It would work for specialist troops I think. For example, medics of different WWII armies or British engineers in Northwest Europe/North Africa/Burma. And of course, staff officers for various conflicts. I am less enthused by combinations split by time because it could leave you with a lot of figures for periods you aren’t interested in.

It might be a way of covering some of the units people only want in small numbers. It might even turn some of the "one box sets" discussed below into two box sets which would make them more viable. Strelets do have a few mixed sets so they might have an idea as to whether it affects sales.

The idea is best for the more niche subjects. Mainstream subjects which people will want in larger numbers to build armies, like Your WWII BEF and WWII Far East/Desert, would be better off in separate boxes.

There would have to be some thought in matching subjects that people will most likely want both of; I don't have a problem with buying a set that contains figures I don't want as long as it contains enough of the figures I do want but some folks think a set is unacceptable if it contains just three figures they don't want. For the most part I think figures from the same era would be better than mixing eras.

Dear Al,

Sorry, but it's not one for me. I'm looking for as many figures per box as possible, so don't really want to 'dilute' them in any way--even though the total would be the same one would only get half of each.

Esci tried it with the Austrians/Prussians (more likely early Russians in fact), British line/Scots and British/French artillery and I'm with Plastic Soldier Review in not liking the format in all three cases (even though I am happy with the figures and purchased some of each set!). If I wanted only Austrians I had to get some Prussians/Russians in the bargain. In fact, I was far happier recently when able to purchase a heap of Austrians alone as they were second hand.

Strelets have previously stated that they do not support crowd funding as it cuts out the retailers who are an important part of their value chain. I'm with them on that score too.

I am, of course, but one voice and may well be in the minority.

Thanks for posting your thoughts, it's great to get ideas from people who are thinking outside what has become the established norm.

Regards,

James

I prefer sets to be dedicated but I could see mixed sets that include specialist figures for historical opponents or allies. For example a set of heavy weapons or engineers or officers or radio operators for British BEF combined with similar for early war German specialists or French. It always seems a bit of a shame to me that we lose riflemen in a main set for extras. I always liked that American manufacturer's British mortars and British machine gun sets, not mixed but you got all those bits you didn't really get in a main set like ATRs or 2 inch mortars.

I think for post-1700 AD eras it is difficult for the reasons described by everyone else, but I think it SHOULD be done far more often for pre-1700 eras. The Thirty Years War, English Civil War, Medieval Italy, Medieval Iberia (including El Cid), and the Pre-Classical world would be ripe for this approach.