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Forget about Master Holger´s birthday?!
NEVER !
Herzlichen Glückwunsch mein Freund, auch wenns etwas zu spät ist !!!!! Hicks . . .
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Danke!
Never to late to have a party and a drink....
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Of course! Hicks . . . (never too late to love you . . . Häh? I think a song perforemd by the band "kissing the pink".
Funny name, isn´ t it ?!
Oh, my new friend is: Mr. Lars Edman! He is writing emails to me. Very friendly to receive mails from The Boss directly!
Nice figures out there. Especially Master Samweis.
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oh you received a mail from Lars... I did too...
and it was not a really kind one ... and without any answer to my questions yet...
just asking me to be patient and to make shorter emails....
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Shorter emails!?
Yes, Master Gildor, you should not bother this important buisness man.
What you don´t seem to know is, that business men always have a time-problem. So keep your mails shorter then.
Anyway, that business isn´t worth sending large emails . . .
It is just MITHRIL.
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Didn't you know Mithril is a secret, don't tell anyone that these figures are still getting produced, ahem, well sometimes....
Don't advertise them, you might just find new customers and wouldn't that be terrible?
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I don't know - think of all the fun of having extra customers to upset!
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I have bring along some bards, hope you don't mind Master Barli. They don't eat much, but they do drink beer.
Best song to drink beer in a tavern ever
This one is on me. Cheers!
Last edited by Arthadan (Sat, Aug6 2011 2:32pm)
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Brilliant! They can come and sing here any time they like.
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I hope I did not miss Master Caster's Birthday, well . . . er I'll order up a drink and give Master Barliman the coiny things for Holger next time he stops by.
Happy Birthday, Master Caster; and may you never run out of metal!!!
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I'm afraid I missed too. A toast for the Lord of Melted Metal!
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...and another small project milestone completed. Just not, as usual, the project I should be doing.
I had some old Prince August elves half painted lying around from this set:
http://princeaugust.ie/679/index.html
that I decided would make a good little encounter set for Dungeons & Dragons.
Incidentally, I've never been able to get good casts from this mould, and I've replaced the mould twice. So I eventually sorted through all the attempted casts and found the remaining 7 or so good casts and used them. The rest will become future goblins or something next time I am casting.
So, together with one of the poses from this set, converted:
and a repainted Galadriel, I had enough to create the little group.
I'll post pictures tomorrow. These elf poses were always big favourites of mine. Alas, on mature reflection, I think I like them because I owned the pre-cast versions of the moulds, back in the day. They (CH05, CH06 and CH07) are beautiful models, though crude by modern standards, and have a lot of personality and dynamism. Alas, their moulded kin are oddly soft featured and sloppy.
I do note that CHs 05 through 07 and CH02 are available on ebay right now, but I'm too poor to buy them. The idea of somehow getting them appeals, but the reality is that I don't terribly need them and I'm trying to work my way through my painting backlog.
But still, mild success. Pictures tomorrow.
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Lars has made a statement!!!!
I'm sure some of the points made/suggested are points/suggestions that some of our more passionate members have been 'banging their heads against the wall' to suggest long ago.
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I see no improvment on the short term from Lars Edman post.... actually all the possibilites he suggests to OFFER the community are already present here...
indeed having them on an official site may be better but that will not necessarily improve their online presence on the web...
and the pricing has not changed...
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I am wondering if the solution might be keeping the same price for single figures (say a Fellowship 21 euro cost), but offering a deeper discount for multiples, followed by cheaper costs for "restocked" figures. The way they cover the cost for the 100 figure set, and pass on savings for those of us who need bunches of the things.
Imagine, if you will, that they are convinced to make Helm's Deep 2 - Death to the Strawheads. Assumably this is a set made up of Dunlending warriors. I'm also assuming that there will be some sort of captain or chieftain model, and four Dunlending warriors. So, that's 100 euro right there for five figures. Steep, and you can't buy a bunch of the warriors at that price to make that Helm's Deep diorama you've been planning for years.
So how about charging €20 for one figure, but €40 for four - Lars said himself that the costs in mini making is upfront. This way they could reach the break even point for the upfront costs much quicker.
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Your idea sound good Gavin, but I only buy 1 mini at a time, as the range is big enough for me.
Masters Barlima ? I have been to much talkative on GF forum today. Please bring me 4 pints of 4 different ales: A lager, a red, a bitter and a dark one !
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At GF prices I would simply not bother, like Milo I tend only to buy 1 of each figure, and to pay over 100 euros/£'s for 5 figures (assuming you mean a discount for buying several of the same figure) would not be worth it especially as I probably will never get around to painting them .
I would hate to think that Mithril collectors would be categorised by other figure collectors as being a breed of 'fruit-loops (crazies)' because we pay over 20 euros for 32mm main-stream release metal figures . Having seen the Andrea prices for 54mm, that would in my mind just be exploitation of dedicated collectors.
I've not purchased a few of the GF releases now given the price and exchange rate, I want to, but other more important things are out there. Oh for the old days when a single Mithril foot figure cost £0.99 pence
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I have not become part of the GF because the price it's not reasonable for a 32 mm miniatures and I don't care about how limited edition they may be.
Anyway I do not believe they need to make 2100 pounds to make one single miniature profitable. They really should think about cutting production costs such the fancy package and the spray.
In fact I'm going to ask in a forum with some miniatures designers who now run their own companys, such Ebob, Hasslefree, Red Box Games and some others and I will tell you. I really want to know the answer.
UPDATED: Here you are thread with my question, so you can follow it yourselves. Of course, I won't mention Mithril's name since Lars post was in a private forum. I think answers will be enlighting.
Last edited by Arthadan (Wed, Aug10 2011 8:10pm)
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@ arthadan, frothers unite? many sculptors even offer custom designs for a fraction of the price that mithril demands. go figure (oh, pun alert!).
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Yes, but we're speaking also about moulding and casting Master Cameosis. Let's see what other people in the business say so we can know how accurate is Mr. Lars because this is the key argument to keep the price high.
Of course is perfectly right they price their products as they see fit, but I suspect they want to guarantee some margin of profits too, not only covering costs. If that the case (please note it's an "If"), we should decide if we want to be charged for their unwillingness to take risks and promote their products.
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well, there is a limit on how much they could/can lie to us, they may want to make some margin and profit but I doubt they intend to make THAT MUCH margin, I rather think they are using obsolete production methods and did not switch to more economic ones ... which makes the production even more expensive than it was ten years ago...
I am not an expert about such things but other great brands of collection miniatures, historical or not are STILL in the business and their prices are reasonnable... and I doubt they sell thousands of references themselves...
I also think, when I read their email, that they have to cover their cost no matter if they SELL 5 or 50000 figurines....
they never said they had to cover their costs no matter if they PRODUCE 5 or 50000... I may be wrong but I think they are "fool" enough to produce 50 000 no matter if they will sell them or not.... in this case no mystery that the final prices are high if only 100 are sold but they produced 50 000
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Well, I have a first answer:
£400 - £500 I reckon.
Let's say it's 50% more expensive for Mithril because copyright (which an annual fee I think) and the fancy spray and huge package (bigger than GW's!), then it would be £750. So, selling first 100 copies at £7.50 cost should be covered. There is a long way from £7.50 to £21, isn't it?
Anyway, I'll wait to have more answers before taking a decission.
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Interesting to see the first answer is £400 - £500
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Maybe obsolote production methods are the problem, Master Elf. But then they should clean and tidy their own house instead of asking the guest to do so, so to speak.
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