Dear GarrisonClay,

we appreciate the commercial potential of this idea, but would you/other customers not have an aftertaste of a cheating in such case?
We still believe that ACW deserves a proper coverage with a whole array of sets, similar to the coverage we did for the Crimean War.
Moreover, one of the joys in this business is devising a new set, that has never been done before. Should we give it up in favour of few bucks?

Best regards,

Strelets

What? Give up? No, never! You are absolutely right!

Everything you are doing and everything you have been doing and saying far exceeds what I could ever possibly want to see and hear about the ACW.

Good thing we aren't on the high seas or you guys would sentence me to 20 lashes with the Cat-O-Tails for such traitorous thoughts.

OK, I don't want to take you guys away from your focus, fun, and work any longer than I have. It's Friday evening here so, "Please Have a Wonderful Weekend!"

Yours faithfully - GC

Dear GarrisonClay,

we were just recently setting up plans for ACW for 2017-18 and discussed quite few pros and cons.
The cons that we were concerned about are:
- it's not a, generally speaking, "popular" period, i.e. not WWII, Napoleonics or Rome.
- there are quite few sets on the market already, that we won't excel in terms of manufacturing excellence (Italeri's artillery, in our opinion, is one of the highlights in our hobby).
- while it may be well-known in the US, it's less so in other parts of the world.

On the other side, when we think about that, Crimean war, when we started it, wasn't a major subject either, but by now we've developed quite an extensive line, that eventually required even some re-issues. So, with a right approach, one can develop even pretty obscure themes, like Anglo-Boer war, for example. Also, what we found out after 16 years in business, was that our customers have very broad array of interests, far beyond the borders of their native states only. In that respect we're dealing with quite an exquisite group of people, that may be not that big in numbers, but by far compensating this with their keen interest in all areas of military history.
Also there's always some personal factor behind every set, for example, a person behind these lines was captivated some 40 years ago by a French TV series of Mysterious Island made after Jules Verne's novel. ACW wasn't a subject of that movie, but scenes of the escape during rain with ACW soldiers clothed in their overcoats lasted in memory since then and, hopefully, all going well, will culminate in some winter clothed soldiers sets.

Best regards,

Strelets

ACW is very popular in the USA, but in South America there were several wars at the same time or later and the uniforms are very similar. Many people who live in South America, Peru, Brazil, Chile and other nations use ACW figures to represent those armies of the 19th Century.

Getting a few extra dollars by making ACW sets in two colors is not cheating, it's giving your customers what they want and making a few dollars on the side, dollars to finance other ACW sets.

I agree with Mr. Clay that a Confederate Leaders dismounted set would be great. While there are many ACW sets, their are a confused lot of stiles, scales, sizes and colors that often don't play well together.

The US Navy sent many landing parties ashore, so like your Early WWII US Navy set a similar ACW set of sailors would be great.

Thanks.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
Bunker Talk blog

Today most people are left with re-issues of 1980s Esci, Italeri's own range and Imex sets, these sets are old and of very varying quality and styles. Personally I think these sets are very lacking, and have since long moved to metal figures. If new plastics are released I will move back, to Strelets!

There's a huge demand for new and most of all good figures on the market, there's never been a marching set or a great-coat set, and most of all, an artillery set with an extensive gun grew. People want to complete and expand their collections, the market is ready for new ACW. I also hope for civilian sets for the period, primarily medical staff.

Dearest Strelets,

It's a rare pleasure to be privy to a companies' intimate conversations about how a new line of military miniatures is conceived and how it shall grow. Especially for one that is being represented about actual historical personalities. Another revelation especially enjoyable to hear about is how members of your Team were impacted by the memory of a moment in time, such as the Jules Verne characters, which influences their whole life. And you did such an eloquent job of acknowledging your customer's interests and passions. Reading about this is simply captivating to me!

Further, with the teaser pictures of your new Masters and the existing Commander sets, I'm already writing scripts in my mind about how my future new recruits are going to play out on my Battlefields. With such complete historical diaries and so many controversial battle strategies that we have all read about and studied, I've also got to think wargamers everywhere are eager to see how they can rewrite history. This historical event should have limitless scenarios for us to play out.

OK, let me close with a enthusiastic "Thank you for sharing", and ...

I remain faithfully yours - GC

I have been waiting years for new ACW figures for my favourite wargaming period. And I'm not American. I'm a Scot with a passionate interest in the conflict. I await your figures with renewed anticipation.