Saturday 4 February 2023

Things that make you go hmmm...

Hey Everyone,

So yeah, winter has been here my friends...yesterday afternoon it was -27C and with the wind it was a summery -42...good times were had, and I sincerely hope everyone was able to stay warm and find shelter. As of the moment, the extreme cold weather warning we've had for past couple of days has ended, and I think it will be near or above freezing tomorrow. Not that I don't mind cold weather, I do enjoy it.

Anywho, beyond that random thought, I have been on a bit of a purchase kick lately. Admittedly while I have tried to support the hobby - brick n mortar and online artists, I have not approached the same level of purchase rush as I have in my earlier years in the hobby. My pile of shame/lead mountain/plastic peaks are somewhat impressive (at least by my standards) and I've been trying to get through portions of them over the years.

Regardless, as I mentioned in my first post of the year, I had to good fortune to stumble on a discount at one of my local stores. I was kinda surprised that they had very little Battlefront stock...no Team Yankee that I can think of and very little Flames of War. Having given some deep thoughts to my Imagi-nations, I thought I'd take a look and see what I could supplement my current stocks with (I've got a good mix, but needed some vehicles to fit into the broader picture of the region). Well, I did end up picking up a couple of boxes of mid-war FoW plastics and to my surprise they were discounted 50%. Chalking this up to right place right time, I gladly paid and made my out of the store, ala IKEAs infamous 'Start the Car' commercial.


Not too long afterwards, I happened to discover another LGS in the city’s west end that I had heard about but had just never had an opportunity to get to. Well, I happened to look at their website and noticed that their TY and FoW stock was also on clearance. So, roadtrip and I ended up buying a few packs and boxes that could fit into Team Yankee, Imagi-Nations, and really any other Cold War or modern scenario that I could think of.

I asked the clerk on the way out if they were getting out of the Battlefront game and he mentioned that while they were glad to stock it, it was proving increasingly harder for them to keep that market going and to sustain the volume of stock needed to be in that part of the game. 

To be honest, I was not very surprised by this...I have seen more than a few hobby shops step into the market, buy big up front and then be unable to sustain the customer base, over price the product (one store had about a 30% markup higher than anyone one else in the city or province), or lose interest once they got past the first few buying cycles.

A bit of a score for me, but also a little disappointing to not see the local shops able to sustain the stocklists. Anywho, here's to a varied purchase plan and scheme: 

1 x TY Israeli Magach 6 box
1 x TY Israeli Mech Inf platoon
1 x TY Israeli Skyhawks
1 x TY Iran Basij Company

Painted

15mm            10
28mm+          9, 

Bought         120, +96 (as above)

Progress      -101 


7 comments:

Stephen said...

Any chance you are running another Force on Force game at CanGames this year? If not would a meetup with another FoF enthusiast be possible?

Stephen

Stan M. said...

Hey Stephen,

To be honest, I hadn't given it too much thought...but I know folks are planning out ideas and such (I'm behind on my emails so I'm not even sure what games they are proposing). However...I'm starting to think of what I could put together, so a solid maybe. As for meetup, you can find me through the Ottawa Miniature Gamers facebook page.

Take care.

Stephen said...

So there is going to be Force on Force at CanGames. I hope my preregistration is good.

Stan M. said...

Yeah, I was happy to see that too. Nice surprise to see Chris's game line up before the game Duncan and I are going to run. See you there.

Stephen said...

What are you running?

Stan M. said...

We've got the Sunday Afternoon slot...thinking of a scenario now, but an adapted Force on Force game.

Stan M. said...

Unfortunately I’ve won’t be able to run our game, life got rather distracting. Hope you have a good con.