toysoldiers quality (1 Viewer)

[Poppo]

I heard speaking of toysoldiers "golden age".

For what I see, the main toysoldiers companies have reached the top quality in sculpts and painting(toysoldiers and vehicles-tanks) from 2006-7 till now.I mean that from 2007 till today items have not more been improved in their quality, in my opinion.
And it is not possible they can still improve quality for 2 reasons: (1) beacuse more detailed figures would reach the level of " connaisseurs" and consequently would be too expensive.(2) The human eye can' t catch more details than what we have in figures today.

I would add that in the last year or 2 there has been a certain relaxation in "quality controls" of certains items or series.


What do you think?

 

[TomNT]

Good thread Poppo although i disagree and think that the quality on certain toy soldiers has gone up a notch since 2007. It does vary as some figures and vehicles produced back in 2007 are similar in quality levels as figures and vehicles produced today. I can only make an opinion on K&C, TG, Figarti and CS as they make up most of my collection but i think all of these manufacturers have raised the bar since then. A good example with the K&C figures is the quality and attention to detail on the new Brit and U.S. DD figures and the German BBG and WS figures. I think there is more detail overall on these figures with particular emphasis being on their facial impressions and weapons.

As for quality control on items, i think the quality has either stayed the same or improved on items from all manufacturers although TG has had some issues of late on some of their items. The quality seems to be confined to the packaging though.

Tom

 

[PanzerAce1944]

I would say hands down detail and quality has definately improved since say 10 years ago.

 

[Mitch]

I don't believe or agree that we are in this mythical golden age for toy soldiers. Its crux is based in philosophical and mythological discussion and means we are at a stage where it just cannot be bettered. well, I think when its bandied around by the few they are using it in terms of quantity available rather than in any other sense. If we address it properly then its a slide down to lead (rather appropriate) the lowest form that often happens. I would think the bar thats also always spoken of can be raised further.

I think its fair to say that we did reach a peak and we have levelled out in the general hobby I think a few manufacturers have actually gone backwards in terms of detail and quality and, issues that have dogged manufacturers for many years are still present.

I think a lot of products were better a few years back than are being released today though, we are in a hobby where there are very entrenched views so, in cases you could put an AFV in two pieces in front of some and they would still say it was excellent if it had their favourite manufacturer on the label. I could name about thirty products from all manufacturers where this was so of course, IMO

Its all down to individuals but, quality upgraded or down graded can easily be seen. Not sure that our eyes or, minds eye cannot cope with further quality or detail or that it would be cost prohibitive. Cost and access to expensive items is not homogonous its down to individuals so, if a manufacturer does something really nice and its more expensive does not mean its beyond collectors. We certainly at a stage where price increases are similar to a drip slowly being fed into the hobby drip by drip.

Don't believe we are in a golden era at all we are where we are at the moment. I wonder if certain types of collectors from 100 years ago said exactly the same thing about the time they were in. I have looked back with depth at this forum and, the golden age has been used quite a lot through the years by rather the same people on here at nearly every stage so, every year that goes by is a ''golden era''

For me, personally we peaked in terms of armour with HB. many will agree as many won't but, for me the hobby has been playing catch up ever since and for me, never reached it.

Interesting thread
Mitch

 

[Jack]

Golden eras are traditionally bathed in the warm light of nostalgia. Few people ever say 'we live in a golden age'. Invariably it is about people looking into the past and proclaiming an age as 'golden' as a consequence of modern issues. We might be in a golden age for the hobby but we won't know it until 2025!

 

[OzDigger]

Interesting thread, but I have to disagree. IMO Figures have improved since 2007, with TMG and First Legion being good examples. Improved technology and competition will ensure detail continues to improve over the years to come, no doubt with more price increases which will cause more collectors to choose quality over quantity.

 

[Mitch]

In this hobby we then have many who are jumping the gun and are actually living the alleged dream today!!
Mitch

Golden eras are traditionally bathed in the warm light of nostalgia. Few people ever say 'we live in a golden age'. Invariably it is about people looking into the past and proclaiming an age as 'golden' as a consequence of modern issues. We might be in a golden age for the hobby but we won't know it until 2025!

 

[Jack]

In this hobby we then have many who are jumping the gun and are actually living the alleged dream today!!
Mitch

Never hurts to be early!

 

[larso]

I lean a bit towards this being a Golden Age, based on the number of current manufacterers and the large range of eras being covered. If anything, with not many really new things to come, I wonder whether we are at the end of the age and decline awaits us? The number of people interested in collecting toy soldiers will decline, some current collectors will drop off as the have everything they want. Truly, how many people here now will still be buying Tiger tanks 10 years from now?

 

[Jack]

I lean a bit towards this being a Golden Age, based on the number of current manufacterers and the large range of eras being covered. If anything, with not many really new things to come, I wonder whether we are at the end of the age and decline awaits us? The number of people interested in collecting toy soldiers will decline, some current collectors will drop off as the have everything they want. Truly, how many people here now will still be buying Tiger tanks 10 years from now?

The worrying point is by the time people start talking about a decline or the end of an era, the process has already started. Think the British Empire, European pre-eminence, West Indian Cricket...and now Tiger tanks!

 

[VIRIATO]

Interesting thread, but I have to disagree. IMO Figures have improved since 2007, with TMG and First Legion being good examples. Improved technology and competition will ensure detail continues to improve over the years to come, no doubt with more price increases which will cause more collectors to choose quality over quantity.

I fully agree on First Legion (don't know about TG, don't collect them). And nowadays I do choose quality over quantity.


Paulo

 

[Peter Reuss]

The worrying point is by the time people start talking about a decline or the end of an era, the process has already started. Think the British Empire, European pre-eminence, West Indian Cricket...and now Tiger tanks!

We've been retailing toy soldiers for over a decade now, and from day one we kept hearing that the hobby was declining. The sales figures (and many releases) have never reflected that, even in the midst of recession!

 

[Rob]

I think in pure terms of choice it is without doubt a golden age, many many companies producing a wide variety of different eras and subjects is simply beyond compare to anything that was around when I was young, so yes in that regard it certainly is.

Rob

 

[sammy719]

I know I'm very happy about the quality of what I collect, and the "golden age" line sounded good 4-5 years ago and it sounds good today, and as far as the quality with toy soldiers (if you want to call them that) I absolutely believe that quality has been raised much over the last few years, not just in metal but look at the plastics as well, Conte/toy soldiers of San Diego etc..lots of great plastics out there as well, and as far as companies producing metal soldiers I think overall they are doing very well indeed, some things I may not like on this set or that set but hey, even the Babe didn't hit a homerun everytime so I say keep up the good work to all the manufacturers, and look forward to next 10 years of this golden age...Sammy

 

[Rob]

I know I'm very happy about the quality of what I collect, and the "golden age" line sounded good 4-5 years ago and it sounds good today, and as far as the quality with toy soldiers (if you want to call them that) I absolutely believe that quality has been raised much over the last few years, not just in metal but look at the plastics as well, Conte/toy soldiers of San Diego etc..lots of great plastics out there as well, and as far as companies producing metal soldiers I think overall they are doing very well indeed, some things I may not like on this set or that set but hey, even the Babe didn't hit a homerun everytime so I say keep up the good work to all the manufacturers, and look forward to next 10 years of this golden age...Sammy

Good to see you've not lost your enthusiasm my friend!:smile2:

 

[sammy719]

Good to see you've not lost your enthusiasm my friend!:smile2:

As well as you my good mate, just take a look around this forum (for the most part) and you can read all kinds of posts about the excitement of this hobby, as Martha Stewart says..."it's a good thing "...Sammy

 

[TomNT]

I know I'm very happy about the quality of what I collect, and the "golden age" line sounded good 4-5 years ago and it sounds good today, and as far as the quality with toy soldiers (if you want to call them that) I absolutely believe that quality has been raised much over the last few years, not just in metal but look at the plastics as well, Conte/toy soldiers of San Diego etc..lots of great plastics out there as well, and as far as companies producing metal soldiers I think overall they are doing very well indeed, some things I may not like on this set or that set but hey, even the Babe didn't hit a homerun everytime so I say keep up the good work to all the manufacturers, and look forward to next 10 years of this golden age...Sammy

Spot on Sammy, we are being spoilt with the amount of choice and quality that is being offered from all the manufacturers and im tickled pink every time i receive that box in the mail that contains a new release or releases.

Tom

 

[Lo1863]

I fully agree on First Legion (don't know about TG, don't collect them). And nowadays I do choose quality over quantity.


Paulo

I agree with you, Paulo! Ever since I bought my First Legion American Civil War figures I am going with quality over quantity. And you can never go wrong with their quality that's for sure.

 

[Alex]

In order to answer this, we have to ask what is a toy soldier ?
Do you include russian made figures ?
If not, why not ? I mean they are also produced by hand... and are the same size...

For me, toy soldiers are like many things in life and are like real armor & weapons I do collect

There is something out there for anyone with any budget.

You want to pay 40$ for a figure, 100 or 500$, you can !
And that's what I like in this hobby.

These days I collect only russian made figures and I'm very happy about it.

However many years ago, I was also very happy about collecting KC figures.

The only real limit (not the one imposed by a manufacturer because of suggested price level) to the quality of a toy soldier is the skill of the sculptor, the guy making the mold, painter and so on.

Cheers

Alex

Spot on Sammy, we are being spoilt with the amount of choice and quality that is being offered from all the manufacturers and im tickled pink every time i receive that box in the mail that contains a new release or releases.

Tom

 

[HistoryfortheAges]

Well, not sure about that... I find that the number of retailers have declined in number over the last few years... The lucky ones remaining are gaining new customers at the expense of those that went out of business. Also, hearing sales have declined amongst a number of retailers too...

We've been retailing toy soldiers for over a decade now, and from day one we kept hearing that the hobby was declining. The sales figures (and many releases) have never reflected that, even in the midst of recession!