Having been hit with the Military History Weekend show as this post was made I had not had a chance to read it all until now. It is superb. Pat has done an excellent job weighing the pros and cons in the most fair way I have ever seen -- and when he gets subjective he says so - fair enough! The comments and back and forth from everyone, while you do not all agree, is civil, gracious and informative. Thank you.
Producing a new Durbar range in matte was not a decision we took lightly or with minimal thought. While there were many things to weigh, the clincher to do it in matte had to do with the fact that some of the original elephants would have do be done again - how could a new Durbar be complete without Curzon and Connaught? Too much time and breaks had elapsed since the first series was released for there to be a realistic chance of new collectors ever completing the series or for the bulk of existing collectors to have hung on (granted most of those on this forum have hung on - but a majority of others have not). So, these key figures could be done again in gloss - which tends to upset collectors with the originals or they could be done in a new style and finish. Again, due to the time lapse, it was felt most of the sales would have to come from new collectors and matte would be the way to go as it did not interfere with the first series.
After thirty five years in this hobby I have learned only one thing for certain - it is very very subjective and no matter what decision I make, some will be thrilled and others will be disappointed. But the thing I liked the most about this post is that you all seemed to understand that conundrum and not say one was "right" and the other "wrong". Thanks again.
