"Vendel Miniatures Now Available in the Americas" Topic

Excellent news!

vendal miniatures appears to be run in the UK by .

Allegedly. I could be very wrong though.I wouldn't swear to this, and of course if pressured I withdraw this statement unreservedly. Unless of course it's true, which for all I know, it could be!

Wyeayemen,

First I have heard of it, but interesting none the less. It certainly never came up in any of our conversations, I just liked their toys, and saw that no one was carrying them in the states for the last few years, so thought I would give it a go… If it turns out to be true, I will have to re-think this, hopefully it is not, he seemed like a nice enough chap over e-mail…

I hate to even have to state this, but I am no neo-Nazi, nor do I support any organization with such views. I will see what I can scare up on the Internet, but I don't honestly know where to even start.

The wonders of going into business in ones hobby! ;-)

Andy

My, my… the rumor mill's a churnin'.

So you make this statement, with no proof, and graciously offer to withdraw said statement if someone has proof contrary to your assertion?

wow.

Do you plan to carry Vendel's fantasy line too?

Staffordshire Newsletter(11/03/2010): link

It is a matter of public record that , but I don't see the need to be emotive over it, though I could see why folks might want to boycott his business.

Ok, so your trying to say that Deleted by Moderator is the same Roland Hynd who runs Vendal? Seems pretty far fetched. These are pretty serious accusations. Do you have any shred of evidence that they are the same person?

On a nuked TMP thread, he did admit his association.

Before it was deleted, quite correctly because it had got a bit out of hand, Mr Hynd did confirm on this forum that it was him, and his views where well known to other traders.

You learn something new every day:
link

Very nice figures though. I'd be very tempted but I'm trying to reduce my crack (I mean mini) habit and "trying" to stay with 15mm.

Oh well, I'll fold like a house of cards in month or so anyway.

He admitted it on the thread that got nuked. And please free Wyeayeman. He shouldn't be in the DH for this.

Bill,

I did not report Wyeayemans post, not sure who did. I will say here though that I do not have a problem with him bringing this up in this thread, so if that is why he is DH'ed, I would ask that he be released. I dont recall his exact wording in the post, so if it is because he used a derogatory term, so be it, just dont want him in there if it is because he posted to this news item…

This is all news to me, and I need to do some further reading on it, and decide what I will do moving forward.

Thanks
Andy

Well this being the case, for myself, I then can choose to buy elsewhere.

Wyeayeman seems to have violated the Nazi rule in the controverted thread. So it's a fair cop.

Wow – doing some googling and reading … I don't think I can buy Vendel's product in good conscience.

Nor I.

Binky says "They will eventually come for you too…"

A reminder that political discussion belongs on our sister site, The Blue Fez.

Wow. And now I feel bad about drooling over some of their minis. Personally, I'm glad to have the information.

Oh, the irony! I've bought all my Ancient Indians directly from Vendel in the past.

I've never asked any of the makers/sellers of miniature soldiers I've purchased from what if any political, religious, personal views they might hold.

And they've never asked me either.

My buying from them does not and would not be construed as any type of endorsement of their views, nor theirs mine.

Just merely a personal transaction of miniatures I want and buy, and they supply.

Andy, if I bought anything from you, the same principle would apply.

Of course each is to make their decision as to how they feel personally about the person they buy from.

Exactly! – Well said rmcaras.

Good luck with your new venture selling the Vendel stuff

Just merely a personal transaction of miniatures I want and buy, and they supply

except of course that buying other people's miniatures doesn't help fund a organisation

I stopped buying British Petroleum gas. I don't go to Tom Cruise movies. I don't care what your product is, if I don't think the producer is ethical, I won't buy it.

A reminder that political discussion belongs on our sister site, The Blue Fez.

This is insane; what if he were a kiddie fiddler? I would think the TMP community would want to know. I'm certainly not going to knowingly support hate or hate groups.

It is a topic that I would think, especially since it isn't being denied, should be published on TMP---not the blu thing!

Yeah, bit rough on wyeayeman, to be honest, evertything he said is technically true (well true enough that if being dawghoused could be taken to an appeals court in this country, he would win), they might not exactly be in the same mold of say some of the characters in American History X, but there have been times when they have been, and the group they splintered from still is.

Bill, you might not have liked some of the words he used, but it sums up my feelings as well, as well as about 93% of the UK according to the last election

The Owner of Vendel Games (Roland Hynd) has also admitted openly that – there's a link to back this up on the discussion over on Frothers.

If you have a look at the history of both , then you can make an informed decision as to whether you want your monies and efforts to support these causes or not.

I thought TMP was supposed to carry the news of our hobby. This is news – not rumor, or opinion. Doesn't the consumer have a right to know this info?

I agree that Wyeayeman should not be in the Dawghouse. He could maybe have said the same thing using different, more acceptable words, but I think most here would say it is good that this was exposed. If that particular vendor has views that could lose them buyers then so be it. They chose to be a public figure and spout such things, then I and others can choose to go elsewhere. Free Wyeayeman.

The information is out there, the point was made, people can make there own mind up, you can't be a martyr to the cause without paying a price, he should stay in the DH for that reason.

I think we don't need to get all worked up about this one as all you do is end up looking more extreme than the people you are opposing. Think we need to take it back a notch or two here.

This is insane; what if he were a kiddie fiddler? I would think the TMP community would want to know.

TMP's position on that is well known, we have published information about accused paedophiles in the past.

I'm certainly not going to knowingly support hate or hate groups.

But whether this group is or isn't a "hate group" is a political and a value judgment. And if you want to debate that subject, the place is the Blue Fez, and not here.

The initial post made the assertion without supplying proof. At the time, I thought it controversial bordering on serious trolling.

Now that the statement has been substantiated, I'm inclined to think differently about Vendel figs, but not the way in which wyeayeman broached the subject.

(Yes… I dimed him out.)

Bill, you might not have liked some of the words he used, but it sums up my feelings as well, as well as about 93% of the UK according to the last election

My point is that it doesn't matter whether or not you or I approve of the politics involved; the policy here is not to mix politics and the hobby.

…but not the way in which wyeayeman broached the subject…

And I believe he had been previously warned; this isn't the first time he's brought this up.

OK, here is a question to the TMP membership at large. Obviously I didn't know about any of this prior to bringing the figures in. I did do a search on TMP to see what the general consensus was on the company, and none of this stuff came up in my search. I don't want to get embroiled in any political issues here, but I do want to state that I am not a supporter of the ideals of the organizations mentioned in this post.

I need to make a business decisions at this point. While the folks involved in this discussion does not make up a majority of the miniature buying community, they do have valid points here, and I am not in disagreement with them. At this point, I posses a large amount of Vendel stock. I have two choices moving forward. I can try to sell everything off at a discount, lose some money, call it a learning experience, and move on. The other option is to buy the Vendel molds. When I made the deal to distribute the miniatures, I was given the option to buy the company outright. I chose to only distribute until I could gauge whether or not there was any interest in the line over here if marketed well. I still have the option of buying the molds.

How many of those who would be interested in the figure lines, but have sworn them off because of the issues discussed above, would be willing to re-consider if they were owned and manufactured over here in the US free of all this other stuff? Obviously my trepidation here is that I would have given this guy money to get the molds, and that could be held against me, but on the other hand, I would also have effectively gotten this guy out of our hobby, at least as a business, and brought some work over to some local sculptors, and a local caster. This Roland fellow did not found Vendel; apparently he bought it in 2008. I suppose what I want to know is whether a large percentage of gamers are going to hold it against me that I paid him money to get the molds away from him? If so, I wouldn't be interested in continuing down that road. Again, this is less than a scientific study of the issue, but I want to find a way out that doesn't cause me heartache in the community, or missed mortgage payments either…

Thanks, and sorry I caused such an uproar here, had I known any of this prior, I certainly would not have gotten involved at all. I hope no one holds this against my Sgt Major Line, nor against the Mutineer Miniatures line, which from all accounts is a fine upstanding company that deserves your business…

Thanks
Andy

There is so much emotional baggage attached to this subject amongst us Brits I don't know how you will get an answer you can rely on.

My personal view, no one will hold it against you if you buy Vendel off him, in fact they will thank you.

But you probably need to divide by a hundred all the people who claim they were not buying because of him.

Anyone who has lived in the UK . I humbly suggest the Editor has been a bit too zealous with the snipping and Dawghousing on this one.

Is it "politics" to mention that the KKK is a hate group? I would think not. Similarly, .

I still have the option of buying the molds.

I would say that you now probably have some pretty serious leverage in a price negotiation as well.

I love the Vendel figures, especially their fantasy and Elizabethan ranges. I'd very much like to see those ranges being expanded.

Buy them if you think it's a good move for you, or don't as the case may be.

Andy.

This was discussed at length at a club meeting just after the Triples show in Sheffield, the day after the first thread appeared about this, and it was generally agreed that the chances of the company changing hands where very high, it's called the Ratner effect over here.

Of course, you have to factor in that the reputation of the company is slightly soiled as it where, but could lead to the price dropping.

To be honest, if you don't buy them, someone will.

I bought some of the Vendel fantasy stuff a couple years ago and would like to get more in the near future. As for funding some organization, really…I think a lot of small manufacturers call making a little extra to put into new sculpts a success, I doubt any organization is rolling in dough from toy soldiers. Just sayin.

Clonecommander

Sorry Bill totally disagree, we should be made aware of this kind of thing. I for one won't be buying a thing from that company and will let my pals know about this "gentlemans" views.As for buying the moulds from him I'm not sure I could do any bussiness with him.

@SMPress: If you do buy Vendel, could you re-release this resin Norse Giant? TMP link TMP link TMP link Been meaning to purchase one since I saw it advertised back in 2006, but forgot and now it's no longer on the site.

So, when Vendel started out, they were owned by the sculptors, correct? I remember their old website (4 years ago?) that didn't have a shopping cart. I thought about buying some mastiffs. Then the molds were sold to this guy? If so, I say take these great molds off his hands so people can buy them guilt free. The guy is tainted, not the models. I would chew him out for the trouble caused.

But whether this group is or isn't a "hate group" is a political and a value judgment.

How you run the forum is your call, of course, but if the above is true, why then is there a "Nazi rule?"

I don't care if the the owner of a line of figures is a Nazi, a Communist, a Secularist, an Islamic believer, a Christian, a LDS, A Seventh Day Adventist, a Roman Catholic, or even an Englishman!

This is a hobby and nobody (or any organization) ever got rich from selling Miniatures (GW <spit> excepted perhaps) so I look for value in the scales/sizes/eras/genres I have interest in. Period! Let the market decide.

Would I rather these were in the USA? Yes, it certainly would make shipping easier.

Would I rather the owner of the company was of a Libertarian-Conservative political and a Reformed/Evangelical religious bent? Doesn't particularly float my boat either way to be, as always, as honest as humanly possible.

Gracias,

Glenn

Because Nazis refer to a specific organisation; whether another group which does not claim the label resembles the Nazis closely enough to be branded "Nazi" is a judgment.

Anyone who would like to make the case that the BNP are neo-Nazis is welcome to post on my thread exploring the issue in the Blue Fez, where such discussion was shooed from another thread:

thebluefez.com/msg.mv?id=4340

"…And I believe he had been previously warned; this isn't the first time he's brought this up…"

If so, let him sit out his sentence.

And I am tired of PC people telling me how I should act because it upsets their world view. You don't want to do business with him? I support your right to so choose. I don't think my small buying will cause the Fourth Reich to spring up.

And it's not like he is marrying one of my East Indian children!

Gracias,

Glenn

So to merely mention the name of a legal political organisation, and someones admitted affiliation to that same, legal, political organisation, is worthy of 10 days in the sin bin?

At this rate there won't be any UK members left on this site.

Weird double post…mes excuses…

Warbeads, yes, buying from them will help them gain power, I suggest you look at the results of the latest election and more importantly the local elections.

Up to the last few years they, and the other groups that share a similar thought process where mostly laughed off, that was until they started to take seats in local goverment.

I would think (and I have no business experience so take it for what it's worth) that you'd have some customers who would never buy the figs ever no matter the owner because of the past, but I'd guess that group is smaller than those who won't buy because the molds are owned by him. Eventually the dirt will die down and you'd have a fine line to sell without any baggage.