| Rebelyell2006 | 16 Dec 2014 8:38 a.m. PST |
The Ruble has been tanking the past month, and apparently is now at 75 Rubles to 1 Dollar. Will this affect manufacturers with strong US connections like Zvezda? How many Russian manufacturers are out there? |
 Doms Decals  | 16 Dec 2014 8:48 a.m. PST |
There are a few niche Russian firms in the "no we definitely aren't ripping off GW IP honest" category, but beyond them Zvezda (and possibly a couple more kit manufacturers) are about all I've come across. In theory the tanking Rouble should actually be a help anyway – for exporters, a weak currency is a major boon; it's importers that it kills…. |
| bsrlee | 16 Dec 2014 10:33 a.m. PST |
Depends on whether they have to import any materials such as mold steel or plastics/resins. If its all sourced from within Russia then they are on a good thing. The other consideration is if their contracts to supply are written in US$ or Roubles – if they are in US$ then again they are on a good thing but the reverse would tend to suck. |
| Dan Wideman II | 16 Dec 2014 12:44 p.m. PST |
Last I heard (from a friend who took a trip to Russia) the supply of Zvezda kits may have issues. He had a hard time finding the newer ones even in Russia. Why? Because the factory where some or all of them are made is in Ukraine. So far his report is the only source I've heard of this, and he got it from the manager of a Russian model shop. Can anyone verify? |
| Doms Decals | 16 Dec 2014 1:19 p.m. PST |
Not as far as I know – there was a factory tour write up posted a while back, and I could've sworn it was in Moscow. Zvezda's owner died unexpectedly in July though, so I suspect any issues may be a result of that. |
| TNE2300 | 16 Dec 2014 1:22 p.m. PST |
"… for exporters, a weak currency is a major boon; it's importers that it kills…" if Russian gamers are a 'significant' market for US gaming supplies then the loss of buying power would have some impact on the rest of the gaming community |
| Doms Decals | 16 Dec 2014 8:01 p.m. PST |
if Russian gamers are a 'significant' market for US gaming supplies then the loss of buying power would have some impact on the rest of the gaming community
Out of curiosity, I had a quick check on my spreadsheets – out of the last couple of thousand orders I've had, precisely one was from Russia. I'm UK based rather than US, and no idea if I'm representative of the "industry" in general, but I'd probably not panic about that one as an export wargames market…. ;-) |
 The Virtual Armchair General | 17 Dec 2014 12:54 p.m. PST |
After 12 years in business, TVAG has had, I believe, just one or two orders from Russia "proper." Don't believe I've had any from Ukraine, ever, or the rest of the old Tsarist/Communist Empire. So, I also doubt their increasing economic woes will directly affect the US based war games industry. Now, if Putin does a "Hail Lenin Pass" and invades any part of Europe, we'll all have more… "interesting" concerns than our business. TVAG |
| ordinarybass | 17 Dec 2014 9:20 p.m. PST |
Some of the stuff from Tehnolog (Robogear, etc…) does seem to be coming down in price just a bit on ebay. I might take the opportunity to pick up some of these cheap 28mm sci-fi tanks.
auction |
| Barin1 | 19 Dec 2014 8:14 a.m. PST |
You need to follow the exchange rate closely to get a deal you like ;)
Right now it is at 62 Rbl/usd, I guess it will be jumping between 55 and 80 depending on oil prices in coming months.
I have plenty of miniatures and paints for a couple of years, and there're still two Kickstarter and one Indiegogo campaign stuff I still need to get next year.
Not sure if our online purchases were that significant to hit the retailers outside of Russia, but Aliexpress will be definitely more popular in comparison with original stuff.
I got myself a nice Infinity airbrush for a fraction of its price in US/EUR….the only problem is that I'm not getting my wages in hard currency anymore, as it was during 1998 crises… |
