"What shook up the Wargames Foundry beehive? " Topic

I just received an interesting email from Foundry (part humorous, part apologetic, and mostly odd) about re-releasing old figures (Perry Napoleonics primarily).

Neil and I have spent the last couple of weeks reorganising the racks of blister packs here at Foundry in sunny Saint Ann's*.
Stock has been under pressure over the last couple of months as Ronnie (caster, mould maker and sculptor Ronnie) has often been pulled away to do other things.

Our plan was to make sure that we have at least eight blisters in stock of everything: even the not terribly popular codes, so we set about gathering moulds for the missing models and piling them up around Steve and Ronnie's casting benches.

We've only been working here for a month or two, and so it was interesting to discover all the models that we had never looked at properly before: and the ones that we hadn't even realised existed.

There is no current printed Foundry catalogue, so we were using old A5 size catalogues (perhaps 10 years old), and, navigating by catalogue it was soon clear that the contents of the packs in huge sections of the range had changed.

We knew that a number of packs from Foundry ranges had been withdrawn and replaced. But we were very surprised just how many packs of models have disappeared and had their place taken by often rather mundane substitutes.

Even small ranges have had a dozen or so packs removed; while hundreds are missing from the larger ranges (mostly those sculpted in the golden age of the eighties ). Despite its legendary status, enormous popularity and miraculous depth, even Michael and Alan Perry's marvellous Napoleonic range has been ripped apart and its ranks invaded by somewhat wonky imposters.

It's hard to see how all this has come about.

Neil insists that it can only be the work of dark forces.

One end of our building; the end built in red brick in 1861, used to be an abattoir (really). When Foundry first came here there were still old blood gutters running down to the big doors that lead to the street.

Neil' theory is that the combination of ancient dried blood (who knows from what source) and molten lead (that once sheathed the roof of eldritch temples) has drawn satanic creatures to our factory. Terrified Foundry staff must have been forced to participate in dark ceremonies; where boiling blood and bubbling ladles full of molten Napoleonic castings were offered to arcane daemonic creatures lusting after molten lead from only the very finest 28mm scale models, and thus denying those models to the human population of the Earth for eternity.

This is a very fine theory indeed, but I feel that we must look for a simpler explanation and solution; probably involving finding the moulds for the missing packs and putting them all back into production.

So, that is now our plan. We have indeed found a huge number of moulds that haven't been run for years, and there are a whole ranges that have been discontinued.

It's possible that some moulds have disappeared, and it is likely that some moulds might have worn beyond the point at which we would be comfortable selling models that had been cast from them, but we will almost certainly be able to get hold of their original master moulds and recast the masters. Recasting will be interesting as we now have more sophisticated techniques for casting masters and can produce more three dimensional, crisper models.

We will almost certainly start with Napoleonic's and, daemons permitting, we hope to get started next week.

There will be a delay between us having castings available and getting them on our website, but we will announce which models we have available on this page, so you will at least be able to order them by phone as soon as we have them cast.
Neil and I will set up a scheme that will allow you to order any models from any of our ‘discontinued' ranges that we have a mould for.

We will be spending a lot of time going back and forth gathering up the old moulds for the casters and getting the reissued models on the hooks.

So, if you give us a call and tell us which models you need, we'll organise picking up the moulds for your models too, and when we have enough for a stack, we'll stick them in an oven, get them to temperature and hijack a caster to run them. This may take an extra day or three.

Ring us on: 0115 8413000

We can only apologise for all this and set about making the missing models available to you again. It must have been incredibly irritating to have been unable to finish regiments and armies when we switched the packs on you.

By the time you get this, hopefully the link below will lead somewhere interesting.
British Napoleonics

Marcus Ansell

*'Gun crime capital of Britain': apparently.

Considering this email- and the others from a few weeks back that announced shipping policy changes etc.- does anyone have the inside scoop on what shook Foundry out of its lethargy?

Lack of sales I expect and a realisation that they were being left behind.

Visions of Dollars, Pounds and Euros?

I heard it was a change in management, but I dont know enough about their staff to confirm that, just something someone told me at Historicon…

I think they said soemthing about the owners son taking over?

Ahh Blame the Ancient Blood Gods vice admit to screwing up.

I suspect a drop in quantity of orders combined with a surge in competing products on the market, perhaps mixed with bad publicity on various forums forced the realization that they were not acting in their own best interest as a business.

It does seem like there has been a sudden turn around at foundry I'm guessing lack of sales is the key. Interesting that even they seem to admit that some of their new stuff isn't up to snuff with comments like this…

Despite its legendary status, enormous popularity and miraculous depth, even Michael and Alan Perry's marvellous Napoleonic range has been ripped apart and its ranks invaded by somewhat wonky imposters.

- I think they said soemthing about the owners son taking over? –

I would assume that son is Marcus Ansell, who wrote the above message?

Frankly, I don't care about their motives. I just welcome the positive changes.

Iannick
clashofempires.ca

Snark aside, how is this anything but good for the consumer? People have been grousing for years about slipping quality and discontinued old gems, and they've gotten off their duffs and are doing something about it. Better late than never, isn't it? Who cares why they did it as long as they carry through?

Chief Lacky Rich @ totally agree there are a lot of nice minis in foundries back catalogue that still stand up well against todays standards IMO. If they can get those ranges back to their best at slightly better prices and reasonable shipping I'd buy a lot more from them.

Probably the Perry Brother's success, and diminishing sales of their own stuff.

They used to have a huge range of Wars of the Roses minis, which you could purchase individual figures from. Not sure how the current range compares, but it appears to be far less comprehensive than it used to be.

Perhaps that will change.

(mostly those sculpted in the golden age of the eighties ).

It breaks my heart to go through old Wargames Foundry catalogs or listings in old magazines.
All those ranges that were HUGE and reflected the Perrys' often whinsical approach to "complete".
And the single figure availability!
Back in the 80s and 80s, believe it or not, one of the first things I checked out was if Wargames Foundry had any new stuff.
Then BA announced that God had put him on the Earth to raise figures prices everywhere.
And then single figure purchasing gave way to blister packs of weird composition. A 6 fgure command pack that could only command 1 infantry unit?
The often whimsical "now you see them, now you don't" range availability was particularly annoying.
When my friend abnd I decided to breathe new life into our boxer forces, I remembered that WF had a huge Chinese range, and I didn't even bother to check if they were available. Why go through that tsorris and agita again?

I realize that the past is past. Foundry is for me now nothing but a vague hope to find some stuff in flea markets. It did not have to end that way.

I like the idea.
They found some old moulds that have not seen the light of day for a while and decided to try to make a buck off it it.
Kudos!
I like how they are trying to fill gaps and re-introduce new ranges, and letting folks know what is going on.

I applaud them for this (that and making their prices close to the same all over…)…

I believe they are under new management. From their updates, it sounds like someone is really trying to turn things around. I have been looking at their site more and more lately. I wish them the best.

What's with the gun crime capital thing have to do with anything?

Irish Marine -- What's with the gun crime capital thing have to do with anything?

With all the competition for lead in Nottingham, UK's gun crime capital, Foundry prices had to be high. God forbid they get into resin…

So does this email imply you can call them and ask them to queue up any of the old, missing ranges?

Maybe I'll call and ask if I can get Chinese at 1989 prices.
Can't hurt to ask, hainna?

Then I'll ask for the Copplestone SYW Prussians without lapels.

And the King Philip's War Woodland Indians.

And all of the 2nd Afghan War Afghan Regulars.

Good news but I am sure that the Anti-Foundry lobby will find fault!

Tally Ho!

Good news but I am sure that the Anti-Foundry lobby will find fault!

Which implies that the Anti-Fopundry Lobby's rants were baseless.

I'm excited about this. Good on 'em!

Funnily enough we were talking about those Woodland Indians the other day. Nice little range. We definitely have the moulds to them somewhere.

We may well be able to sort you out with what you want, but alas not at 1989 prices…

I presume Marcus Ansell is taking over from dad. I hope they turn the business around. It would be great if they offered single figures again.

I wouldn't consider myself an anti-Foundry vocalist- over the last year or so I have purchased some of the newer Victoriana figure collections, and the Elf nymphs range even though they're pricey and others have 'better' figures.

Like many people, I wondered why Foundry made some odd decisions- such as tackling the Herculean task of maintaining two websites that appear to have significant overlap, discontinuing cool figures, and grouping figures into really strange pack combinations. As a Darkest Africa collector, I was confounded to say the least.

Foundry was the first historical company I fell in love with, and I really want them to find success again- if indeed they've lost it. The reason I made the original post is not to make fun- I'm sincerely curious when a company appears to make radical shifts in policy to win back consumers. I know a lot of people wrote off Wargames Factory as well- they have really turned it around from their low point and I hope Foundry can do the same.

I have always thought that it made no sense to NOT sell figures for which you have molds and masters already made, and just sitting on a shelf somewhere. Satanic blood curse, or no satanic blood curse.

Speaking of the classic Perry 16th-17th century woodland Indians…

They've been back in the catalog for a while, look under American Wars. I ordered a box full of them about 18 months ago. Quality is still excellent, no problem with the molds.

The woman, the portrait figure of the 'werowance's wife', done from the John White painting from Roanoke 1587, is missing from the current range, I wish they'd bring her back. She was unique.

She may not fit the current packaging strategy. Used to be you'd buy 6 or 8 copies of a single pose in a pack. Currently 18 poses are grouped into 3 multi-pose packs: Northern Tribes, Southern Tribes and Tribes in the Middle.

This is less than ideal, because the range comprises individuals from different tribes at different times and they don't all go together. The guys with matchlock muskets don't really go with the guys with wooden shields, they're 50 years apart. I'd rather be able to buy a pack of just the Creek Archer pose, and not have to buy multiple packs of Southern Tribes including Choctaws, Chickasaws, etc.

My experience and my opinion. You're welcome.

I have nothing but praise if the old Perry sculpted Napoleonic figures return. Last year I bought a bunch of early war Russian Napoleonic figures. When they arrived, I was astounded at the lack of quality. I had at one time subscribed to all the Russian releases with a standing order in the late 90s. Those figures were beautiful Perry sculpts. What I received last year looked as if they escaped from the movie "The Thing" in mid-transition. They were all in the same pose and universally bad. I have taken them off my list and moved to Perry, Warlord and Victrix. I will not even use the $ 200.00 of Foundry figures I bought save for perhaps the mounted officers. They appear to be old Perry sculpts. If this actually turns around and those old Perry figures are back in the inventory, I might buy more. However, I will need to see proof before I leap.

I am waiting for all the back catalog of the SYW Prussians and Russians to be re-released. And don't tell my wife but I think I need more ECW now that they are all available again.

Like Dr Mathias Foundry was my company of choice when it came to collecting 28 mm Historicals. Both my Viking and Ancient Greek armies I use for Warhammer Ancients are almost exclusively Foundry figures. The same almost goes for my collection of figures I use for games of Darkest Africa. I of course stopped buying Foundry when they went to six or fewer figures in a pack and charging $22.00 USD for these packs. Add into this the fact that many of the Foundry alumni, had left the company and started their own miniature venues or gone to work for other manufacturers.

With that stated if Foundry were to return to reasonable business practices and would once again offer the good customer service they once were known for I would be happy to give them my custom. Returning to the norm of eight figures to a pack and a price in line with the market would be a good start.

I've bought a few figure packs from Foundry in the last couple years (B Team, Western packs w/Marx Brothers), but struck out with what first brought me to them, which was trying to get some specific African figures for my Imaro project – they were there, but only in some monster pack of 80. I only needed maybe a two dozen individuals for skirmishing. I asked and was told normal 6 or 8 packs might return, but never saw it happen and moved on to another scale for that project.

So despite that experience, I look forward to seeing what changes and what becomes available. There is some neat stuff there.

It seems they finally discovered that the vast horde, outnumbering gamers at least 10,000/1 of dedicated 28mm collectors itching to pay premium prices for superior miniatures only existed in Bryan Ansell's imagination.

They've got a lot of catching-up to do.

I'm hopeful I'll see the 2nd Afghan War series re-released in all its glory by the end of 2013!

Someone care to give the Reader's Digest version?

Reader's Digest version

Bryan Ansell's son has taken over Foundry and is conducting an inventory of moulds with intent to return as much to production as possible.

Reminds me of what happened with Ral Partha. The ownership assumed that historicals would sell better when fantasy was outselling historical. (this from Tom Meier's thoughts and postings) Anywho, hopefully they can turn things around and become competitive again. As stated above, Perry sculpts are excellent!

Reminds me of what happened with Ral Partha. The ownership assumed that historicals would sell better when fantasy was outselling historical

Many historical lines are under a curse known as OOB. Once the Order Of Battle is filled, the old "refight purists" stop buying. Fantasy has less of a problem in this regard.

ACWBILL--

If you need to get the Naps out of your house, I'll pay for shipping and insurance.

Cute.

Many historical lines are under a curse known as OOB. Once the Order Of Battle is filled, the old "refight purists" stop buying. Fantasy has less of a problem in this regard.

Really?
One can "need" dozens, nay HUNDREDS of a specific hstorical figure.
One only needs ONE "Elf Enchantress Shampooing her hair".

YEEHAH!
Loved Foundry. Got a catalog and a free figure thanks to a Warmgames Illustrated ad back in 1997. Did not have any money but had a lot of dreaming.
Later when I earned more money I purchased an entire 28mm Greek army, all of my Old West, AWI, and Vikings have come from Foundry. I look to purchase more!
Spartans are next

I've a lot of DA and have kept my old Foundry catalog as it was so beautiful. If I were able to order from them and not get the furiously angry feeling that I was being taken advantage of, I certainly would.

I was especially glad to see they gave up charging Americans more than Brits a few weeks (months?) back. This is just more good news.

I admire any company (or person) that admits past methods haven't worked well and something new is in order. If only Wall Street had such good business sense.

Given comments here regarding the management of Foundry, I thought it might be useful to point out a misunderstanding out there in the wargames hobby.

It seems to be a common belief that my uncle, Bryan Ansell, has been masterminding Foundry ever since he came back from Guernsey. In fact, he hasn't had anything to do with Foundry for about seven years: the last project he was involved in was with Shane Hoyle and the Street Violence range (does anyone know where Shane is now?).
Apart from a couple of visits with his dad, Clifford Ansell, to see Marcus, me, Steve and Ronnie over the last few weeks (when they saw the models from the last seven years properly for the first time), Bryan hasn't visited the factory or been involved in the toy soldier business for the entire seven years.

In the intervening years he has been rebuilding and restoring his Big Old House (www.Stokehallweddings.com: that's me and Marcus in the photo!), working obsessively in his gardens and watching his children grow up.

We will be devoting our time to rebuilding and restoring all our old ranges for a while, but when we return to manufacturing new models, we hope that Bryan will be working with any new sculptors we recruit. It's not likely that he'll give up old buildings, gardens and children though, and he's getting on a bit,so if he joins us he won't be working the mammoth hours he has done in the past.

Great news. I really appreciate the massive postage reduction for the rest of world customers.

Great that someone from Foundry got directly involved in the discussion. When we have your attention, I would like to point our what made me ed off with Foundry:
-dramatic price increase
-pack content decreased from 8 to 6 (foot) figs
-unreasonable postage costs
-wrong exchange rates from £ to other currencies
-a whole team of talented sculptors was replaced by mediocre design work
-some of your best ranges were completely or partly withdrawn

In a competitive market you now do not only need to improve the above, you need to do more to differentiate. May I suggest that you consider some of the advantages that your competitors offer:
+Free postage
+Sell singles ( like Front Rank or Warlord)
+redesign your quality 28mm ranges ( by Copplestone and disciples) with head variants or even loose heads (?)
+Drop the currency silliness and sell only in £
+Reasonable prices

Please take us back to the "Golden days" of the "Old Foundry" and Guernsey Foundry when we all were happy customers :)

to FoundryNeil : and regarding the fantasy site (it's still the old prices on it) is there some changes due ?

Travellera, FYI in the last few weeks Foundry changed their currency policy and reduced dramatically their postage costs on small orders.

Iannick
clashofempires.ca

I worked for Foundry from 1999-2003. I recall Marcus as a very smart and polite youngster at that time.

I wish them all the best.

Thanks to FoundryNeil for his participation in this forum! While I admit that bashing companies can be fun, it really isn't enlightening until one hears the other side of things. I like Foundry models, and I like the news I've been hearing out of the company lately. I wish the new management team all the best of luck, and hope they can restore Foundry's reputation to what it once was.

Now, about all those figures that are currently out of production….

Agreed- it is great to hear from someone associated with Foundry! I think it hurts businesses when they're too 'insulated' from their market, so thanks for chiming in Neil.

I'd be thrilled to see some unreleased figures come out of this turnaround. There's a Darkest Africa explorer in a stewpot, 'Sir Giles', I'd love to get ahold of to complete my set.