Sad News - BEF Miniatures

[AKULA]

From Crouchies blog:

http://befminiatures.blogspot.com/

"Friday, 2 October 2009
I have decided to put BEF on ice. Sales of figures haven't made enough to sustain the costs involved, and the interest is minimal in the products. Combined costs of sculpting, casting, website and research are greater than the sales receipts, therefore it is not a viable business proposition at the moment. "

Anyone that hasn't seen the excellent BEF and early war Germans that BEF Miniatures have, should IMHO go and have a look NOW, and place an order while they are still available - there is still a very limited number of german vehicles, and the gorgeous 2pdr AT gun also available, by the looks of it.  The infantry were sculpted by Mike Owen of Artizan, and thus entirely compatible with his other minis.

http://www.befminiatures.co.uk/

[Hammers]

From Crouchies blog:

http://befminiatures.blogspot.com/

"Friday, 2 October 2009
I have decided to put BEF on ice. Sales of figures haven't made enough to sustain the costs involved, and the interest is minimal in the products. Combined costs of sculpting, casting, website and research are greater than the sales receipts, therefore it is not a viable business proposition at the moment. "

Anyone that hasn't seen the excellent BEF and early war Germans that BEF Miniatures have, should IMHO go and have a look NOW, and place an order while they are still available - there is still a very limited number of german vehicles, and the gorgeous 2pdr AT gun also available, by the looks of it.  The infantry were sculpted by Mike Owen of Artizan, and thus entirely compatible with his other minis.

http://www.befminiatures.co.uk/

Too bad. I am however sure the existing moulds will eventually find their way to the market.

[commissarmoody]

Thats sad, becase they are all good kit. I am just to poor right now to order any thing really 

[Captain Blood]

Presumably the market has now reached a tipping point, where 28mm WWII has gone from an unusual novelty a few years ago, to saturation, where so many manufacturers have entered the 28mm WWII market that it's not sustainable 

It's not my period, but the BEF tanks always looked interesting, a bit different, and well made.

But the figures - even though they're by Mike Owen, one of my favourite sculptors - well, there are just soooo many British and German WWII 28mm figures on the market already (including Mike's own extensive range for Artizan... )

It's a pity to see anyone's dream come to an end though... 

[Bungle]

The figures and vehicles are all early war.

I can't think of anyone else who does 28mm early war miniatures as nice as BEFs

[Captain Blood]

The figures and vehicles are all early war.

I can't think of anyone else who does 28mm early war miniatures as nice as BEFs

Fair enough, I guess, if you're an afficionado of the period.
But already having a few of Mike Owen's Artizan WW2 British, when I look at the BEF WW2 British, they seem to be pretty much the same figures by the same sculptor - certainly with the same 'look' - just in slightly different poses.
The subtleties of difference in battledress / webbing detail between 1940 and 1942 perhaps aren't enough to set the range apart... Probably the same for the Germans.

There again, it never ceases to amaze me how many US Airborne, fallschirmjaeger and waffen-SS the market seems able to support.
So maybe it's just that few people want to play games with these 'plain' troop types 

[cdr]

I think it's a great pity.
I was looking forward to the early war Belgian Chasseur Ardennais and the Belgian vehicles (the T13 looked lovely)

[Col.Stone]

Crouchie wrote this on the BEF-blog
http://befminiatures.blogspot.com/2009/10/i-have-decided-to-put-bef-on-ice.html#comments

BEF is on ice, which means on hold. No new releases after the imminent batch, and no planned restocks.

I truly hope it stays, he's got some marvelous minis there

[AKULA]

Crouchie has updated his blog - it does indeed look like this may turn out to be more of a pause for thought.

Fingers crossed that he decides to continue with BEF - hopefully some more orders coming in might convince him that there are enough of us out there that have a genuine interest in Early WW2, to make it a viable production line.

 

[Helen]

I'm truly sadden by this news. I hope folks who have an interest in early war can buy up big now to assist Ian for the future.

My best wishes are extended to Ian at this time an I hope we will see some good tidyings appear in the not to distant future.

Helen

[pbeccas]

Latest Update "A new day, and a surprising amount of support and a few orders to help out. I am very grateful for this. It is not my intention to “cry wolf” and see if I can generate interest through negative postings, such as BEF is closing down. I am now in the awkward postion of realising that there are people out there who want the stuff. It is very much the chicken and the egg situation with something like this. There will never be sales of big battalions, because the figures are for smaller scale skirmish games, requiring fewer to be purchased than say Napoleonics or SYW.

I will take stock of where I am at. One option that has been suggested is to produce a few trucks and simpler vehicles, which can be cast in resin. As early war vehicles were generally open cabbed, there is no need to make resin blocks. I will try this first, and see if things like the Einheits LKW, Morris CF 6 wheeler and the Belgian GMC truck can be made cheaply but maintain the quality I require.. This in itself will take some time. I’ll see what I can sort out. In the meantime orders will be fulfilled, and I’ll work on trying to get BEF on a more even keel,with a view to continuing."

[Darkoath]

I must admit I have been wanting to place an order but have been waiting for restock on the british vehicles...

Will they get restocked?

Darkoath

[AKULA]

If sufficient interest, then i'd guess at some point yes.

If you want one model, and you are the only one, then probably not - if you want multiples, and enough others do, then i'd say you've got a better chance!

Email Crouchie, with what you are after, explain you are happy to wait, and then at least he can judge demand for individual models, to see if it is worth doing.

[Darkoath]

That is a good idea Akula... I will do that!

Darkoath

[AKULA]

That is a good idea Akula... I will do that!

Darkoath

I'm not guaranteeing, by any means, that you will get the result you are after, but at least if Crouchie knows what real demand there is for items, it will allow him to make an informed judgement about their viability.