Old Northwest Trading Company (2 Viewers)

[jazzeum]

Does anybody have these? These were sort of a reaction to Michigan Toy Soldier being tossed out as a K & C dealer due to their discounting policies so they decided to do their own figures to compete with K & C. My initial reaction was not favorable. They are 54, not 60mm and when I asked them about the size, they criticized the larger figures (strike 1 in my book). I also found the facial expressions odd; Andy's look like real people. Also the poses didn't seem realistic to me. I finally got to see several at the Valley Forge show and my initial suspicions were confirmed. In fact, they even seemed smaller than I thought, and they were, if anything, underwhelming. If they are to be a competitor to K & C, I don't think Andy has anything to worry about.

 

[Alexdakar]

I have ETO1 - 4 sets and they are better that Britains but not as good as K&C.

 

[gk5717]

I seen Michigans display of these at OTSN and was impressed.
I pre ordered the first 2 sets however there was a rather long delay so I cancelled my order but they came anyway.
I opened them up and my impression also was that they did not look as good as they did at the show. So I sent them back.
But what I did do was Valiant Minitures offers the same figures in an unpainted kit form, bought those and painted them a solid color and use them with my plastic Contes figures. They are a perfect fit.
Plus Contes is also releasing them in plastic. But if you are familier with Contes, that could be years away.
Gary

 

[mtsc1021]

Hello,
Rick from Old Northwest here. While I appreciate the opinions and comments on our figures I would like to state for the record that our figures were never meant to compete with King & Country figures. If that were the case we would have made them in a scale the same as K&C. K & C is an excellent company, they put out excellent figures and they have a large and dedicated following. Our goal at ONWTC is to also put out an excellent product but in a scale that offers a wider variety of options and compatibility for collectors. Criticisms like the ones listed here are helpful in improving our product and I welcome anyone to post their thoughts on our figures. For the record all of our figures were sculpted by Ken Osen and are 1/32 / 56mm scale which in our opinion is a more universal scale being the same as Conte, Britains (both of which Ken has worked for) Forces of Valor and others. Please note that we have only been a company for six months where King & Country has been in business for 20 years. I beleive our products will continue to improve with each issue just as K & C's have. We strive to offer the best product we possibly can at a fair and reasonable price to people who are intrested in the scale we have choosen. I would also like to mention that we are not going to be stricly a WWII company. We will have our first ACW set out this Fall. It will be an artillery piece that was commissioned by the Custer Museum in Monroe Michigan. I encourage everyone to post your ideas on what you would like to see ONWTC release in the future be it a new time period or a set in our WWII line.

 

[jazzeum]

Perhaps I was a bit too critical, especially as you are a new company and things that don't happen overnight as your correctly indicate. I thought, however, that I read an article in Toy Soldier Magazine more or less saying that you thought that K & had made some mistakes and that you thought you could do it better than they had.

 

[Alexdakar]

I thought that the wall was a great idea. I you have ETO-1 and ETO-3 you can build a nice wall with a gate.

 

[mtsc1021]

Perhaps I was a bit too critical, especially as you are a new company and things that don't happen overnight as your correctly indicate. I thought, however, that I read an article in Toy Soldier Magazine more or less saying that you thought that K & had made some mistakes and that you thought you could do it better than they had.

Brad,
I did not take your comments as too critical although I do wonder what you find unrealistic about our poses. Can you elaborate on this? I think in the beginning people excepted us to put out a competeing product to K & C and they are surprised that our figures are 1/32-56mm and not 70-75mm like K&C (you have to admit that they have gotten bigger). It was never our intention to put out a competing product but one in a more universal scale. I beleive I was slightly misquoted in the article as people seem to be intrested is strirring things up with myself and King & Country which is past history to me. What I said was that Old Northwest is trying to avoid obvious mistakes that other companies have made in the past. I did not mention anyone by name but that was included in the article. In the end we are simply trying to produce a truley accurte historical miniature in a scale we have choosen and wish to be judged on our own merits and not those of other manufactures.

 

[mtsc1021]

I thought that the wall was a great idea. I you have ETO-1 and ETO-3 you can build a nice wall with a gate.

What other scenic items would you like to see in the future from us? More wall sections? We have found that including them in the figure sets was not that popular with collectors and have decided to all future releases would be seperate from the figures.
Rick
ONWTC

 

[jazzeum]

I also liked the walls. I'm always looking for things that will go the soldiers.

Rick, I was never in the military so you can take this whatever grains of salt it's worth but the way some of the US soldiers are shooting didn't seem right to me. The arms seemed a little too bent. However, I could be wrong about that. Not to use K & C as a comparison but their poses seem realistic to me. I believe that's what I meant.

 

[Alexdakar]

What other scenic items would you like to see in the future from us? More wall sections? We have found that including them in the figure sets was not that popular with collectors and have decided to all future releases would be seperate from the figures.
Rick
ONWTC

I was thinking stone and wood bridges, hay wagons, street sections(cobble and brick), bicycles, motorcycles, farmhouses, and hedgerows (having seen any decent hedgerows yet).

 

[mtsc1021]

Ken is currently working on street sections and he did some hedgrows for Conte but he has some new ideas on those so this be come to be in the not to distant future.

 

[Dan B]

I would really like to see to see a great matt finish WW1 line in 54mm. The scenics could include tench sections, shell holes, barb wire....lots of cool stuff. Maybe a Verdun or Somme battlefield set. Also, how about the Spanish American war?
I own sets 1-4 of Old Northwest and I think the size is about the same as Conte and Britains which I have been collecting for some time. K&C makes great stuff - they just look to big in comparision.

 

[VIRIATO]

I would really like to see to see a great matt finish WW1 line in 54mm. The scenics could include tench sections, shell holes, barb wire....lots of cool stuff. Maybe a Verdun or Somme battlefield set. Also, how about the Spanish American war?
I own sets 1-4 of Old Northwest and I think the size is about the same as Conte and Britains which I have been collecting for some time. K&C makes great stuff - they just look to big in comparision.

Hi Dan B,
What's your opinion on comparing Britains and Conte? Maybe you could help out Cool Guy on the Conte vs. Britains thread. Your ideas on WWI sound fine, but for me I'm restricting myself to WWII, at least for now. About Old Northwest, I have only seen them on photos, very good detail, but their faces look substandard when compared to K&C, Britains or Conte. Especially those from the panzer crew. What do you think about it?

Best regards,
Paulo

 

[VIRIATO]

Brad,
I did not take your comments as too critical although I do wonder what you find unrealistic about our poses. Can you elaborate on this? I think in the beginning people excepted us to put out a competeing product to K & C and they are surprised that our figures are 1/32-56mm and not 70-75mm like K&C (you have to admit that they have gotten bigger). It was never our intention to put out a competing product but one in a more universal scale. I beleive I was slightly misquoted in the article as people seem to be intrested is strirring things up with myself and King & Country which is past history to me. What I said was that Old Northwest is trying to avoid obvious mistakes that other companies have made in the past. I did not mention anyone by name but that was included in the article. In the end we are simply trying to produce a truley accurte historical miniature in a scale we have choosen and wish to be judged on our own merits and not those of other manufactures.

Hello,
Well, this is not Brad answering but I hope you don't mind. From seeing Old Northwest on photos the soldiers look like having very good detail, especially on their uniforms. For my personal taste the tricky part comes to faces: they don't look realistic, at least on photos, especially the panzer crew set. But as you say, K&C have also evolved greatly on this, you just have to check out some of their earlier sets. About scenics, I think they are a great idea of yours, they look excellent and definitely one of your strong points. Me I'm always looking for scenics for my toy soldiers and I think it makes a lot of sense to produce scenics prepared for your sets. Other companies do lack this. Keep it up.

Best wishes,
Paulo

 

[Dan B]

I agree the faces on the Panzer set are a little weird, but have you seen the SS guys in set 6? I think they might be the best ever in this scale. If you keep improving like this I don't see any problems in your future. How about some WW1!

 

[mtsc1021]

Rick from Old Northwest here....We agree that the faces on a couple figures from our Panzer set are not what we had designed. A combination of painting and molding by the factory made them look to harsh. This was our second set and a learning experience. I feel our faces and figures have improved with each release. Ken Osen who sculpts everything for ONTC has said he personally has been working on improvement the faces and I think it shows in our new sets. I appreciate the criticism as they help us improve our products and offer a better understanding of what collectors look for in historical figures. Please note our first scenic base is now available it is the first of three European village scenics that can be used with just about any company on the market

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Ken is currently working on street sections and he did some hedgrows for Conte but he has some new ideas on those so this be come to be in the not to distant future.

Hi, Ken Osen here...I recently finished a new US 101st AB set with a scenic base and 5 figures for Conte and I am currently working on add on sets to this. These include some hedgerow along with scenic details and these should be a great addition to ONWTC, Conte and Britians sets in your collections.

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Rick from Old Northwest here....We agree that the faces on a couple figures from our Panzer set are not what we had designed. A combination of painting and molding by the factory made them look to harsh. This was our second set and a learning experience. I feel our faces and figures have improved with each release. Ken Osen who sculpts everything for ONTC has said he personally has been working on improvement the faces and I think it shows in our new sets. I appreciate the criticism as they help us improve our products and offer a better understanding of what collectors look for in historical figures. Please note our first scenic base is now available it is the first of three European village scenics that can be used with just about any company on the market

Hi Ken Here...As Rick said, we are improving everything we can on our patterns. I have worked for many companies, and depending on the factory and the control samples, the results can vary. I spoke to Andy of K&C a couple of days ago at an LA show and he pointed out the advantage of being in Asia to oversee production and QC. Our challange will be one of communication, which we feel we have improved. Check out the new releases coming!

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

I agree the faces on the Panzer set are a little weird, but have you seen the SS guys in set 6? I think they might be the best ever in this scale. If you keep improving like this I don't see any problems in your future. How about some WW1!

Hi Ken here...WWI is on our list, but we will continue to add to the WWII line so there are not any gaps in the series for collectors. Look for support services and heavy weapons...

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Hello,
Well, this is not Brad answering but I hope you don't mind. From seeing Old Northwest on photos the soldiers look like having very good detail, especially on their uniforms. For my personal taste the tricky part comes to faces: they don't look realistic, at least on photos, especially the panzer crew set. But as you say, K&C have also evolved greatly on this, you just have to check out some of their earlier sets. About scenics, I think they are a great idea of yours, they look excellent and definitely one of your strong points. Me I'm always looking for scenics for my toy soldiers and I think it makes a lot of sense to produce scenics prepared for your sets. Other companies do lack this. Keep it up.

Best wishes,
Paulo

Hi Ken here...All of the owners of ONWTC are militaria collectors and we have exstensive collections to refer to for research. We all own and fire small arms and I have had the good fortune to fire many of the weapons that are represented in our sets including the MP 40, Thompson, MG 42, PPSH ect. I feel that many of our poses are more animated and suggest more action than some companies have offered and we shall continue to offer more action poses than static poses in the short term.