"Figure pics." Topic

Come on manufacturers! We need more pics on your websites. it's a competitive marketplace and if I can't see what your figures are like I probably won't buy them.

Wile you're at it, stop posting pics of figures with diabolical paint jobs! Just primed or black wash figures will show them off much better.

Come on manufacturers! We need more pics on your websites.

Here we go again. Perhaps if some kind soul were to volunteer their time and effort to photograph a manufacturer's products then they might be willing to put them on their website.
Have you any idea how much time and effort it takes to do that?

This fight has been ongoing for 10 odd (and more…) Years now

With digital cameras how hard can it be?

No pics, I don't buy – simple. I want to see what I'm getting.

It's either lazy or arrogant to expect customers to buy sight unseen. The "time and effort" required to photograph what's on offer should just be part of the business.

MajorB : I do agree, and will start making that effort. A lot of us are proud to show our painted figures right here, why not send them to the manufactureres so that they can put them up (if they think they are representative). They manufacture and sell as a job , whe paint for our pleasure. Should be a right combination.

I did that last week with the Perry French Artillery of the Imperial Guard priming the howitzer. It is one of the few products for which there is no image at all! So I e mailed some pics in their "house style"

Though I say so myself….this is not a bad vignette that I have produced. Oddly, I have not had any reply, even a rejection. "Oddly", because they are usually good at replying even though they must be swamped with e mails. Many of us must have the whole range of Guard Artillery painted to a reasonable standard, which would surely be better than the grey figures currently on the website.

Remarkable coincidence for me that this should suddenly appear as a topic right now!

With digital cameras how hard can it be?

No more diffficult than it would be with any other camera. It's not the difficulty it's the time and efort involved in washing, posing, photographing, uploading, cropping and uploading to the web site that's the problem.

Which would you rather they do? Spend hours and hours doing all that or make more ooh shiny?

…spend hours and hours doing all that. Yes, cause otherwise they can sculpt all they want but I won't buy them.

Yes, cause otherwise they can sculpt all they want but I won't buy them.

But others will.

@MajorB – This is 2014 not 1974 when all we had was a list of codes in a Military Modelling magazine and you took pot luck. Manufacturers should take the time – after all, many do find the time to put images up of their models AND create new models. I would refer you to any number of websites – Perry, Front Rank, etc.

If the choice is a code with no image or another manufacturer's code with an image, I will take the latter every time.

Well, by return, I have had a message from the Perrys with advice how to upgrade what I have done, so now I have guilt for moaning. They have been very busy the last couple of weeks!

Since sending my pic to them, I found a site showing how these particular figures should be done;

richard-abbott.yolasite.com

We do need images before we can be expected to buy, I would agree. The funny thing is that the gunners that go with FN133 in the Perry range are the best of the Foot Guard series, I feel. But, since released, we still read "No image available at present".

Major B- totally disagree…it is not the consumers job to photograph and post pics.

Let me ask you, who has access 24/7 to the entire line of figures? The manufacturer does!

Even just simple shots of unpainted metal figures go a long way. With digital you could take hundreds in a day and have each with model number. When there are no pictures I have to ask "Well, if there ain't no pictures why ain't there no pictures" (stolen from the movie Shane). Even Minifig site pictures, simple and crude as they are, give enough info. I can understand the time commitment problem, but some sites have been posted for more than 10 years with no visual presentation at all.

Yes put pics on your web site. I want to see what I buy

For illustrated catalog please send SASE and allow 6 to 8 weeks.

I can name many manufactures that don't have images of their figures so I just don't buy them. I have requested a few to put images up but to no avail. I have given up, it is their lost not to get my business.

@MajorB – This is 2014 not 1974 when all we had was a list of codes in a Military Modelling magazine and you took pot luck. Manufacturers should take the time – after all, many do find the time to put images up of their models AND create new models. I would refer you to any number of websites – Perry, Front Rank, etc.

If the choice is a code with no image or another manufacturer's code with an image, I will take the latter every time.

That of course is your choice, but manufacturers have stated on TMP before why they will not provide photos of ALL their products. Don't shoot the messenger.

Major B- totally disagree…it is not the consumers job to photograph and post pics.

Let me ask you, who has access 24/7 to the entire line of figures? The manufacturer does!

If the manufacturers are not prepared to expend the time and effort in photographing ALL their products then it might be the only way.

This is not the 1980's, a customer should be able to see what they are buying and given that sellers have to list items anyway there really isn't that much extra time in putting a picture with the listing.

There are a lot of great manufacturers out there with pictures on their websites so it's not like the consumer is really missing out by going elsewhere.

As for the painted minis comment … I couldn't agree more. The best way IMHO to display the minis is with all flash removed and a black wash. However, I see no problem in adding pictures of painted mini's to the listings (from wherever) which seems to be slowly catching on.

Major B…can't argue with that.

I agree, show us pictures. It doesn't have to be state of the art painting in fact it's probably best to see the figure as you would receive it. We don't want to waste time and money on small sample orders.
I know the subject keeps coming up, but that's because for some companies things don't change. A stagnant website in any business doesn't inspire confidence.

I know the subject keeps coming up, but that's because for some companies things don't change.

And I guess things won't change for those companies if they are doing good business. If your products are selling well then why spend a lot of time and effort on doing something that MIGHT increase your sales?

A stagnant website in any business doesn't inspire confidence.

But updating it just for the sake of it does not necessarily make good business sense either.

Actually, having read through this thread again, I confess to being somewhat mystified by the whole question.

A number of people on this thread say that won't buy figures from a manufacturer unless they can see a pic. Fair enough, I can undestand that attitude. I assume then that those people who insist on seeing a pic don't buy from those manufacturers who do not have pics on their site. In other words, these folks are quite happily buying their figures from those manufacturers that DO have pics.

So if you are happliy buying figures from the manufacturers that do have pics, why bother with those that do not? The implication is that even if those that don't have pics now did put up pics, those of you who are bewailing the absence of pics would still not buy from them because you are already buying elsewhere.

- or have I missed something???

Well, in my case the text description sounds like exactly what I need, but no pic. I've 30 years worth of useless figs that I've bought just to see what they look like!

MajorB that is truly profound. Philosophical indeed.

Folk can be happy buying from producers that illustrate their catalogue. But humans develop cognitive dissonance…I could be even happier…..the feeling that I could be doing even better elsewhere.

Then, when we do see pictures of unfamiliar products, what is the next thing we ask? How will these look next to my Perry, Foundry, Calpe etc figures? One man's 28mm is a scale foot taller than another. At least with pictures, though, we get some idea about casting quality and especially body proportions. Are these hobbits? Are their hands bigger than their heads, do their fingers hang lower than their knees?

Hello All,
If you go to the link below, you will see that we have photos of almost all of our codes. If you click on the picture, you can enlarge the photo. I am a firm believer in being able to see what is being purchased first. All of our future releases will also be in photos. See what you think.
take care,
Keith
loyalhannaoutpost.com

I do hope you will one day be attracted by the Dark Side and cast something Napoleonic……..nice range though

Very near the beginning of this thread on manufacturers' product photos, Mr. Jackson stated that "…This fight has been going for 10 odd (and more) years…" Actually, from personal experience, it's been going on for at least half a century, and probably longer. I remember being frustrated as a teenager in the early 1960's with Jack Scruby's catalog of wargame soldiers because of the lack of photos. Thankfully, after years of buyer pressure, most current makers of miniatures now include a photo of each figure offered, with many kudos to Empress for perhaps the best figure photo presentations, in my opinion--just a cleaned figure with a simple black wash; very well done. But there is one item I would like to see all manufactures add to their photos, (thanking Deadhead for the lead-in opportunity) and that is a measurement indicator! Come on, how hard can it be for a manufacturer to photograph a few figures next to a visible millimeter scale, or against a piece of identified scale graph paper? Not every figure, but a few representative figures, perhaps standing, kneeling, advancing. If I'm going to have one figure a "…scale foot taller than another…" or shorter, I would want it be a conscious decision on my part rather than a matter of a manufacturer's interpretation of a given standard scale. And measure the horses, wagon wheels, and armored vehicles as well. I'll accept the fact that among manufacturers the scale designations: 10mm, 15mm, 20mm, 25mm, 1/72, 1/48, 1/54, etc, are a lot like the Pirate's Code "…they're more like guidelines, don't ya know…" I would just like as much information as I can get before I spend my pieces of eight… Just my opinion.

Hello deadhead,
Going over to the darkside, never! I am a supporter of the rebellion. As far as Napoleonics , I am not the sculptor, so that would be up to him. Thank you for the input and kind words, "May the Force be with you".
take care,
Keith

Fact is that producing a range of miniatures is a lot of work. Taking care of advertising and possibly even a web-site (with many fancy images) is a right challenge and the earnings hardly justify the money one needs to pay to own a dynamic web-site with shop-system.

I can well understand if some of the tried and tested brands are not too bothered with eye-candy and rather rely on their well established names.

When you sell a product people need to see what they are buying……
There should be no debate on this point.