Re: (OT) What I love to hate was Re: [OT] Mini Pictures

"Casquilho, Daniel" wrote:

> OK, I will try one more time. This started as a discussion on
companies
> and their lack of such simple things as pictures of their minis on
their
> web sites. So with that in mind... My point was that even though the
> industry is a "cottage industry" is does not have to ACT LIKE ONE. It
> seems this is hard to understand, but it is not. If I, a single person
> who sells items once in a while, can have color pictures of my stuff
> why not someone who has a small business?
>
> You are right Derek, most of these companies are just a few blokes in
a
> shed out back, but that is part of the beauty of the web and
e-commerce.
> They can have a site better then GWs. It is not hard at all.

First off, I don't necessarily disagree with you, but would like to
point out
a thing or two.  To begin with, many of the wargaming companies are, as
you
said, "just a few blokes in a shed out back".  That being said, and
given the
fact that wargaming is a cottage industry, the sad fact is that many of
those
people who run the wargaming companies do so in addition to regular,
full time
jobs, family, etc.  So while it is *possible* for someone to do up a
website
right, the fact is that many of them probably don't have the time to do
so.
I'd hazard a guess that many of them also don't have the wherewithal
when it
comes to web design (yes, I know that there are programs out there to do
it
for you, but I'll get to that in a minute), nor do they have the time to
learn
HTML in order to do all of the cool tricks.  GW's website being the
example
you used, I'd bet my collection of minis that the initial development on
that
was probably done by an outside contractor OR possibly designed and
implemented by the full time web guy they have working for them (I've
met him,
or at least the guy who was doing it two years ago or so).  Either of
those
solutions are not going to be easy for a small company run on the side
by a
couple of guys who have to put food on the table, etc., due to the
amount of
money that it would cost to implement either one.  I'd assume that
purchasing
web design software would represent a significant amount of money that
could
be used elsewhere in the company.  I'd like to think that I can speak
with
some authority on this particular subject, as in addition to my full
time
teaching position, baby on the way in about a month or so, and myriad
other
projects I've been attempting to run both a small computer business
(fairly
successfully, if small in scale) and a small business in which I buy and
sell
used minis, and also parts for the same (mainly Battletech, so if anyone
out
there has some they want to get rid of, let me know :).  I have been
wanting
to throw together a web page for my minis business to show off what I've
got,
but even though I am fairly well versed both in the use of Microsoft
Front
Page and HTML coding, I find that I simply don't have the time to do it.
 It's
one thing to throw a color pic or two up on Ebay or my homepage, it's
quite
another to take all of the pics and lay out a catalog page for the
several
hundred items I currently have laying around.

> If you want to start a small company that sells some figures, go for
it.
> Once you make them, all it takes is for you to sit down for about an
hour
> and scan them. Assuming you have made a good looking figure then the
> pictures will help market your stuff to guys who want to buy, but are
> unsure of your stuff.

Depends upon how many figs you're talking about.  It certainly isn't
hard to
scan, but having done it, I can say that it takes a bit more work than
that to
get something presentable, and scans really aren't the best way to go to
show
off the detail on the mini.  Usually what I do when I scan is to adjust
the
color, depth, brightness, etc. of the pic, and then crop it to a
(hopefully)
uniform size.  That is, however, the easy part, as laying out a webpage
can
appear quite daunting to a beginner.  I've done it enough to know that
I'm not
good enough to do so easily every time, and so end up tweaking for quite
some
time to get it right.

> When a computer with scanner can be had for less then $500 in the US
> (And I am sure such deals also can be had in other countries) there
> is no excuse for a company to have "text only" list for their
miniatures.
> So what does a "Alien with gun" look like anyway? But if I see it, I
> might say, "Oh that's cool, give me 24 please."

No question.  I've often been frustrated by this.  Eureka Miniatures,
are you
listening?!?! :)

> That is what I mean by a company acting like it is still the 70's.
Only
> way you could see a figure then was by paper catalog or in ads in
small
> trade level magazines. An expensive option for a small, two bloke
company.
> But today, for a small fraction of that paper catalog you can have a
full
> color "catalog" on your web site. Complete with e-commerce order forms
> mind you.

Which sort of brings me back to a point I meant to make earlier.  Most
wargamers that I have met (and by extension, company owners) aren't
necessarily expecting to make big bucks in producing their game/minis. 
They
are in it for the love of what they do, and any money they make is
certainly
gravy to them, but they're not always the most business-savvy when it
comes to
expanding the company a'la GW (that's not to cast aspersions on any of
them or
what they do, they just don't necessarily have the same resources as a
larger
company would).  This tends to be endemic to all small operations of
this
type.  The only time you really see them take off is when the "suits"
take
control of a company.  Of course, by that time, it can be argued that
the
company in question has lost some of what made it unique, which I think
is
well illustrated by both the growth of GW and the phenomenal growth
experienced by TSR in the late 1980's-early 90's.  I guess it's just up
to
each individual out there to decide on what is better:	having a small
company
that may not be as successful or flashy, or a larger company that has
all of
those color pics but doesn't give a damn what you think about the game. 
I
think in that case I'd probably stick with the smaller company.  I'm on
a
Warhammer 40K mailing list right now as well as this one, and I can tell
you
with certainty that no GW employees EVER post there or answer questions
directly.  They may lurk, but don't come out of the shadows.  I much
prefer
the situation of having Jon or KR (or any of the others) available here
to
answer questions, comments, etc.  Note that I'm not saying that they're
not
successful, but their companies aren't as big as GW, and are, on the
whole,
much more responsive.  It's nice to be able to email KR to ask him about
an
order, and have him get back to me personally, versus calling GW and
getting
the mail order troll of the minute who can't tell me any more about my
order
than the last ten guys that I talked to.

> In fact, I will put my money (well time really) where my mouth is. Any
of
> those small "two bloke" companies who want to send me one of each
figure
> from their lines, I will scan, clean up, and send the pictures to the
> server of your choice. Anyone want to take me up on this email me.

Good for you!  I hope they do take you up on it.

>
>
> >>( Rant, rant, rant......gets off soap box)
>
> :-) In the end I think we all want the same thing. To see our beloved
> hobby to keep going. I just would also like to see the miniatures too
:-)

Agreed.  Hopefully someone will take you up on that!

Mark

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