State of the UK Toy Soldier Market (1 Viewer)

Wolfgang_UK said:
Does anyone know if ordering from Italy attracts any extra taxes / duty?


NOT YET{sm3}{sm2}
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As Peiper says no extra import duties/taxes as it's another EU country, elsewhere such as US or Oz probably.
And if it is TSrare you are looking at their website does say if buying figures then shipping over 140 Euro is free to several EU countries including Belgium.

As Jazzeum also says Treefrog doesn't charge for shipping for international orders over $250. but as with all imports from outside EU you will get charged import taxes of whatever your country VAT/Tax rate is over a certain (very small) value.

Steve
 
maddadicus said:
My sense of the U.K. very active cottage TS industry is that they seem not to be interested in U.S. collectors' business. We see at the U.K. show show reports all these wonderful figures, but no U.S. dealers , no websites to show some sense of what is offered, no pricing structures, etc. Maybe the additional shipping, vat taxes, customs issues is making the overseas trade route too costly for the profit margins, necessary to stay in business and thus no attempted effort to reach our market. Quite frankly, I am bored with our shows being taken over by the mass produced factory stuff. I yearn for the days where I could find unique pieces. Now its 3 or 4 main dealers all selling the same stuff at the same prices. HOHUM..You can not say that about your shows..I envy you. Michael
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As someone who is just starting out with a small, cottage industry style Toy Soldier business, I am very interested in selling to the USA and have sold of couple of pieces to people in the States.

I have a website and photos, which need expanding, and hope to work with a USA based retailer at some point. I have a long established relationship with Scale Creep Miniatures in the USA who handle my wargames figures for Black Hat Miniatures but they are mainly mail-order. I get a sense that with Toy Soldiers you need to get your figures in front of people at shows and in shops...

Mike
 
I would be very interested to have opinions of people as to where collectors see the small independent manufacturers such as myself, Imperial, Centurion, etc in the UK market.

Lots of people have opinions to share regarding rising prices, K&C Etc but what about us small cottage industry guys? We put just as much passion into what we do and take massive risks by investing our own money so it would be really nice to have some feedback......
 
Empire MM said:
I would be very interested to have opinions of people as to where collectors see the small independent manufacturers such as myself, Imperial, Centurion, etc in the UK market.

Lots of people have opinions to share regarding rising prices, K&C Etc but what about us small cottage industry guys? We put just as much passion into what we do and take massive risks by investing our own money so it would be really nice to have some feedback......
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Hi again Malcolm. Here's my three cents-worth.

I see the UK (so-called) cottage TS industries as a very important part of my collecting - as I can buy most of the castings that I want to buy/adapt/paint from many of them. Note that is not ALL of them - as not all manufacturers offer unpainted castings as part of their packages, for whatever reasons best known to themselves - however, the rest that do - mostly get my custom.

The main reason that I restrict myself to GB - is that buying from home producers supplies MOST of what I want to paint. The longer the chain involved in getting foreign imports to me - usually involves other unwanted delays, potential damage of goods, and additional costs. ( Import taxes, Customs Duty - delays for inspections of packages - and other postal costs added by the GPO etc.).

I can only see this getting worse as we in GB extract ourselves from the EU, eventually, ( which is currently classed the same as our home market regarding taxes), but will be "Foreign" again once we are finally OUT.

i.e, I can currently buy my Flat castings from Germany at zero import taxes - but will likely become more expensive once again, when we are out of the EU.

So...........for the interim period...........we remain much the same - but I can forsee that once we are finally out of the EU, British suppliers will be at a cost advantage to those European manufacturers/suppliers, who are highly likely to become more expensive than they currently are.

It remains to be seen IF there will be any new Foreign Trading deals made between GB and other Countries in the rest of the World - but assuming not much will change - I can only see (in the short term), that British makers - selling to British buyers, probably mostly via the Internet, will only get stronger. There are a couple of Cottagers that I know who currently don't offer such things as Internet catalogues and purchase by credit-card/paypal etcetera - whom I would encourage to make these positive changes ASAP - but as for the rest - I can see only positive outcomes for the future.

From a purely selfish point of view - I would therefore, encourage ALL British suppliers who currently don't offer unpainted castings - to maybe re-think their marketing strategies - as I am NOT alone in my particular hobby. But, there again, I currently don't have a problem getting what I want anyway from those existing British manufacturers that produce exactly what I want.

Hope that helps. jb
 
Hello,
a sidebar only to the thread- not hijacking
just a chirp from the backbench here, Somerset is a US cottage industry maker/seller, as is Hocker.

1.Somerset all but sold out at the two Chicago shows I went to, from what I remember, and has a limited range. (does anyone have the mounted officer and the lady set?)
2. Hocker has a great ranger and great product, and from what I remember, a small team of local painters.

Both companies sell glossy, and one is traditional gloss....

not mentioned or recognized in the comment- is this an indication?
 
Empire MM said:
I would be very interested to have opinions of people as to where collectors see the small independent manufacturers such as myself, Imperial, Centurion, etc in the UK market.

Lots of people have opinions to share regarding rising prices, K&C Etc but what about us small cottage industry guys? We put just as much passion into what we do and take massive risks by investing our own money so it would be really nice to have some feedback......
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I knew the writing was on the wall some years back at a London TS fair. When I overheard a respectable dealer say our customers buy a set for the collection, a set for their pension fund , a set to speculate with. As the Hunt brothers found to their cost. Eventually you yourself become the market. As small independents you have the opportunity to treat customers with integrity. Regain their confidence by treating them fairly, which I must say EMM certainly do, and gain their loyalty. Produce historically accurate figures at a reasonable price.

One idea that may assists. Allow collectors the opportunity to pay in installments if a huge number of figures are to be released in a single batch or short space of time. This would assist collectors in budgeting and mean that they wouldn't miss out. Manufacturers would have certainty as to a level of sales as well. To save on distribution and packaging costs I'd have no objection if figures were boxed in 3, 4 or even 5's.

There's definately room for you guys in the marketplace. Not everyone has the display space for large dioramas.
 
hsm said:
Hello,
a sidebar only to the thread- not hijacking
just a chirp from the backbench here, Somerset is a US cottage industry maker/seller, as is Hocker.

1.Somerset all but sold out at the two Chicago shows I went to, from what I remember, and has a limited range. (does anyone have the mounted officer and the lady set?)
2. Hocker has a great ranger and great product, and from what I remember, a small team of local painters.

Both companies sell glossy, and one is traditional gloss....

not mentioned or recognized in the comment- is this an indication?
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Not really as the topic is the UK market????{sm4}
 
Wolfgang_UK said:
Does anyone know if ordering from Italy attracts any extra taxes / duty?


NOT YET{sm3}{sm2}
Click to expand...

Apparently a lot of panic and speculation on this site, some from UK collectors worrying where they are going to find K&C to continue building their collections. Talk of going to Italy and other European dealers.
Why not stick with the UK retailers who have been on the go for years providing a good service for their customers. Now is the exact time that UK enthusiasts should be supporting their UK retailers. I was just in the process of adding the K&C collections to our new web site when this issue cropped up so delaying the image downloads, but that is all. I am sure any UK collector could contact Maison Militaire, Magpie, EC Toys or any of the other good UK retailers, including myself, and we will all be happy to order in any K&C product that is not in stock.

K&C will continue in the UK, They will not disappear from the UK stockists. I am sure Andy is already working on a plan for continuation for the much valued and loyal UK market.

www.pierschristian.co.uk
 
modelbaron said:
Apparently a lot of panic and speculation on this site, some from UK collectors worrying where they are going to find K&C to continue building their collections. Talk of going to Italy and other European dealers.
Why not stick with the UK retailers who have been on the go for years providing a good service for their customers. Now is the exact time that UK enthusiasts should be supporting their UK retailers. I was just in the process of adding the K&C collections to our new web site when this issue cropped up so delaying the image downloads, but that is all. I am sure any UK collector could contact Maison Militaire, Magpie, EC Toys or any of the other good UK retailers, including myself, and we will all be happy to order in any K&C product that is not in stock.

K&C will continue in the UK, They will not disappear from the UK stockists. I am sure Andy is already working on a plan for continuation for the much valued and loyal UK market.

www.pierschristian.co.uk
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I've just checked out two of the above web site in the Uk and you can't even place a order from there web sites and Ec toys don't have a great collection of kc as well so you can see why people are buying from the Eu
 
uksubs said:
I've just checked out two of the above web site in the Uk and you can't even place a order from there web sites and Ec toys don't have a great collection of kc as well so you can see why people are buying from the Eu
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Maison Militaire are in the process of creating a brand new site after having recently purchasing the company from the former owner
 
modelbaron said:
Maison Militaire are in the process of creating a brand new site after having recently purchasing the company from the former owner
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Heard that they'd be representing Empire Military Miniatures at shows from this June. Looking tonight no sign of a functioning website which came as a surprise.
 
Charlie Brown said:
Heard that they'd be representing Empire Military Miniatures at shows from this June. Looking tonight no sign of a functioning website which came as a surprise.
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They haven't for quite a few weeks at least.
Steve
 
Spanish soldier said:
In the future, the brexit hurt UK companies toy soldiers?:confused:
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Not all doom and gloom, could be UK buyers may stick more with UK sellers / makers, if we have to pay import duty from European sellers / makers as well as we currently do for the rest of the World, as even discounted items could end up costing more to import then buying in the UK and this of course applies to everything not just TS.
So maybe it could turn out to be a boon !

Steve
 
Horus said:
Not all doom and gloom, could be UK buyers may stick more with UK sellers / makers, if we have to pay import duty from European sellers / makers as well as we currently do for the rest of the World, as even discounted items could end up costing more to import then buying in the UK and this of course applies to everything not just TS.
So maybe it could turn out to be a boon !

Steve
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U.K. Collectors should support the uk producers there is a long list of uk makers producing excellent figures from a great variety of eras at very good prices.:salute::
 
Charlie Brown said:
Heard that they'd be representing Empire Military Miniatures at shows from this June. Looking tonight no sign of a functioning website which came as a surprise.
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We traded with Maison at the June show and will do so again in Birmingham and in London in December. Maison Militaire are now my retailer for all the shows.

With regards to the web site. I have been suggesting they get at least something up on the web ASAP for a while but I know from talking to them it is their developer that is holding them back. With the number of manufacturers they support / stock and the number of lines carried, plus getting show rooms and cabinets built, they have a heavy load to work with.

If you need anything just drop them an e-mail or a phone call. Tina & Robin are first class people.
 
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