FIGURE PRICES GOING UP I have heard from a couple of very reliable sources that there is a shortage of the materials that goes into the casting alloy, specifically tin. Manufacturers have seen jumps in the base price of casting alloys that contain large percentages of tin within only the past few months. We are talking huge jumps that will ultimately affect the price of all things cast in metal within our hobby; figures, tanks, horses, you name it. The trend is world-wide and will deeply affect any trade having to do with white-metal casting items; wargaming, figure collecting, costume jewelry, pewter knickknacks, tire weights. Some suppliers have raised base prices a whopping 35% since just the end of February. Another is currently holding at a raise of just over 140% of what the same type of metal was in the 3d quarter of 2003, less than 7 months ago. These percentages are all based on quotes received by these sources in the past six months alone. The cause seems to be two-fold. First, there has been a steep decrease in world-wide tin production involving a period spanning the past 18 months. The current production rate is approximately one third the quantity mined and smelted from the previous year. The second cause is the Chinese. For years the Chinese apparently mined and sold tin at very low prices; enough so that metal traders in the USA have gone for years without having to trade South American tin. Now the Chinese economy has trended upward so greatly in the past few years that their own manufacturing output is sucking up all that they used to provide the world market, plus they are buying up additional amounts on the world market in order to maintain their current output and future growth demands. This is a classic supply versus demand issue if I’ve ever seen one. This situation has the potential to shake things up in our hobby far more than the lead scare did years ago. Of course figure manufacture is labor intensive, so the cost of materials tends to be a smaller percentage of the cost of the figure. But manufacturers are going to have to buy much larger quantities of metal than they have previously done to lock in lower prices, that risk must be passed on to the customer -- the result can be no other than higher figure costs. Lest those who buy their figures overseas be too complacent, note that the weak American dollar has cause an increase in the apparent cost of items manufactured overseas. In addition the postage costs are similarly affected. The U.S. supplier of Redoubt, Calpe and Front Rank figures, Miniature Service center has announced a price increase due to the increase in cost of postage and the exchange rate and i expect to see a lot more of that fairly soon. ARTICLES NEEDED Periodically, editors have to solicit articles from their readers. I am no exception. The Courier is nothing if not a magazine written by its readers; most of whom have a lot of experience in the hobby. The articles are usually great because these authors are writing for their fellow hobbyists about a subject that they are excited about. Go to our website at www.thecouriermagazine.com and go to “authors notes” to see a fairly lengthy explanation of what is needed for an article. There is a lot there, don’t be discouraged as I had to cover all of the myriad programs, computers, etc. that our readers use. It is really quite simple and I can work with anyone that might have a problem with generating an article for us -- just e-mail me at mgluteus@aol.com. We need Sapper’s Reports, “how-to” articles on making terrain, playing aids, painting, etc. I especially like little-gamed periods that might introduce readers to anew area. Finally I could use something on small scale gaming, 2-5mm, where a lot of gamers have shown interest. PS. Tell us how you like the new layout. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier # 91 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com