"Paper Catalogs" Topic

Remember the old days before the internet, when companies produced paper catalogs?

Do you still keep your old catalogs?

Absolutely!

Still have some. Do you remember when the catalogs you sent a Stamped/Self-Addressed envelope for a catalog and you got back a mimeographed letter, usually printed crooked and blotchy?

I used to, but got rid of some I maybe should have kept. Years ago, I shared an old Der Kreigspielers catalog and an old Jack Scruby catalog, both from the 70s, with other collectors who were interested in them.

The Der Kreigspielers catalog made me kind of sad, in a way. DK was going strong for a time, but never finished some of its projects. For instance, the catalog sheet for DK's 25mm AWI "Continentals" range listed plenty of planned figures that were never made.

All of mine died in a purge a few years back. Have not missed them at all.

I did for a while, but no more. Other than a trip down memory lane, it's a lot easier, and the quality is much better, online.

Why? To remind myself of all those great companies that are no longer in business?

Nope, only if they are current.

I still have two binders full of them on my book shelf. They can be useful sometimes.

Grelber

Check the prices some of those old catalogs are going for.

Miss them BIGTIME. The good old days

I have one from Britains and another from Prince August.

I've kept a lot of mine.

I have plenty. I sent a bunch to Hal MWAN a few years back. Frontier, MiniFig, RSM and a few others.

I'm sorry, but reading Frontier catalogs just make me weep.
Ditto Iron Brigade…..

Kept a few for nostalgic purposes, great perusing/reading when getting mind ready for sleep :) ahh! Them good ol days lot lest expectations but sooo much more excitement of the possibilities.

so wait, you mean to tell me there was once a time where figure makers actually TOOK PICTURES of their product,?!?!? ( let alone got them developed, printed them out on paper and mailed them to people???? )

Well the ones I remember didn't have pictures… but you could ask for a free sample!

I used to spend a lot of time with my old Modelers Mart catalogs….drove the wife crazy. Only one left now is a huge Greenfield (IIRC) catalog.
Bob

I actually have a couple of old paper catalogs from Wargames West back in the early 90's. I use them for reference for fantasy figures….

Who still produces paper catalogs?

If you get a catalog today most of the time it is a PDF or Word Document.

I remember them but have not purposely kept any – though one occasionally seems to magically appear in old game boxes.

I did purchase "The Complete Book of Wargames" and it is sitting on my bookshelf.

Was moving some stuff around and found a box with some old Avalon Hill game catalogs an AH T-shirt and a $2.00 USD voucher for some unfilled item I ordered. There were some other old catalogs as well as a batch of 1991 Origins stuff.

I still send out paper catalogues to people who send an SSAE in and who then order with a cheque or postal order (sometimes a credit card number). There are still people around who like to do things the old-fashioned way….

I am starting to send out a lot of Toy Soldier catalogues as well (which have some pictures) and getting postal orders in return…

MIke

Yeah, I still have all mine. I'm a packrat. Sometimes I wish I wasn't.

Remember? Is this a thing of the past?

Keep … no. After a year old, I cannibalize the pages for thing I want for reference (idea, form) or as a resource (background, collage picture). When I am browsing either collection (vaguely sorted by subject … don't tell SWMBO the librarian), I purge items as OBE.

Daler,check out the Miniature Service Center website for an example of someone doing it the right way. Clear pics of every figure,unpainted,and in many cases,painted also.
Would that all makers would follow Doug's lead (hint,hint).

miniatureservicecenter.com

I have all my old Reaper and GW catalogs. I don't look at them anymore because I don't want to damage them. They are quite collectable. I view them as pdfs instead. Much easier, and I keep my entire collection on my tablet, while the print versions sit on the shelf.

Daler,check out the Miniature Service Center website for an example of someone doing it the right way. Clear pics of every figure,unpainted,and in many cases,painted also.
Would that all makers would follow Doug's lead (hint,hint).

That was nice. Glad to see that this manufacturer/seller has gone to that length to showcase the product.

I think that is horribly idealistic, in the worst sense, and naively unrealistic to expect companies with a large number of previously produced miniatures [Irregular for example] to strive to that level of pictures of their product. They are in the business of creating/selling miniatures. Perhaps it would be minimally more productive if they included pictures in the creation process as a standard practice starting "now" but a bad picture is not better than no picture in many cases.

Before my interest in minis gaming, I was heavily into model railroad (and other hobby) dreaming. Every issue of the standard magazines had tons of addresses. I got countless mailers and even full color pamphlets for the price of a few cents worth of a stamp on my request.

And don't even get me started on the Sears, Montgomery Ward, and other mailbox busters that were sent for free.

I think that now I could only put my hands on a couple of years worth of Games Workshop's and Walthers' catalogs, which were not free.

I actually miss the anticipation of snail mail.

Well,call me "Naively Unrealistic Guy",then. Yes,it is,of course,more of a challenge for manufacturers with large catalogs to do what Doug does,but the operative term in "creating/selling" is the second one. You can make magnificent figures,but if you don't sell them,you'll soon be out of business. I guess the question is, is it worth paying to have your figures photographed clearly and presented in an accessible way? Would the cost be offset by increased sales? That's something that individual makers must consider for themselves. At least,they should,IMO.

Doug seems to have decided that the answer is yes. Maybe he could come on here and say why.

I still have loads…..

Not sure why I keep them, other than nostalgia.

Tony
(looking back with rose tinted glasses)

Had a file drawer FULL!
Realized I was going online to search for stuff and put them in the recycle bin

Should have put them on ebay.

I have quite a few of the Foundry full colour Catalogs. Great for reference when painting.

I still have a few but lost loads due to shifting houses, life etc.

Used to keep some for 40K stuff, back when they would cast up figures from the Rogue Trader era for you on request.

Keep a few.

I miss them.