Zaphod Bubblewrap-Sox
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Post by Zaphod Bubblewrap-Sox on Aug 18, 2018 6:47:41 GMT
Bought a couple of packs of HaT Napoleonic figs yesterday at my local plastic arms warehouse. Was alarmed to see the washed out colours of Rava’s beautiful box artwork, with greens transformed into blues and oranges to pale pink. “Poor quality control?” I asked my dealer. “That’s nothing,” he replied. “Just look at this!”, pulling out what I thought was a small packet of breakfast cereal, with a dot-matrix printed label. “HaT have stopped doing box artwork altogether!”
So, can we assume this is the future for HaT? Or will it only be reissues that get sold in this rather unattractive generic packing?
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Post by stevo0113 on Aug 18, 2018 7:33:22 GMT
Hat did go through a stage of generic packaging for restocks but the latest boxes seem to have reverted to the original artwork going by what I have received recently.
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Post by Brian on Aug 18, 2018 21:32:28 GMT
On Hat's Set 8031 Austrian Chevauxleger they have changed the box artwork (which I have just realized is on the back of the original box), both the old and new artwork are excellent although there is nothing on the back of the new box which is a bit of a waste. I am not of fan of the generic boxes either I think Hat used them to try to speed up delays in restocks, I hope they can now coordinate the box artwork with restocked figures thus avoiding the need for the generic box. Original front of box Original back of box New front of box
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Post by endeavour on Aug 19, 2018 9:49:03 GMT
I have to agree that the box art on many boxes is superb, however, I'm much more concerned with the contents and being able to get my grubby paws on them. If packaging becomes plain in order to speed up distribution I wouldn't complain.
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Post by Malcolm on Aug 19, 2018 18:39:21 GMT
Packaging is not only to stimulate interest in the contents but also to act as a painting guide. So keep the nice illustrations and maybe you can lure a few more people into the hobby.
Best regards,
Malcolm
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Post by waynew on Aug 19, 2018 19:31:37 GMT
I've always been a fan of box art myself and tried to collect the boxes for the art; sadly I just ran out of room to store all those boxes - I needed the space for more toy soldiers. However, if I have a choice between pretty boxes and getting my figures quicker I think I'll sacrifice the box. I could only imagine the stink that would hit the fan if HaT had to explain to us a restock was delayed because the printer had fouled up the orders on the boxes. I am glad the artwork is back.
I am careful in using box artwork as a painting guide since many moons ago when I first started painting my figures I used the color guide another company put on the back of the box only to discover they had it wrong some years later. I had to re-do an entire nation's line infantry. Every now and again I still manage to find a figure or two I somehow missed on the repaint. But the artwork is pretty and HaT has been pretty good about accuracy.
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Rupert Mitchell - Drum & Flag
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Post by Rupert Mitchell - Drum & Flag on Aug 20, 2018 8:04:08 GMT
As a retailer I find generic boxes a nightmare. This is mainly because it's easier to make picking mistakes when packing orders with generic boxes and also there is a need to run duplicated listings & inventory tallys for generic and original boxes especially when both types are available at the same time - as some customers do not want a generic box and it needs to be clear what they will be getting when advertising the product. Lastly for Google, Amazon and ebay a barcode EAN is required these days if products are to be properly exposed to customers and the generic packs don't have this. However all that being said I believe generic boxes were a relatively temporary measure and if it is a straight choice between no stock or stock in generic boxes I'd take the latter.
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Post by waynew on Aug 20, 2018 18:16:58 GMT
As a retailer I find generic boxes a nightmare. This is mainly because it's easier to make picking mistakes when packing orders with generic boxes and also there is a need to run duplicated listings & inventory tallys for generic and original boxes especially when both types are available at the same time - as some customers do not want a generic box and it needs to be clear what they will be getting when advertising the product. Lastly for Google, Amazon and ebay a barcode EAN is required these days if products are to be properly exposed to customers and the generic packs don't have this. However all that being said I believe generic boxes were a relatively temporary measure and if it is a straight choice between no stock or stock in generic boxes I'd take the latter. Points well taken, I think.
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