Attention Collectors!! A Major "Plastic " Announcement



          
BLOODY OMAHA PLAYSETS #1 AND # 2 ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR ORDER
"Preview Sets " Available @ OTSN Show in Chicago Regular Shipping Will Commence Early October
                 Spectacular "Specials" Apply To Those Who Order Early!



Dear Conte Plastic Collector,


At long last , it is with great pride that we  announce the simultaneous release of our first two "Bloody  Omaha" Playsets: #1 "March Into Hell" & #2 "Heavenly Cause"......Both sets will be unveiled  in special preview editions by Joe Baker (our web site and 'battle scene wizard') at the OTSN Show in Chicago on or about 9/22/06 and begin shipping from the warehouse early October. As usual, fantastic 'specials' will be afforded those of you who buy early.....

These playsets --from the box (full 6 sided artwork* including some  unforgettable Joe Baker  diorama masterpieces and figures from Sets 1/2 & 3))  to the over 30 new U.S. Army and Navy poses(27 of which are injection molded wonders) to the incredible landing craft (both an LCVP and and LCM3  with working 'drawbridge' or gate) to the full scale beach obstacles (not wimpy looking things like some manufacturers have tried to pass off as "authentic") to our most excellent Germans--to the beautiful action 'posters' --are a "labor of love' on our part. I think many will deem these our best playsets to date in terms of sculpting, accessories & playability. I know I do.

With regard to the exquisite color box art I should say that this is another area where delays occurred but the end product improved by quantum leaps..... Early on, I had planned to utilize a 'collage' of  b/w  photos  from the actual Omaha landings. When I realized, however, the full extent of how beautiful all of the sculpting was,  I turned to Joe Baker hoping that he might be able to recreate--with the toys--some images which looked real & immediate.
..and as though you were there watching the LCVP's & LCM3's crashing through the surf and up onto the sand, and our boys charging out into the maelstrom of death which awaited them.



The Almost Impossible Dream
In many ways, our 'getting this thang done' was our most daunting undertaking since starting the company.  The  outrageous costs of sculpting , mold-making and production of  all of the many components going into these "Limited Editions" (333 sets each) often made me question what I was doing.  Frequent suggestions that I simplify or cheapen these sets or otherwise rush them to market were always turned aside as I wanted to properly pay tribute to the real heroes of Omaha Beach.

To me, the American landings on the beaches of Normandy (along with the US Marines at Tarawa ) are THE  greatest  U.S. story of  mass bravery, courage and sacrifice of the 20th Century.  To do less than our best in attempting to recreate the Omaha landings , no matter the time delay & ever increasing cost & collector angst--as no one liked the delays, seemed horribly wrong.....what started as a another playset has now mushroomed into over 50 (yes fifty!) new GI poses alone---all aimed for the sea wall and the heights overlooking Omaha !!!!(and I don't even have the bangalore team, mortar team, Rangers with grappling hooks, etc... sculpted!! This is a project which never ends)

We could have released something akin to these sets 6 or 7 months ago with  only the  excellent first 16 poses by Ken Osen  based upon metal figures he has made for ONWTC and down-sized beach obstacles but I felt something was 'missing' and delayed the sets until (a) the incredible Robert Ortiz could have his way with the next batch of GIs and Naval personnel, including those wounded poses..... For me, one cannot 'do' Bloody Omaha without attempting to portray (i) the carnage and the hailstorm of death and horror as well as (ii) the crucial role of the US Navy in the landings (which has unfortunately been ignored by most toy soldier makers). 



In this regard, the "Higgins Boat" was often credited as the vehicle that won WW2.....to release an LCVP which was an abbreviated or stripped down version was also deemed unthinkable and we jumped in for a full scale model which led us into  unknown new avenues of sculpting and production....once we had an LCVP...we had to have a terrain base showing surf and sand....and once I had that.......I had to have an LCM3 in full scale to unload a tank and a platoon...and once we had the 'boats' we needed authentically scaled (huge) beach obstacles.......and so it went......so it always seems to go....!! (Two  of our new sculptors recreated these craft and obstacles and portend great things to come)



Some of these figures have required 5-10 separate molds for 1 figure.  Delivery of this set would have been alot quicker & cheaper if we had been willing to sacrifice the quality of the figures by resorting to standard  simple 2 piece molding.  I have always felt that we plastic collectors have always been 'short-changed'  &  continue to deserve figures which are  full round in animation with all the lifelike characteristics of pewter figures and which are not hindered by unsightly 'block-out' so common to plastic figures.

... One look at the faces of the wounded ...or these gallant men charging out of their craft ..taking cover behind the beach obstacles and I know the delays were worth it.  I hope that you will agree.



A Milestone

 While some collectors angrily denounce us for not doing enough 'plastic' or for taking too long to  release new plastic poses (the fine line between love and hate?), these Omaha sets have brought us within striking distance of a real milestone which should place our plastic 'efforts' in perspective.  By my count we  have released nine different  WW2 playsets containing 98 different poses for plastic collectors in the past 6 years, an average of over 16 poses per year!!

87 of these have been injection molded plastic figures costing approximately $5,000 each for sculpting , molding and all the extras. (28 German, 27 GI, 16 US Para & 16 Brit Para) An add'l  5 have been single color pewter and while there are 6 new painted pewter figures in sets 1/2 , I count them as 4 distinct poses. We have also done two figures in 'resin'( Para hanging on the Church & a slumped German casualty)...bringing our total to 98. Bloody Omaha #3 will take us to the century mark......

S
o when  collectors complain to me that we should 'do more' all I can say is that (a) we are doing what we can as fast as we can. ( I believe we have released more playsets & plastic figures than any other company in the past 7 years, and (b) that  while we love WW2 we need to save some money for other historical areas to be done in plastic as there are lots of Civil War buffs complaining we haven't done enough for them...or Viking fanatics clamoring...or Rev War addicts...or Alamo guys demanding cavalry and artillery or the missing 'North  wall",  or Foreign Legion diehards awaiting the archaeological 'dig',  "Ancient" lovers wanting Spartans,...etc....... The plastic 'playset community' is incredibly small , and fragmented even further by the periods which they 'play with' or will financially 'support' and our ability to produce sets and injection molded figures for you all is directly tied to  the support we receive.....


The Sets & Contents (see below for 'specials')
(As always, contents are subject to change at our discretion. Despite common misconceptions, we  are a very small company and often fall victim to the needs of much larger companies taking the attention of our factories (putting us at the back of the 'line') or to the size limitations of our small warehouse . We hope to be able to hand pack and ship approximately 75 of each playset during October. The 'next wave" of sets will be shipped as soon as we can but due to the size of these sets and their parts such as the LCM3 we'll have to do this in 'waves' so some delays will inevitably occur after the first 150 playsets go out as we await incoming deliveries ) 

( A note about plastic colors: the GIs are being made in six colors, I couldn't pick which i liked best  and we were getting collector requests all over the board for the 'shades' they wanted, so we've decided to release 3 colors for use with the first 100 each of Playsets #1 and #2 as a collectible
exclusive and a different set of 3 colors for the 101st playset  of each on 'up' as well as the general blistercard run. Collectors have asked me for years to make 'exclusive colors' so we've listened.
Each group of three contains  green, brown and tan shades. None of these 6 colors are the 'goofy' colors which debuted with rough early sample figure sets last year- I am still cringing over the day glow lime green!!!!@)

Bloody Omaha Playset #1 "March Into Hell"
Limited to 333 signed & Numbered Sets plus whatever I make for myself!
Contents:
---playset box
---100 Gi figures in injection molded plastic  of "Wave 1" poses in 2 special colors for the first 100 playsets only; These special colors will NEVER be separately released for  retail sale (with the exception of any small factory overruns which we may receive). The new GIs--in other colors will retail for $140-$150  for 100 injection molded figures when sold separately. 16 new injection molded poses of GIs plus pewter LCVP crew in this set.


---40 German injection molded plastic figures. Retail for $ 50 separately
---one hand painted(1) LCVP(the smaller landing craft) which sits on its own super terrain base(20" long) simulating surf & sand & 3 man pewter crew(Note this is not some wimpy half-assed LCVP like we've all seen before..this is the 'real deal' )Retails for $165 separately
---one(1)hand painted beach obstacle WW2-089(the inclined log on a terrain base) Retails separately for $32 (This is large 11 " long; contrary to the glaring  & inexplicable errors in Pvt. Ryan the low end should be placed closest to the sea when you set up your playset)
---two (2) hand -painted sets beach obstacles #090(the 'hedgehog' on terrain base); Retails for $26 each separately
---one (1) set  Battle Damaged Dragon's Teeth (you'll notice we splurged to get this made in cold cast resin instead of foam in order to avoid the 'warping' we've had in the past and assure a better paint job) Retails for $35 separately.
---one(1) set plastic WW2 small accessories -injection molded- including Rommel's asparagus, fuel barrels and such.(not available separately)
---one limited edition signed & numbered certificate signed by RC
---
one limited edition Joe Baker  poster
---one Omaha Beach landing map
---one copy of Ike's "Great Crusade" letter

---"coupon"-allowing playset buyer to purchase up to ten (10)additional sets of  each of the painted beach obstacles & dragon's teeth featured in "March Into Hell" @ 50% of retail price. This will allow you to expand or supersize your beach landing.....(i.e. painted $26 hedgehog on base can be bought for $13). Collector must pay shipping.

$299 Introductory Price plus shipping/tax if applicable/$349 Regular Retail Price(approx.$500 worth of items if bought separately)
Specials For Those Buying Sets 1 & 2 Below



Bloody Omaha Playset #2--Heavenly Cause
Limited to 333 Signed  & Numbered Sets plus whatever I make for myself to play with!
Contents:
---
playset box
---
100 Gi figures in injection molded plastic  By My count there  are 11 new injection molded poses debuting in this set plus the LCM3 crew in pewter.
---40 German injection molded plastic figures
---one(1) LCM3 (the larger landing craft/22 " long will hold tank and platoon) which does NOT have terrain base & 3 man pewter crew/like the LCVP one of the coolest things we've done.


---one(1) beach obstacle WW2-089(the log thang)
--
-two (2)beach obstacles #091( the tetrahedron/pyramid shaped device with 4 triangular sides and terrain base)
---one (1)Dragon's Teeth (NOT  battle damaged)
---one set plastic WW2 small accessories

---one limited edition certificate signed by RC
---one limited Joe Baker poster

---one Omaha Landing Map
---one Great Crusade letter-
---"coupon"
-allowing playset buyer to purchase up to ten (10)additional sets of  each of the painted beach obstacles & dragon's teeth featured in "Heavenly Cause" @ 50% of retail price. This will allow you to expand or supersize your beach landing.....(i.e. painted $32 log 'thang' on base can be bought for $16). Collector must pay shipping.

$299 Introductory Price plus shipping/tax if applicable/$349 Regular Retail Price(approx. $500 worth of items if bought separately)
Specials For Those Buying Sets 1 & 2 Below

Specials: If you buy both "March Into Hell" &" Heavenly Cause" at the same time you will receive FREE :
--100 additional GI's in the third playset-exclusive plastic color  
--an additional LCVP & crew & base

-- a 21st Century WW2 vehicle of our choosing--probably a Stuart Tank

Over $325 worth of extras and all you will pay us is $40 to cover shipping & handling
(charged when we ship these to you.)  These Color 3 figures are coming in the 'boat' and we will not be able to send until we receive them in late October or whenever. Extra bonus stuff will be sent when the  container arrives.

What's Next
Playset #3 will include at least 20 more poses of GIs plus German Tobruk Bunkers , Pak 40 and crew, different beach obstacles  and more.......most of these should be on display in Joe's rooms at OTSN....

After that,  the timing of new releases  all depends upon support from collectors and 'cash flow' in our plastics side of the business. Simply put, our pewter figures pay the bills and our plastic figures seem to create most of the expenses.......as much as I love plastic playsets I can't  keep rushing out new product for fellow plastics buffs when these projects either lose money or take some considerable time to 'break even'. When you are literally talking 'hundreds' rather than thousands of playsets, but the dollar outlay is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, the mathematics are very sobering...

Having  given the timing 'caveat', the first of the Viking Raid sets with a Viking ship manned by a tan colored cold cast resin crew of 29 plus some character figures in pewter and/or resin is most likely 'next up' ..  Some of this  including a Saxon Church, a whole brotherhood of monks &  new Vikings might also be on display in Joe's rooms. After that look for us to continue with Omaha  Beach, then probably Spartans and more ACW.  Five 'sets' which have always been on the top of my 'list' of want-to-dos in plastic are Omaha Beach/the Airborne landings, Ancient Greece,  Viking Raids , Pickett's Charge and Romans vs Barbarians. I'm doing my best to see these come to fruition. I  believe we've posted a few pictures of 33 new Ortiz Confederates which are intended for Pickett's Charge.....



Now that Nancy & I are moved in on the 'east coast' and empty nesters I hope to be able to attend more toy soldier shows and to see many of you in person as I value this contact and have missed it while living 'out west'.

All the best!

RC

Copyright © 2006 Conte Collectibles
Last modified: September 27, 2006