cars etc. Asking for exotic conflicts may not be enough. You actually have to part with some cash if you want to change things.
Regards
Damian

 

[jrsteel]

There are many reasons why collectors are fascinated with WWII. Some were born when memories of the war were still relatively fresh; many of us grew up watching movies about the conflict; the war took place in virtually every continent and every conceivable geographic environment; it was a war with incredible technological breakthroughs (some of the most beautiful and efficient machines of war were produced in this era); the participants were interesting characters. And let's remember that the Waffen-SS soldiers are among the best warriors of all time.

As for the fascination with Germans and Nazis, we have to recognize that they produced the most interesting equipment (best planes, best tanks, best submarines, the first assault rifle, first missiles, etc, etc). And let us not forget the uniforms, with the exception of Napoleonic era uniforms, the German soldiers in WWII had the best looking uniforms ever (after all, Hugo Boss designed many of them), they are elegant with the advantage of being functional (many famous designers are copying -plagiarizing- some Nazi jackets and pants and selling them for hundreds of dollars a piece as "hip" fashion).

So it is understandable that K&C has to respond to the popularity of this subject. But obviously Andy realizes that there are other interests he keeps surprising us every now and then.

Gil

The Nazis were responsible for the deaths of millions people but boy they sure looked "cool" doing it. And look at all the cool stuff they created. I think some of you guys secretly wish they would've won the war.
I think it's a shame this Nazi stuff has taken over the hobby. There are so many different themes you could do with WW2 but if all peole want is the Nazi stuff I can see why K&C keeps pumping it out.

 

[OzDigger]

The Nazis were responsible for the deaths of millions people but boy they sure looked "cool" doing it. And look at all the cool stuff they created. I think some of you guys secretly wish they would've won the war.
I think it's a shame this Nazi stuff has taken over the hobby. There are so many different themes you could do with WW2 but if all peole want is the Nazi stuff I can see why K&C keeps pumping it out.

I guess the irony is that there wouldn't have been a Second World War without those dang Nazi's

 

[Capitolron]

LOL

 

[RoughRider]

I appreciate the comments of all my fellow collectors. I agree with those of you that are of the opinion that what will be manufactured is what there is a demand for. Smart business requires that.

However I believe for our hobby to thrive and to attract new collectors diversity of product lines with expansion of the most popular lines would be the wisest business model.

I am a WWII military miniature collector. Not because I am enthralled with war. I have been to war and know that it is anything but glory. It serves a purpose when all else fails. I collect from the perspctive that history needs to be taught, remembered and reviewed with a very critical eye. The review should not be limited to second guess what decisions were made at the time. Hindsight can help those in the decision making process today learn from their predecessors mistakes. Review and analysis are essential for us to understand not only what happened in the past but to make sure what happened in the past is not perceived through the distorted lense of time. Time changes perspectives, it also diminshes the terrible nature of what actually occurred. For those of too young to have particpated in WWII but have fathers and/or grandfathers that participated we have a greater sense of what WWII was really like for the average grunt. On a personnel level my grandfather and his brothers were in WWI. One of my great uncles also served in WWII. The difference to him was quite apparent. He reflected upon the surrender of German soldiers in WWI and stated that they were happy the war was over. Most did not even know why they were fighting. In his combat experiences in WWII he stated he met very few Germans, except at the end of the war, that wanted to surrender and that they all had some kind of perception of what they were fighting for. They all believed they were the victims and that war was forced upon them. They all believed that all of the countries they destroyed deserved it. In time the view may have changed. However, my great uncle was clear that they had no remorse for what they had done at the the moment of surrender.

My uncle spoke german fluently and was able to communicate with the Germans his unit captured without the need of an interpreter. His interaction with them left him very bitter he could not understand how a "civilized" country could kill tens of millions of people and have little or no remorse ( this was his pereception based on his interaction with german pows in 1945).

My great uncle never married. He died in his late 90s. He left my brother and myself his WWII collection of iron crosses and miscellaneous military collectibles that he personnally took off german pows and kias - some of which he killed himself. In 1983 when I was contelplating joining the military my great uncle was kind enough to relate to me his battle experiences starting on June 7, 1945. DD plus 1. He fought until the end of the war - being wounded twice. He commented to me that the SS were very tough fighters but they always lost. The average engagement that my uncle was in with the SS or other German units did not always include overwhelming fire superiority - it included human superiority. We, the US civilian soldier, were better human beings and better soldiers and warriors. For those of you that believe the SS were some of the great warriors of all time I disaggree. They rampaged through Europe and Russia and ravaged those countries because they were technologically inferior and the 'warriors' they produced were not equipped mentally of militarily for a twentieth century battlefield. When the SS finally fought a fully mechanized army - although with inferior tanks, etc. - they lost. We can write a book why - the reality is that the SS were at the best efficient killing machines when nobody was shooting back and the best Germany had to offer in the field of battle. With the above being stated the Germans still lost and our army, the US Army, despite being technologically inferior and manned by citizen soldiers prevailed.

 

[Rob]

I appreciate the comments of all my fellow collectors. I agree with those of you that are of the opinion that what will be manufactured is what there is a demand for. Smart business requires that.

However I believe for our hobby to thrive and to attract new collectors diversity of product lines with expansion of the most popular lines would be the wisest business model.

I am a WWII military miniature collector. Not because I am enthralled with war. I have been to war and know that it is anything but glory. It serves a purpose when all else fails. I collect from the perspctive that history needs to be taught, remembered and reviewed with a very critical eye. The review should not be limited to second guess what decisions were made at the time. Hindsight can help those in the decision making process today learn from their predecessors mistakes. Review and analysis are essential for us to understand not only what happened in the past but to make sure what happened in the past is not perceived through the distorted lense of time. Time changes perspectives, it also diminshes the terrible nature of what actually occurred. For those of too young to have particpated in WWII but have fathers and/or grandfathers that participated we have a greater sense of what WWII was really like for the average grunt. On a personnel level my grandfather and his brothers were in WWI. One of my great uncles also served in WWII. The difference to him was quite apparent. He reflected upon the surrender of German soldiers in WWI and stated that they were happy the war was over. Most did not even know why they were fighting. In his combat experiences in WWII he stated he met very few Germans, except at the end of the war, that wanted to surrender and that they all had some kind of perception of what they were fighting for. They all believed they were the victims and that war was forced upon them. They all believed that all of the countries they destroyed deserved it. In time the view may have changed. However, my great uncle was clear that they had no remorse for what they had done at the the moment of surrender.

My uncle spoke german fluently and was able to communicate with the Germans his unit captured without the need of an interpreter. His interaction with them left him very bitter he could not understand how a "civilized" country could kill tens of millions of people and have little or no remorse ( this was his pereception based on his interaction with german pows in 1945).

My great uncle never married. He died in his late 90s. He left my brother and myself his WWII collection of iron crosses and miscellaneous military collectibles that he personnally took off german pows and kias - some of which he killed himself. In 1983 when I was contelplating joining the military my great uncle was kind enough to relate to me his battle experiences starting on June 7, 1945. DD plus 1. He fought until the end of the war - being wounded twice. He commented to me that the SS were very tough fighters but they always lost. The average engagement that my uncle was in with the SS or other German units did not always include overwhelming fire superiority - it included human superiority. We, the US civilian soldier, were better human beings and better soldiers and warriors. For those of you that believe the SS were some of the great warriors of all time I disaggree. They rampaged through Europe and Russia and ravaged those countries because they were technologically inferior and the 'warriors' they produced were not equipped mentally of militarily for a twentieth century battlefield. When the SS finally fought a fully mechanized army - although with inferior tanks, etc. - they lost. We can write a book why - the reality is that the SS were at the best efficient killing machines when nobody was shooting back and the best Germany had to offer in the field of battle. With the above being stated the Germans still lost and our army, the US Army, despite being technologically inferior and manned by citizen soldiers prevailed.

I agree with you but would point out it wasn't JUST the US Army that won the War.Many nations played a vital role in winning the War.Cheers

Rob

 

[RoughRider]

You are correct. My apologies.

 

[plasmapulse]

Numbers often make the difference. Just look at the Zulu War hehe.
The germans lacked just about everything a modern army needed at the end of the war which was their biggest setback.

Not all germans were evil and remorseless though. My grandmother had some of them quartered at her home a large part of the war. Enlisted men, no SS.
They behaved like gentlemen. After the liberation she had british troops quartered. They behaved like pigs and not like gentlemen with their only goal trying to get laid. She hated the german occupation BTW and still talked about "moffen" (krauts) ever since.

War isn't black and white, there were heroes and villians on both sides.
Calling US enlisted men 'better human beings' is a bit too black and white for my taste.

 

[Rob]

You are correct. My apologies.

No problem mate,sounds like your great uncle had one hell of a life.You must be very proud of him.Because of him and millions of his generation we live in freedom today.We will always remember.

Rob