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Post by Gildor on Aug 21, 2010 22:03:56 GMT
I just would like people around (customers/collectors but also people at Mithril) that I stopped by my roleplay/miniatures retailer today who told me so :
"Mithril is dead in France I wont bother anymore about trying to sell any of them, Prince August only sells paintbrushes paintings and diorama buildign materials for me now, no other products are announced"
I was honestly laughed at by them when I even mentionned the name "mithril", they don't even want to hear about a 'long-time dead'
It is intereresting to note that these retailers never sold or even displayed any of the Helm's Deep nor Dol Amroth knights... Prince August France did not even take the pain to promote the products and they were unaware of their simple existence...
And there are only two retailers providing Prince August mithrils in the south of France, the other one I don't know anymore but I could manage to get info, we were close once...
well... If nothing is done, no retailer will ever want to sell mithril anymore in France that's a fact...
I just hope there is some long time marketing strategy for mithril releases in the thinking because right now it looks quite... bad (to use euphemisms)
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Post by Michael O'Brien on Sept 2, 2010 13:36:53 GMT
I will forward your post to our trade manager and our boss for review. retailers in many cases tell their customers one thing, while doing something completely different when dealing with us. Our French distributor is responsible for any Mithril sales in France, not us directly.
In regard to people who think we are out of business:
I find it amazing when I hear any LOTR collector saying that they cannot find anything about us or that they believed we are dead. We are easy to locate on google, have forums, newsletters, facebook (prince August), twitter, ebay listings and a blog. We post all new releases on theminiaturepages.com as well. If they have not heard from us then they have not tried very hard to find out whats been happening.
Retailers: The sad truth is many retailers do not use the internet much at all when buying stock and expect to be mailed with information same as if it was the 1980s, but do not contact us to update their contact details. They move premises, change telephone details, ownership, email, etc but until we get a customer complaining about them not stocking our Mithril stock we have no idea they are still in business as they never respond to our efforts to talk to them. Some retailers DO bother to fill us in on changing circumstances and we update our records accordingly and they are contacted when something new is released that is relevant to their shop.
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Post by Milo on Sept 2, 2010 15:03:24 GMT
As Gildor wrote, I also witnessed in France-Toulouse the following: Prince August retailer told me "mithril does not exist anymore." Since I told him he was wrong, he checked and came back to me with the good news: If I need any, he can sell me mithril minis ! See how lack of communication can do evil things...
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Post by Gildor on Sept 2, 2010 15:26:55 GMT
You have to be aware Michael that in the case of France, i know of NO people around me who will take time to navigate the internet to find information about LOTR or fgurines in ENGLISH, if the information is not available in french... they will simply reject it without looking at it this is specific to france alas... This being the same with retailers who won't go and check english sites while there are supposed to be french representatives... so as Milo said, Mithril is dead here unless 1) the "mother company" in Ireland promotes mithril in French or 2) Prince August France relays what Mithril ireland does, in french too... which is not the case at all... I made a little google search, Mithril only appears on the second page of google france when looking for "lord of the rings figurines" , they are not visible in google first page (just for information) "lotr figurines" Mithril is on page 1 "tolkien figurines" mithril is first entry on google (well done) Now in french "seigneur des anneaux figurines" mithril has not appeared in the first 40 pages of Google (I stopped searching..) I tried "seigneur des anneaux figurines en plomb" same no-result... nothing in the first 20 pages except some articles I myself wrote in some fantasy website for mithril promotion or ebay sales, or other collectors galleries Indeed mithril.ie is not there to promote in french, but Prince August France has not referenced mithril on google, so yes, sorry to contradict you master O'brian but a french tolkien collector who does not speak or does not WANT to bother searching english will NEVER come across mithril on google.... it is totally blank.... you really have to consider that french people usually (more than 75%) don't want to be forced to use english to find what they need or want... the reasons are several.... but that's a fact that's why I took half a month to translate my own mithril website into my native language... in order to touch more people.... I think that in one month or so, my site should appear on the very first pages on google searchs while prince august and mithril will still be totally... invisible Now indeed France is but a small country and there is not only France in the world, but the thread was about Mithril in France, and well, ten years ago or so, the french market for mithril was quite among the bests among all the countries in which Mithril sells its products....
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Post by ungoliant on Oct 25, 2010 1:00:06 GMT
A couple years ago I mentioned Mithril Miniatures in one of those gaming shops. I brought it up because I noticed that none of the local hobby shops carried them. The clerk told me that Mithril was pretty good back in the 90s but that their detailing wasn't on par with current miniature releases. I just grunted (which is what I do best) and told him that Mithril Orcs were the most proportionately realistic I've ever seen.
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Post by Gildor on Oct 28, 2010 12:10:07 GMT
as always, the problem is not about product quality or even availability at the source but it is about
-marketing/promotion -distribution
I gave ideas, I invested money and time and programming... I asked for feedback from Mithril... I am still waiting for answers...
Nothing more I can do here
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Post by Michael O'Brien on Oct 28, 2010 15:04:22 GMT
as always, the problem is not about product quality or even availability at the source but it is about -marketing/promotion -distribution I gave ideas, I invested money and time and programming... I asked for feedback from Mithril... I am still waiting for answers... Nothing more I can do here We are VERY busy preparing for the Family Fun Day. I have not forgotten. I wil address it.
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Post by Gildor on Nov 4, 2010 15:00:48 GMT
and so the Family Fun Day is over... and that was very cool if I look at the pictures... Will you have time to address it now?
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Post by barliman on Nov 4, 2010 15:27:56 GMT
Actually, Master Gildor is not alone in both wanting and wishing that we had a clearer insight into Mithril's plans for its future product. Many of us are becoming especially frustrated that Mithril continues to hide its light under a metaphorical bushel - why not promote the product to a wider audience? Many practical and laudable suggestions have already been made regarding how this could be done. And also, when can we ever hope to see a return to the 'good old days' when regular M range releases were exactly that - regular? Ranges of figures ready to be cast and released already exist, we know, but in some cases they have done so for so long that one wonders what the hold-up is. There are people out here ready to buy them - and if they were at an even remotely reasonable price (say along the lines of Games Workshop's admittedly inflated prices) possibly to buy LOTS of them. Can we expect some answers soon?
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Post by Theobald on Nov 4, 2010 15:43:28 GMT
I agree completely with barliman's statement and have nothing more to add myself.
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Post by Milo on Nov 4, 2010 16:24:48 GMT
Master Barliman has read my thought. What is hapening with M series ? Why such lack of communication ? I fear for Mithril's future while the Hobbit Movie is on the way. That event should boost the company business (even my own kids would become new customers in 2 years. ) But this means that every kid shall find here AND in RPG shops what he dreams for: magnificient, regular and not too expensive miniatures!
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Post by Turambar on Nov 4, 2010 20:17:18 GMT
I would also like to speak out my totally agreement with the upper fellows and I would like to add, that I don´t understand at all, why there is no normal range release. Always waiting for months to spent about 20€ for a single miniature becomes more and more fractious . . . The passion Gildor shows is really remarkable! And this should be respected.
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Post by Thingol on Nov 4, 2010 21:17:46 GMT
Important thing for every company is to be connected with loyal and potential group of customers. Even for the product like Mithril. Very limited and quality series of magnificent figures. Mithril is Ferari in Hobbit and the Lord of the rings and fantasy world of miniatures. But if we do not know what would be happened with mithril in the future our small and precious club will become only bunch of guys with one big question over our heads and after some time that could become complicated to live with this. Even if we decide to promote mithril to the next generation of kids we cannot do this without answering on basic questions. What would be with regular releases. In my country we have lot's of J.R.R.Tolkien clubs, forums, RPG associations but non of those use mithril figures for full fill their figures collections. Or they do not know nothing about it or some of them (RPG gamers) thinks that figures are to expensive. I'm the only one I guess and this is pity. So please could we have more answers about regular figures. I hope that would not happened again gap of few years between last and next M release. Thanks....
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Post by erchamion on Nov 5, 2010 15:34:14 GMT
I see the problem in Spain is extensible to other countries... Where can I buy your magnificent figures Mithril and M-serie? Why did retail sale disappear? Who distributes in Spain? (Not everyone has Internet or know to buy through Internet) And of course, When are you going to produce the next serie-M?
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Post by ddaines on Nov 5, 2010 18:53:07 GMT
Come on Mithril, let's not have to change the thread title to Mithril Dead (period)! It would be good now that the fun’s over, to find out what the future holds for Mithril Miniatures and the collectors out there that are trying desperately to collect the products under that banner. Why therefore are such loyal fans being treated like 'mushrooms' when they want to spend the money that helps keep the company in business and employees employed? Questions have been asked for a long time; M Range figures have surely got to be the mainstay of the range and at competitive prices; and as commented there seem to be a few sculpted and waiting for the green light for production. As I see it Mithril holds two trump cards that I guess other companies do not have; a very loyal fan/collector base, and a designer/sculptor who is passionate about the subject matter of what he sculpts – you only have to look at facial expressions and other small details on the figures to see this. I can only echo the thoughts of others and ask that some indication of what lies ahead is given and given soon – fortunately I don’t have to rely on GW as I do not RPG/wargame, but I would hate to see that company benefit at the expense of Mithril.
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Post by hsf62 on Nov 6, 2010 8:51:08 GMT
Well spoken Master ddaines!
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Post by aelfwine on Nov 6, 2010 21:10:57 GMT
Indeed.
Fact the first, as far as the wider world is concerned, Mithril does not exist anymore. They were great until the mid-1990s, and then they shut up shop.
I've heard this spoken, word for word, in pretty clued in North American retail environments, online on RPG.net (which is very clued in indeed) on the Ironcrown.com forums (and you'd expect they would know).
Some very influential people are also VERY hostile to Mithril's continued existence (such as some of the webmasters on The Last Alliance)
So there's two sources of problem right there.
Mithril has a good website. It has a good web presence. But its passive. This is not Prince August's fault. Lots of hobby producers right now are being hit with this problem. There's very few ways to create active engagement with the audience nowadays. There's no Dragon magazine, no old timey White Dwarf magazine, no (later) White Wolf magazine. Web ads can be purchased, but many people block them as annoyances.
Advertising in those spaces created synergies: people would buy Dragon for a Dungeons & Dragons article, then see a Mithril ad, which might lead them to an Iron Crown Enterprises catalogue, which would lead them back to a Mithril ad.
You can't do that anymore. But there is a new Lord of the Rings RPG on the horizon. Mithril figures would make very good fits for the game. Approach them. Use their network to sell your product.
Finally, in a broader sense, have you considered licensing cast versions of your fantasy figures to an American company like Reaper or Dark Sword. Because they have the ability to go to conventions and sell directly to American retailors and they have a network of their own.
Everyone's hurting right now, but it does mean there's something of an opportunity to create new networks.
Gavin
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Post by Gildor on Nov 7, 2010 11:57:18 GMT
there are lots of things that can be done... lots of EASY solutions to find along with some more complex but still possible...
it is only a matter of dedication and desire to do so...
Unless proven otherwise I'll now assume Lars Edman himself does not care at all about Mithril because in the last years there is NOTHING he has done to PROMOTE mithril... only to produce and sell to a little bunch of devoted collectors without any commercial risk to be taken and with a sure result of profit... and the constant answers are "mister Edman has other things to attend".... well I see those other things being done in terms of promotions but I see NOTHING being done for Mithril promotion which is "one of the things he HAS to attend TOO"... I can't imagine it takes two months, not with the internet all around the worlds that does not require being at a given place in the world to "work" to give a sincere and honest answers to questions... Now maybe that mithril has chosen to live in "age of stone" and has internet only in Ireland to communicate with their staff around the world?
that's totally shameful... Now I ask a direct answer from Lars Edman...
an answer from Michael o'Brian won't satisfy me... he is not the one who decides anything here... but he may be the one to "diplomatically" express what mister Edman chooses as strategy... So I assume that if mister Edman says 'keep them using the forum and grow upset and try to calm down, that's your job as webmaster and community manager, but know that Mithril is game over"...
So I'll be waiting for mister Edman answers... as I know that even Chris Tubb is not able to "move" him..... as you may know I have been in direct contact with Chris for many years now and I know he does not share the ideas of Lars in terms of promotion...but has nothing to say about it...
Time to speak honestly....
I know this post has quite a bad tone and is not diplomatic... but I have used all the diplomatic ways already without result...
Next time, I'll try to convince Chris and the community to boycot voting, suggesting, and in the case of Chris, sculpting... any more MS figurines until something is factually done regarding regular releases...
EVERYBODY should know that at least Two maybe three full ranges of regulars have been ready for more than ONE YEAR and the HALF and are resting on Chris shelf and taking dust... If mister Dan Joe is overbooked with all the castings he has to achieve, maybe it's time to enlist someone to help him?
Also, can you give an explanation on why the White Council, which was produced very recently would be "supposedly" released quite soon, while Helm's Deep 2 and Helm's Deep 3 have been sitting in the corner for years and have been ready for casting and sale - but postponed again and again - for a much longer time than even the production of the White Council...
Yes I am angry... yes I am upset.. and won't cease to be so until answers are given... PUBLICLY
I don't have the patience of ents.... sorry
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Post by Theobald on Nov 7, 2010 15:02:03 GMT
Huoomm ... I do not have any patience left any more about this, as you guessed, Gildor ... and the last of my patience was taken from me some time ago, though I did not tell. Here's the Ent ... who just can say that I really do understand all your anger and concern and frustration as I feel the same. With this I do gladly support your anger. What you said is right, and I am also waiting for an answer from LE. There are some thoughts in your last entry I already considered a long time ago. But that's not the right place here to broadcast any of the thoughts. When I asked LE after the release of the MX-UP if it did help to promote Mithril better, I just received the answer "yes, a bit". That's all. But that's another matter, not having to be discussed here in public. Yes, I'm angry still ... and I'm moving ...
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Post by Turambar on Nov 7, 2010 17:09:13 GMT
Let me add something, too, please. Like the Ent I am gladly to support your anger, Gildor. And I really do feel the same- quiete a long time. The behaviour of our beloved company is simply outrageous. If a single private person is "stemming" such an ambitious project as the MX-UP, mithril should prepare him a cup of tea with his favourite bisquits and a bottle of golden liquid from the isle of Islay. WSorry, what should that be: "Yes,a bit" ? It is anything, but surely NOT an answer. Instead af letting a single private person offer that much money, mithril should have release this project for itself years before. There are complete ranges flowing around. Why the heck aren´t they be released yet? ?? I - for myself- am totally thwarted with my hobby, because I can not paint miniatures and build dioramas, because there aren´t any. So- what should I do? What should I paint? I hear, that evan Mr. Tubb is not able to move Mr. Edman. Who else should be able to do this?! I buy and paint these miniatures because of the high quality of sculpting. And for no other reason at all. If Mr. Tubb is not able to move Mr. Edman, than we all should move together. Maybe some hundred still-mithril-enthusiastic-fellows can do that. And yes, we are still mithril enthusiastic. As far as I am concerned: still.
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Post by Theobald on Nov 7, 2010 17:58:59 GMT
Sorry, but I do have to add sth, as you referred to the (then possible) promotion of Mithril and the MX-UP meeting the Release of the Movie before GW could lay a hand on that. That's what our (CT and me) timing was about. But we then couldn't know that there were problems in pruducing that 'Hobbit' movie. Let me clearly point out that it was Chris Tubb who negotiateted with Lars about the price for that vignette to make it affordable. He managed to half the price for the production ... and I'm still glad that he was successful with that. Otherwise the vignette wouldn't have been affordable at all or never been casted. But he always wanted to do that, as it was in his mind for years. Sorry, to reveil such matters here ... but I do feel a bit concerned.
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Post by Thingol on Nov 7, 2010 21:02:40 GMT
Dear Mithril companions and friends, have you notice whose persons are left posts on this topic... MMP..... only..... There are no posts other of 290 members of this forum.... seems that nobody else read this...
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Post by Gildor on Nov 8, 2010 0:05:09 GMT
among the 290 members of the official boards, less than a half are active members... and less than a quarter care at all about what happens or not ... I don't think those number are significative ...
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Post by jdbrown55 on Nov 22, 2010 2:56:41 GMT
I read it, but usually don't post a whole lot. All of you fine collectors know so much more about Tolkien and Mithril than I do.
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