Hi Mr Strelets sorry to bother you as you are busy getting our latest goodies ready for shipping But No posts for a few days so I thought I would ask you some questions.

No.1 Would you ever consider producing some commissioned Figures ? for example if somebody raised the cash for a set of figures would you produce them ?

No 2 Your thoughts on making Sci Fi or Fantasy figures? Answers Never, Anything is possible or Wait and see.

No 3 While I realize that my pet is Winter War Finns and everybody has their own pet wants which lets face it they do not have much chance of being big sellers. WW2 American artillery crews could be ?
And to end Thank you for all the great sets you are making and what is Great about Strelets is you put them out so fast we wait weeks for your new sets (unlike other Companies Years or Never)

Hi johnny, I was thinking of something similar.

I'd be happy to get the contact of Strelets' sculptor, and get some figures made, then cast them in metal. I like the more "goofy" Strelets figures (like the Winter War figs), and want support weapons in a similar style. If it's not economical in plastic, then go for metal!

To complete the Winter War range, it'd be:
- Finnish MG08/15 with 3 men crew, or 2 men crew (firing, loading)
- Finnish medium mortar with 3 men crew, or 2 men crew (2 handling ammunition or covering their ears)
- Finnish AT gun crew 3 men or 2 men (handling ammunition)
- FInnish arty crew 4 men or 3 men (handling ammunition)
- generic crewmen like standing and kneeling officer with binocular, kneeling figure directing fire

All in all: one MG with one figure attached, one mortar, 11-12 other figures. Bit too much for a standard Strelets box, but I'd say doable. For the Soviets, I'd say the same.

Or maybe a big box with both the Russians and Finns in the same box, with unique officers, heavy weapons, characters (medic, HQ staff) called Talvisota :mask:

Dear Johnny,

1. we made few sets on order of Linear-B, however they committed to take a whole production run in excess of 1.500 boxes. So, although in theory, the answer is "yes", in reality it's just too much for any individual to digest, hence, pretty unlikely.
2. never (it doesn't depend on money, really. We are collectors and history connoisseurs ourselves and we make what we want to see done in plastic).
3. artillery crews without cannons don't seem too appealing to us. Having said that, nothing prevents us from making ones together with some cannons.

Please, be guided accordingly.

Best regards,

Strelets

Thank you for your answers and OK USA artillery with guns and crews would be great even if they are only half as good as the latest Japanese ones.

what's the 1500 boxes production cost in USD? included sculptor?

I understand that the cost of making a mould is something in the region of $40,000... So the question is how much you want those figures?

$40,000 seems very high to me, 1500 boxes , well that is $2.66 per box just for the mould , never mind all the other costs and profit margins, and retailers will have a profit margin of about 33% on retail price, but they take the biggest cut per box.

Dear Mr Strelets, do I understand it right that an order of 1500 Boxes will let You on track to sculpt such a set?

Why not ask Your fans? If they order 1500 sets or more?

The cost of moulds,the design and making the masters is all relative.
Like cars
Tata Nano $3.000
Koenigsegg Trevita, $4.800.000

Dear Misteredd,

they won't order that much.

Best regards,

Strelets

Thank you for this really excellent and informative reply and I fully support your desire to pursue your own hobby interests whilst also keeping a viable business going. In the same position I would do exactly the same. Don't ever change that :)

On point 3, perhaps think about how that might still work within your defining principles. In recent artillery sets I've seen some very nice crew figures in small numbers alongside some huge cannons I have no interest in and will throw in the bin if I ever buy them which I won't as they are too expensive just for the figures.

You won't like this but that "other manufacturer we shall not name" made crew-only sets and I purchased lots to be used with many different guns in different periods with conversion. They've even just released an old set of British marines and sailors without the cannons I don't want at a much lower price so I finaly bought them.


I have bought many WW2 Japanese and Italian sets over the years. Not because I have any interest in WW2 but because I can easily convert them to the Spanish Civil War - once I've thrown all the stupid SMGs, LMGs and big cannons into the bin. :disappointed:

Dear Strelets,

many thanks for the reply, you being responsive makes such a difference compared to other manufacturers.

Your business your strategy of course, but I think having separate gun crews would fit your general idea well: Just like offering the marching / advancing / firing line sets for infantry, modular artillery sets with separate crews and guns would give the customer the choice of building any army in the proportions he likes.

There are many gun kits that have been in need of decent crews for decades, and hopefully you will continue to add to your artillery kit range, so there clearly is a market for gun crews (admittedly smaller than for infantry or cavalry).

If you decide otherwise, combining sprues of existing artillery crew sets (without the guns) would help as well.

WW1 early German, WW2 U. S. and British gun crews would be on top of my list. Regards, Pa

Personally I am very happy that Strelets make guns with crews and am looking forward to
all the artillery sets in the pipeline . There are still plenty of gaps to fill for artillery pieces and crews for 19th century as well as WW1 and WW2 and its great to see Strelets filling these.