Why are Conte Playsets so expensive? (1 Viewer)

[Cool_Guy]

I want to buy the Conte D-Day playsets, the Warlord playsets, and the Stamford Bridge playset, but they all seem so expensive (well over $200 each).
Why the great cost when only 32 unpainted plastic figures are included in each playset?

 

[gk5717]

After K&C, Contes plastic playsets are my favorite. I have everyone he has done.
When Conte first started doing the playsets he would always have deals. For the 3 DDay sets if you bought the first 2 at the same time the 3rd was free.
If you pre ordered he would knock $20 off and give you extra figures, things like that.
I think the cost factor are the molds for the plastic figures and the buildings, terrain pieces he includes in the sets.
When he first started doing the sets in 1999 you could see that he would either have to raise the prices or lesson the quality, of which he has done both. As those early sets, Warlord, Zulu, DDay, were as perfect a plastic set you could ask for.
Apparantly he makes his money on his metal and either loses or breaks even on the plastic sets.
The most frustrating thing about Conte is the promises he fails to keep, and the huge delay in release of products. It has been over 2 years now waiting for his Mexicans to come out to go with his Alamo sets.
But having said that, he does have the best plastic figures ever.
As for the prices being high, not really.
Gary

 

[Gideon]

I believe part of the problem too was the sculptors. If I remember correctly, Conte took off after Richard Walker and Ken Osen from Britains joined up with them.

THey may just not have the bandwidth and the talent available to them to provide more in the way of updates and new sets.

As a dealer, they treated me pretty badly - we had to stop carrying the line.

 

[Cool_Guy]

Along these same lines, why are Conte Painted Metal figures so expensive? The sculpt and paint quality seem the same as Britians, but the figures are anywhere from $5 to $15 more expensive for foot and mounted soldiers. Also, I wonder if the Conte painted metal figure sets listed on back-order by dealers will ever arrive to the stores? Do you think that I should just spend my money on KFC ...er I mean K&C instead?

 

[gk5717]

With Contes customer service, I don,t have a clue why they are still in business. I do know why, it,s because collectors, meaning plastic, are starved for new products.
He has promised Mexicans for his 5 issued Alamo playsets for over 2 years now and they still are not out.
But I will be guilty and buy them when they finally arrive.
As for his metal sets, he does carry a large and well done Civil War series, but I would pass on the metal WW2.
Gary

 

[Cool_Guy]

Gary,
Could you compare Conte painted metal vs. Britians painted metal, WWII figures?
Peter

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

I want to buy the Conte D-Day playsets, the Warlord playsets, and the Stamford Bridge playset, but they all seem so expensive (well over $200 each).
Why the great cost when only 32 unpainted plastic figures are included in each playset?

Hi There This is Ken Osen and I worked with Conte for over 3 years and continue to work with him from set to set. The answer is simple...The tooling and development costs are very exspensive and in order to continue releasing these great sets, the cost must be high enough to insure recovering the investment in a reasonable time. I think Conte has done a lot for the hobby in both metal and plastic, and will continue to release new add ons in the future.

 

[Fubar]

I have or have had all of the Conte playsets. I think they are pretty fair price for the $$$.The Alamo sets I thought left a bit to be desired, containing all the Marx recast Mexicans wasn't a very good idea to me but I guess they had to include something.
Of course I bought all of mine when they were available, most are backordered for some time now.The buildings I am told take a LONG time to produce, the molds are huge, heavy, expensive and you can make 1 piece a day. Takes time to cure I guess. At that rate, it will take a solid year to produce enough playsets for a reissue.

FUBAR

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

I have or have had all of the Conte playsets. I think they are pretty fair price for the $$$.The Alamo sets I thought left a bit to be desired, containing all the Marx recast Mexicans wasn't a very good idea to me but I guess they had to include something.
Of course I bought all of mine when they were available, most are backordered for some time now.The buildings I am told take a LONG time to produce, the molds are huge, heavy, expensive and you can make 1 piece a day. Takes time to cure I guess. At that rate, it will take a solid year to produce enough playsets for a reissue.

FUBAR

Hi There, Ken Osen here. I sculpt almost all of the Conte scenics and I also provided the manufacturer to him. The biggest problem is scheduling the Conte production with all of the other jobs going. Often they miss a window and have to be put on hold until other jobs are run. Sometimes the buildings are finished, like all of the new Alamo buildings, but other components like the figures haven't arrived. Look for new WWII scenics after the Alamo release!