The New Year Update

Hello Toy Soldier Collectors! I hope the Christmas and New Years season was good to you, and you got everything you wanted.

I've been absent from the forum boards, and more importantly, this site for awhile. Everything is a-ok, just spending every moment I can with the new baby. He's absolutely amazing, and the most important thing in the world to me, and finding time to hang out on the web has dropped on the ladder of priorities. I do apologize to those that had to wait for emails, and at least a couple of you still waiting for a return phone call.

Now to the meat of the thing. I wanted to bring you up to speed on the "State of the Company". The official word on where we've been, and where we're heading.

We started planning for our first set almost two years ago. We released our first set of figures in September of 2009 at OTSN. I'm happy to say that we have sold enough bags to have broken even on all production costs. That deserves a great big cheer both for our small company and for the hobby as a whole. Thanks to all who purchased from us. We sold to guys just getting started in the hobby, regulars who we see at every show, kids who just had to have them, dealers who bought them by the case, Americans, Canadians, Brits, Australians, Italians, Germans, and at least one Scot. Rock on!

Now on to the rather unfortunate news. Production of set #2 has been officially stopped. It's been squandering between the sculpting phase and the molding phase for a long time now, and I've finally come to grips with the fact that at this point, it is not where we need to be placing our focus. Several of you saw the prototypes at both Texas and Chicago, and I thank everyone for being so encouraging. It was a long and drawn out decision, and we went back and forth several times on how to proceed. But for our company, I think it's best to focus our efforts on something new. My sincere apologies to all who were planning on purchasing this set. Rest assured, the prototypes still exist, and may one day be molded, but for now, I think it's best to move on in a fresh direction.

I can tell you that we have looked at doing Resin figures. We've looked at doing Metal figures. We've looked at doing short run plastic character figures. We've talked to sculptor after sculptor after sculptor. We've talked to Digital designers, motion capture experts, and all sorts of "new tech" people who "might" be able to help us. What I'm getting at is, we are continuing to search out the best way to bring you quality figures at a reasonable price. But we're also doing this at a pace that allows us to enjoy our new baby, work our day jobs, and maintain a grip on sanity.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email, and I can give more details. I know several of you are interested in all the "behind the scenes" stuff that gets these figures made, or in the case of the Yanks, not made.

Best wishes to all, and go Bears!! (from a disappointed Colts fan).