I'm clearly biased, because the Nevilles have been practically family to me for many years, but I think that anyone complaining about what the Nevillle's charge for K&C is barking up the wrong tree.
The first thing I ever bought from the Nevilles was the RAF Quonset Hut back in around 1998. I had called them long distance looking for retired pieces, and they had the hut in stock. I initially spoke with Sue Neville (and a nicer person would be hard to imagine), and then was put on the phone with Mike. I told Mike a few items I would love to have, and he told me he would keep me in mind if he came across them.
Over the next year or so I bought a couple of other pieces from the Nevilles, and was always completely satisfied with both the great service and careful packing. Then, out of the blue I got a call from Sue at my office - Mike had remembered that the piece I most wanted back then was the K&C Wood StuG IV (which I had foolishly passed on when the Toy Soldier Gallery had it in stock because I had already spent my Toy Soldier budget that month), and had bought one for me from a collector moving to take a job on an oil rig - can you imagine, when one came available over a year after I mentioned it during our first phone call, Mike not only remembered I wanted it, but sold it to me at the original retail price.
Since then I have bought at least half a dozen warbirds, literally dozens of retired sets, and many many other wonderful items from the Nevilles. I happily paid the British Pounds, even though at times the exchange rate was brutal, because I knew I was getting great service from a great old fashioned family business.
When I decided to propose to my lovely wife Meredith, I took her on a trip to London, and the morning after we got engaged we attended a Toy Show to meet the Nevilles in person. Mike and Sue were the first people to see Meredith and I as a couple after we got engaged. Since then, there has been a Neville at all but one NY Symposium. They, along with our hosts Pete and Shannon were instrumental and assisting Kevin, Larry, Hans and I in getting the K&C book published.
Because of the VAT and exchange rates, you pay more in pounds than the same set may sell for in dollars in the United States, but in return, you get great service, a fantastic website, a K&C "museum" type showroom which is at least the equal of mine, the Crimean War Series, and three fantastic London Shows a year. And, frankly, Mike and Sue became the UK Distributor for K&C back when K&C was just another small manufacturer - their vision, obviously along with Andy's, helped K&C remake the Toy Soldier industry and give birth to the "golden age" of the hobby we enjoy today.
Oh, and the last time I checked, all of my british buddies (and I have a few
) consistently grouse about getting nailed with obscene import taxes when they purchase Toy Soldiers overseas and have them shipped to the UK, so between shipping costs and taxes, I figure it all balances out in the end.
I do feel for my British cousins, who get taxed to the point of no return, and I hope you get some relief from your government, but the Nevilles should not shoulder the blame for your rather expensive system. Just my two cents, as a long time customer and friend of some of the best people in a hobby full of really terrific people.
