Many Mithril Pages @ Faerylands

And you think I'm mad talking about pink and mauve umbrellas...

Speeches about umbrellas? Did I miss anything while I was in the Bree non-smoking area?

What (other) news in the mark? Is the company now planning to do anything after the debate or is it again the "wait and see-tactics"?

Anyway, after the boycott, the GF's come back to suggest things, strange to me. Sorry, I am disgusted, like Master Gildor was often, when he was talking about FG-figures. Why the hell do the GF's not want to suggest miniatures of the trilogy (which is allowed!! ) of characters, we have not a mere shadow cast in lead????? Why are most suggestions so far from the story of Hobbit and LotR? I do not mention figures like Angmar-related stuff or non-named figures, but figures that are so far from the "ring-tale".
I personally do not need a mounted figure possibility to suggest, if the figure goes not in the direction like Halbarad, Gothmog, the dead rider of Dunharrow, Harad on camels or Arnorian knights (ya know, it is Angmar stuff).

O.K. Dear Barliman, another ale please and a 'short one'. No I do not mean Nob, but something more heavy for killing my thirst.......

Well after a long absence (at least by Pony time) I'm back. I won't bore you with the details of my journey, they are neither interesting nor enjoyable.

To catch up since a wek ago when I last visited the Pony I'll say first, Gildor, I give you a great deal of credit for voicing discontent at the significant rise in Mithril's new M series prices. And the boycott achieved what you hoped it would, without killing the FG.

Now as for the survival of Mithril, I think we worry too much some times. Lars is a shrewd businessman, or so it seems. This is not to say that he wouldn't cut off Mithril if he felt he needed to, remember, as much as we "care" about Mithril, it is a business, and we have no control over it.

As for the production of M series vs FG figures, well, it has been a steady shift by Mithril to marketing to us as we are spending money with little or no advertising on their part. I doubt more M releases vs FG releases would benefit Mithril financially without the needed advertising and the increase in customer base that would follow. But an upfront investment must be made which might be difficult for PA before any M series would sell at high enough levels to justify a low price.

And that's the point. The sale price has to exceed the cost of production with a reasonable profit margin. There are many customers out there buying M series releases at (now) e7 who are not GF members, but we also purchase many of these figures. The company can not make FG figures for 50-75 people and charge less, so no matter what happens with M series releases, our cost are likely to remain the same, or a little higher.

I agree that it is better to have fewer FG pieces each year and more members who suggest ideas and vote each period instead of losing members due to expenses. But instead of once a year, which I think would cause a lack of interest (afterall, we need things to communicate about), If we have to reduce the MS figures lets move more slowly, say once every other month to start. Of course all of this is up to Mithril and Chris, and we vote with our purchases. I worry that too much time between suggestions will cause a loss of interest.

Finally, regarding the subject of FG suggestions that are strictly within the books (Trilogy, Hobbit, even Silmarillion and HOME) I like many favor named characters ( I notice Bombur is up again), but I believe that the more suggestions that are made for us to consider, the better. So it happens that many times when one of us is thinking of who/what to suggest, all of the named characters we like have been suggested already. So then the choice is: don't suggest anything, or come up with an idea. Well I choose the latter, as do many. And amazingly enough, some of these win. So does a fifth or sixth rendition of a main character, and, sometimes, a named one whose never been produced before. Also, Chris sometimes takes matters into his own hands by producing a named character in an M series (Malbeth recently).

Good night all, this should be the best sleep I've had in awhile. Ahhh, yes, Barli, thanks for topping off my ale.

PS. I'll be leaving again soon, and may not be back for several days

Last edited by twrich (Tue, Jun16 2009 6:24am)

By the way, has anyone received their Helm's Deep figures yet?

Barliman wrote:

By the way, has anyone received their Helm's Deep figures yet?

I'm waiting for the last Troll so I can order this along with HD, plus some of the outstanding GF figures - may as well save on the postage by only doing it once.

Well spoken Tom by the way, and safe travels.

Don´t believe that you are being so cynical, Master Barliman.
I said that Mithril was extra money with shipping to "fatten" mysterious the figures and make the new series are larger than the vintage ...

F*** the primer? What sort of language is that for use in the public bar? There might be ladies present! (well, Wendy anyway; and some of those Dwarves might be ladies too, I suppose). But yes, you're right - Mithril could do better in the public relations department sometimes.

Hmm,

some of you have mentioned one other company's main problems: delays!!

They have too many delays when it is about their releases. Oh, yes, it takes some time to make moulds and get the approval by T.E. But why does mister T. designs minis in a relatively short time and then it takes so many time until the first figure comes out??
How the hell couild it be, that the Helms deep figures are advertised and then it takes weeks until I get my first miniature. Primer problems???????? That is definitly the point of being non-professional that makes the business so hard for them, even if the quality of the products is extremely high.
Customers do not like to be promised something, which could not be fullfilled. The company needs to solve that kind of problems!!

I do like Barliman's humour even if he is cynical. Beside that, he is our landlord or publican and I am happy his prices have not increased or adulterated his ale.
So cheers!!

Gildor Inglorion wrote:

could it be a coincidence that Mary-Ann was lately replaced because of pregnancy and the new person who manages the orders/dispatch has had some problems...

Anyway, has somebody written to Mithril lately about this problem? to Michael in private or so? that could be useful

no I do not think so, because it happens too often, that the company has primer problems or anything else as a reason, why there is a common delay in relases. It is not a problem of shipping as Mithril is extremely fast, when you have ordered figures. The paket always arrived very soon after the order and Mary-Ann always was very communicative, sending very quickly an information about the order. She even managed to handle "exotic" wishes.

What I mentioned, are the promised release dates, which are too often not kept. It is always like "surprise-surprise- we have a new release" and then "we have a delay 'cause of primer problems". That's what I wanted to state. The service staff is perfect, the system is not.

Last edited by ESTEL (Wed, Jun17 2009 8:35am)

Concerning possible problems with the primer, I think this may be true. I had a big problem with MS506 (still waiting for replacement, now for nearly two months). The face of the figurine was warped.



[For the record: Received a fine replacement today, free of charge. Thumbs up! ]

Last edited by protozeus (Mon, Jun22 2009 10:24am)

He looks very sick indeed! But surely the primer can't have caused that? It looks more like the dreaded lead-rot, or just bad casting.

Are you questioning the quality of the beverages I serve here, Master Archer? Maybe the problem was that there wasn't enough rat in his drink. But certainly, he really doesn't look well at all. He looks almost as if his face has melted.