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| British officers (codes L-R: AC2, BC1 and BC2). Figures painted by Ioannis of Leuthen Studios. Photo also from Leuthen Studios. |
As the product line expands and more stock keeping units (SKUs) are added to the range, I find that I will have to make some changes that are needed to accomodate the growth of the Fife & Drum Miniatures range.
New Price Structure
Effective April 26, 2013 I am implementing changes in the prices of figures and in the way that they are sold. Prices for infantry will increase from $1.80 to $2.00 per figure, but all artillery equipment and mounted officer figures will remain at the old prices.
At the same time, I will be adding Unit Pack codes to the inventory so that you can still purchase Fife & Drum figures at the old $1.80 per figure price point. Unit Packs will have 30 infantry figures and be priced at $54.00 per set (10% discount from the retail price). Artillery Unit Packs will include two cannons, two sets of artillery crew (8 figures ), and two limber teams and be priced at $40.00 per set (13% discount from retail price).
So if you purchase larger quantities of figures, you can effectively buy them at the existing prices. Smaller orders will cost 10% more than at the old price.
NOTE: I will not be posting the new product codes until after the Little Wars convention next weekend. So you can still order using the existing product codes that are listed on the right hand side of this page.
New Packaging Stucture
Figures will now be sold in packs of 4 figures, except for a couple of product codes that require a different number of figures in the pack. For example, the British Light Infantry Command pack only has 3 figures and the British Centre Company Command pack has 5 figures, due to the need for two standard bearers in the pack.
Why the change in packaging? The reasons are two-fold: one, I plan to attend more wargame conventions going forward and it is a logistical nightmare to bring over 100 different bins of figures to the convention site. Plus, it makes it easier for you the buyer to sort through the display bins and pick out your own bags of figures, rather than waiting for me to hand sort each individual order at the convention dealer hall. Secondly, selling the figures in small packs will make it easier for me to establish distributors both in the Eastern US convention circuit and eventually in Europe. Distributors want and need ready-to-sell packs rather than deal with the hassle of hand sorting individual figures.
Convention News
Fife & Drum Miniatures will be attending the Little Wars convention in the Chicago area on April 26 - 28, 2013. That is only a week away from now and I'm looking forward to meeting many of our customers and making new friends at the show. We will be flying the new Fife & Drum banner and logo for the first time at Little Wars, so be on the look out for the three Spirit of '76 fellows that are in our logo.
I have also made plans to attend HMGS-East's Historicon Convention in Fredericksburg, Virginia in July 2013. I believe the dates are July 18th through July 21st. I will also be running two participation games on Thursday and Friday evenings, after the dealer hall closes.
I would also like to attend the Fall In convention in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in late October or early November 2013, but this is not set in stone yet.
New Artillery Equipment
I posted pictures of the greens for 10 new pieces of artillery equipment on my sister blog, the Der Alte Fritz Journal, which you can access at the links below:
Artillery Equipment Greens
French 8-pdr & 12-pdr greens
The figures are currently at Griffin Moulds where the master and production moulds are being made. Prices will be comparable to our existing artillery equipment range, at approximately $6.00 per cannon. I will have to wait on pricing the wagons and pontoon train pieces until I get cost information from my caster. I would expect that the new equipment should be in stock sometime in May 2013.
The new equipment includes French Valliere 8 and 12 pounders, a French limber, Prussian 3/6/12 pounders and a howitzer and two different limbers, a wicker-sided munitions wagon, a pontoon wagon, and separate pontoons, and finally, another artillery train rider wearing a tricorne hat.
Just to clarify the new system, cos I'm slow, does this mean no more ordering of specific numbers of figures? I've usually ordered the actual quantity required for my units - ie 48 privates plus others.
ReplyDeleteHi Ian: yes that's my current plan, but I'm willing to be flexible for mail order business as it is easy to hand pick individual items from home as opposed to trying to do that at a convention. I know that I'm opening up a can of worms here, but I'll give some thought to mail order versus convention and distributor sales.
ReplyDeleteJim
Jim, I like the idea in general. The option to order a regiment at a time or specific packs is a good idea. It would have helped me on those first two orders pick up the right force. Flexibility for online sales will help a lot as it gives us the ability to customize forces. The only pack that I don't seem keen on is the full artillery with limber. The ability to pick a pack with artillery and crew will be helpful! Enjoy your weekend, Scott
ReplyDeleteMaybe I could offer one pack with limber and one pack without limber.
ReplyDeleteAnother idea is to have a Reinforcements pack where you can get say ten figures of the same pose.