Re: assemblying FT minis

Will this also speed up the ability to get the minitures?   I live in
Boise,
Id. and have 2 choice of local stores to go to and order FT minis.   I
have
placed orders at both of them.	1 store claims that they can't get the
minis
through their distributors.   Store number 2 (at this point I'm trying
to
avoid using names) claims that they order directly from Geo-Hex but that
the
Minis are out of stock all the time.  I'm not trying to collect anything
that I think would be to rare (Its an NSL fleet), but with the last 2
orders
its taken over 3 months to get the minis.  Aggravating to say the least.
Another local gamer is having the same problem but then we don't have a
lot
of other options.

Michael Johnson
Micron Internet Services
www.webpak.net/~mrjohn/mine

-----Original Message-----
From: Geo-Hex <geohex@mail.teleport.com>
To: gzg-l@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU <gzg-l@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: Tuesday, February 16, 1999 11:49 AM
Subject: Re: assemblying FT minis

We have JUST taken over production of the lines here at Geo-Hex, but
have yet to produce any figures (waiting for metal to arrive!!).
Since the inception of the license all of the FT ships have been made
under contract by a third party molder.  Unlike the Stargrunt figures
and the DSM line, the molds were NOT made by Brian Hitsman of
Majestic, but by the third party molder.  We relied on their stated
expertise in doing microscale minis, and to be quite frank they did a
more than adequate job in the beginning and helped us get the line
out to stores and hobbyists quickly.  But QC concerns became a major
point after awhile, and were never ironed out (one reason we switched
to using a professional mold maker for later lines).

Now that we have the lines in-house, we hope to address those
concerns and make some changes to packaging and quantity per pack.
It has been decided to remold and rework each item as the molds
require replacing.  To that end we are going to inspect all
production masters in inventory as soon as possible.  I suspect that
many of the problems stem from poor production masters and not from
poor molding.  We will not remake another mold from masters we feel
are inadequate.  Having said that I must state that the overwhelming
majority of the pieces cast properly and give a very nice model in my
opinion - and I've personally made them all!!

The second change will be to go to plastic base stands for the smaller
models in the lines, both to reduce costs and to allow the extra
model in the packs.  This way we hope to put two of every cruiser in
a pack and perhaps four scouts and frigates.  The new base is a flat
hexagon slotta base with a unique "T-Bar" post that is much stronger
than the flight stands currently on the market.  We will for the near
future keep the heavy pewter flight stand for the larger ships,
although we plan to replace it eventually.

You should see the new models in new packaging in stores and through
mail order beginning in March.	Since QC remains an issue we welcome
your feedback so we can fine tune the line to produce the best ships
we can.

Thanks,

KR, Geo-Hex