Well, another month’s worth of 2008 is just about to become history. March has been a busy one for us – I know, hard to tell based on the lack of news postings…

Lots of production and custom work this month; I’ve been just busy enough that I’ve not had time to take and post proper photos. Alison has been busy in the shop, with the only big interruption being last week when Liam was on spring break.

The close of March (and Q1) brings with it a few changes. While we were able to negotiate a very good price for metal, other supplies have continued to demonstrate price increases. As such we will be raising a few prices in April.

Starting 1 April 2008, we have some new prices for mold making services. The price for our standard 9” organic rubber production molds will be $45 each (this is an increase from the $40 mark we have held for the past few years). Pattern figures will be billed at a rate of $50 per pound. These used to be included in the price of a Pattern mold. Pattern mold prices will remain unchanged.

We have a price increase for the Scruby N-Gauge WWII vehicles. The prices posted on the website were more than 3 years out of date. We have reviewed the pricing for all vehicle models and have posted the new prices (tanks $3.00, trucks & half-tracks $1.75 & jeeps/Kfz-1 $0.75 each).

The remainder of our prices will remain as currently posted on the website(s).

I don’t normally review sales until much closer to the end of the year, but I’ve been seeing an interesting trend this year, so I thought I would share it with you. Typically we have been seeing the bulk of our sales dollars coming from 15mm figures (ours and contract casting). Sales of 40mm and larger always have been a very small part of the picture. The first quarter of 2008 is interesting in that sales of 40mm and larger figures is accounting for a much larger percentage of sales (dollars and units). Sales of 15mm figures remain in the number 1 spot, but the larger scales have nearly pulled even. I’d be very happy to see this trend continue, as it would allow us to continue to invest (time and money) into the 40 and 54mm lines. The thing that makes this sales surge extra interesting is that we do not advertise the availability of the 54mm figures…

OK, well, enough of that – it is interesting to me, but perhaps you would rather hear more about other things, such as new Resistant Roosters releases. Well the expanded late war Panzergrenadier offerings are well under way. The first pattern mold was finished last weekend and the second should be completed by tomorrow afternoon. I am still planning for a (limited) release at Little Wars next weekend. On the 40mm front, now that I’ve cleared the decks of contract work I’ll be making a push with the 40mm AWI, so we will see these in April.

On the gaming front, I’ve been quite scattered. Working on projects from 18th century to Warhammer 40K – I have been working mostly on figures for use with Blitzkrieg Commander. Coming in second are my expansions of some classic Warhammer armies (Fantasy and 40K). I’ve also revived one of my Napoleonic projects. Lucky for me this one does not require any painting of figures (at least not right away). The project uses the Scruby N-Gauge figures and Mike Frank’s “Nap Division” rules. Right now, I’m working up a reference sheet to be used while players are learning the game. Mike’s rules are not complete (he kept most details in his head), so I’m needing to work with his rules sheets along with his had written notes on these sheets (I’ve not played the rules in 4 or more years). So, if all goes well I’ll be hosting a game in Portage in May or June.

Lastly, next weekend we will be attending Little Wars in Illinois, so if you plan to attend be sure to drop by our table and say howdy…