Rob,
I have read your comments with great interest and as a manufacturer myself I can only applaud what you have said.
On the Yeomanry Miniatures stand at the London show I get, on average, 2 t0 3 customers who will say to me, "I think you ought to make ................. I think it would sell very well." It is usually some obscure Regiment or figure and upon questioning the individual it transpires that this item is something they have wanted for a long time but they only want ONE for their collection. This means that if I say yes the cost of producing the figure could be almost four times the return I will get on the figure I sell them.
Don't get me wrong, if I think the request is commercially viable, or there are sufficient numbers of people who are prepared to place orders to cover the production costs then I am happy to help a collector obtain that special item they have always wanted but it must be remembered that a manufacturer is in business to make a profit for without the profit it is not possible to continue to make new items or put little luxuries on the table, bread for example.
A case in point is that recently a Treefrog member asked if I would consider making a model of an Austin NAAFI wagon. While WW2 is not a period I normally cover I costed the exercise and told him that if he could get seven confirmed orders to cover the cost of producing the model I would make it. This he duly did and the masters are currently being made.
So if you want a manufacturer to make something out of the ordinary for you approach them in the right way with a commercially viable project.
Brian.
