Yearly Archives: 2008

Sneak Peek: Blasted Planets…

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The best way to describe activity here at HistoriFigs HQ is simple this “Busy, busy, busy”

A lot going on with lots more to do; something happening everyday; Alison is busy in the casting shop. I’m busy in the mold making shop. Work in all scales from 10mm to 54mm. Custom and restoration work. Business systems and website work. Sales and Marketing work…

Well, anyhow, you get the idea. We are busy on all fronts. The good news this year is that we are keeping up with orders, some (Scruby figures) are taking a little longer, but mostly we are on track and on schedule. One place where we have blown the schedule is with the release of our first new figures in the Resistant Roosters line. These were due this month, but there are a couple of figures I’d like to see fixed or redone, so these are going back for a little bit of re-work. We expect to be able to release these in February.

Perhaps the delay will allow us to shift focus a wee bit and get the new 40mm AWI figures into production a bit sooner…

For sure the shift in production schedule has allowed us to start work on the Bloodaxe Moro Rebellion range. Another up side is that I was able to pull in a Blasted Planets release. The next Blasted Planets release is scheduled for next week – let’s just call it 1 February 2008. Up this time are figures to represent Human Light Infantry. The cool thing about these figures is that they have separate heads. The figures will ship with a random selection of heads (Peaked Cap, Beret, skin or bald heads and Stahl Helmet). Other heads will also be available. The first six are done and in molds (and in stock). Another 6 should be done this weekend (this mold should fit in between a couple custom casting projects) with more to follow. Our (short term) focus with the Blasted Planets line is to catch up with the smaller projects – “heads” and “bits”; once these are done the follow-up releases should roll out much more smoothly.

OK, I’ve kept you from the posting topic long enough, and so without further delay here is your sneak peek at the upcoming Blasted Planets release – Human Light Infantry:

Light Infantry

Light Infantry

Light Infantry

We will have an officer with Pulse Pistol, troopers with (crappy) Pulse Rifles and a Heavy Weapons support figure in this release. A nice, but small selection of figures – with the swappable heads you will be able to create a much larger variety of figures…

And now for a short list of things to look for in February: 40mm AWI (Americans Line), 15mm Resistant Roosters (Late War Greandeier/Panzergrenadier), N-Gauge (Scruby F&IW – sculpts by Jay Miller), Blasted Planets (Human Light Infantry) and more…

More New Figures…

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This week we have some more new figures for the Moro Rebellion:

Philippine Scouts, these new figures are Lance’s take on figures appropriate for use as Philippine Scouts or Constabulary; they are dressed in U.S. uniform and hat from waist up, native breach cloth from the waist down.

Philippine Scouts

Next up for the range will be some Moro figures, we will loop back and pick the remaining (phase one) U.S. troops in a few weeks. Interest in this new range has been fairly high and we have received a number of suggestions such as Philippine Insurgents (would double as Cubans or even some Spanish) and Spanish. These are good ideas and will likely be added at some point. Thanks for the suggestions and please keep them coming.

Be sure to visit the Bloodaxe Miniatures website for new pictures and information concerning the Moro Rebellion.

Next, for the HistoriFigs line we have a few new 40mm figures depicting U.S. troops for the Spanish-American War. This is a new range, originally intended for our collectors series will expand and will be suitable for use by war gamers. The first figures out the door will be:

  • U.S. Infantry, 1898, marching (Springfield or Krag rifle)
  • U.S. Cavalry, 1898, (dismounted) advancing
  • U.S. Cavalry, 1898, (dismounted) standing with carbine
  • U.S. Infantry, 1898, Officer reloading pistol

Next up will be:

  • U.S. Cavalry, mounted, 1898, (separate arms for pistol, carbine)
  • U.S. Cavalry, mounted, 1903, (separate arm for pistol, rifle)

Infantry and Dismounted Cavalry are priced at $3.00 each
Mounted Cavalry are priced at $18.00 each

And now for a sneak peek at these new 40mm figures (more in the coming days)…

U.S. Infantry, 1898, marching

U.S. Cavalry, 1898, (dismounted)

New Bloodaxe Range…

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Announcing the first new (2008) release for the Bloodaxe Miniatures line…

New for 2008: The Moro Rebellion

U.S. Infantry in the Philippines

It seems like forever ago that we came up with the idea for this range. Originally, we had planned to revive and expand the old Scruby 25mm range, but the more I thought about it the less I liked the idea. It isn’t that I don’t like the idea, just that 15mm felt like a better scale. To make a long story short, in conversations with Lance I brought up the idea of doing some 15mm figures depicting U.S. troops in the Philippines as well as figures to represent the Moro…

Well time goes by (Lance is working away on various projects, including the 15mm U.S. Infantry and Moro figures) and by late October 2007 Lance has completed the first batch of figures and ships them off to HistoriFigs HQ. With the end of year rush (conventions, games, orders and just everyday holiday season life) the release is pushed to early 2008.

Completed now and ready for shipment are the first figures – U.S. Infantry (mixed poses, in bags of: 8, 12 or 24). If all goes according to plan we should have a new release every other week until this batch of figures is fully released. At that pace we should have the first batch fully released by the end of February. As such, I do believe that it is now time to start thinking about how you will use these in your war games…

In other news today, more pictures have been posted to the Bloodaxe Miniatures website, so be sure to drop in and check them out.

Be sure to visit the Bloodaxe Miniatures website…

Ramping up for ‘08

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Yesterday I wrote about last year – or the closing out of ’07…

Today we embark upon a new voyage, know by many as 2008. We have quite a few “new” things lined up for 2008. The list of projects for this year was much longer, but we decided that we need to trim things down to a manageable list – no need to promise more than we can deliver…

I’ll start off by saying that we have new releases slated for all of our miniature lines: HistoriFigs, Jack Scruby, Bloodaxe, Blasted Planets and Resistant Roosters. In all cases these releases are brand new figures (not just recycled/re-released models).

Since I don’t know where to start, I’ll start with our own line; in 2008 we are finally releasing our 40mm American War of Independence range. This one was in the planning stages for quite some time and Tony Aldrich has been working on the first greens for a good part of the past year.

40mm British Drummer

The first figures will be Americans and British from the Yorktown period. The initial release will consist of no less than 20 figures. All of the greens are in hand, and pattern molding is in progress. As you can see from the pictures, there is still a wee bit of cleanup to do, but work is progressing well. Target price for these models is $2.50 each, we will have a final price point for these next week. Later in the year we will release a second batch of figures to compliment this initial release. The first figures should be ready for release by the end of January (sooner if possible).

40mm British Infantry

Five years ago, we promised that there would be new additions to the Jack Scruby line. This is the year that we fulfill this promise. Already in hand are a [large] number of new N-Gauge figures. The figures have been designed to expand and compliment the Scruby 18th Century castings. Some are updated versions of familiar figures and [many] others completely new figures. The main focus with the range expansion is the French and Indian War. These new figures have been sculpted by Jason Miller; look for pictures of these and other new French and Indian War themed products in the coming days and weeks.

Next up are some additions to the Bloodaxe line. Lance has been working on some brand new figures, the first of which will see production in the first quarter of 2008. We have in hand the first figures for a new 15mm range covering the US in the Philippines (early 1900’s). The figures on the workbench right now cover the basic US infantry troops. Next in line are the first of the Moro figures. These figures are expected to release early in Q1 – pictures as soon as the patterns have been cleaned up.

The Blasted Planets line has been [mostly] neglected since its release (June 6 2006, the same day a tornado danced through our property). We have had in hand for some time now new figures for this line and expect to release several of these new figure sets as the year progresses. The plan is for new releases each quarter. Among these releases will be the Space Hobbits sculpted by Jason Miller.

To round things out we finish off with our newest line – Resistant Roosters. It has been more than a year since any new figures have been releases under the Resistant Roosters label… Our plan for the first half of the year is to finish up some incomplete sets and to introduce a few new pieces to compliment the existing sets. Completely new sets are being planned for the last half of the year. To start things off we have in hand the first of some brand new late war Panzergreadier/Grenadier figures. These figures are designed to depict troops in winter kit – they are suitable for use in the Ardennes or on the Eastern Front. A few of the figures in hand need a wee bit more work, some shipping damage needs to be repaired and some final cleanup of the greens is in order. Additionally, we will be starting on a few more figures so that we can offer an MG Platoon to go with the Company HQ and Infantry platoons releasing shortly. Along with this new release we will be remolding the existing Late War Panzergrenadiers (they will be pulled form production for a short period of time while remolding work is in progress). The original set combined with the new figures/sets will provide a good deal of variety – allowing you to create some very nice units for your table top.

New Resistant Roosters

Randy Frye was up to HistoriFigs HQ this past Sunday and together we sorted out and planned the pack organizations for this new offering; I do believe that you will be happy with the outcome. Look for more pictures and details next week – we will try and have pictures showing all of the new greens for these sets along with some details concerning makeup of the new packs.

Well, that sure sounds like a lot of work. The good news is that most of these projects are already on the workbench and in progress, so if I play my cards right I should be able to get a wee bit ahead of the ball this year. Oh, and there is more in the pipeline, just hat some of it isn’t as well defined as we would like, but rest assured that there will be more goodies this year.

Closing out ’07…

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Here we are, the second day of the New Year (2008). Yesterday, I closed out the orders from the last minute rush on the Holiday specials. There are just a few more open ’07 orders; one is for some 30mm Napoleonic Cavalry (I need to finish up a couple of new masters for this one). Can’t remember the others off the top of my head, but one contians some obscure items that I just need to cast, and then spend a little time cleaning up.

We did have a few shipping mishaps in the holiday rush. At least 3 packages have gone missing. Since they were all mailed at the same time, I’m going to assume that there was some Post Office mix-up. Two of these weren’t a big deal (other than to the folks who are getting them late). The other irks me a bit more, as it is the second time it has gone missing. The first time it got lot internally. (Read as: I lost it in the shop/shipping room). This time, I don’t know – I do know that I have to recast the pieces – Customer is not too happy about this (and neither am I). So that will likely be tonight’s project (not sure I can knock it out in a single night; custom pieces, 1 of each at a time), but we shall see what I can do…

Overall the past year wasn’t as good as we had hoped for. Some has to do with life’s little speed bumps, and some has to do with slow sales. The life’s speed bumps issues (from last year) should be behind us now; and we are hoping that 2008 will be a better year as far as those types of things are concerned. The slow sales; well I see this as two general problems: first with all of the things that derailed us from getting things done last year we didn’t have the time (or energy at times) to make the types of pushes for new business and sales that we should have. Secondly, in general I think spending was down for hobby related purchases (non-scientific research shows that many people cut back on hobby spending for a large part of 2007). Well, bottom line is that we fell short of our sales goals by about 17% – so far, with work booked for 2008 we should be 25% ahead, so if we can keep that up, we should be able to recover form last year’s shortfall.

In a review of sales from last year I found a nice surprise in the increased sales of figures in the Bloodaxe line. If you toss out the Hawaiians (sales were worse than flat on these) the line witnessed a strong growth in sales. I am sure some of this growth has been due to the release of some of Lance’s newer work (Russo-Japanese War for example). If we look at 30mm sales we see that the numbers are down quite a bit; perhaps many of you have finally completed your 30mm Napoleonic armies?

Overall, the year for us was a mixed bag. Slower sales, but in the last quarter we were seeing an increase in sales; so things may be looking up… No doubt that our acquisition of the Resistant Roosters line helped things quite a bit. With the last quarter momentum, we are hitting 2008 at a good pace. If this keeps up we should be able to sweep the last of 2007 out the door and focus on the many new things we have planned for 2008…