Re: [OT] Mini Pictures was Re: 6-10mm ST Bugs

On Fri, 9 Feb 2001 13:07:21 -0800 (PST), Michael Llaneza
<imperialdispatches@yahoo.com> wrote:

>The big problem is that GW figures are less work to order. I've never
seen a
>gamestore that stocked its shelves in any relationship to what the game
>requires, nor does anyone seem to take care that someone can walk in,
pick up
>the rules and a few packs of minis to strat an army or a fleet. 

This is very, very true. I've seen the same thing at Crossed Swords, the
miniatures store in Toronto. They have a heavy GW  collection, but also
a good
selection of historicals. 

I went through their historicals looking for some ancients for DBA. I
couldn't
get them. They had sold out of the figures I was after. They did have
other
figures for the era (they were Celts), but not what I was after. The
reason?
They just bought X number of packs of every type of Celt. Forget that
most
games, like DBA and Armati, require more warbands -- which means
standard
spear armed guys -- than cavalry. The packs should be available in the
proportions used in the game, but no dice.

I saw this in every range, historicals and other. They still have a
number of
FT scout ships. They did the same thing, and as a result they have a
whole
bunch of FT ships still sitting there. They are hesitant to buy more,
because,
well, they still have a whole bunch unsold. Forget that I told them that
what
they have left over are the unpopular figures. 

So, I buy via the Net mostly these days. Or at conventions. The Old
Glory
distributor for Canada has a bad rep, but they are in Toronto and have
two
open houses a year, and I've been able to get stuff from them. 

It takes effort to run a miniatures store, effort that most storekeepers
can't
afford, or don't want to be bothered with.

Allan Goodall		       awg@sympatico.ca
Goodall's Grotto:  http://www.vex.net/~agoodall

"Now, see, if you combine different colours of light,
 you get white! Try that with Play-Doh and you get
 brown! How come?" - Alan Moore & Kevin Nolan,