(Editor's Note: Reprinted with the kind permission of Brian Ansell from "Ansell Speaks Out! A Newsletter of Sorts". a publication of * Guernsey Foundry Brian provides some very interesting information which I think you will enjoy. I'd love to have articles from other manufacturers of wargames figures.) I started in the wargames business in the early seventies (sculpting for Skytrex and others), started Asgard in 76 (I think), making fantasy and historical miniatures, then in 78 started Citadel, again making both fantasy and historical miniatures. By 83 it was obvious that it was barely possible to justify paying someone to make moulds of historical miniatures, never mind paying a sculptor, so Citadel stopped making them. However. I and many of the staff remained historical wargamers, and so Foundry was formed (of which, more later). In 91 1 retired from the model soldier business entirely, and had nothing more to do with it for five years. when Mark Copplestone and I formed Guernsey Foundry. Our plan was to discover whether it was possible to make a living out of wargame models, and whether it could be done from Guernsey, we discovered that both things were possible. Last May I joined my father and the Perrys in Wargames Foundry, merging the two Foundries into one Organisation. I organise the design (though of course the Perrys are well beyond organising), moulding and mail order. I've enjoyed coming back to the wargames hobby. Most of the people I knew in the early days are still around and don't seem to have changed much. It's interesting to be able to come back as an outsider and view the whole thing dispassionately. in so far as that is possible for someone who is passionate about model soldiers. It always amuses me when the various manufacturers of model soldiers are referred to as the wargames "industry". Wargamers seem to think we all inhabit proper little factory units, with . offices, desks, secretaries and suchlike. In fact, the majority of the few companies that attempt to operate as time businesses are fragile little set-ups operating out of converted coal sheds or old asbestos garages. At the model soldiers end ofthings, the only companies of any size are ourselves (1600,000 pounds: the same as a large grocers shop) and Old Glory. The majority of our sales are in Britain, while Glory rule the roost in America: oddly. Fouiidr~,, and Old Glory seem to share very few customers in common, probably because of the marked difference in the style of our models. However. we all need each other its only the existence of , all companies together that gives the hobby enough mass continue to exist. In fact, I often wonder how a hobby as as ours, which is visibly making virtually no new recruits is manaoing to continue to exist at all. However, I propose to stick at it for the next thirty years or so. come "hat may. Its a shame that mutual suspicion has always prevented a unified organisation of manufacturers from being formed. The majority of manufacturer's have a turnover in the 20,000 to 70,000 pounds range, with the bulk at the lower end. Some are strictly a spare time thing, run for extra pocket money by people who just enjoy being involved in the manufacturing end of the hobby. Some are genuinely full time, and the rest are part time. The part time i nail ulactUrers maN have personal circumstances where working full time would not suit them, they may have other part time income. or they may take temporary employment when the model soldiers do not bring in sufficient cash. So manufacturers oscillate between spare, part and full time. There is no room for complacency in the model soldier business. Incomes are in general low from Sculpting and manufacturing model soldiers. I would say that many, perhaps most, people do not get into five figures. Though there are more, larger (much larger in some case companies in the fantasy industry, the bottom end of fantasy is made up of little companies not unlike the wargames business. One fantasy company recently advertised for casters at three pounds/hour. Most wargames manufacturers cannot afford casters; the owner does it himself, often long into the evening. Wargames companies income comes from three sources: mail order, foreign distributors. and shows. For reasons that could perhaps be explored at another time. most manufacturers really do not get the amount of mail order they should. British manufacturers always seem to end up dealing with foreign distributors who are really just a retailers, the 'distributor" demands an exclusive (sometimes even forbidding the manufacturer to supply mail order!), but then makes no effort at all to distribute to his fellow retailers, after all, he is in competition with them. and anyway he doesn't carry enough stock to supply anyone else. Meanwhile the 'distributor is receiving 50% discount of the ex-VAT UK price while charging a healthy premium at his end. The British manufacturer makes a few pence per model, while his foreign distributor makes healthy profits by selling at an inflated retail price. So, it's really the cash that's taken at shows that determines whether the British business survives or not. It seems to me that the community of British wargames companies is being ground down by two problems: (1) There are now too many shows. (2) Prices for model soldiers are too low. I feel strongly that if this continues many companies will not Survive. Shows Many companies attend 20 or more shows a year. and have been surviving quite nicely doing so until recently. Some have always done 30 or more. But the number of shows has been proliferating, and some shows have been increasing the number of traders they admit. The number of wargamers doing the rounds of the show circuit has not increased, and so traders find hemselves attending ever more shows to compete for the same amount of cash from the same number of wargamers. Some traders have been attending more and more shows to try and make up their shortfall, but of course this is difficult as their expenses remain the same per show while they take less cash. it doesn't help when some shows are so poorly advertised, so packed with trade stands and/or so overpriced that it isn't even possible to break even. Beyond that. it simply isn't possible for people who work all week to go out every weekend to make ends meet and still have anything resembling a life. There are conventions that are responsibb, i'Lln. Miere the organisers provide a good venue. display games and publicity and charge a fee appropriate to the number ofpaying customers likely to turn up. But there are also organisers who quite irresponsibly make themselves a few hundred quid by sending dozens of hard working manufacturers halfway across the country to an ill-advertised event, packed with over-priced stands, lack-lustre displa\ s and a few local gainers. I suppose that the mystery is why traders continue to turn LIP to Shows "ith0LIt evidence that thev are going to be organised in such a way as to be well attended enough t0JUStify the number of stands and the fees charged. Wouldn't it be great if we could have one really big event at a large central venue like the NEC. The entire hobby could attend, with good facilities and a profile high enough to make sure that everything: traders, display games, painting anct gaming competitions. was encouraged to reach such an inspirational standard that everyone attending would be sent away uplifted. re-energised and with their commitment to wargaming confirmed. Foundry doesn't have a show stand, but David Thomas takes our models to 30 or so shows a year for us. We'd print a list here if only David Would organise himselfto let us have one! Prices Model soldiers are simply too cheap. The metal cost for a model soldier is very low~ no more than four or five pence. We spend more on subsidising postage than on the metal the models we send out are made from. The balance is made up of: Casting, handling and packing the models you actually sell and the additional models you must now hold in stock to support future sales of your new code. The cost of the master model and the labour and rav, material costs for making master and production moulds..Then you have your ~ariot_[S fixed merlicads: premises. equipment. services, printing, advertising etc. If you are not selling very many of a model, it's the cost of the master, the various mould making expenses and the costs of holding an ever-expanding stock of your increasing range that are significant. A good part of the problem is the incredible number of models available, and the ever-increasing number of new models being released all the time. compared to the number of active wargamers. I often hear people marveling at how the hobby must be growing and prospering, given that so many wonderful new models are becoming available. The truth is that the hobby is not growing, its just that its membership is becoming more skilled and venturesome, and more amateur and semiprofessional sculptors of reasonable or better talent are springing up all the time. And what else would they do other than go into production'? This is certainly not a bad thing, in fact it's great fun for everyone, I certainly enjoy seeing all the new ranges. However. we all have to face up to the fact that with the number of customers remaining static and the number of new models available accelerating, less of each model is being sold. Model soldiers were originally priced so that companies who were selling many hundreds, or even thousands, of each of their models could survive, and prices have never risen to compensate for changed circumstances. In the good old days of the seventies, you would sell hundreds and hundreds of your rank and file models when they were released, and steadily thereafter. There weren't many armies available then, sales were focused on a few popular periods. and wargamers would buy hundreds of models of the same British Napoleonic infantryman to make up an army. Now there are hundreds of armies to choose from and sales are spread much more thinly. Equally importantly; back in the good old days, we were dealing with people who were hungry to build armies to start wargaming with. Now, with a negligible number of new recruits coming into our hobby, most of our potential customers already have all the armies they really need, and they must be most severely tempted by the idea of a new period. or the quality of new miniatures to consider making a purchase of any size. The number of second hand armies in circulation doesn't help either. Not that I'm whining about any of this~ it's just the reality of' the situation that wargame manufacturers now find themselves in. We only have ourselves to blame: we've obviously not presented ourselves in such a way that newcomers have been attracted to our hobby, a few thousand new recruits each year would probably solve all our problems. At Foundry, we sell about 140 of each model in our range on average each year. A really popular new model might sell 500 in its first year, but it's more likely to sell 250 or less. Historically, sculpting and moulding have cost well in excess of 100 pounds, and we have had to maintain an ever growing stock of relatively thinly selling items. We're unlikely to make our money back on a model for at least a couple of years, and budget for a four year cycle of cost and return. As it happens. we have a huge range ofmodels that are long paid for, and are fortunate that our old models, even those from 16 years ago, have not really dated. Also, we charge slightly more than everyone else. Other manufacturers are not so lucky. The horrible truth is that a good part of the reason that models are underpriced is down to Foundry. As we've been the biggest British manufacturer for quite some time, others have followed our lead in pricing for years. Other manufacturers have selected their place in the price pecking order by deciding how much less than us to charge. The Bizarre History Of Wargames Foundry Foundry was founded when Citadel stopped manufacturing wargame models. A number of Citadel designers felt they would like to continue making the odd wargame range in their spare time for their own amusement. My father, Cliff Ansell was about to take early retirement. so he was put in charge. We thought it would be a casual little sideline that Ile Could run Out of his attic room, little did we know. In the event, only Michael and Alan Perry ever really got down to making any number of miniatures. The Foundry quickly became first the most visible, then the largest British manufacturer, propelled inexorably forward by the unbelievable number of models Michael and Alan were sculpting in their spare time. These models were of a standard never before seen in wargaming. However, though we always kept Our heads firmly above water and were comfortably able to pay the staff sensible wages (we now pay a minimum of Seven pounds/hour to full time. trained staff), there was never any spare money at the end ofthe year. Fortunately Michatl and Alan never took more than token amounts out of the business at that time. as they were gainfully employed full time in the fantasy industry. They still are. If we'd had to pay them a living wage, our prices would have been 25% higher from the start (or would have had to work there way up their fairly quickly). This situation was exacerbated when for a period ofnearly four years we didn't have a price rise. At the time we were doing a lot ofcontract casting, and Just didn't need the money (apparently). Basically. the business was being run as an extension of the participant's hobby. If we had been running ourselves in a more business like manner, then our prices would have steadily risen, and others would have followed us a step or so behind, rather higher prices would now be the accepted norm in the hobby and evervone would be more able to survive and prosper. Back to MWAN #96 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1997 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com