jazzeum
Four Star General
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2005
- Messages
- 38,439
I just received Shannon's newsletter and I thought this unfortunate news from Richard Walker would be of interest to all collectors.
****
2008 has been a very challenging year with our production facilities in China. While various natural disasters (blizzards and earthquakes) and man made events (the Olympics) have certainly contributed to the delays they do not tell the whole story. Southern China, the home of many toy soldier manufacturing facilities, is in the midst of a series of profound changes.
There are many factors at work but the short answer is that the Chinese government is trying to turn southern China into a high tech manufacturing hub and it just so happens that the fine motor skills needed to paint eyeballs and buttons on toy soldiers are also in demand by high tech companies that need these skills for the assembly of intricate parts. This has resulted in severe labor shortages in the low tech manufacturing sector - many facilities are running at 40-50% of capacity, and it is not easy to bring new workers in, train them and then, critically, retain them and their skills. All year we have been hearing promises that production would catch up, that is simply not going to happen now.
What does this mean for W. Britain and the remainder of 2008?
All items from the January 2008 catalog will be delivered by late October 2008 and about 75% of the items from the 2008 Spring Supplement will be delivered by the end of the year.
A constant for W. Britain over the last twenty-five years has been the introduction of a Limited Edition Band Set for the year. This being our twenty-fifth anniversary of the first Limited Edition set released in 1983, we could hardly miss having a band set for 2008. Therefore, the difficult decision to delay a few items from the 2008 Spring Supplement was taken to make room for the production of the Pipes and Drums of the 1st Bn. Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders (79th), a 17 piece, limited edition set of only 750 made (more details to follow in a late September flyer). It will be a very near run thing to have this set in time for Christmas - we will be warning all our retailers and customers that there is a chance it will not arrive in time - but we are certainly going to try like the devil to get it here in time and make sure it surpasses in detail and quality anything you have ever seen before in the Limited Edition Band Series.
BACKORDERED ITEMS:
In order to make room for new items in the production line, no backordered items will be produced or received before the end of 2008. As production opens up we will begin filling backorders in the first six months of 2009. As we receive firm delivery dates we will pass them on to our dealers.
What does this mean for the future of W. Britain?
For the last few months we have been working with new facilities around the world to insure a smooth flow of figures in 2009. While this will take a few more months to iron out, we plan to have most of the challenges worked out with regular deliveries by April 2009. Over the next few months we will keep you posted of any changes. An amazing line up of new figures for 2009 is already sculpted and underway, you will not be disappointed!
A Final Note:
Our sincere apologies for the delays and disruptions. While the option to sacrifice some quality in order to push more figures through is ever present, it is not something we are, or ever will be, prepared to do. We would rather be late with something spectacular, reflecting the detail and quality you have come to expect from the new W. Britain than deliver a substandard figure.
Thank you for your support of W. Britain.
Sincerely,
Richard Walker
****
2008 has been a very challenging year with our production facilities in China. While various natural disasters (blizzards and earthquakes) and man made events (the Olympics) have certainly contributed to the delays they do not tell the whole story. Southern China, the home of many toy soldier manufacturing facilities, is in the midst of a series of profound changes.
There are many factors at work but the short answer is that the Chinese government is trying to turn southern China into a high tech manufacturing hub and it just so happens that the fine motor skills needed to paint eyeballs and buttons on toy soldiers are also in demand by high tech companies that need these skills for the assembly of intricate parts. This has resulted in severe labor shortages in the low tech manufacturing sector - many facilities are running at 40-50% of capacity, and it is not easy to bring new workers in, train them and then, critically, retain them and their skills. All year we have been hearing promises that production would catch up, that is simply not going to happen now.
What does this mean for W. Britain and the remainder of 2008?
All items from the January 2008 catalog will be delivered by late October 2008 and about 75% of the items from the 2008 Spring Supplement will be delivered by the end of the year.
A constant for W. Britain over the last twenty-five years has been the introduction of a Limited Edition Band Set for the year. This being our twenty-fifth anniversary of the first Limited Edition set released in 1983, we could hardly miss having a band set for 2008. Therefore, the difficult decision to delay a few items from the 2008 Spring Supplement was taken to make room for the production of the Pipes and Drums of the 1st Bn. Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders (79th), a 17 piece, limited edition set of only 750 made (more details to follow in a late September flyer). It will be a very near run thing to have this set in time for Christmas - we will be warning all our retailers and customers that there is a chance it will not arrive in time - but we are certainly going to try like the devil to get it here in time and make sure it surpasses in detail and quality anything you have ever seen before in the Limited Edition Band Series.
BACKORDERED ITEMS:
In order to make room for new items in the production line, no backordered items will be produced or received before the end of 2008. As production opens up we will begin filling backorders in the first six months of 2009. As we receive firm delivery dates we will pass them on to our dealers.
What does this mean for the future of W. Britain?
For the last few months we have been working with new facilities around the world to insure a smooth flow of figures in 2009. While this will take a few more months to iron out, we plan to have most of the challenges worked out with regular deliveries by April 2009. Over the next few months we will keep you posted of any changes. An amazing line up of new figures for 2009 is already sculpted and underway, you will not be disappointed!
A Final Note:
Our sincere apologies for the delays and disruptions. While the option to sacrifice some quality in order to push more figures through is ever present, it is not something we are, or ever will be, prepared to do. We would rather be late with something spectacular, reflecting the detail and quality you have come to expect from the new W. Britain than deliver a substandard figure.
Thank you for your support of W. Britain.
Sincerely,
Richard Walker
