The End of the Toy Soldier Industry (1 Viewer)

Phantom Warrior

Phantom Warrior

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I've just read the entire thread on damage to the Figarti Stuka and it is all too familiar and depressing. I've been collecting models for quite a few years and not too long ago had 300 sets of WWII AFVs and figures. KV and Mitch got it right IMO. All the manufacturers have had some problems, some a lot more than others. From including parts and detail which have little chance of surviving shipping, to packaging which seems to be designed as an afterthought, to paint flaking (immediately or over time) to drooping gun barrels, to manufacturing defects to what appears to be virtually no quality control anymore - not a good job. At today's prices which are triple that of several years ago it's just not good enough. The joy of opening the box to see the new model has become an exercise in fear. I hope there aren't any loose (broken) parts or other damage - but too often these days there is. Yes - it's good service that the manufacturers and dealers will replace items - that's ok if it happens a few times. But it's not ok when it becomes frequent. There have been models I really wanted, but held off buying for fear it wouldn't survive the shipping or been poorly made. And these fears are often confirmed by posts from people who bought the model and are having a problem typical for that manufacturer. So I buy very little these days.

Terry
 
"The End of the Toy Soldier Industry" is a little hyperbolic, wouldn't you say? I think it's more an indication of the declining quality of specific manufacturers, rather than the entire industry.

Prost!
Brad
 
Phantom Warrior said:
I've just read the entire thread on damage to the Figarti Stuka and it is all too familiar and depressing. I've been collecting models for quite a few years and not too long ago had 300 sets of WWII AFVs and figures. KV and Mitch got it right IMO. All the manufacturers have had some problems, some a lot more than others. From including parts and detail which have little chance of surviving shipping, to packaging which seems to be designed as an afterthought, to paint flaking (immediately or over time) to drooping gun barrels, to manufacturing defects to what appears to be virtually no quality control anymore - not a good job. At today's prices which are triple that of several years ago it's just not good enough. The joy of opening the box to see the new model has become an exercise in fear. I hope there aren't any loose (broken) parts or other damage - but too often these days there is. Yes - it's good service that the manufacturers and dealers will replace items - that's ok if it happens a few times. But it's not ok when it becomes frequent. There have been models I really wanted, but held off buying for fear it wouldn't survive the shipping or been poorly made. And these fears are often confirmed by posts from people who bought the model and are having a problem typical for that manufacturer. So I buy very little these days.

Terry
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I must say all this makes me very happy to have a dealer with a bricks and mortar shop down the road, when I get something it is opened in the shop and if there was anything amiss (never happened yet I might add) it would be sorted there and then, I only get something via other means if it is not in the shop and of the fifty odd items I have gotten via the post and etc I have never had anything damaged or missing ever, I must be blessed, touch wood.
Wayne.
 
Sorry Terry but I disagree with your premise totally. Yes, problems do happen -- some things are unavoidable -- but, except for one particular manufacturer, this problem is overstated. I have been collecting for eight years and the amount of problems I've had can be counted on one hand. Perhaps you can call me lucky but with the likes of K & C, Britains, FL, and others, the product is generally delivered safely. I certainly have no fear when opening a box.

If problems do occur, to a certain extent, as Cassius in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar might have said, the fault lies not with the manufacturers but in ourselves, as we collectors demand more realistic product, which involves a higher degree of breakage than before.

Brad
 
Terry...

I think nothing will ever change when we get posters who state its partly down to the collector wanting more and more detail. I really just don't understand this comment at all. I am asking for the correct amount of detail required for the set the manufacturer has choosen to make. No more no less. If a 88mm gun has X amount of parts they are required. I see no correlation at all in collectors wanting detail and accuracy and manufacturers delivering sub standard products for thats what is happening.

I don't see the end of toy soldier industry because there are many people only too willing to excuse them and accept the way things are rather than taking them properly to task. when you see people saying its down to collectors and have the superglue at the ready manufacturers must sit and smile. What incentive do they have to rectify issues when that mentality (no offence intended) exists in the hobby? abosolutely none. Issues that occur are still happening because they know fine well more people will buy the stuff and accept it than complain. We know that because some of the same issues are still happening today that were happening several years back.

No different to a certain car manufacturer when they knew they had a defective and dangerous part on a vehicle but, choose to do nothing and take the risk of paying a few claims, if any, were brought, if the wheel (literally) came of than, doing the right thing, going back to basics and, doing it right.
Mitch
 
I know Terry has had many problems over the years with items broken or breaking or drooping etc, but I do not believe this sort of thing signals the end of the industry. I like Brad have been very lucky in that I just don't recognize the problems many have apparently had. It is the same as anything else you buy, if you have a problem you have to send or take it back to the supplier and get a refund or replacement , you should also raise the issue with company concerned, if a lot of people are having the same problem and call the producer out on it sooner or later something might get done about it. If you just swallow the defect then you cannot expect anything to happen, stand up for your consumer rights.

Another reason this is not the end of the industry is because these sort of problems do not affect all companies, there are hundreds of producers of all sorts of figures/vehicles that we just do not collect. The industry is bigger than say five or six companies we may be talking about.

Rob
 
Phantom Warrior said:
I've just read the entire thread on damage to the Figarti Stuka and it is all too familiar and depressing. I've been collecting models for quite a few years and not too long ago had 300 sets of WWII AFVs and figures. KV and Mitch got it right IMO. All the manufacturers have had some problems, some a lot more than others. From including parts and detail which have little chance of surviving shipping, to packaging which seems to be designed as an afterthought, to paint flaking (immediately or over time) to drooping gun barrels, to manufacturing defects to what appears to be virtually no quality control anymore - not a good job. At today's prices which are triple that of several years ago it's just not good enough. The joy of opening the box to see the new model has become an exercise in fear. I hope there aren't any loose (broken) parts or other damage - but too often these days there is. Yes - it's good service that the manufacturers and dealers will replace items - that's ok if it happens a few times. But it's not ok when it becomes frequent. There have been models I really wanted, but held off buying for fear it wouldn't survive the shipping or been poorly made. And these fears are often confirmed by posts from people who bought the model and are having a problem typical for that manufacturer. So I buy very little these days.

Good thread Terry mate ,for me only had problems with figarti olders item with paint problems and all the latest stuff no problem fingers crossed with the Stuka in the post :eek: with kc both tanks gun barrels would not stay up and for £150.00 a peace expect better but for me in general the stuff just over priced for the level of detail and with the material they use and I think this is being shown with the resale value of the items on the secondary mark , I really like the kc new spitfire but for the money there charging it should be painted the correct colour grey and I think in general people expect more for there money now than before .
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Terry, as you may already know I also have a passion for WWII AFVs and detail. Breakages have also been a concern for me but I honestly can't see how breakages will cause the end of the Toy Soldier Industry.
 
I don't collect WW2 so I have no knowledge of these manufacturer defects. I have had issues with particular figures in other ranges in the past which were rectified with a replacement figure. Sorry... if I have to pay these prices for a figure/set, it better be in perfect condition. There are a lot of companies and a lot of product to choose from...
 
Phantom Warrior said:
I've just read the entire thread on damage to the Figarti Stuka and it is all too familiar and depressing. I've been collecting models for quite a few years and not too long ago had 300 sets of WWII AFVs and figures. KV and Mitch got it right IMO. All the manufacturers have had some problems, some a lot more than others. From including parts and detail which have little chance of surviving shipping, to packaging which seems to be designed as an afterthought, to paint flaking (immediately or over time) to drooping gun barrels, to manufacturing defects to what appears to be virtually no quality control anymore - not a good job. At today's prices which are triple that of several years ago it's just not good enough. The joy of opening the box to see the new model has become an exercise in fear. I hope there aren't any loose (broken) parts or other damage - but too often these days there is. Yes - it's good service that the manufacturers and dealers will replace items - that's ok if it happens a few times. But it's not ok when it becomes frequent. There have been models I really wanted, but held off buying for fear it wouldn't survive the shipping or been poorly made. And these fears are often confirmed by posts from people who bought the model and are having a problem typical for that manufacturer. So I buy very little these days.

Terry
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Terry,

I'll probably always be a collector on some level, but my enthusiasm for the hobby has taken a significant blow because of precisely what you are describing. I understand all too well the "exercise in fear" you describe upon opening a new AFV box; being half excited & half dreading the unveiling of yet another damaged model. It shouldn't be that way. Now obviously things get broken in transit from time to time, and QC will miss things at the factory on occasion. These things will always occur at some level; that goes without saying. Still, as you stated, I too have found that it's the frequency of it that's most discouraging. At least that has been my experience. It just seems to me that, in general, I see more corners being cut than improvements being made these days. Throw in the variable of today's escalating prices, and it's got to the point with me now that I will only buy a current production AFV if I can inspect it first hand. I've just grown weary of rolling the dice. I've gone back to primarily collecting figures. I find I enjoy that more.

Joe
 
As the poster of the Figarti thread concerning the Famed Stuka I would like to add a few things here. This was the first such incident concerning a plane or vehicle that I can recall in a long time , but not the first Figarti product bought. I have the ME110 aircraft, Soviet T-34 Tank, and German 15cm Artillery gun. All of these arrived in pristine condition to include even the outer box ! I would even go so far to say the Stuka had plenty of foam packing.....4 separate layers but with the gluing of parts at the factory some of these came loose. Almost as if not enough adhesive was used or the type used was not strong enough. Hopefully lesson learned by the company on this one. The replacement plane that I got is perfect...no issues at all so go figure ????? while others here on the forum reported similiar stories of pieces coming off or loose.
I agree on the statement about more realistic detail and fragile parts be it planes, tanks, whatever. The more fragile the item the greater the challenge is for the manufacturer to provide protection to transport it ! To me there would have to be vast widespread occurances across the board for the industry to suffer IMO..............
 
Dont panic !!

It seems that the problems that will end the industry have been caused by two people. If it were not for Bayerns drooping problem and PanzerAce having to glue his bits together perhaps the industry may have survived armageddon.

With this in mind I am getting out the De Lorean and working out how to use the time space continuam thingy and flying over to Texas to go back to the point where they started their threads. New thread titles will be :

My perfect barrells and My perfect Stuka.

Despite the title of this thread will still be open tomorrow{sm4}

Regards
Brett
 
Would like to get my hands on the clown who started all this STUKA stuff in the first place............................^&grin
 
Maybe I am just lucky, but I have never had a feeling of dread opening a toy soldier project. Over more than 20 years of collecting I never had a problem with a K&C product, I had paint flake from one Figarti product, and received one broken Honour Bound item (which I repaired myself after being told it was too badly damaged to repair by the people at Honour Bound). Over this same 20 year period the quality of toy soldiers/military vehicles/aircraft/diorama materials has substantially improved pretty much across the board.

If this hobby is at risk, I would think that would be a function of the dramatic increase in cost over the same 20 year period (when I started collecting a K&C figure cost about $14 while today it averages about $40) while the economy has gone in the tank and most collector's income has not increased at the same pace.
 
The Military Workshop said:
Dont panic !!

It seems that the problems that will end the industry have been caused by two people. If it were not for Bayerns drooping problem and PanzerAce having to glue his bits together perhaps the industry may have survived armageddon.

With this in mind I am getting out the De Lorean and working out how to use the time space continuam thingy and flying over to Texas to go back to the point where they started their threads. New thread titles will be :

My perfect barrells and My perfect Stuka.

Despite the title of this thread will still be open tomorrow{sm4}

Regards
Brett
Click to expand...

Hope you have some spare parts for your Delorean as they went armageddon out of business...........{sm5}
 
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