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I gotta say, we should give K&C a break. It seems Andy is d*mned if he does and d*mned if he doesn't. If we review the last year - we b*tched and yelled for Brit Paras. We got them and then there were cries of 'too many'. We asked for FJs, they came, but not in the right uniforms to cater for all theatres.

We yelled for Afrika Korps - It's been arriving. We yelled for more Afrika Korps - more came. We asked for more 'obscure' stuff - Italian Blackshirts, captured T34 etc - so it was produced.
We wanted Chaffees, Elefants, Panzer IVs, Resistance fighters, Tunisian Tigers, DAK tank riders, DAK infantry etc, etc, etc.

We got 'em.

There aren't many hobbies that I'm aware of where the manufacturer / collector relationship is so close.

I'm not a K&C die-hard, nor do I worship Andy as some toy soldier god (sorry Andy :eek:), but looking back at what has been requested most this past year, I'd say K&C have covered the majority of requests.

I dare say Napoleonics will appear in the not too distant future, along with Brit Armour, Alamo etc. K&C have a pretty shrewd record of responding to customer wants. If we don't have the funds to buy all we want, well, that's hardly K&C's fault, we just have to make more discerning choices.

My thoughts, for what they are worth.

Simon
 
I am with you, C.C....Enough Nazi's already..You would think that they were the only ones that were armed.......Michael
 
I have to say I'm with Simon on this one. The guy is bringing out some fantastic product and this month's dispatches is a cross blend of some outstanding items.

Also, for you long time K & C'ers I'm surprised you don't pay more attention to his release schedule. Since Andy has started to release AK and EA again, AK always comes first, followed by a month later by Eighth Army. I don't expect 2008 to be any different. So for all the grousing about the German stuff, why don't you give it a month or so. There was not a ton of AK stuff last year but you got the Desert Vickers and the LRDG, that's not so bad.

Why don't you think Andy posts here anymore: he's ****ed if he does and ****ed if he doesn't. Instead of complaining about this or that, let's appreciate the breadth of this month's offerings (even though like many I'm not sure how I'll afford it).

***

I went back and checked. Last year Andy issued 8 AK sets including the Vichy Camel Corps, some of which could be used for Eighth Army as well. He issued ten Eighth Army sets, including the LRDG. If that's not even or slightly weighted in favor of the Allies, I don't know what is. I can't actually believe I have to do this, considering the high quality we're getting now.
 
Wraith said:
I gotta say, we should give K&C a break. It seems Andy is d*mned if he does and d*mned if he doesn't. If we review the last year - we b*tched and yelled for Brit Paras. We got them and then there were cries of 'too many'. We asked for FJs, they came, but not in the right uniforms to cater for all theatres.

We yelled for Afrika Korps - It's been arriving. We yelled for more Afrika Korps - more came. We asked for more 'obscure' stuff - Italian Blackshirts, captured T34 etc - so it was produced.
We wanted Chaffees, Elefants, Panzer IVs, Resistance fighters, Tunisian Tigers, DAK tank riders, DAK infantry etc, etc, etc.

We got 'em.

There aren't many hobbies that I'm aware of where the manufacturer / collector relationship is so close.

I'm not a K&C die-hard, nor do I worship Andy as some toy soldier god (sorry Andy :eek:), but looking back at what has been requested most this past year, I'd say K&C have covered the majority of requests.

I dare say Napoleonics will appear in the not too distant future, along with Brit Armour, Alamo etc. K&C have a pretty shrewd record of responding to customer wants. If we don't have the funds to buy all we want, well, that's hardly K&C's fault, we just have to make more discerning choices.

My thoughts, for what they are worth.

Simon
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I entirely agree with your post Simon.
Regarding funds, I recently toted up how much I spent on the hobby and what are essentially peripherals to the hobby during 2007, including extra nights in hotels, selling a perfectly good camera in order to buy an even better one, cash spent on diorama materials, etc.
Its actually quite scary when you count it all up and to be honest, much as I do like the new releases, especially the AK items, I for one simply can't keep up with these incessant new releases. I really want to get the entire 2nd Crimean War release but have had to give up on the idea of a new range during 2008. I was seriously thinking about some JJ figures for a change but have faced up to the fact that I need to apply a bit of discipline in my collecting habits else I really will go bankrupt. So, while I do intend to obtain some of the new AK figures - I'll be somewhat more discerning in my choices because the amount of choices has grown at such an exponential rate.
Best Regards
H
 
Simon,

Totally agree with your post, I had already assumed that this month would be AK and the next month would be EA. So I've already planned my expenditure for April based on the fact that there might (?) be a EA tank of some discription and if not (well the world isn't going to end) all well and good, I'll get something else.

Wasn't expecting the Resistance fighters this month, they certainly look good but won't fit in my already planned expenditure. The PZIV will however, and I look forward to getting in the next few months. The other new AK range I'll obtain if I have any excess money over the next 12 months or so (that'll be no then but there is always hope.).

Andy does whatever a succesful businessman does and that is based solely on the economics of Supply and Demand. He supplies the best product he can of items that he knows will sell and hey presto.... it sells. In some cases I believe (I'm sure he will say otherwise if not true) he has bowed to demands and produced items/ranges which haven't sold. He knows what he is doing.

For those who believe that there is a disparity between Allies and Germans, what about the Market Garden range and the LRDG. Also the BOB range was pretty even in terms of figures.

That's my tuppence hapenny, I'm just going to wait for my 30 Corps Irish Guards for Sept/Oct, and.......:D

Rgds

Andy:)
 
I'm with Simon 100%. I really believe Andy and his competitors have been incredibly responsive to collector's requests, and we are awash in a sea of incredible products. I can't imagine a better time to be a collector!
 
Harrytheheid said:
I entirely agree with your post Simon.
Regarding funds, I recently toted up how much I spent on the hobby and what are essentially peripherals to the hobby during 2007, including extra nights in hotels, selling a perfectly good camera in order to buy an even better one, cash spent on diorama materials, etc.
Its actually quite scary when you count it all up and to be honest, much as I do like the new releases, especially the AK items, I for one simply can't keep up with these incessant new releases. I really want to get the entire 2nd Crimean War release but have had to give up on the idea of a new range during 2008. I was seriously thinking about some JJ figures for a change but have faced up to the fact that I need to apply a bit of discipline in my collecting habits else I really will go bankrupt. So, while I do intend to obtain some of the new AK figures - I'll be somewhat more discerning in my choices because the amount of choices has grown at such an exponential rate.
Best Regards
H
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Harry, you bring up a great pont, that has been troubling me ,for some time now..What is the maximum dollar limit that any collector can justify for their toys and is it possible for a mfg. to mis-read past success ,by overproducing above and beyond what the masses can now afford..You can read post after post from members claiming to have to now make choices over the never ending releases. Is it possible that K/C can kill the golden goose, that has always been their loyal collectors..by overwhelming them with too much product, too many lines, just too much..? I am lucky that I never bit on the hype and collected the odd piece here and there...No worry about me going broke, like most everyone else....Michael
 
maddadicus said:
I am with you, C.C....Enough Nazi's already..You would think that they were the only ones that were armed.......Michael
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Must be a Central Pa thing brother :D:D

Look- everyone relax- no one is here bashing KC- least of all me so enough already. I have no problem admitting that I am a KC junkie and that, in my opinion Andy is one of the most, if not the most influential figure in the hobby over the past 25 years. I am just trying to gauge where this is going- allow me to elaborate:

Back in 98/99, etc the Waffen SS line was released. A short time thereafter, Stalingrad popped up on the radar screen. The Waffen SS figures were issued in the snow camo uniforms and the Russians hit the field. Then..... they died- like that. So hear I am today with a complete line of Ruskies and a set of Snowy and a set of Normandy Germans from that era. I have the T 34 against the snow Panther and hanomag (and could have the snowy 88 if I had the money back then). And then the Russians froze up- 6 more offerings, well 7, since then. I just feel like I am seeing the same pattern here to some extent.

I dunno about the rest of you fellas but I recall when the Bulge and AK sets were released and there was some measure of Skepticism as to the success. Happily, they have been a resounding success. Maybe I am just getting skiddish about the fact that I don't collect 8th Army and/or the AK and would like to get into it but not see the same thing happen now as happened back then. That's all- I am not questioning the quality of the product.

And I hope Andy hasn't decided to stop posting because of us on this forum. Anyway, I am starting to feel encircled like my brothers at Bastogne did so perhaps I call a tactical withdrawal here for the next couple days.

I also feel like the MG figs were a wash with the FJs-
 
Someone, and I mean more than one, are buying this stuff, otherwise there would not be all these releases.
I have narrowed my purchases from other companies to keep up with K&C and have no regrets.
I,ve been collecting K&C since 2002, and back then maybe 4 series of WW2 sets a year. I'll take it this way , new WW2 every month with other eras thrown in, love it.
Gary
 
gk5717 said:
Someone, and I mean more than one, are buying this stuff, otherwise there would not be all these releases.
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Roger that-

I was going to take the plunge into the Imperial Chinese and WW1 lines this year but just had to face facts, it wasn't going to happen on my defense budget. Given that I am pretty satisfied with where I stand with WW2 (or will be here in the next year to 18 months), I think I will be able to transition pretty seemlessly to the American WW1 figures- if they get released. Cannot emphasize how eager I am to see the KC Mother Male.

This year though, ironically enough my biggest KC expenditures will come from a desert release- though not 8th Army or AK- But the EGYPTIANS true masters of the Desert Winds!! :D
 
The posts from members claiming to have to make choices can be read in two ways. I choose to read it that K & C is offering many choices from which you can choose. There's nothing that says we have to rush out and buy what's just been released or buy everything. I'm probably not going to buy many of the new ones initially but instead focus on buying Market Garden where and when I can. In fact, I just ordered a couple of sets today.
 
Currahee Chris said:
The Panzer IV has GOTTA be released for FoB. I think it is a no brainer that we will see it this year in that line. From what I undestand, there were some variants on the guns- low velocity rounds combining HE rounds. After '41, they switched up to the 75mm which improved accruacy. I thought the Desert war Panzers were the long nosed versions, not the snubbies used in France but it looks like I was wrong. Nothing strikingly different between the two though.
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I'm not as "into" German stuff as I am the US Armor, but the basic Pz IV with the short (L/24) gun served from the opening of the war. The innovations of the T34 were a shock to the Germans and caused the upgunning of the Pz IV to the L/43 gun (PzKpfW IV F2). The "F2" appeared in North Africa in mid-1942, being known to our British cousins as the "Mark IV Special". If I remember there were about 50 "specials" in the DAK armor inventory at the time of Alamein, along with older Pz IV, and several sub-variants of Pz III, plus the assortment of misc. armor the Rommel had to use.

Add the small number of Tigers deployed to Tunisia and the same bunch of stuff was faced by the US Army in their combat against Panzer Armee Afrika.

Gary
 
:) Well here goes! For myself who has Collected WW2 Since 8-Years ago, and still have Plenty of those Sets around! But, my Opinion is that I like Germans, but I have enough WAFFEN SS, and want MORE oF DAK, Gerbirschlager ( MOUNTAIN TROOPS), WEHRMACHT,! Also, on the Other Hand the ALLIES, N. Africa such as 8TH Army, French, Aussies, Italians, is what I'm looking forward to Collect! U.S. Bulge if Fine; but there is too many Sets, except a Few Extra's Artillery, WC54-Ambulance,Weasel, WC57, Heavy Mortar Team? RUSSIANS-Winter-Stalingrad, OK, and MORE Russian Armor, and Artillery? Japanese(IWO-JIMA),MORE Marine MG Team,--- Radio-Jeep---Pak Howitzer Gun, ---105MM Field Gun,--- NEW LCVT-4A with 75MM Gun Turret,---- NEW Sherman Tank in (Camouflage Colors),---- Jap Tankette, ----Small Field Artillery Gun, Mule Supply, and possible NEW Fighting Figure's? U.S. Airborne (PARAS) have enough Except for a NEW Mortar Team, Heavy MG Team, Bangalore Torpedo Team, Wounded /Dead, M-57 Anti-Tank Gun Team----WACO-Glider Plane/HORSA Glider Plane ------JEEP- Radio Communications----Pak 75 LIGHT Howitzer,?
 
Simon makes a great point. One of the things that has impressed me during my short tenure on the forum plowing through the history of posts is the fact the manufacturers actually have a dialog with the collectors. When it comes to my die cast armor/aircraft experience the vast majority of the manufactures couldn't care less what the community thinks. I am still gobsmacked that the folks who run these companies have a presence on the board. It is fantastic.

As to Brad's point on making choices he has hit my POV on the head. If funds were unlimited I would chase 4 or 5 manufacturers and several lines in each. However, after reading the forum and studying the hobby a bit before I plunged in I decided K&C had what I wanted as far as quality, variety and value and thus decided to stick to their offerings in the Crusader and Napoleonic lines for now. I have nearly two hundred die cast aircraft, armor and figure sets - almost exclusively WW II - but for now I can't afford to pursue everything. I love the WW II stuff they are producing and can't wait to see more - especially Allied pieces as mentioned - but we all have to make choices. (But that PzKpfw IV makes my heart flutter).
 
maddadicus said:
... and is it possible for a mfg. to mis-read past success ,by overproducing above and beyond what the masses can now afford..

You can read post after post from members claiming to have to now make choices over the never ending releases. Is it possible that K/C can kill the golden goose, that has always been their loyal collectors..

by overwhelming them with too much product, too many lines, just too much..? ....Michael
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I collect K&C's muskets & sabre ranges only, ... I am NOT being overwhelmed. On the contrary given the lack of new K&C releases, I am being tempted to consider other manufacturers, particularly the new JJ's collections.

Once that happens ... the defence budget will be permanently split between the two makes.

OD
 
Wraith said:
I gotta say, we should give K&C a break. It seems Andy is d*mned if he does and d*mned if he doesn't. If we review the last year - we b*tched and yelled for Brit Paras. We got them and then there were cries of 'too many'. We asked for FJs, they came, but not in the right uniforms to cater for all theatres.

We yelled for Afrika Korps - It's been arriving. We yelled for more Afrika Korps - more came. We asked for more 'obscure' stuff - Italian Blackshirts, captured T34 etc - so it was produced.
We wanted Chaffees, Elefants, Panzer IVs, Resistance fighters, Tunisian Tigers, DAK tank riders, DAK infantry etc, etc, etc.

We got 'em.

There aren't many hobbies that I'm aware of where the manufacturer / collector relationship is so close.

I'm not a K&C die-hard, nor do I worship Andy as some toy soldier god (sorry Andy :eek:), but looking back at what has been requested most this past year, I'd say K&C have covered the majority of requests.

I dare say Napoleonics will appear in the not too distant future, along with Brit Armour, Alamo etc. K&C have a pretty shrewd record of responding to customer wants. If we don't have the funds to buy all we want, well, that's hardly K&C's fault, we just have to make more discerning choices.

My thoughts, for what they are worth.

Simon
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Barvo Simon,

You're right with that assignment. At the moment Andy appears to be producing exactly what most collectors want, not what all collectors want but where most of the collector’s money is.

I'd love more allied armor, especially UK armor that competes with at least the Pz IV but doesn’t Andy normally announce 8th Army new releases sometime immediately after the new DAK stuff comes out?

To Simon's point, don't you think he's listening and reading? Stay tuned.

Carlos
 
BTW,

Great job Andy. It's nice to see an updated IV. Nice job with the weathering too. IMO, best release in the bunch....tank riders!

Carlos
 
All I can say is that one has to focus. The elephant is great but it wasn't in the desert or at the Bulge so I must pass. WWI and ACW are cool but I cannot think of them. Chafee in olive wasn't at Normandy so pass. Ramjager pass. That still leaves tons of stuff to get. In 2004 it was possible to keep up but not any longer.
Regards
Damian
 
I think Simon's post was spot on.We asked and we got,from extra Tank crew to resistance fighters time and again Andy has produced what we asked for.I for one am very happy with the latest releases and although i can't afford them all at once i will be picking off my faves as and when.Thats part of the joy of collecting and what makes each collection individual.As someone said above (Brad?) you don't have to buy everything at once do you?.My D Day and Bulge collectios have been built up overs years and its a lot of fun doing it.We are indeed in a golden age for Toy soldier collectors and i think Andy and K&C are doing a great job,keep it coming i say!:)

Rob
 
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