That's what I call service!

I cannot recommend the North American producer and distributor of MiniFigs enough -- Tom Dye and his small crew at Game Figures Incorporated are on the ball! I just gave them a ring a few minutes ago to check on the availability of Prussian and “German” Austrian infantry standard bearers. You might recall that I intend to replace the figures that came with the Revell 1/72 SYW sets with heavier metal figures, so I can use the wonderful standards from the WarFlag and NapFlags websites.

Anyway, the man I spoke to, “Ted”, checked on figure availability immediately. He told me GFI had molds for both and, although my order is only for 12 figures, that they would “spin” enough to fill it. No problem. Best of all, he added that the order should ship early next week. Plus they already had my address and payment information at hand, so we were only on the phone for about 5 minutes. It was an impressive display of customer service. If all goes well, I might have the figures here in Central Illinois by late next week!

Since the Christmas season is coming (and the pigs are getting fat), I also thought to ask about the availability of Prussian cuirassier figures and horses. Stollen and Zichenau need two heavy cavalry regiments -- one for each respectively, of about 30 figures each. I’m going to drop a rather large Christmas hint to my wife in the hopes that she or “Santa Claus” might fill all or part of the request.

Well, Ted checked on mold availability for the SYW Prussian cuirassier figures and associated horse castings. In seconds, he confirmed that GFI indeed has all of the molds necessary for those figures too. How is that for rapid and personal service?

Now, if and when any of you in North America decide to call GFI with a question of figure availability or an order in mind, there are a couple of things you should do to expedite the process. First, visit the mother ship -- MiniFigs UK – website, to note the item numbers and description of the figures and/or equipment you would like. These are common to both retail outlets on either side of the Atlantic.

Keep in mind too that GFI might no necessarily have ALL of the molds in question. So, as the Duke of Wellington suggested, it is a good idea to have an alternate plan in mind should GFI lack a mold for the particular figure(s) you want or need. Based on my experience in recent weeks though, they have come through marvelously.

In sum, based on various frustrating, and sometimes disappointing, service from other figure retailers in the passed 22 years, I cannot say enough good things about GFI. More generally, MiniFigs has always provided me with excellent service, and I’ve purchased figures by mail, in person, and online on both sides of the Atlantic at one time or another. Well done GFI (USA) and MiniFigs UK!!!

A Little More Brushwork. . .

A little more brushwork on the first batch of (my version of) the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment yesterday (Saturday). Taking a different tack this time and addressing many of the details first before the white coats and other larger areas of uniform. The eagle-eyed among you will notice that I've painted the (dark) red stocks of the enlisted men. Always a difficult and frustrating item to paint, it made sense to paint from the inside out as it were and get that particular detail out of the way first rather than try to paint it in later after much other painting has been accomplished. Trying to reduce the need for later retouching of other items on the figures you understand. Hopefully, I will be able to get back to these later today after a second trip back to the Apple Store for help with a couple of new iPad issues and, following the return home, some revision of Google Slides for tomorrow's meetings with my students. -- Stokes P.S. And according t...

Basic Reds Done at Last. . .

S till quite a way to go with the current batch of 20 human figures and a horse (of course), but they're actually starting to look like something after all of the red distinctions. Quite a bit of painting in hour-long sessions the last week as and when time has allowed. Mostly applying the basic dark red to facing areas and turnbacks followed by the inevitable touch-ups to clean up wobbly edges and those misplaced, minute splotches of Citadel Khorne Red. They're looking like so many Austrian infantry regiments of the era at this point, but the eventual flags will turn them magically into the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment, more or less, of the AWI period. But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. One frustrating point (ahem) of sad discovery. I've started trying to use those Winsor & Newton 'Series Seven' brushes (#1 rounds) purchased last spring, and the blasted things simply will not keep a point. Very frustrating since I have heard over the y...

It's Early Days Yet. . .

M aking some early progress with Batch A of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment over the last several days/evenings. Nothing terribly exciting just yet, but the basic black, brown, and flesh areas are done as are the green bases, and gray undercoat. The latter two areas needed some careful retouching early in the week. Next up, the neck stocks. I might just do these in red for the enlisted men although some of my source material suggest they were black, but I always look for an excuse to shake things up a bit. Any errant splotches of red (or black) can be covered with another application of light gray before I move onto the next step. "Giddy up!" as one Cosmo Kramer might have said. -- Stokes

Bluebear Jeff said…

I've never ordered any Minifigs (although I've purchased a few in stores) . . . but Tom Dye always seems to be quickly answering questions on the various "Yahoo Groups" that I'm on.

His helpful nature (as demonstrated by his comments) lead me to believe your good service from GFI.

-- Jeff

http://saxe-bearstein.blogspot.com/

7:05 AM

Poruchik said…

I've ordered MiniFigs in the past from Tom and GFI and had really good service. If Minifigs ever releases a 12mm WWI range I am all over it.

I did purchse some SYW Prussians in 25mm and really like them, unfortunately not all nationalities are available in March Attack which is the pose I prefer for the SYW. So I'll stick to RSM's and give my Minifigs to a buddy of mine.

3:43 PM

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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