Nathan Caroland
12-07-2005, 02:19 AM
Posted tonight on FoD.
The house that Shae built huh?
Well, there are times in life where you come to a crossroads. In many ways for me, at the moment, I am at such a place. All kinds of considerations to be taken into account and...hard decisions to be made.
A few months back I finally got back to releasing stuff for Spyglass. You may remember various comments along the lines of 'vote with your wallets', with regards to zO. Well, you did, and the public in general did too. It's been cool that you guys rabidly asking for zO have mostly backed it up with some sales coming my way. Alas, the public at large did not. Not so much a case of slightly slumped sales as rather tragic.
Eventually you reach the point where you have to do the sums and paperwork that you've put off...
Spyglass is not making the money it needs to. I'm not talking big picture here. I know I've been away dealing with other things. It'd be unlikely that I'd return and be making money hand over fist (planning luxury holidays and so on..) without a build first. But unfortunately my profits don't cover my living costs. Frankly they wont cover my costs if I leave the rent out of the equation. Or if I don't count the rates too.
A few weeks back I had decided to stop Spyglass Miniatures entirely and just do something else. I've since changed my plans a little but it's not exactly great news. Just a little less drastic.
Basicaly Spyglass will be scaled back on two counts.
1. New releases. I can't justify the time it takes to produce new sculpts for Spyglass. Not as a rule. There's the possibility of the odd new release in the future if I get the urge to sculpt something that fits the ranges but otherwise I shall be stopping. Best chances for new figs will be zO. Mainly because I like the idea and, chances are, I'll have the urge to sculpt something now and then. But, for the moment, it's time to think about my financial future.
2. Sales. I will be stopping direct sales soon and Spyglass will only be available through a few trade accounts. I'll have a list of retailers sorted soon. I'll be wiping out the the Spyglass website and replacing it with a list of retailers page.
So, somewhat the end of an era for me. I would really like to thank everyone for supporting me over the years. Especially Andy, who has let me pimp my wares through this forum.
It's been a fun ride, but I have to take the route that will make the future brighter for me. Spyglass is not that route.
As for the future, there are a few irons in the fire as we speak. And I've not been put off the idea of running my own minis company. But I think I'd do it differenty with hindsight. Easy enough to say but then the minis industry has changed a whole lot in the last few years.
Cheers one and all.
Steve B
The house that Shae built huh?
Well, there are times in life where you come to a crossroads. In many ways for me, at the moment, I am at such a place. All kinds of considerations to be taken into account and...hard decisions to be made.
A few months back I finally got back to releasing stuff for Spyglass. You may remember various comments along the lines of 'vote with your wallets', with regards to zO. Well, you did, and the public in general did too. It's been cool that you guys rabidly asking for zO have mostly backed it up with some sales coming my way. Alas, the public at large did not. Not so much a case of slightly slumped sales as rather tragic.
Eventually you reach the point where you have to do the sums and paperwork that you've put off...
Spyglass is not making the money it needs to. I'm not talking big picture here. I know I've been away dealing with other things. It'd be unlikely that I'd return and be making money hand over fist (planning luxury holidays and so on..) without a build first. But unfortunately my profits don't cover my living costs. Frankly they wont cover my costs if I leave the rent out of the equation. Or if I don't count the rates too.
A few weeks back I had decided to stop Spyglass Miniatures entirely and just do something else. I've since changed my plans a little but it's not exactly great news. Just a little less drastic.
Basicaly Spyglass will be scaled back on two counts.
1. New releases. I can't justify the time it takes to produce new sculpts for Spyglass. Not as a rule. There's the possibility of the odd new release in the future if I get the urge to sculpt something that fits the ranges but otherwise I shall be stopping. Best chances for new figs will be zO. Mainly because I like the idea and, chances are, I'll have the urge to sculpt something now and then. But, for the moment, it's time to think about my financial future.
2. Sales. I will be stopping direct sales soon and Spyglass will only be available through a few trade accounts. I'll have a list of retailers sorted soon. I'll be wiping out the the Spyglass website and replacing it with a list of retailers page.
So, somewhat the end of an era for me. I would really like to thank everyone for supporting me over the years. Especially Andy, who has let me pimp my wares through this forum.
It's been a fun ride, but I have to take the route that will make the future brighter for me. Spyglass is not that route.
As for the future, there are a few irons in the fire as we speak. And I've not been put off the idea of running my own minis company. But I think I'd do it differenty with hindsight. Easy enough to say but then the minis industry has changed a whole lot in the last few years.
Cheers one and all.
Steve B