Need MORE COMMONWEALTH WW2 Sets (1 Viewer)

J

johngambale

Sergeant Major
Joined
Apr 28, 2005
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1,545
:) HELLO N.Africa Collector's! We need MORE Australians ( EAO3'S)---MORE SCOTTISH ( EA01'S)----DAK INFANTRYand Italian AND French INFANTRY for N. Africa Sets; Armor,Vehicles,and Artillery!
 
Agreed but aside from you, me and a couple of other guys is it profitable for any manufacturer.

Gees, I hope so because my Wish List is huge.

Good luck,

Carlos
 
jomartvr said:
I agreed with John.
Too much D-Day stuff.
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I think the DD range has pretty much reached its logical conclusion at this stage. Whilst there'll probably be plenty more releases it may be a case of revisiting some themes within that range. (Having said that I'd still be reluctant to see yet another Sherman variation. Perhaps some new 101st Airborne or 3rd Infantry Division, some Rangers etc to balance the American:British ratio of the 25-30 or so currently-available sets). The Battle of the Bulge range is excellent, and has not resorted to repaints of familiar DD sets, but it would be unlikely to reach as far as a 65 set series.

The 8th Army is one that could do with some expansion, but I'd imagine it to be more popular in Europe than the USA, perhaps American public opinion underestimates the importance of Operation Torch etc and their decisive role in North Africa? Anyway I'd be interested to see more Australian, Indian and other Commonwealth units, but there's a danger that it could fragment into a very disjointed series as a result.

On the Pacific Theatre it'd be great to see the "Forgotten 14th" Army facing the Japanese in Burma, as it'd allow for a huge variety in having Gurkhas, Punjab regiments, Chindits, alongside American forces. Perhaps Imphal as a theme? Very difficult though for Andy to find a theme that he can produce for the widest body of collectors. (The emerging wealth in India after 8 or 9 years of IT boom just hasn't resulted in military miniature sales: Britains tried the Delhi Durbar and the various St Petersburg studios have tried themes on Alexander the Great's battles, all to no avail). I gather from other collectors that DD outsells IWJ by a factor of 4 to 1. If there were roughly two-thirds the interest of Pacific theatre collectors in the land wars as opposed to island hopping then it'd be just about viable. Really, it'll need a blockbuster to get something along that theme going.
 
As far as the DD series getting to a logical conclusion - I think there are things that can still be done effectively. Some items need to be revisited, a number of earlier items could be redone in the current better quality style. Despite some people's lack of interest in the Sherman, the earlier DD29 is not the best item to depict a Normandy era tank. This could be redone in the current higher quality in a more accurate form. We still haven't seen any Free French troops or vehicles, either. The British could be better represented also. We've seen a Wittmann Tiger - how about the Sherman VC Firefly that's most often credited with his demise?

The CBI figures and such might sell well in the UK, but over here the campaign is relatively unknown. Merrill's Marauders were the best publicized unit in the US (and they were a small contingent in a large campaign).

Maybe there would be a market for a limited series of "Forgotten Campaigns" - figure sets for the Austrailians on New Guinea, the British and Indians in Burma, the US in the Aleutians, etc.
 
I have bent Andy's ear about the 14th Army many times. My favorite author, George MacDonald Fraser, served in the Blackcat Division of the 14th Army as a scout sniper. I would love to see the characters he describes in his autobiographical account of the campaign, "Quartered Safe Out Here", brought to life, from the playful but deadly "Johnny Gurkha's" to the Baluchis, Cumberlanders in the regiment he served in (with colorful knicknames like "the Duke", and "Grandarse") through to Slim himself. But Andy is convinced this wouldn't play to an American audience. I, of course, disagree, because I think the romance of the American Volunteer Group "Flying Tigers" and Merrill's Marauders would capture the American imagination. Besides, I would love to see Andy educate a new generation of Americans about the "forgotton Fourteenth".
 
I don't what Andy is thinking about in terms of future AK and EA releases but I have my doubts that we'll see them next year. I also discussed more Italians with him at length but he doesn't think that they do well and doesn't have any plans to do them in the foreseeable future.

As far as Pacific Theatre, it doesn't do much for me. Perhaps expanding it off of Iwo Jima would help. I would, of course, be interested in 14th Army but doubt that it will happen. I think it would do well in Europe and I thought Andy was moving in that direction. Perhaps that direction is only in Fields of Battle.
 
I would still like to see more Africa, and there should be some US forces to go with the Africa Corps. Perhaps the problem is more to do with Kasserine (defeat) being remembered more than the many successes for the US in N Africa? :confused: Also there were some unpleasant moments, as well as lighter moments, with the French forces who must have found the whole thing difficult. Add Arabs, Italians, SAS/LRDG etc and I would have thought that there was some mileage yet.

At the risk of being boring, Andy's japanese are just waiting for some Commonwealth troops....:eek: And of course a truck...LOL :D

Polish cavalry, would also be nice for the Bug....Dutch and Chaseurs d'Ardennes, how about Eben Emal.... Time for the tablets again....:rolleyes:
 
The African Theatre was a 'training ground' for many of the beligerent forces in WWII and deserves more attention imo. There is always scope for more AK pieces, as they are popular K & C sets. However other forces such as Commonwealth, US and others would also be appreciated. If some combatants such as Italians are slow sellers, why not try 'mixed' sets of say Allied (British, Scotish, Aussies, US, Indian) Soldiers and of Axis (German, Italian, Arab?, French :) ) Soldiers (just a thought). I would also like to see more vehicles and artillery from this theatre together with specialist sets such as the LRDG etc.
 
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I think the North African campaign could be mined for a lot more subjects. There's the Italians - maybe with a German "advisor", or a German-Italian team (tag the "eyeties" onto a couple Krauts and they'll sell). The Free French (in older uniforms before the US re-equipped them), the Vichy French (one could look like Claude Rains?), the 10th Panzer Div (slightly different than the "classic" Afrika Korps), a Tunisian Tiger 1 (with dust filters, etc) or a Pz IV from 10th Panzer Div. For the US there's interesting early stuff - the last M3 "Lees" in active service, the early version M4A1 "Shermans", early halftrack APCs, the halftrack tank destroyers, scout Jeeps, M3A1 scout cars, many different vehicles from the DD series. Besides dusty OD, some US tanks in North Africa received a camouflage of mud daubed over the OD. Add in the Austrailian and Indian troops in the 8th Army, and you've got quite a huge series. Figures, vehicles and artillery galore!
 
See the thread "Andy's Free Gift and Other Points" for his comments on commonwealth sets.
 
Cannon,
Wow, talk about preaching to the choir; you are going right up my alley with the Australians, Ghurkas, Indians, Chindits, etc, etc. Aside from the Normandy campaign and The Battle of the Hurtgen Forest and the Bulge, (Check out the movie "When Trumpets Fade"), my passion is the Far East and Pacific Theater. The island campaigns and the conflict in Burma and India (specifically the Battle of Imphal) are of great, great interest to me.

The only problem is I am not sure from a mass marketing standpoint how well these type of sets would sell, but I'm all for it :D ................

George Guerriero
"Warrior"
 
Warrior said:
Cannon,
Wow, talk about preaching to the choir; you are going right up my alley with the Australians, Ghurkas, Indians, Chindits, etc, etc. Aside from the Normandy campaign and The Battle of the Hurtgen Forest and the Bulge, (Check out the movie "When Trumpets Fade"), my passion is the Far East and Pacific Theater. The island campaigns and the conflict in Burma and India (specifically the Battle of Imphal) are of great, great interest to me.

The only problem is I am not sure from a mass marketing standpoint how well these type of sets would sell, but I'm all for it :D ................

George Guerriero
"Warrior"
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When Trumpets Fade is one of the best war films I ever saw.:cool:
 
panda1gen said:
When Trumpets Fade is one of the best war films I ever saw.:cool:
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I agree with you, the visual realism of this film was outstanding.
I would like to recommend the Cross of Iron (1977) staring James Coburn , Maximilian Schell & James Mason. The setting is German Army in 1943 on the the Eastern Front. For those of you that have not seen this movie are missing one the very best WWII movies made.
 
Chuck - I have that one too - the part where the t34s attack is superbly done!:D
 
panda1gen said:
Chuck - I have that one too - the part where the t34s attack is superbly done!:D
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True, but the part where the Russian women attacked with small blunt knives was a bit scary :)
 
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