HIRIART Order Arrives! (1 Viewer)

[Napoleon1er]

I could do this or get a girlfriend, but while I can go on the forum from school, my school's Internet proably blocks the equivalent for having the latter:wink2:. Plus, she'd probably hate the reenactments and/or... Well, let's just say I do a lot of non-girl friendly things.

But back to TSs. I love your threads too- so many cool regements, nations, and troop types, but I have no idea what Hiriart is, where they are based, what their products focus on, where to get them, how much they cost, etc.... Illuminez- moi svp!

 

[ucla1967]

I could do this or get a girlfriend, but while I can go on the forum from school, my school's Internet proably blocks the equivalent for having the latter:wink2:. Plus, she'd probably hate the reenactments and/or... Well, let's just say I do a lot of non-girl friendly things.

But back to TSs. I love your threads too- so many cool regements, nations, and troop types, but I have no idea what Hiriart is, where they are based, what their products focus on, where to get them, how much they cost, etc.... Illuminez- moi svp!

I am glad you are enjoying my threads. Hiriart does have many cool sets as you suggest. There are no Hiriart dealers on the east coast that I am aware of. Buzz Thorpe sells Hiriart each year at the Chicago Show, as I do each year at the West Coaster. I don't know if Buzz considers himself a dealer or not, but I am not a dealer; I consider myself to be a collector who happens to import Hiriart to the USA. If you would like, send me your email address and I will send you a catalog list of the 341 sets they offer. You can contact me at matara42@roadrunner.com, if you wish.

The 2011 pricing was $125 per set of nine (eight figures if there is a mounted officer or if it is a personality set). Mounted sets with five figures, camel sets with four figures, and mountain artillery sets were also $125. Double sets which include bands and artillery gun teams were $240. I don't know if the new sets I order this year will cost more, but if they do, they have only raised their prices by $5 for single sets and $10 for double sets, in the past. I order once a year from Hiriart. My pending Order #8 for 2012 will bring me north of 800 sets ordered since 2005.

 

[ucla1967]

I could do this or get a girlfriend, but while I can go on the forum from school, my school's Internet proably blocks the equivalent for having the latter:wink2:. Plus, she'd probably hate the reenactments and/or... Well, let's just say I do a lot of non-girl friendly things.

But back to TSs. I love your threads too- so many cool regements, nations, and troop types, but I have no idea what Hiriart is, where they are based, what their products focus on, where to get them, how much they cost, etc.... Illuminez- moi svp!

I just realized that I didn't completely answer all your qusetions. Hiriart is actually the last name of a father and son (Jamie and Guillermo) who have been producing toy soldiers in Montevideo, Uruguay, for several decades. I believe that Jamie once had a retail shop, for years, which was located in one of Montevideo's subways stations. In my opinion, they focus on and were inspired by vintage Britains sets. You won't find American Civil War, Napoleonic Wars, Crimean War, or American War of Independence sets in their catalog. You will find many British Regiments in parade dress uniforms, late 19th century German and Italians, Indian Army, French Military, Colonial Africa, World War I, and World War II in their 341 set catalog. They even have a separate 40 set Spanish Civil War catalog.

 

[ucla1967]

I have spent the better part of the day packing 10 boxes contaning 19 Hiriart sets. I then took them to the post office so I could weigh them on their kiosk postal scale to get an accurate shipping weight for each box. I have contacted all but three of the 10 collectors who will be receiving these shipments to let them know what the postage will be. The other three boxes are international and therefore a little more complicated, so I'll contact them tomorrow.

I ran out of packing peanuts. When I bought them---14 cubic feet---I thought they would last for a long time. Not so. I also had to buy another 25 shipping cartons. The Hiriart boxes are too long to fit into any of the standard Priority Mail flat rate boxes. Bummer.

Attached are a few pictures of the sets for my two Danish friends, Niels and Per. Boy, it isn't cheap to mail stuff to Denmark. Three sets for Per look like they will cost $48 via Priority Mail International while Niels' two sets will cost $26 via 1st Class Mail-International Parcel. One can ship by the less expensive means if the package weighs less than four pounds.

 

[ucla1967]

Well, now that I have had all these toy soldier sets in my possession for a couple of weeks, it is time to start shipping them out to their real owners as I receive their payments. Say what you like about the U.S. Post Office, but their "click & ship" system is great. Once I weigh the packages, I can simply determine the shipping costs, print the labels with postage on my computer, and arrange for a free pick-up at my front door. Pretty neat.

 

[ucla1967]

I ran out of shipping supplies. Here is what $40 worth of packing peanuts (14 cubic feet) and shipping boxes (25) look like. Much cheaper at the Paper Mart than at the post office, UPS, FedEx, etc. By the way, I love my Toyota Camry Hybrid.