Imrie / Risley for sale (1 Viewer)

[rahway]

Imrie / Risley has been circulating the following notice.

[FONT=&quot]Special Announcement[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Dear Hobbyist,[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Hope you are well and thank you for supporting Imrie/Risley Miniatures all these years. We know many of you got your start in the hobby using Imrie/Risley Miniatures and it’s always wonderful to hear your stories of finding inspiration in the line. Since the passing of Clyde Risley and William Imrie, Mrs. Helen Imrie has been, almost single handedly, running Imrie/Risley Miniatures. Now in her 80’s, Mrs. Imrie has decided it is time to pass the baton on to new blood. The family has all discussed this and have all decided this is the best course of action. We want Bill and Clyde’s life work to be carried on and we are seeking parties interested in taking this historically important business and carrying it on and, with hopefully developing and expanding the hobby.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]We are reaching out to our customers, clubs and societies to spread the word, although we are currently in very preliminary discussions with several interested parties. We thought it was just fair to bring awareness to our loyal customer base that this opportunity exists.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]A letter of inquiry may be emailed to contact@ImrieRisleyMiniatures.com or a physical letter sent to Imrie/Risley Miniatures, P.O. Box 89, Burnt Hills, NY 12027. Interested parties will then be provided a fact sheet detailing what is included and excluded in the sale of Imrie/Risley Miniatures. Please, no calls at this time, until you have made an inquiry via email or physical mail and have looked over the fact sheet. Please note a credit/background check will be required to proceed.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The Imrie family is focused on passing the business to a person who is passionate about the company and the hobby, committed to quality and historical accuracy and willing to invest the time and effort to grow the brand through advertising and line development. We would love to continue to see the I/R miniature line be ‘Made in USA’, however that will be at the discretion of the buyer.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Again, thank you for your support of the Imrie/Risley Miniatures brand.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sincerely,[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The Imrie Family,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Imrie/Risley Miniatures[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]PO Box 89 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Burnt Hills, NY 12027[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]contact@ImrieRisleyMiniatures.com[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]www.ImrieRisleyMiniatures.com[/FONT]

 

[theBaron]

Yeah, they have been looking for a buyer for over a year or more. If I had the money or could swing financing somehow, I'd make an offer.

Prost!

Brad

 

[nysoldiers]

My first venture into painting toy soldiers was with IR figures in the late 50's or very early 60's I believe.
Over time I have painted hundreds of IR figures from their AWI and ACW ranges. I still have most of them
boxed away in storage.
I can't say my painting was great but their instruction and picture cards really helped. IR spurred me on to
studying history and trying to recreate famous battles.
I don't know if their business is still viable with all the new sculpts and painted figures available today.

 

[Warrior]

Such an iconic name in the unpainted figure castings genre.

I remember as a kid getting the Asheton Bayard catalog, they were a firm out of New Jersey that sold unpainted castings, among them I/R, they also offered them painted.

I visited the I/R shop back in the early 1990's back when I held my last real job, was in Saratoga on business and stopped by.

As Rich mentioned, I have to wonder how viable their figures are in 2020, as far as unpainted castings there are other companies that produce a more "modern" type of figure if that makes sense.

Brad James could speak more to this than I could, but I also wonder where the unpainted castings end of the hobby is going, what is the age demographic for his MFCA club, the Long Island, Washington and Chicago clubs for that matter?

I recall when I first started attending the MFCA show back when it was held in Valley Forge at the convention center, the dealer hall stretched as far as the eye could see from one end of the hall to the other, aisles were not very wide either, just packed with dealers, many of whom sold unpainted castings, paints and brushes.

At the last show I attended, there were less than a handful of such vendors...........................

 

[theBaron]

There are still people who paint their own, but more of them are people who paint single kit figures in connoisseur style. I don't think there are that many of use left who buy the older manufacterers' products, like I/R or Tradition. They're not detailed enough for the tastes of the connoisseur painters.

I think that the business of making unpainted castings is still going strong, but the market has shifted to the wargamers, especially fantasy and sci-fi gamers. If I ran a business that made historical castings up to now, I'd have started several years ago to add fantasy and sci-fi to my catalog, to catch those customers.

Prost!
Brad