Welcome to MWAN Magazine, Issue #129. We've had a lot going on since our last issue. We, as a magazine, went to HMGS-East's Cold Wars convention, the Game Manufacturers' Association (GAMA) Trade Show, and HMGS-MidWest's Little Wars convention. We were on the road a lot! Still, we were able to get another issue out, and I think it's a good one. I hope you all agree!
As many of you have seen, I'm running for a board position on the HMGS-East Board of Directors. Just in case there's someone out there living in total isolation, HMGS is the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society. It's a regional organization that promotes the hobby by educating the public about military history and games, and running conventions. HMGS-East represents the east coast of the US, and is responsible for the Cold Wars, Historicon and Fall-In conventions. If elected (and I'm thinking that's a long-shot!) it'll mean more work, but good service to an organization that I feel strongly about. Regardless of who wins the elections, we plan on attending all of the HMGS-East shows with the magazine.
I would like to pass on the condolences from the magazine staff to the people of Spain, and especially Madrid. The terrorist attack there was as horrendous as the attack in New York and Washington, DC on September 11, 2001. If the force of arms has any good side to it, the War on Terror must be it. We heartily support our troops, and the rest of the world's troops fighting in the cause of peace. Go get `em, guys!
I attend quite a few shows across the continent in a year. In the past, I also attended many adventure games shows (like Origins, GenCon and Dragon*Con) and the difference is striking. Back when GenCon started, Gary Gygax and his friends set up their convention in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. It was mostly historical miniatures games, and a few people selling figures and rules sets. The dealers put their stuff on the tables in cardboard boxes, and it sold just fine. That was the early 1970s.
Today, if you go to GenCon, the dealer hall looks quite a bit different. Companies there spend a lot of time, effort and money on making their booths look professional. Product is displayed in colorful packaging, and it's on presentation stands or on display walls. Customers do their purchases at a cash register, and the customer can pay with cash, credit or large bags of gold dust (although I've never actually seen this!) Not only are the booths top-notch, but the product is, too. Every manufacturer in the adventure game industry spends time and effort to make their product look professional. Even miniatures are colorfully packaged. People like Reaper Miniatures or Confrontation Miniatures have bright blister packs hung on easy-to-access professional-looking racks. Even plastic glowin-the-dark zombies are in nice baggies with colorful header cards.
In the same period, how have we progressed in the historical miniature game market? Sadly, much of what I see at the conventions is stuff packed into cardboard boxes, shoved out on a table. Signage, when it exists at all, is poorly displayed and amateur. Header cards on packaging is monocrome on colored cardboard, universally hard to read, and poorly photocopied and hand-cut, many times slightly crooked. To look at a display is to be confronted with a wall of gray metal stuff in scratched up plastic bags. You all know what I'm talking about. There are companies that put up signs made from bed sheets, as well as a bevy of PVC pipe construction to hold up company signs. It's a show-on-the-cheap for many of these companies.
So where am I going with this?
Much of the discussion in message forums online and in person at the shows is about the "graying of the hobby." Our hobby doesn't seem to be growing with new players, and especially younger players. Major Pete Panzeri has an article on this very topic in this issue. I find all of his points very valid, but I have an additional perspective. I think that if the hobby, as a whole, were to improve its "look and feel", we could get more people excited about being in the hobby. More professional booths and more interesting packaging are key to bringing in existing customers, and absolutely essential to exciting new people to the hobby.
Some people have gotten the message. If you look at the Last Square booth at many of the shows, you'll find an attention to display. They spend hours and hours setting up and tearing down their booth. Other dealers snicker at them, saying that the extra work is just silly. Silly? This "behind-the-scenes" work is never seen by the consumer. When he walks into the dealer hall, he sees a bunch of junk dealers, and a great looking booth in the back. It may be a lot more work for the Last Square, but they're taking home a much larger piece of the dealer hall pie than they used to. Their efforts are paying off.
Another example is Renegade Games. Their boxed sets for their 28mm figures are simply great looking! It's hard to walk by their booth without picking one up and looking at it. The boxes are colorful, show the figures, and on the back, they even have painting and assembly instructions. I bet their sales are higher on that line than many of the "gray metal in clear but scratched bags with ripped and poorly printed header card" companies out there. Yes, it cost more, but it'll make them more, too.
Go to a Walmart, or any other main-stream retail venue, and you'll find that 100% of their products are marketed with color packaging and look good on display. If they didn't, then the products wouldn't sell, and the stores would drop them.
If you look at the games being run at the shows, and the figure painting quality in those games, I think everyone would agree that the level is very high. At Little Wars, I saw games that could have been put into museums as show pieces. They were that good! The miniatures produced, and the terrain pieces and accessories are great. So why don't we sell them that way?
A lot of the problem is that the skills necessary to make a better package or a better booth layout aren't available to the dealers. I'm not advocating spending thousands on a booth display or hiring a packaging consultant. It's the little things that can make the difference. Even those companies who design colorful header cards, or at least easy to read ones, and have them printed at the local copy shop, can look good. A simple table covering, and a $100 cash register from Walmart, and a company starts looking professional.
Are there benefits for putting in all this extra effort and expense? Definitely. Sales will improve and, best for the hobby, new customers (and new gamers) will see your items and not be intimidated or afraid to pick them up. Every new customer is most likely a customer for life. It's another way to make the hobby healthy. On a different note, I want to take the time to let you know about a growing concern within the hobby. Tin prices are going through the roof! Tin is the most common metal in metal miniatures. In the last six months, China has announced that it will be reducing its exports of tin dramatically. Tin is used in many things, like cans and electronic component solder. China has decided to hold back much of its production for internal use. Some miniatures today are still made from lead, or have a lot of lead in the mix. In the California Proposition 65 warning on it, if the product is ever sold in the State of California.
- Caution: California Prop65 Warning: Handling of this product exposes you to lead, a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects and other reproductive harm. Wash hands after use. May contain small parts. Not suitable for children under 14.
This was a warning I used to put on Perrin Miniatures products when we used a lead-mix. We now use a lead-free alloy.
Much of the metal in miniatures these days is LeadFree. Safer? I don't think so, but why mess with an obvious threat. Lead-free pewter is usually 95% tin, or even higher. So if tin prices go up, then it impacts directly on the price of those miniatures made with pewter.
Last spring, I was quoted a price of $2.02 per pound, delivered, for my lead-free pewter. Last week, I was quoted a price of $5.95 per pound, delivered, for the same alloy. The price has risen three times the amount of a year ago, and my supplier mentioned that there is no end in sight for it to top off or even go back down. Don't let me be too alarmist. The cost of metal is only a portion of the costs that go into making a miniature. The cost of labor, metal heating, building maintenance, packaging, shipping and return on investment for the sculpting (not to mention that there should be a profit margin, too!) means that a tripling of the price of metal should not translate to a tripling of the cost of a figure. It will impact the price, but not on a one-for-one basis with the rise in tin.
Prices will eventually stabilize and come back down. Already, there are tin mines in the world that were closed due to unprofitability that are reopening. The United Kingdom, Indonesia and other Far East countries are ramping up tin production, now that it's more profitable. It may be a money loser at $2.02 per pound, but perhaps a great investment when the price is around $6.00 per pound. Prices are cyclical, as is the whole stock market. It'll come around in its own sweet time.
So forewarned is forearmed! Your figure purchases in the future will no doubt be more expensive. Still, in the grand scheme of things, we're one of the cheapest hobbies out there. If you wanted to get into golf, for example, you'd pay a bunch for clubs, and green fees are more than many people pay for an army!
We have a great issue this time around for you. I think you'll love the Hold Fast rules set, and the articles this issue are of the best quality. My hat is off to our fabulous contributors. Well done!
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© Copyright 2004 Hal Thinglum
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