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Post by Zoetrop on Oct 10, 2006 20:15:04 GMT
Hello Michael, I hear some rumours from new figurines specially for South London Warlords' annual 'Salute' hobby show. Is that right? And if yes - I hope we (as fellowship members) can buy them directly from Mithril too.
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Post by Gildor on Oct 10, 2006 22:02:40 GMT
Well if the rumor is true I think it quite odd to release "officially numbered" figurines outside of any selling option. Not everybody can afford to go to London for this event (which is not especially mithril based I think) There should be at least a small amount of these available for sale Besides I would be very sad to miss such an occasion as the idea of Glorinfdel confronting The Witch King in a "realm of the north" serie was one of my recurent ideas (lately transformed into "noble elf in armor" for the purpose of the fellowship voting...) Please let us know if we can at least have some of them?
thanks for your answers anyways
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Post by Hammershield on Oct 11, 2006 9:24:02 GMT
Well, if it is a regular M-series I agree with you but if it is not there is nothing uncommon about releasing "convention only" miniatures. A lot of companies do it and you could argue that it would take something away from those who purchase it at Salute (or where ever this piece is supposed to be available) if it was sold elsewhere to. There are already extremely rare Mithrils in circulation and there will always be.
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Post by Hammershield on Oct 11, 2006 9:30:08 GMT
I guess you are right, it looks like there are two miniatures atr the Salute 07 webpage which looks very much like an oevre by Mr CTs, and very much like Glorf and WiKi.
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Post by barliman on Oct 11, 2006 10:31:58 GMT
They are indeed Mithrils by Master Tubb, and bear official Mithril sequence code-numbers (I have this on the authority of Kevin Dallimore, who has handled the actual figures and painted the ones appearing on the Salute page).
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Post by Michael O'Brien on Oct 11, 2006 11:08:38 GMT
Hello Michael, I hear some rumours from new figurines specially for South London Warlords' annual 'Salute' hobby show. Is that right? And if yes - I hope we (as fellowship members) can buy them directly from Mithril too. We can confirm the rumor. We made the figures ONLY for that show. They will be part of the welcome pack. The contract is strict, we CANNOT sell them. They will NOT be available from us, either via our Ebay shop or via Mithril direct. HOWEVER the show organisers do state that it is common practice for people who go to the show to list the figures on Ebay, or similiar sites, after the show so I am sure that they will crop up via other collectors later in 2007. Possibly they may be traded on Perilous Realms as well. I am sorry if this disappoints any collectors but it is business. We believe it will improve our market awareness and it may help increase members who join the Fellowship eventually, which, if enough join, would result in lower prices of these figures, which would benefit all concerned. I am sure that all fellowship members will be able to find examples that filter out into the market.
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Post by Gildor on Oct 11, 2006 14:17:48 GMT
I agree on certain points of view but using the regular range numbers for "exclusive figurines" is a bit odd... the only very rare figurines that costed royal ransoms were christmas figurines so far, with the last one reaching above £1000 on ebay, but these are not "regular series"... so I can accept that. Relaying on the scarce availabilty on ebay, with people ready to spend £1000 for less than 30 grams of pewter metal around is not something many collectors can afford, and the money does not even end up in Mithril business... At least there could be a plan for people getting there and getting some to dispatch them afterwards... It is quite disapointing indeed to see one of your own suggestions come to life, not in the fellowship, but outside and not even be able to have one.
Maybe I am wrong but it seems Mithril is becoming a "topnotch collector only" market... and an elitist one. If we compare the "regular releases" to the "collector and unique or exclusive releases" during year 2006... they are more "exclusive" releases (or auctions...) than "mass market" releases (correct me if I am wrong but there has been only the Lossarnach army released for mass market in the whole year 2006, of course year 2006 is not over yet ... so we never know). Sorry to seem rude, it is just disapointment.... but I can't help but think Mithril becomes more and more elitist... I hope that I'll be able to get one in a way or another without having to "sell an arm", which would be very annoying to paint them afterwards, lol...
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Post by Ori on Oct 11, 2006 15:28:36 GMT
Very sad to hear that they will use convencional numbers....
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Post by barliman on Oct 11, 2006 16:16:22 GMT
Everyone should just look upon getting this 'figure set' as a challenge, and a far easier one than getting an MX or an MS, or an M12! There are going to be literally thousands of them out there...
Without the 'Salute' deal these figures wouldn't even exist, so in my view we should be grateful the deal was struck!
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Post by Gildor on Oct 11, 2006 16:57:13 GMT
fact is, getting them may be easy (though I somehow doubt it)... but the price won't be... so many people will want that I doubt sellers will use "direct buy" option... and the price may be as high as several hundreds £ each (I do not even talk about the set, but only one of them) Over the years i have spent thousands of euros to buy old figurines which became naturally rare and I have a deep respect for this kind of rarity... It is not the case for artificial rarity and still it can reach higher prices than natural rarity...
What frightens me more is how Mithril is evolving , as I said, I have the real feeling that it becomes more and more oriented towards "limited editions" and "off-market" sales than regular sales... For example, It has become so elitist that there are less and less retailers in France that sell them and it is very rare to see someone who knows what mithril figurines are, in a roleplaying shop... Why? because there has been no Mithril for sale nor advertising campaign for more than 2 years.... Guess what, to get Lossarnach army now, in France, you either have to order from Mithril or (it seems at least) you can order from a prince august retailer who will then order them himself, but they are not available for direct buying, and not available at all in shops... I remember back in 1995 when I was beginning collecting them, there was ENTIRE walls of roleplaying shops filled with all the mithril range... now there are maybe two or three boxed sets in display, with dust...Second-hand figurines out of blister badly glued on a display glasscase... and nobody looks at them... (I have seen that in Marseille, Montpellier and Paris... which are no little towns...) and so....less customers = less money for Mithril...= need to get money from other sources....
but this is highly off topic. I should open another topic about my thoughts on that.
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Post by Wendy on Oct 11, 2006 20:09:09 GMT
I'm not too worried about the aftermarket price going too high, and we'll be sure to let everyone know in the MMP forum when some come up on ebay. Right Barly! Challenged accepted.
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Post by Zoetrop on Oct 11, 2006 20:27:22 GMT
fact is, getting them may be easy (though I somehow doubt it)... but the price won't be... so many people will want that I doubt sellers will use "direct buy" option... and the price may be as high as several hundreds £ each (I do not even talk about the set, but only one of them)
I thinks that´s impossible. It´s a limited edition from 4000 !!!!! Look at the LR- Series, a limited edition from 2500. You can buy them now for 2,00 Euros each. No problem.
So please don´t buy the first ones in Ebay . A little bid waiting and you can get these figurines for resonable prices. I´m sure! So don´t worry.
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Post by twrich on Oct 12, 2006 6:41:50 GMT
As Michael stated, the important point here is that these pieces generate an awareness of Mithril which might result in more sales and potentially lower prices for us. I have no worries about buying a set of these cheaply on ebay after the first couple dozen are sold for higher prices to those who just can't wait to buy one. Events like Salute generate the kind of "marketing" that you (and all of us) desire, Gildor, with less cost to Mithril and greater immediate impact than setting up display stands at dozens of hobby shops. I hope they do more events like this in the future. As to the numbering issue, it is no different for a regular collector, having Fellowship Gold releases in the same "M" sequence, yet they must find one they want on ebay if the aren't a member.
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Post by Gildor on Oct 12, 2006 7:56:13 GMT
Actually , maybe I am not well informed, but being from France I never heard about the Salute event, nor what it is about. I did not even know its existence before this rumor of mithril package was announced. I can understand easily the desire of Mithril to touch as many potential customers as possible. I have no greater desire than seeing Mithril reach its "grandeur" of years ago. Though alas I think it is lost in France or in any country outside of UK & Ireland... that's a pity. Wish I could do something to change that (I wear the polo and sweat shirts each time i go painting.... to promote it ...) (maybe using the old style red blister for commercial releases would help, I have witnessed tons of people looking at a mithril figurines thinking it was GW because the blister was alike.... same color etc... Maybe it helps selling the figurine as a figurines, but it does no good to reckon Mithril as something "unique and different" )
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Post by Hammershield on Oct 12, 2006 9:42:41 GMT
I'm with Wendy, Zoetrop and Gildor here. I think it is great that Mithril got the honor of making the Salute special. I doubt I will get to go to Salute but, as Zoetrop is pointing out, 4000 is quite a huge batch of pewter for Mithril to crank out.
Gildor, what you call 'elitist' you might as well call the result of not enough interest in this particular hobby. The days of walls of Mithril blister are simply just gone. A know a little bit about the miniature business and there is quite a fierce competition for the attention of miniature collectors/wargamers/role players. From the perspective of collector of miniatures in general you see a lot of people on miniature forii calling this the golden age of miniatures because there is such a lot of miniature companies to choose from. So, rather than being elitist, in the sense that Mithril Miniatures, and collectors there of, would be purposfully excluding others, I would look at this particular branch of the hobby as 'specialist'. I can't think of no other manufacturer which has the ear to the ground the same way Mithril has, and that a quite customer sensitvie and smart way of making a niche for yourself. Not to long ago there was a question whether Mithril could keep the license. I'm happy they found a way to keep it.
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Post by Gildor on Oct 12, 2006 12:01:57 GMT
I think the problem comes mainly from brands like GW in general. Since they "overruled" the figurines market with their wargames figurines... now pewter miniature figurines ONLY mean wargames figurines for most people. the idea of figurines for collection, and display only is a bit alien to "new generations" of figurine customers (I do not use the word collector purposedly) Those who build diorama comes just after those who play wargames. You are right, the word "specialist" fits more than "elitist".... Still in the word specialist there is no notion of affordability. Anybody who wants to become specialist at one thing (usually) can work hard to get good at it. When it comes to being elitist , what I mean is that you have to fit the prerequisites (financially, socially, intellectually) to be able to keep up to one thing.
But my vision may be altered from the fact that I spent so much money on it until now (while I am no way a rich man), thinking i was done with great expenses and could now focus on painting and serenity in getting the new releases... (now that I have gathered all the M range) And as many of you are aware of it, the last auctions were frightful... so now when I hear about ebay, I'm growing anxious
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Post by bugger! on Oct 13, 2006 2:16:07 GMT
My first post to the site and I have to express my disapointment. It is particularly tricky as a dedicated Mithril collector since 1988 to get to the convention...... I live in Australia!
Perhaps the Mithril directors may like to think about the Bread and Butter collectors from over the years in the future. But of course, it is nothing personal - just business!
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Post by twrich on Oct 13, 2006 7:26:30 GMT
Here is a question, Michael.
If Mithril is producing 4000 of these pieces (Glorfinel v Nazgul), what happens to the extras if there are less than 4000 attendees at Salute? Is Mithril being paid for 4000 G v N, and any extras go to the organizers of the convention? That would be good for Mithril--no risk in production!
But if there are extras that do not go to attendees, I would suggest, from a business perspective, that Mithril offers to purchase back (for equal cost of course) up to a couple hundred of them from the convention organizers, and reoffer them to Fellowship Gold members (and then the general public after a few weeks). Again, if there are any extras.
This might satisfy your base of collectors, and be a nice gesture to the organizers of Salute, should they be "stuck" with extras. Oh, by the way, I don't think most of us would mind paying a few extra Euros to not have to bother with ebay. Naturally. any who wanted could still wait for cheaper sets to be auctioned on ebay later.
Of course, this idea won't work if there are more than 4000 attendees at Salute, and the gift bags including G v N run out.
What do you think?
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Post by Theobald on Oct 13, 2006 15:37:24 GMT
Huoommm, great you are there ... I wish I could ... Let me just say that I absolutely respect Mithril's strategy of commerce. I really want to have those miniatures around for many more years.
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Post by Wendy on Oct 13, 2006 20:05:42 GMT
I'll ask around about these minis closer to the event. I don't live anywhere near the place it is being held, but it never hurts to ask around at some other figure painting websites that I frequent. Gildor and aleatherland, I'll make sure you both have them before I add them to my collection.
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Post by bugger! on Oct 16, 2006 1:57:01 GMT
Thanks Wendy - I have noted that the Fellowship is exactly that, and that even the Designer figures are available to as many people as possible. Although, in this case, it would appear that I will be adding to ebay's profit margin again!
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Post by Gildor on Oct 16, 2006 8:28:40 GMT
Well thanks wendy for your offer - I just really hope that there could be something like just a hundred of them reserved for the fellowship for example , or maybe, ONE member of the fellowship goes to the event and gets them for the whole fellowship and then redispatch them (something like that)
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Post by Axel on Oct 16, 2006 10:27:07 GMT
Since they are distributed at entry, you have to find a couple (around 100) persons willing to sell them just after entry.
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Post by Gildor on Oct 17, 2006 10:59:36 GMT
that's if the regular case is strict but I am talking about an "agreement" we could make with the organizers of the event
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Post by Axel on Oct 17, 2006 18:28:30 GMT
Good idea. If somebody knows the organizers, offering them to buy around 100 sets for fellowship members only could probably work.
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Post by Gildor on Oct 18, 2006 8:43:58 GMT
insisting on the fact that we are an official fellowship (created by Mithril) and not only a community of passionate collectors without anything official could play in the balance... maybe... After all, they may have passed the contract with Mithril about the exclusivity of these 4000 without knowing the existence of the fellowship. Maybe their point of view would be different and more "open to negociations" if they were aware of us... Could you tell me what you think about it Michael?
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Post by Wendy on Oct 18, 2006 12:29:25 GMT
They would most likely be willing to sell any leftover figures rather than selling them before the event. They have 4000 bags of goodies to give out and preselling some of the mithrils will affect the that. All that said, it's worth a try, though I think the price will be lower on ebay. Remember, this special release has almost as many pieces made as a regular M series fig. Hey Barly, is there an admission price to the event? I can't tell from the website. Heehe, Mr. Tubb himself could go. By the way, good for Mithril for getting this chance to gets its name out there. And what's good for Mithril is good for us.
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Post by Michael O'Brien on Oct 25, 2006 9:55:08 GMT
"We have been asked by many fellowship members to clarify the situation regarding the Glorfindel and the Nazgul lord vignette . This is a small vignette that we are making as a promotion for the SALUTE wargaming show which occurs on 21st April 2007 at the ExCEL centre in London. It is the largest wargaming exhibition in the country with around 5000 visitors on the day. Each visitor , on admission will receive a programme , a badge and a free vignette of Glorfindel and the Witch-king. The figures will be exclusive to the show and despite our best efforts with the organisers we cannot obtain any extra figures for the Fellowship members. However , on the positive side, there will be 5500 castings made of this vignette , and the SALUTE organisers have also pointed out that from their experience of previous years a very large number of the free castings will end up on Ebay in the days and weeks after the show. For more details of the SALUTE show please visit WWW.SALUTE.CO.UK" by Chris Tubb
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Post by bombadil1963 on Nov 9, 2006 22:30:58 GMT
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