Imperial figures you wish you saw? (1 Viewer)

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Nathan

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Hey guys,

This forum has died down of late.

As topic suggests, what are some ideas of figures you wish you had seen?

Personally, I would have loved to have seen the 95th Rifles in the Peninsula and Waterloo campaigns, and maybe even an Indian Mutiny series, there are some very pretty decorated Indian regiments... I wonder what an Imperial Elephant would look like...

So fire away :)
 
Nathan said:
Hey guys,

This forum has died down of late.

As topic suggests, what are some ideas of figures you wish you had seen?

Personally, I would have loved to have seen the 95th Rifles in the Peninsula and Waterloo campaigns, and maybe even an Indian Mutiny series, there are some very pretty decorated Indian regiments... I wonder what an Imperial Elephant would look like...
So fire away :)
Click to expand...

.......rather nice I should imagine. :)

Jeff
 
Top of my list would have been an RHA gun team and limber at the gallop ,
in terms of figures Scots Greys for waterloo or a couple of additional camel
corps figures for the sudan.
 
I would love to have seen what an Imperial GS wagon would look like!
Mike
 
All this talk of elephants is making me think that a Durbar line would have been nice.
 
thebritfarmer said:
All this talk of elephants is making me think that a Durbar line would have been nice.
Click to expand...

Although i,m not realy a durbar collector , I think this range would have made
a super addition, and I cant think of a new range that would be better suited to Imperials particular style.
 
Personally I would love to see some Portuguese Caçadores from the Peninsular War, but I guess there is no chance that will happen anytime soon:rolleyes:. Speaking of the Nap line some Prussians or Dutch allied troops would be welcome, as well as some more British cavalry and infantry regiments, and some Royal Marines, after all the balance now tilts most favorably towards the French.
Any Sudan/Boer war/colonial wars release would certainly catch my eye, and why not some French Foreign Legion for a change...
Well, one can always dream:D.


Paulo
 
Interesting replies! I agree with the Indian figures suiting Imperials style, especially with the gold paint they use, etc.

A RHA gun team at the gallop would have been great I agree!!!

Keep em' coming! :)
 
A Durbar series would have been fantastic! Good thing they did not. Another thing to lament about not having;)
 
Fellow Imperial Collectors,

Season's Greetings!

Sorry I have been dark for a bit on the message board. Kudos to Nathan for getting this thread going and for Drum in putting up more photos of his fantastic and complete collection. I agree with Rob's and Paulo's suggestions. I would love to see more stuff from the Nap range (hands down the best set of figures ever made). In particular, I like the idea of more troops on the British side. I also would love to see more camel figures for the Sudan series. Mahdis on camels would be cool. I haven't talked to David in about 2 months and since he knocked out so many Nap and Crimean figures for me over the last 2 years, I thought I wouldn't bug him. Now that it has been over a year since we have had any new figures and I have all the Nap and Crimea sets, I really have the itch to see some new stuff. It would be great if he cranked out a few new items for the new year. I know he has stuff cast that goes back at least 18 months that he hasn't finished out, but sounds cool. Maybe a gentle nudge from our group would spur him on for some new sets for us. Frankly, I'd love to see anything new in the Nap range.

Dan
 
Fat chance for new pieces so long as David continues to be overwhelmed by filling the orders for his current catalog.

I know it is easy and painless enough for me to say, but I will say it anyway, his catalog is currently too large. More sets need to be truly retired, hopefully freeing David from making endless copies of molds for decades old figures so he could do more sculpting.

Worse still, he is charging prices which are just barely adequate to support the endeavor. David Cowe does not believe people would pay more for his handiwork. I truly believe, and I tell him this again and again, that the fans of his pieces would pay whatever it takes to keep him in the sculpting chair and facilitate the hiring of a few painters, etc.

Anyway, if I were king of the world, I would give Mr. Cowe an arts grant that would free him from the mechanics of making toy soldiers so that he could sculpt us a new line of soldiers depicting the 18th century armies of the American Revolution and other European clashes during that century.

That or some more American Civil War sets. Berden's Sharpshooters, some butternut Confederate cavalry, some more zouaves.

D
 
You're not wrong Drum... In my opinion he grossly under-charges... If it were possible that a few more talented painters were able to be trained by Kay, I would definately pay more for my purchases.

Considering also the amount of near new figures you see go for some huge prices, I don't think it's a big leap tbh...

Some other pieces I would have loved to have seen would be:

T&A series: Barrister and his junior (Imagine a barrister figure walking swiftly with a junior barrister following with a big pile of briefs)...

Maybe even some coveted characters from Oliver Twist... I love that many of the T&A are gentlefolk, but it would be great to see some 'typical londoners' of the day as well... A Bill Sykes for example! :D

Also an ANZAC series would be brilliant as well... Given that it's a market not heavily touched (mostly due to demand I guess - Majority of collectors are from USA & Europe and want only their genre figures)... But I would personally love to see some Australian Lighthorse at Beersheba (charging with only bayonets), a remake of the Maori Battalion in Gallipoli (perhaps figures doing a haka pose... As the story goes the MB did a haka before a charge on the first night of the assault, when they got to the trenches the Turks had run.. can't say I blame them).

:D
 
Agree with you on prices. I told David the same thing that he doesn't charge nearly enough. I too wish he would stop making old sets. However, I was in that boat 2 years ago and was glad he made all those Nap sets for me. I do think he can reduce the catalog also. I also think he could do 2 or 3 new sets a year if we gave him a gentle nudge. I like your idea of American Revolutionary figures. My only concern with that is him starting a new series that would take a very long time to build up as oppossed to adding to a series like Naps that is already very well established.
 
From what I've read here I believe time is an important factor. For how long will Imperial go on? The reopening seems to be based on a smaller scale concept, maybe this also involves health matters. I am not sure the Cowes are thinking in terms of new ranges or even new figures, but it certainly is good news that some new figures are ready to be finished. But the question remains: is this really what Mr. and Mrs. Cowe want? Are they looking to expand at this time in Imperial's life?
On retiring pieces and pricing, I understand the previous points of view but I feel in a different position. I arrived late at the collecting Imperial game, and I would like to get most of the Nap Line over a period of time that would be reasonable, I just don't know if I am going to be in time or not:eek:. I guess I have some 24 Nap sets on my wish list, so it's some kind of a countdown... Retiring pieces would certainly make it more difficult for me and also raising prices, I have to pay prices and customs taxes on top of prices and shipping. It would be easier if there was a regular European dealer. Aren't there others in my position? Also there seems to be a lot of demand for the Nap sets, so why retire something that is in high demand (although I understand the renewal argument, I'd love to see more Brit/Allied Naps)?
I think it ultimately comes down to what Mr. and Mrs. Cowe want Imperial to be and on how long they plan to go on. Expand or not expand? I am sure that they will not want to become another King & Country, and that is part of Imperial's unique charm. But maybe they might become another Fusilier Miniatures and keep producing more and more sets and some new ones at that, even without retiring the older Nap ones (surely their premier line, although I can't think of one that doesn't fascinate me:p). Should they retire some smaller non Nap line to help? Probably the above more experienced Imperial collectors can shed some light on this (or maybe even Mr. and Mrs. Cowe haven't made up their mind).
Just a different (and shelfish I guess:D) point of view, I just feel I am in some kind of a catchup race:p.

Regards,
Paulo
 
Paulo,

I'm with you on the Nap range. I don't think he needs to or should retire any sets yet from that series. It is very popular. I think he could probably discontinue most of the other ranges (Sudan, Crimea) except for the Town & Around, which I understand is also popular. He does need to scale back a bit on some of the old sets, however, if we're ever going to get any new sets. I got back into Imperial about a year after they started up again and put in a massive order for all the Nap sets. I'm forever grateful that David took the time to make me all of the sets I was missing from that series. It took about 6 months, but was very satisfying when I got those 2 massive boxes from New Zealand. Best of luck getting the rest of those sets for your collection. You will love it when you have them all.

Dan
 
Ah, you guys are all Nap happy... :rolleyes:

Alas, while I hear and understand Paolo's dilemma, I see so many of the Imperial Productions sets on ebay selling for, I think, fairly reasonable prices that I find it hard to believe it is all that difficult to assemble them with time and patience.

The prices I see on ebay dictate not only evidence of the failing economy, but also the current fact that there are more Imperial Productions sets floating around on the secondary market than there are serious collectors of same.

I admit that I would love for David to pull the plug on almost all of his previous sets and set about making new sculpts. I really think that this is a part of the process that he has been missing as an artist and, face it, how much fun can it be to make thousands of the same soldiers over and over again?

For folks in the Cowes' stage of life, they should really be doing only those things that they enjoy the most. Yet, I fear that the apparently typical NZ politeness and unwillingness to say "no" will win out and the Cowes will be cranking out Nap sets until the can no longer physically handle the task.

Who wants to go with me to NZ and learn to become an apprentice Imperial Productions artisan?

;)
 
The price is tough one ,being a local you guys are all paying in currencys that are valued higher than the kiwi $$ so I think you need to bear in mind
a lot of customers are locals and paying $185 etc per set and not bearing
the benefit of exchange rates.[although I would pay more ]

I would hazard a guess they have a fair few occassional collectors who
may be a bit gutted to see large scale price increases when they visit
the shop .
[I personally think the solution is to stop selling outside of NZ :D].

I think if they where to retire an entire range the shop may be a little
sparse on displays also.
I agree with paulo as long as they enjoy it they will continue , I cannot
ever see them expanding as that brings a whole set of headaches that
would quickly kill their enjoyment.
I think we just have to be thankfull they are still making their super figures
and if they add a set here or their it is a bonus.
 
I would like to say the following on pricing:
A Beau Geste set which includes 7 figures retails for 141USD;
An Imperial set which includes 6 figures retails between 131 to 140 USD.
An Imperial Nap set normally gets between 130 to 150 USD on E-bay, although I have seen them occasionally go for less, which is more of an exception than the rule. Those E-bay prices for used items are as you can see higher than the retail price for new items. Something that also happens with K&C retired items=Imperial items which are hard to get. And you take the risk of getting a paintchip or 3 or a figure that didn't belong in the correct set... Believe me, I have been following this very closely for the last 2 years or so...:D
Guys, Beau Geste figures are extremely nice and their quality is highly rated, I have seen them live and I would say their quality is comparable (although I prefer Imperial and have decided to take the Imperial boat instead).
So I think Imperial's prices are just about right and fair and there is no reason for Mr. Cowe to raise his prices (and give me and others a headache:D).
I rest my case (IMHO).

Regards and Merry Christmas to all Imperial Collectors,
Paulo
 
On retiring, I believe a fair number of sets has been retired from other Imperial lines and also the ACW line is now long gone, correct me if I am wrong. So Mr. Cowe probably knows very well what he is doing and what he should retire or not. I trust that he will find the balance between retiring older sets and creating a few new ones (the British and French Hussars come to mind, they are on my wish list by the way:p), probably not at the expense of his most popular line, the Nap line (in my view the most acomplished line ever!).
IMHO.


Cheers,
Paulo
 
dkelly said:
Paulo,

I'm with you on the Nap range. I don't think he needs to or should retire any sets yet from that series. It is very popular. I think he could probably discontinue most of the other ranges (Sudan, Crimea) except for the Town & Around, which I understand is also popular. He does need to scale back a bit on some of the old sets, however, if we're ever going to get any new sets. I got back into Imperial about a year after they started up again and put in a massive order for all the Nap sets. I'm forever grateful that David took the time to make me all of the sets I was missing from that series. It took about 6 months, but was very satisfying when I got those 2 massive boxes from New Zealand. Best of luck getting the rest of those sets for your collection. You will love it when you have them all.

Dan
Click to expand...

Hi Dan,
Many thanks for your best wishes, I am considering collecting nothing but Imperial Naps for the next 2 years or so:D. No, really! And than start collecting the lovely Town and Around line... And than... Passion stuff really (all within due proportions:D:D:D)...


Paulo
 
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