"The "I Hate Foundry Annual Christmas Sale" " Topic

Okay so I am seriously considering this sale this year. Ancients include,

link

Ancient/Medieval Army Deals

BAIR2 IMPERIAL ROMAN LEGION DEAL
$672.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $840.00)
BAIR3 IMPERIAL ROMAN ARMY DEAL
$300.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $375.00)
BAIR1 ROMAN ARMY DEAL
$252.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $315.00)
BACB2 CELTIC WARBAND DEAL
$400.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $500.00)
BACB3 BOUDICCA'S CELTIC ARMY DEAL
$1,210.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $1512.00)
BATW3 EARLY MYCENAEAN ARMY DEAL
$288.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $360.00)
BATW2 LATER MYCENAEAN ARMY DEAL
$288.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $360.00)
BAHIT1 HITTITE ARMY DEAL
$336.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $410.00)
BAHIT2 HITTITE & ALLIES ARMY DEAL
$525.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $714.00)
BACSM1 CANAANITE, MITANNI, SYRIAN DEAL
$288.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $360.00)
BADS1 DACIAN ARMY DEAL
$336.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $410.00)
BACR1 CAESARIAN ROMAN ARMY DEAL
$292.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $365.00)
BAE1 EGYPTIAN ARMY DEAL
$444.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $555.00)
BAE2 EGYPTIAN ALLIES DEAL
$125.60 USD POST FREE! (normal price $157.00)
BAE3 EGYPTIAN & ALLIES ARMY DEAL
$537.60 USD POST FREE! (normal price $672.00)
BAVIK1 DANISH VIKING ARMY DEAL
$252.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $315.00)
BAVIK2 VIKING RAIDING PARTY DEAL
$56.00! (normal price $70.00)
BAVIK3 VIKING & ALLIES ARMY DEAL
$288.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $360.00)
BAHUN1 HUN ARMY DEAL
$252.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $315.00)
BAHUN2 HUN ARMY & ALLIES DEAL
$315.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $410.00)
BAFS2 HUN ALLIES DEAL
$117.60 USD POST FREE! (normal price $190.00)
MACEDONIAN ARMY DEAL
$376.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $470.00)
ASSYRIAN ARMY DEAL
$400.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $500.00)
ATHENIAN ARMY DEAL
$410.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $525.00)
SPARTAN ARMY DEAL
$320.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $400.00)
ANCIENT GERMAN ARMY DEAL
$472.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $590.00)
ARTHURIAN ARMY DEAL
$236.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $295.00)
SAXON ARMY DEAL
$252.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $315.00)
PICT ARMY DEAL
$252.00 USD POST FREE! (normal price $315.00)

And individual units (battalions/warbands) are 20% off if one is not interested in the above army deals.

I am defiantly getting the Germanic Army deal as it works out to 260 men and 30 cavalry for $472.00 USD that is about $1.42 USD per figure and free postage. Most of the other Armies are around $1.75 USD a figure as well. I think with the money I save I might get some of the other Battalions as well. These are a bit more expensive but work out to about 2.06 a figures in most cases. Added to the Army and it is all free postage. Has this been posted already? I did not see it on the news or Foundry hate boards?

THE BIG PROBLEM IS THE SALE ENDS ON THE 27th! I have got to order ASAP!

VR
James Mattes

Oh forgot the link to the other lines (hence the cross postings to the other boards) that are on sale as well:

link

link

VR
James Mattes

I hadn't noticed that it ended so quickly. I thought that it actually ran until Christmas. I seem to recall that it did in years past. Oh, well I guess I didn't NEED those Egyptians anyway.

Rob

This the first I heard of this, a bit late as you say with it ending tomorrow.

Mind you with the postal strikes whether you will see any of this before next xmas is another matter :)

A Christmas sale ending in October?
The January sale is next month then?

I think a better offer might be coming up

I think a better offer might be coming up

No, I think its a cash flow problem given the current climate.

I did the math on their Malburian / Sun King "army deal" and it still came up more expensive than the normal everyday prices for Front Rank figures, and considerably more so than some others.

I've only ever indulged in one of their sales; back when they "discontinued" the Napoleonic Bavarians and blew them out at something like two-thirds discount.

Of course, about a year later the discontinued Bavarians were back for sale at the normal high prices.

For once, I knew the Foundry Secret Handshake.

can someone explain me a bit what is going on in the sector ? Everybody starts doing sales, extra discounts and so on. All these companies are having a hard time or what ?

Is strange that a Christmas sale ends in October!

Re the general sales and discounts offered at the moment, I think it might be a combination of the 28mm plastics and the current economic climate.

It's strange that any sale ends a few days before the end of the month, just before most people get paid. Not that I'd be buying them anyway.

As an aside I notice they are not using royal mail at present. I wish I had that choice, but if I used private carriage the cost would drive customers off.

Why do people hate Foundry? Price?

I think one of the things is price and that they are the big boy on the block, which always causes some irritation. I believe that the reason most people hate miniature companies like GW or Foundry is that they see all these great looking models and can't afford to buy them. Then they get upset about it and start to hate the company.

It is a weird phenomenon as people don't really seem to hate BMW and Porsche when they can't afford those. I guess they might hate the people that drive them instead.

Foundry do regular sales so there will be another one soon. If not before Xmas probably January then Easter! I tend to get a buy list sorted in the meantime and wait for the next sale. Planning a new army is part of the fun of collecting/wargaming.

I wouldn't say they are in financial problems they were looking to hire someone for the Xmas rush and judging by the open day, sales of Napoleon (think they had sold out at one point) and their stall at Salute they do quite well in terms of demand.

One thing I did notice was that on a few of the ancient armies if you bought the regiments individually it was cheaper than buying the army deal. Not a lot cheaper but it meant cherry picking and mixing regiments was as cheap as buying the army. Odd but take advantage of it.

I suppose they can sell a lot of their products "cheaply" as the moulds have already paid for themselves and they are now churning out old lines. 32 Macedonian figs for £28.00 GBP is pretty good and the Napoleonic French infantry reinforcements 320 figs for £200.00 GBP is ridiculous. These must be quite old lines now but the figures are still good and in my experience the moulding quality is still very high with minimal flash or lines.

I think a lot of people hate them as they can be expensive and for overseas customers I understand the exchange rate and postage was high. But pick the army/regiment deals and buy a few filler/character packs and I think you can still come away happy. Even better if you can find something useful from their £5.00 GBP bargain blisters at shows/open days. It can be quite sociable standing around the boxes sifting through the blisters.

Hate them may be strong language, but their prices are high, their exchange rate for U.S. customers is ridiculous, and their postage is confiscatory unless you spend over a certain sum or buy an expensive book from a very limited selection.

The only problem is they have fantastic figures. I have hundreds of their Plains Wars figures because they are the best and they are pretty accurate in their dress and equipment for 1876. Not perfect, but far closer than anyone else.

They also make matching mounted and dismounted figures for both the cavalry and the Indians. Good luck though on ever getting the matching figures. In the past they sold mounted in a pack of four, and foot in a pack of eight. The mounted had two packs in each "set". Thus if you bought one foot and one of each of the two mounted packs, you had eight mounted and eight on foot that matched.

Then they went to 3 and 6 instead of 4 and 8. This must have been done to raise prices without the cost per pack going up so much. Only chance will give you matching figures. I had bought a LOT of Foundry Plains Wars in the 3's and 6's. Then I wanted to place another, smaller order. I made a request to avoid two figures that I had a lot of, and asked to include one or two that I really needed to match. I was not asking for packs of totally specific figures. They completely ignored my request. I got a boat load of figures I asked to avoid and I think I got only 1 of one figure I asked for, and none of the other.

I don't hate them. I just think they are an excellent example of what gives private enterprise a bad name to so many people. Fortunately, there are many wargame manufacturers who do try to be reasonable to their customers, not operate the shipping as a profit center, give actual exchange rates, and charge reasonable prices.

Due to the quality of their figures, for other periods I would use Foundry but for the problems mentioned above. I would even pay the British prices if the exchange rate was real, not inflated. As it is, Plains Wars is the only period I have done from them and ever intend to do.

Tom

Now as I don't tend to touch Foundry, I don't give a tinker's when its sale is.

Mind you, I've often bought a lot from Museum Miniatures in Januaries

Is Foundry even relevant any more?
I just can't even get up the energy for a good rant.

I just think they are an excellent example of what gives private enterprise a bad name to so many people.

Huh? What does private enterprise have to do with it? The government could run them better? A Workers' Committee?

The secret handshake could help, Napoleon, but would you have to roll up a trouser-leg whilst doing it?

I personally look forward to these sales, and have to admit to succumbing to temptation on many occasions.

I suppose the only thing that annoys me is when I take advantage of such offers and, due to to poor planning on my part, end up paying more than I might have originally countenanced to complete a project after a sale has ended.

Good marketing perhaps, but I'm not going to blame anyone else for that…

I just think they're really odd.

They launch "new" products that they've had on the shelf for years. Meanwhile you can't find their old products and assume they've been discontinued… only to realize that your buddy just bought 300 of them because he knew somebody who knew somebody who made a phone call.

It's like they're trying to fail. Figures priced so high they're comical and turn off thousands of potential customers. Books like the recent "Napoleon" rules that seem thrown together without an editor and jettisoned on the market with no follow-up or support. A catalog of products with more loopholes and exceptions than the tax codes.

I for one find their customer service, as mentioned by GaryOwen, to be severely lacking.

I don't mind paying premium prices for premium figures. I can deal with their inflated exchange rate, but I hate being treated like a knob after spending thousands of US $'s on their product.

Send them to the Jon Tuffey school of "Respect and appreciate your Customers" and I'm sure there business overseas would greatly improve.

Heck, even their previous U.S. vendor dropped them partially because he, "Was embarrassed by the excuses he had to give his buyers on behalf of Foundry".

vojvoda, you could also buy Wargames Factory Ancient Germans.

8 boxes of German Warband
3 boxes of German cavalry
Total of 11 boxes would be $219.45 USD post free.

240 infantry and 36 cavalry.

That works out to 66 1/2 cents per infantry and $1.66 USD per cav!!

And the funny thing is that those are just their everyday prices!

Bill (Loving the Plastics Revolution) Peterson

Actually, "Napoleon", thinking about it, you are quite right.

If I had anything to do with the company, the first thing I would look at is the grouping of products on the website.

The army discounts can look quite good, until you realise that you don't need thirty-six Scots Greys (and I'm probably exaggerating to make a point).

They would be far better served during these special periods by allowing customers to pick a minimum number of selected packs.

Not hate, but lousy customer service did me in years ago. Buying a bunch of figures directly and then finding out that they'd discontinued the line without warning was the last straw. Sold off or gave away my Foundry stuff and never looked back.

The pricing is pretty silly also as mentioned when there are great lines of miniatures like Front Rank out there for example (for H&M periods).

They don't miss me and I don't miss them.

Dan

Although, I would disagree with Gary in that I have always found their customer service to be nothing short of excellent.

Just my personal experience.

I find Foundry's exchange rates for Americans terrible. There's no reason in this day and age not to give a daily and accurate exchange rate, especially when you are paying electronically. U.K. postage to the States is very affordable. I would be happy to pay postage rather than as much as a 25% hike in the exchange rate.

With regard to Foundry's customer service, I've had nothing but good service. Whenever I've called them up, they've been friendly to correct my order or pull something from the back that's not on the website. Next time I'm in London visiting family, I'll drive out to visit the factory where I will (a) complain about the exchange rate in person and (b) buy a bunch of stuff with pounds.

Steve
cavalcadewargames.com
nycjadie.wordpress.com

I don't think its a sign of hard times, Foundry always do this, don't they? Elite miniatures have been having a Christmas sale for years (which lasts to the end of January- MUCH more shrewd, gets all the cash people get for figures at Christmas).
Personally I don't dislike Foundry "because they are the best" I dislike them because they make dreadful, stumpy, no-necked, short, thick-weaponed figures,however, they had a marketing dept that were clever enough and influential enough within the hobby media to convince wargamers to buy their product. You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time.

I'd be surprised if there wasn't a 20% off everything sale sometime before Xmas.

I must say I find Foundry has the best customer service I know of. I always get my stuff in a week (I live in Canada), everything is there, had one problem a couple of years ago (that got resolved) but that's it.

As for the "dreadful, stumpy, no-necked, short, thick-weaponed figures" well I like them. Not because I was convinced they are the best or anything, but because I genuinely like that style. Some people (including the critic who made the stumpy comment) prefer Elite. I would'nt pay a cent for those "hey steve/look up in the sky" miniatures. To each their own…

I don't understand the Foundry hatred and trash talk at all. I've always gotten excellent service from them, regardless of whether I was placing a large army-size order or ordering the odd miscellaneous pack to fill a hole in my collection. I particularly don't understand Christot's rant. Foundry's Old West and Darkest Africa figures are some of the most graceful, well-posed, and well-proportioned historical figures ever sculpted, and their figures have real character. There isn't a Foundry line I've got that hasn't been a joy to paint,* and I'm looking forward to adding Conquistadors and Incas to the mix.

Mulligan

*(My collection of personally painted Foundry figures includes hundreds of Elizabethans, Pirates, Old West, Darkest Africa, and WWII Brit paras and Germans.)

I have always found there customer service excellent, I tend to buy there darkest Africa range which are very nice sculpts. I can see why people get annoyed with there pricing structure, in particular postage on small quantities and especially exchange rate/ vat issue for overseas buyers. Most frustrating for me is the supposed unavailability of certain figures and ranges, but I don't know if they discontinue lines due to the moulds being worn out or if it's a marketing practice.

Why do they even have an exchange rate? Its not like they are invoicing you in US dollars or in Euros, and then you are paying in that currency. They are invoicing you in £ Sterling, and you are paying by credit card or paypal, using the Sterling price. The credit card company or paypal then do an automatic conversion when shown on your bill – just as if you went on holiday to the UK and bought something with your Credit Card.

I do wonder if charging more in other currencies is allowed – especially in Euros?

As an aside: Some years ago I worked for a company that sold a magazine in to businesses in Ireland (as well as the UK). We went to quite a lot of trouble to set up a Euro bank account so we could invoice Irish customers in Euros – because they were businesses and wanted invoices and paying by credit card was awkward for them. But if we had been selling to consumers we would have just had a sterling price and let the credit card companies handle the actual conversion -- we may have posted an illustrative Euro price, but as a marketing tool not as a invoicing function.

I am another one who won't buy anything new from Foundry because of the inflated exchange rate, European customers can expect to pay up to 30% more because of the rip off exchange rate.
I live in Spain but have bank accounts etc in UK, I requested to pay in £ from a British bank account and was told I could not. Live in Europe have to pay the inflated prices.

Or leave the product on the shelf…

My little rant aside, I do have a genuine semi-serious theory as to why some folk prefer 1 style of figure over another (which, incidently, is not to do with the figures per-se, but the way they are presented).
Anyway, the good news here surely is, whatever your preference, now is the chance to get a bargain.
Wargamers after all are not that different (well, ok, a bit different) from heroin addicts: We are going to buy the figures anyway, so you might as well get them now while they are cheap(er)

Pray, enlighten us with your theory.

Mulligan

its a bit long, and I'll probably put it in a seperate thread, but it boils down to base sizes and frontages…some figures (Foundry for example) look better on larger, wider frontages, and some figures look better on smaller, tighter frontages,so its also partly concerns the rules you use too

I'd love to have more of their Old West and their Pirates range, but I just can't afford it…

- Wargamers after all are not that different (well, ok, a bit different) from heroin addicts: We are going to buy the figures anyway –

Yep, that I agree with. I spend way too much time on the little fellows to compromise on the figs I like. I suspect I'm not alone on this…

Even with these "wonderful" offers the figures are still £1.00 GBP each. I will kept looking on e-bay.

£1.00 GBP a piece, its not cheap, or is it? If its what you want, and satify's your needs then it is. If you can't afford to spend that, then you have to go elsewhere, be that other manufacturers, plastics, whatever.
The marvels of global capitalism.

Well £1.00 GBP GBP each is on par with Front Rank, Perrys, etc.

Err… I think not. The foot figures are £2.00 GBP each, and the mounted in some armies are as much as £6.00 GBP each. That's the sale prices.

For an American, that's @ 4-10 dollars per figure. Way out of line with other ranges.

??

What are you looking at? Napoleon "unit deals" are 24 GBP for 24 figures…

link

The Christmas deal is for unit and army deals, I'm not talking individual packs here. If you take the deals, the price is exactly the same as Front Rank figures.

Hmm… it's 178 foot figures for $600, for instance…

I wonder if that's the bad dollar conversion that some of the other guys have been talking about.

Oh well – if you're a Brit, then buy up!

Are you sure you're looking in the right place?

You have to look here : link

And not here : link

I'm set-up as a canadian buyer, and I see regiments of 24 selling for $49.60 USD so about 2$ per figure.

I've got nothing against Foundry (apart from their £8.00 GBP p&p) but I still don't know why you'd schedule a sale to end just gefore people get paid. Have it end on the 2nd or 3rd of the month and you'll get more custom, surely? Or is it just me who's skint at the end of the month?

The prices in euros are much higher than those in pounds. I guess Foundry is not aware of it, but it is illegal – it is forbidden to have different prices for different parts of the EU and force the customer to use that. GW makes the same, but the big difference is that you still can order from their UK site and pay in GBP, even if you dont live in England. Thats why GW's system is legal and Foundry not

So for a continental european, a foundry miniature cost in fact 50% more than for a uk resident – excluding shipping ! This is a bit irritating.

link

i wrote the Eu to see if it is legal i hope they will answer…burocrats being burocrats…

good to know:

According to the Directive the following consumer rights, among others, need to be respected:

Provision of comprehensive information before the purchase
Confirmation of that information in a durable medium (such as written confirmation)
Consumer's right to cancel the contract within a minimum of 7 working days without giving any reason and without penalty, except the cost of returning the goods (right of withdrawal)
Where the consumer has cancelled the contract, the right to a refund within 30 days of cancellation
Delivery of the goods or performance of the service within 30 days of the day after the consumer placed his order
Protection from unsolicited selling
Protection from fraudulent use of payment cards

I dropped out of buying Foundry figures some years ago when they stopped selling figures singly--which was no good for skirmish dabbling.Not many people sell single figures now[Front Rank being an obvious exception] but the high minimum postage costs were the last nail in the coffin.My last Foundry purchase was a pack of British Rifles which my brother got for me on a personal visit to Nottingham--so no postage.

In my opinion Foundry writes better rules at present than GW and produces better minis. Not to say within five or ten yrs. that couldn't change but right now they are still operated pretty well. They produce a lot of great lines and write great rules to go with them but unlike GW they don't tailor their rules to be mechanisms to peddle their products.