Forthcoming Restocks List

Dec 20, 2017 19:05:12 GMT steve said:

Yes as said before Hat makes better figures but HaT  is miles in  front customer care & information they (HaT) would have answered with complete  list & shown a  cheeky photo of a figure from a upcoming new set that had not been announced  before.

I have always found HaT's release programme to be a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma

Which is, surely, half the fun?!?

Dec 22, 2017 18:51:28 GMT steve said:

Are we still talking about plastic soldiers?.

Well, I hope so!

Dec 23, 2017 1:50:25 GMT Graeme said:

Dec 22, 2017 17:11:52 GMT steve said:

they also post pictures of newly sculpted figures without  revealing the sets name & people go on the forum to guess the set, in this day & age customers need this level of service & I just hope hat is capable of providing it to there loyal customers.

Perhaps you are very VERY new to the HaT forum but HaT has posted pictures of every figure that is in the pipeline. They had sculpts made for 10 years or more worth of sets at the same time and showed us the very first "roughs" that came off the sculpters bench and invited us to comment on them. In the case of the WWI French artillery they showed us figs wearing greatcoats like the French infantry. Some knowledgable people here pointed out the artillery should be wearing short tunics and two weeks later we were shown sculpts of WWI French artillery wearing short tunics. HaT changed the whole set! As far as I can tell HaT is the only 1/72 plastic figure producer that has EVER done that.

In addition to the roughs, when the intermediate figures were made HaT posted pictures of them. When the final masters were made HaT posted pictures of them. And when test shots of the sprues were run HaT posted pictures of them.

When the Prussian Landwehr were made we got to choose numbers of each pose, what size the figures should be and even what free bonus giveaways we'd like to have

I've noticed on the HaT site that people have commented that the New Zealenders shouldn't be wearing lemon squeezer hats on the battlefield, that Highlander officers shouldn't be wearing kilts on the battlefield, that machine gunners are in the wrong pose and that various sets of troops are equipped with weapons that didn't exist at the time. Were any of these mistakes fixed? No! Why? Because the pics were not shown on the forum untill the masters had already been made and were ready to go into production. HaT is the only company that involves us from the very start of production and allows us to suggest changes. And, of course HaT doesn't have to wory about telling us which old sets will be re-stocked because their moulds are not reusable.

There has been a lot of talk about how much better HaT is now but looking at the obvious improvements I can't see anything they haven't coppied from HaT, including, I suspect, using the same sculptors.

HaT has told us that a new set takes about a year to produce. what would updates twice a week tell us? "yeah we're still making 'em", Yeah we're still making 'em".

As to the current restocks, just my speculation but perhaps HaT is making sure that all of the restock runs are successful before anouncing what is being restocked. Recalling the amount of vitriolic nastiness they had to endure on the old forum when a set was lost due to circumstances probably beyond their control I wouldn't blame them.

Regarding timelines, Hat used to post that sets would be available in the first quarter, third quarter, etc. But it just led to a lot of angry posts of the type " It's now two seconds past midnight on St. Wotsits day and you said we'd get the Almorosassawhosits in the second qaurter you liars!". Perople couldn't accept that timelines might have a bit of flexability in them so haT just stopped posting them.

That's the point, being the company that communicates with us more than any other has only earned HaT a lot of abuse. Nobody ever complains about Airfix, Revell, Italeri, Zvezda and all the others who never told me any flamin' thing (and in several cases don't even produce figures any more).

Clearly there is a balance to be struck between adequate communication from a manufacturer and unrealistic demands and expectations of the customers.

Evidence suggests that this is a difficult balance rarely struck!

Within reason, I am not bothered about the timing of the Landwehr.  I know that I have 10 boxes and bonus figures that, at some point, will arrive.  The most important thing for me is that they are fine sculpts, accurate and in usable poses.  We have been kept up to date when there was anything to see and we have seen some painted test shots and they are excellent.  There seems to me no point in succumbing to impatience.

The same may be said about the marching French. Surely there are other gaps in my collections to fill and stacks of figures to paint while I wait for these?  So, again, so long as they come, the 'when' is not worth becoming agitated about.

That said, I have experienced frustrations.  It is, undeniably, unfortunate that (a) the French 1815 Command Masters were lost, and (2) the 2 British Peninsular Cavalry sets were made to the wrong size.  I wouldn't be exercised if this merely resulted in delay, even significant delay, but what concerns me is that HaT has, so far, shown no sign that it will produce these 'lost' sets.

Rather, the 1808-1812 French Command set now appears to be presented, like the British Infantry Command set, as simply the French Command set, as if it were suitable for all periods in the Napoleonic epoch, which clearly it isn't.

Sh1t, as they observe in military circles, happens, or, more elegantly, we have to factor in the 'fog of manufacture', so I see no sense in becoming cross or critical that these problems have arisen.  What frustrates me is the sense that HaT has shrugged its shoulders and said, 'well, that's that then'.  Well, no it isn't. If these sets were a good idea and a helpful addition to the range when announced, they still are, and accidents along the way do not of themselves render them bad ideas.  There is still a need for these 3 sets in 1/72nd and many of us plan our periods, campaigns and purchases years in advance based upon what HaT says it will produce.  So, while many of us are content to wait in grateful patience in order to complete our brigades and divisions, we naturally become incredibly frustrated when a set spied in the offing is suddenly holed and sent to the bottom!

Frankly, I'd rather see HaT concentrate on delivering the sets it has announced, including the ones lost along the way (at least where other manufacturers have yet to fill the gaps they have left), than on dreaming up new ones.  As to the time it takes, well, it takes the time it takes, but it would be good to know that the decision had been taken to produce them and that they were on their way at some point.

Please, please (and we can try crowd-funding if that's what it takes - I will put my money where my mouth is, will others?), can HaT re-visit these lost sets?

My only other cri de cœur is for the re-issue of theHaT Light infantry Chasseur sets.  Hannants lists the action set as expected, but there is no news of the Command and Marching sets.  These are real gems, among the finest Napoleonic sets anyone has ever produced, so I would like to see a restock afforded some measure of priority.

Let us not forget that we are talking here of a very few, very small, flies in a vast vat of luxurious ointment.  HaT has revolutionised this hobby and I see no reason why it should not remain pre-eminent in many periods, both in terms of the size and quality of its ranges and its wargames friendly formats.

Thanks.

And keep up the good work, HaT!

Dec 23, 2017 10:05:54 GMT alanbuckingham said:

Dec 23, 2017 1:50:25 GMT Graeme said:

That's the point, being the company that communicates with us more than any other has only earned HaT a lot of abuse. Nobody ever complains about Airfix, Revell, Italeri, Zvezda and all the others who never told me any flamin' thing (and in several cases don't even produce figures any more).

Foot note from me :       If Carlsburg did posts on this forum............        But as usual very well said and in 100% agreement.

There is much to agree with here, though there is something of an apples and pears comparison made also. Plenty of people have said how unhappy they were about the aforementioned manufacturers. For instance, people have complained that Airfix seems incapable of producing a new figure set, despite announcing several promising WW1 sets; a depressing irony considering that most of us are probably here because of Airfix’s figures. I have read of disappointment that Revell have confined themselves to re-issues and that Zvezda has turned its back on the traditional 1/72nd sets, which included some of the finest Napoleonic sets out there, in favour of the expensive multi-scale Art of Nonsense sets. Plenty of people have ‘stuck it’ to these manufacturers for letting the side down.

But, once you have regretted this lack of manufacturing, there is little to say, and little sense in frequent repetition of the point. There is no process to prompt impatience, and there are no expectations to disappoint.

The HaT situation is different. It does announce new sets, it does update on progress, it does canvass restock suggestions and it does often say what will be in the next re-stock. So, there is an evolving situation upon which to comment. Some of those comments may strike some of us as impatient, or unfairly critical, but I take a positive out of this. Quite simply, it shows people care. It shows that there are people out there with a disposable income that they want to put HaT’s way, because they have a passion for the hobby and it matters to them that HaT survives and still produces figures.

Naturally we all cry loudest for the thing that we want, be they Napoleonic Austrians, Peninsular British Cavalry or Zulus, and there will be disappointments and frustrations along the way, and it must seem to the good people at HaT that at times they have an impossible task in trying to keep everyone happy, but at least they are hearing vibrant signs of life from a fan-base that still has a pulse!

What would be a shame is if this shiny new forum ossified and no one dared to express a suggestion, desire or, yes, a frustration or disappointment, for fear of a coterie of overly defensive fans, who clamp down on any feedback that is less than 100% positive. HaT should not be denied any constructive feedback. I don’t say we are in danger of this, but I have seen it on UK model railway forums, for example, and you end up with something that is less like a discussion and more like a catalogue.

Goodwill to all and best wishes for Christmas and the New Year.