"Zvezda availability" Topic

Hi all-
I picked up one of the Zvezda French foot arty sets the other day and was really impressed. They make a bunch of other cool looking sets as well that Im looking forward to trying out some day. I keep seeing comments out there though that thd company is no longer making their old boxes and is instead focusing on their in-house ruleset. Is that the case, and if so would it be a good idea to snap up anything by Zvezda that I want sooner than later?

Yes, I would. I waited too long to purchase. Some list I wanted to get. Now they are difficult to find. Some of their Sci-Fi kits were never to be distributed to some countries or sold outside of Russia.

Absolutely, I would imagine that a lot of the stuff on the shelves at the moment is the last of it. They're abandoning the modern Art of Tactic 'Hot War' as well if they haven't already stopped production.

The figures are still in the catalogue – but one has to wonder how much longer that will be the case. They have only had new sets in the hard plastic few in a box for use in the various rule sets in the last few years. Such as a shame as they are perfection in sculpting.

Ok- looks like I've got some purchasing to do them. Fortunately there are still some places in the US that have the stuff I want in stock. I wonder if they wouldn't think to sell the molds if push came to shove? I mean, those things have to be worth something to someone. Haven't plastic's companies done that in the past, I mean rebrand figs and put them out under new names?

I'm definitely picking up three or four more boxes of Zvezda artillery. The kit I've already got my hands on is awesome. I need to order up some bigger bases for the horse teams though.

Iirc the company has been a bit adrift since the founder died and the Russian economy has been in the tank since Western sanctions and recession. Shame. They were fantastic figures.

What's the story on this for the likes of HaT and Italeri as well?

HaT is alive and well and continuing to release both new items and re-release old models.

Italeri seems to be doing okay as well.

Soft plastic figures suffer when the economy goes bad. As soon as it is slow, they stop working on new products. It takes three to five years to bring a set to market. Now that the economy has been slow for a long time, there are very few new sets coming out.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
Bunker Talk blog

I am mainly concerned with availability of products.

It also makes little sense for Zvezda to stop producing their range.

Italeri have sold reboxed Zvezda figures in the past.

Whenever you come across Zvezda figures you may even remotely, possibly, maybe, might need in the future- snap them up!
My whole (or should I say "hole" at this point) ancients project is sitting stagnant for want of two more boxes of Zvezda Roman Republican infantry. A very sad state of affairs indeed!

Crap. I just bought some Zvesda at a show in order to start a new project. Are you telling me that they are out of production?

They are, for some incredibly stupid and hopefully financially ruinous reason concentrating on smaller, less detailed sets for use with their own rule sets. Perhaps Flames of War has given them bad ideas.

Some sets are readily available, while others, like my Republican Romans, are not. Buy what you can now.

Whatīs the project?

An Imaginations project using GNW and Freddie the Great figures.

Thatīs great, Iīve got my eye on some of their GNW range for my Imagination as well. Get īem while you can!

Well , and here I might have considered a samurai army with zev's fabulous figures

Well I wouldnīt quit on the project just yet, but it would be wise to make sure you can get everything.

Let us hope that Italeri see sense and continue to sell these reboxed as Italeri.

No idea why Zvezda would stop selling the existing products completely, but that does appear to be the case.

Me, I have been stockpiling, but I know I will still need some more furtehr down the line

Crazy

Check the Marketplace page on this site. There are some occasion postings. I just picked some up myself.

Really looking for some? Try emailing at this address: office@hobby-pro.com. They are the European Distributors for Zvezda and are based out of Austria. There are a few hobby shops here in Stuttgart , that still have some left on the shelves.

About two years ago, I started collecting the GNW sets, but took me 6 months to finally see my first infantry in the "flesh". I since have flushed out my armies with a total of 16 boxes (total) of inf, cav and arty. Yes, their arty is awesome in all periods! I plan to use these GNW figs for my InagiNation armies, in 20mm. (I know, they are more true 25mm,,,)

Prices are still reasonable here at around 12 euro a box for arty and 8 euro for inf and cav boxes. There are several on-line shops that still have stock in Germany.

Let me know which boxes you cannot find and I'll take a list with me when out on the weekends.

Thanks for the email address Tom!
I am in the Czech Republic so Austria is just next door. Now letīs see what they answer…

And the answer from the folks at hobby pro is they do not sell to the public. And as for my set 8034, it is officially out of production. It is really a pity because the figures are quite nice.

So now I am stuck with one box which is worse than no box. I will have to visit my daughter in Dresden and see if I have better luck there.

Whoa, crisis. I'm ordering some stuff tonight! What a shame.

I hope you get everything you want. Their arty is really lovely, and they throw in all kinds of goodies with it.

As for my Romans, if I canīt find them I will have to sell off everything (except for my one box of Roman infantry, which I will hold on to as a retirement fund ) and do the whole thing over in either 20mm metal or 28mm plastic.

@Texas Jack

Linear-B still have a small number of those Romans

link

Hannants in the UK say they'll re-stock

link

Hope you get your army finished.