Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Old West => Topic started by: goon3423 on 20 June 2011, 11:34:00 PM
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Anybody know what's up with Arnica Real Estate? Seems the web store has been closed forever. I sent an e-mail & got no reply. Just wondering if anyone had heard anything.
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Same thing with me; I e-mailed them about ordering some buildings and got no reply. So they lost my business! Seems like they're just not interested in selling anything???
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Hawgleg publishing bought them a while ago... it says something on their site about not being able to keep up with orders or something...
mmm cant find it right now...
http://www.hawgleg.com/default.asp
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This is what the Hawgleg guys are saying... But this was like 4 months ago.
Why the Store is Closed
2/4/2011, by Mike Mitchell
I've had three letters in the past week asking why the store is closed, and more importantly, when it will reopen. I started this reply in an e-mail, and then quickly realized that I owe this explanation to everyone.
The truth is, we opened our doors at least six months before we were ready for the volume of orders we've been receiving. We didn't have adequate packaging, our shipping center wasn't set up with all the boxes and packing materials we needed, and we didn't have a backlog of inventory, or backup molds. Our motives were honorable: people kept wanting to buy the buildings and we really wanted to get them out there. Unfortunately, this meant that when we started production, our inexperience with resin casting quickly caught up with us. We couldn't deliver the quality we wanted in a timely manner, especially since we were always behind in our orders.
At Christmas this was exacerbated when we had three molds fail (tore or, due to a bad resin mix, lost their silicon properties and became very hard to demold). So, our only solution was to shut down for a few months and get things back in order: make new molds, fix a problem or two with some of the buildings, and find a way to streamline what we're doing.
We did some work around the holidays, but then had to stop for a convention and some other projects. Now that our big convention of the year is over (we had a great time at OwlCon, Jan. 28-30), it's time to get back to work. This work includes getting some molds made to replace the ones that tore, moving our production to another room (which means I've got to finish cleaning that room and set up work tables in it), and then making molds for the adobe buildings so we can finally start selling them, too.
I think I've got another six weeks of work to do before we reopen our doors.
I'm sorry for the delay, but if we don't take the time to set things up right this time, I'm worried that we'll just fall behind again. So, for now at least, the store will remain closed to new orders and we're going to focus on getting things up and running RIGHT this time. When we come back, I want to have an inventory of at least 10 of the popular buildings, and 5 of the less popular ones so we won't be caught behind again.
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MIA...
No word on when the 'grand re-opening' will occur...
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I met with the same problem. Why?
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Mike Mitchell posted on the Hawgleg forum the other day to in answer to someone else asking the same question.
The buildings are offline through September. My work schedule has prevented me from working on the molds or making other necessary upgrades to the casting and cleaning process.
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I'm in touch with Mike - we import Gutshot to the UK. I've sent him a link to this topic so we may get some info from him directly.
Doug
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guys, are you reading the posts in the thread? sounds like he's already "chimed" in...
started locally, by the way Arnica Real Estate, that is (I have no affiliation at all - wrong scale, alas)
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<snip>
I'm sorry for the delay, but if we don't take the time to set things up right this time, I'm worried that we'll just fall behind again. So, for now at least, the store will remain closed to new orders and we're going to focus on getting things up and running RIGHT this time. When we come back, I want to have an inventory of at least 10 of the popular buildings, and 5 of the less popular ones so we won't be caught behind again.
Seems clear they won't re-start until it's totally ready to roll.
I know how hard it is to wait - I told Gutshot guys, when they acquired Arnica, that I was waiting for the Adobe buildings (my interest is North Mexico (including what became New Mexico) in the pre-MAW period) before I bought anything. It's been a long wait and when it comes I hope I am still have the same level of interest in the buildings I had then (so far, yes,) for my Zorro/1680's and 1830-1845 games.
Gracias,
Glenn
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Howdy from Arnica Real Estate! Mike Mitchell, here. Doug at Em4 Miniatures told me about this thread (thanks Doug!), so I reckoned I'd best get over here and update you in person.
When we opened in the Arnica store in August 2009, we were not ready. This was new territory for us and we were quickly swamped by the volume of orders and for some of the production problems we encountered: pieces didn't fit, we didn't have enough boardwalk molds, we initially selected the wrong resin (it took too long to cure properly, so we could only make 2-3 pieces of an item per day). We fixed these problems as best we could, but because of the sheer volume of orders, we were always playing catch-up. In fact, that's all we were doing: even when things got better, we were always just keeping up and never getting ahead (like making the molds for our Adobe Collection). That's why we decided to pull the plug last Christmas and just say, "We need a break."
When we reopen, we want to have an actual inventory of at least 10 copies of each building ready to ship (and more of popular items like the Boardwalks and Gunsmith shop). The 10 copies are just to handle the initial rush and keep us from falling behind. We also want to have extra molds for these popular items so we can pour two or three of the same building at the same time. Right now we've just got one mold per building, and if/when something tears, we're at least 72 hours out from making a new one -- and that's if everything goes perfectly.
Now, with all that being said, we probably won't reopen until the end of September. And, I reckon, that probably doesn't help any of you who want to get some new buildings on your tables. If anything, it probably just whets yer appetite even more.
That's why I want to make this exclusive offer here at the Lead Adventures Forum.
Right now we've got two new Combo Sets of 3 buildings each:
- UPTOWN COMBO: General Store, Sheriff's Office & Jail, the Bank and a set of Boardwalks
Reg. price: $71. Combo price: $62. - BOARD & BATTEN COMBO: Gunsmith, Laundry, Mercantile, Attached Shed and a set of 3 Boardwalks
Reg. price: $62 Combo price: $54
We have three copies of each of these combos for sale. These are in stock and will be ready to ship next week. We're offering them exclusively here through these forums, and you can only get to the sale page through this link:
http://arnicarealestate.com/cart_catHome.asp?ppcID=8
If you go to our site, you will not find these combos for sale, so please use this private link.
Thanks again for your interest, and I hope to hear from ya'll soon!
Mike Mitchell
Arnica Real Estate
www.arnicarealestate.com
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It just crossed my mind -- I hope I'm not violating any rules by posting this offer here. I read these forums more often than I post here, and I don't recall what the local rules are for this sort of thing. If I'm violating any rule about "commercial solicitation," please let me know, as that was certainly not my intent.
Mike
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Anybody know how these look next to the ERTL cowtown buildings size-wise? My buddy has a bunch of those, and I'm wondering if they would mix.
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I'm waiting patiently for Arnica to re-open so I can get La Posada. I admire the one that's on the huge Old West table at Historicon every year.
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Tommy20: These blend well with the ERTL Cow Town buildings. In fact, I'll go take a few photos so you guys can see them side by side. I'll let you know when they photos are up (been meaning to do this for ages).
La Posada is, indeed, a nice building. That's one reason we're holding our sale right now: we're gonna need a lot more mold rubber to get it done.
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I'm in for one of each C001 and C003. I need a good jail and a bank as well as a good corner building. I look forward to seeing these in person.
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Abu: Thanks for the order (and to the others who ordered the combos). We're now out of stock, so we've had to close the sale already. We got a lot of orders in and I'm going to spend a very busy weekend working on filling them.
Here's to being that much closer to our grand reopening the fall.
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Anybody else here still waiting for their set(s) to arrive?
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Anybody else here still waiting for their set(s) to arrive?
I'm still waiting for mine to arrive (ordered just one building from the weekend sale, not one of the special sets). I received the Paypal receipt for the transaction but beyond that I haven't heard anything further.
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I just got a tracking number and shipping notification for my Arnica weekend sale items.
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I received my order today. Now I just have to get to work on assembling the building so that my town has a proper bank to rob.
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I got an email to say that mine had been despatched.
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Mine have finally shipped.
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Mine have finally shipped.
Is my math right? :? July to December - 5 months? :o ???
I sooo much want the Adobe buildings but life seems to be dictating otherwise. :'(
Gracias,
Glenn
Who went elsewhere for interim buildings but still dreams...
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You are correct. I'll be sticking to the laser cut mdf from other purveyors from now on.
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You are correct. I'll be sticking to the laser cut mdf from other purveyors from now on.
Do they do relatively realistic adobe buildings? I want to stick to a thematically consistent set of buildings (I am using what became Southwest US/Northern New Mexico for my multiple game settings.)
Gracias,
Glenn
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No idea about their adobe offerings. I got stuff like the jail, sheriff's office and 5-sided saloon. They look quite nice and for the delay I received an additional building and a pack of semi-naked cowgirl gunslingers for free. Still, I'm not to happy about the 5 month wait, but I appreciated the apologies by way of free merchandise.
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semi-naked cowgirl gunslingers for free
Pictures or it didnt happend! :D
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Yes, I want to see pics of them as well. I wasn't aware that they existed! o_o
Pictures or it didnt happend! :D
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If this works here's a link to the Adobe pics.
http://www.arnicarealestate.com/cart_catHome.asp?ppcID=2
Found this link.
http://www.thewarstore.com/28mmusoldwestbuildings.html
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Yes, I want to see pics of them as well. I wasn't aware that they existed! o_o
Here you are... The one on the right isn't bad at all, the other two.. well they may look much better with some paint on them.
(http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa437/abu_iskander/8f9d9273.jpg)
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I have the ones on the left and right. Cool you got the one in the middle.
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If this works here's a link to the Adobe pics.
http://www.arnicarealestate.com/cart_catHome.asp?ppcID=2
Found this link.
http://www.thewarstore.com/28mmusoldwestbuildings.html
The first website looks unchanged for the adobes from when Hawgleg took over the buildings.
I have all of the Warstore ones (duplicate of some IIRC.)
It is a literal case of buying the Arnica ones will finish my Pueblo de Santa Dolores.
Gracias,
Glenn
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If/when you do decide to get them. Send a message to them and ask how long it would take to get them.
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Good advice but I really want them to complete the town.
Gracias,
Glenn
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I ordered some of the Western ones and got them in a little over a month.