Hi!

This is something, I have done (or am doing). The thing is what kind of "designs" are "okay"?

I have rather "specific" needs. If the intent is for more "generic" designs that can be made widely available, then my interest is much curtailed.

Primarch

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Primarch


The Primarchload
Magnetized Titans Tutorial
Net Epic Gold
Heresy Rules

Well what i'd do is have a list of proposals for new models and then get them designed in order of popularity then put them on my site for funding.

As an aside if you or anyone else for that matter want to have something specific made and your willing to pay towards it and sign the rights to the design over to me well then send me images and info on exactly what it is you are after and i'll look into getting it made.

A customer from the states has already done that just recently and he payed for all the initial design work and lead the design process to get exactly what he wanted with a little input from me. This new model design will be appearing soon and will be put into production at the earliest opportunity.

So people what new additions should I be adding to my ranges?

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Vanguard Miniatures

Link, http://vanguardminiatures.co.uk/

Stockist of:

Vanguard Miniatures
BattleGroup Helios
Onslaught Miniatures
Pyrkol Gaming Markers
Gregster's Lab
Microworld Games
Troublemaker Games

So not wanting to hang around i've decided to go down the pre-order route and see how it goes to this end i've already created a new section on my site now all that remains is to add the actual products.

The set up will be like this the individual products will be shown just like a regular stock item but with the number shown as in stock being used to shown how funding is progressing, once a product reaches zero stock that item will be funded and the model put in production. Once the initial stock of the new models are in they will be shipped to all the contributors and then eventually put in store as a regular product.

This is the easiest way for me to get new models out in a timely fashion as the cost of design, development and production is covered by the pre-order system.

Any thoughts and or proposals before I go ahead with this?

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Vanguard Miniatures

Link, http://vanguardminiatures.co.uk/

Stockist of:

Vanguard Miniatures
BattleGroup Helios
Onslaught Miniatures
Pyrkol Gaming Markers
Gregster's Lab
Microworld Games
Troublemaker Games

Hi!

I'll send you a PM.

Primarch

_________________
Primarch


The Primarchload
Magnetized Titans Tutorial
Net Epic Gold
Heresy Rules

Roger that.

_________________
Vanguard Miniatures

Link, http://vanguardminiatures.co.uk/

Stockist of:

Vanguard Miniatures
BattleGroup Helios
Onslaught Miniatures
Pyrkol Gaming Markers
Gregster's Lab
Microworld Games
Troublemaker Games

This sounds like a great idea.

As, mentioned above, this might also work for getting casting runs done of less popular models which you don't want to hold in stock all the time.

Looking forward to seeing your plans and good luck!


Sent from my mobile using Tapatalk

This might also be an interesting way of doing not just unpopular models, but also limited runs of larger models. Imagine battleships or gigantic mecha which would normally be too expensive to produce for normal release.

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Bits Blitz - The place to be for all your bits needs!

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Good proposals guys keep them coming.

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Vanguard Miniatures

Link, http://vanguardminiatures.co.uk/

Stockist of:

Vanguard Miniatures
BattleGroup Helios
Onslaught Miniatures
Pyrkol Gaming Markers
Gregster's Lab
Microworld Games
Troublemaker Games

its a good idea but how will you cover postage on this?

Does that mean we pay more for a pre-release to include postage, is it included free, or is it only worth doing when we are ordering other bits as well? I can see this working well for larger minis, but for 'smaller' stuff I dont see how it would be worth it (for instance- I'd happily pay the postage on a titan sized mini being released, but I'd be more reluctant to pay for postage on say, one pack of Grot command minis, pre-release or not)

(Which by the way- grot command, would love to see them one day in the future, but wouldn't expect them to be a hot commodity!)

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@RexHavoc, the set up would be just like a regular purchase you would buy an item and postage would be automatically added by the site. Remember that this is a way to get new releases out quickly and you are in now way obliged to contribute. This is basically a permanant kickstarter proposal.

Setting prices will need some creative guess work and the initial purchase prices may change once the models go on general release it's hard to say.

Also i'd like to keep this separate from regular orders as it will help keep the paperwork and financial side of this easier to manage.

_________________
Vanguard Miniatures

Link, http://vanguardminiatures.co.uk/

Stockist of:

Vanguard Miniatures
BattleGroup Helios
Onslaught Miniatures
Pyrkol Gaming Markers
Gregster's Lab
Microworld Games
Troublemaker Games

So guys i'm going to go for the pre-order funding option at this time and see how it goes.

How will it work: What I will be doing is presenting proposed new model listings for customers to vote on. The most popular choices will then be designed for the pre-order system and put on site for funding. Once the funding goal is achieved the model will be put into production.

Timescale: Nothing concrete yet I need to decide on how long to run each model for or do I just leave funding open ended, printing and production we are probably talking two months from the funded date to seeing castings ready to ship.

Risks: The only real risk is a shortfall on funding during the alloted period of time this could be addressed by either myself making up the shortfall or from funds already in the pot from other funder models, so no real risk at all really. At worst customer pre-order contributions can be re-funded via paypal should a model not end up being produced.

Basically this is a permanant kickstarter campaign in order to generate sufficient funds to get new designs created at a much faster rate than would normally be the case. Contributors will get new releases first a most likely cheaper than when the models go on general release.


My main concern is getting the pricing right which will have to be based on existing similar models in my range, this will be a guestimate at best.

So first models up will be the trucks and possibly the starships and space stations as these are already designed. I will be posting those listings soon for you to vote for on TacComs links to follow.

Yours thoughts and or suggestions please.

Regards John

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Vanguard Miniatures

Link, http://vanguardminiatures.co.uk/

Stockist of:

Vanguard Miniatures
BattleGroup Helios
Onslaught Miniatures
Pyrkol Gaming Markers
Gregster's Lab
Microworld Games
Troublemaker Games

Really good to hear!

Personally I'd prefer a more open ended system, especially since it sometimes take a bit longer to design a model. Note that printing and casting are simply production work. Designing a model requires your moments of inspiration and what not. Take my own models for example, sometimes I can churn out several new designs in a few days, other times it can take me weeks/months to come up with something. My current ship designs are the result of an evolution that started almost 3 years ago...just something to keep in mind.

However, the notion that something will be produced/sold has motivated me to work faster (as you can see with the Novan IFV range). And the way I see it, I'll be churning out designs anyways no matter what. Meaning that I could come up with stuff, you can then post it on your 'to-do list' and then have people fund its production. We haven't really done an 'pay in advance' model for my design work yet anyways, meaning that you can keep me designing stuff which can get funded afterwards.

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By the way, how long will these polls run? Will you then be adding 'pre-order pages' to your site which can then be shared?

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Bits Blitz - The place to be for all your bits needs!

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I'm keeping the polls running for a little while they can be periodically updated with new stuff.

My site will have a separate page with the pre-order items on you will be able to see which models are nearing funded by what level the stock count is at, once it hits zero stock that model will go into production.

_________________
Vanguard Miniatures

Link, http://vanguardminiatures.co.uk/

Stockist of:

Vanguard Miniatures
BattleGroup Helios
Onslaught Miniatures
Pyrkol Gaming Markers
Gregster's Lab
Microworld Games
Troublemaker Games

Cool! Good to know!

By the way, why no poll for the Cybershadows?

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Bits Blitz - The place to be for all your bits needs!

http://www.shapeways.com/shops/bitsblitz