VIKING RAID PLAYSET

Status
As most of you know, we have been working night & day to try to complete a new playset in time for Christmas for y'all, as a number of you have encouraged us to try and do so...... Inasmuch as I know the excitement of a new playset under the tree on the morning of the 25th we've been doing everything we can to deliver ........

As of December 5th, we have the first 100 of the Viking ships with tan resin crew in the warehouse & ready to ship. We also have the plastic Vikings and Saxons in stock which will go with this set.

We are awaiting delivery of the exclusive polyurethane Vikings, Saxons, Monks and terrain bases plus accessories from the supplier. 100 sets of these have been promised in time for Christmas delivery and I believe this likely to occur. We are keeping our fingers crossed.

Due to the size of the Viking ships, we are producing these playsets in increments of 100 pieces as we just don’t have the room to store 350 extra Viking ships (because of all of the other new product which is arriving). The message here is that we will be able to deliver 100 of these between now and January. After that there will undoubtedly be a delay on the shipping of the next batch of playsets--possibly until March--as we await more Viking ships to arrive from our already overburdened factory.

We will be releasing a series of Viking Raid playsets over the next year with the hope being to have all of this on display (and for sale) in a huge diorama at the 2007 OTSN show in Chicago. This is subject matter which is very near & dear to my heart and has been a long time comin........

The series is intended to recreate the intense action and mayhem associated with a Viking raid upon a fortified church/monastery and village. Followed by a 'relief column' counterattacking the Vikings....These sets probably feature the most extensive list of 'accessories' and figures which we've ever attempted for one historical period in one fell swoop. Over 70 new figure poses are finalized as sculpts as are the Viking ship, a Church, medieval watchtower, numerous terrain bases, celtic crosses, gravestones, haystacks, wagons, siege tower, battering ram, siege ladders, catapult, ballista (javelin thrower), medieval "Cog" (a wonderful ship for the Vikings to attack! and you know how much I like Medieval ship to ship combat!), various farm animals, treasure, castle walls/towers & such.

Our prior Medieval playset releases including The Village playset, The Tower playset and the Stamford Bridge playset are intended to mesh nicely with all of the new additions coming via these Viking Raid sets to create an incredible medieval world unlike anything ever seen in toy soldier scale.

My ultimate plan is to be able to recreate some of the larger Viking raids and sieges (such as Paris in the 800's where a reported 1000 Viking ships sailed up the Seine River and besieged the city complete with siege equipment) as well as the small versions where one shipload of Vikings stopped off at a small village to do a little shopping. ...or souvenir hunting....

It currently looks as though 3 separate playsets will be released in the next year or so. Each will include all sorts of poses/bases/accessories which will only be available in that particular set. The first set "A Hot Time In The Old Village Tonight!" will feature the Viking ship and 'opening' action between the Vikings and their victims. The second set "Wail of the Valkyries" will have the fortified Church , siege ladders and all sorts of Vikings attacking and Monks & villagers defending and or running for their lives, and the first signs of the 'relief column' coming to aid the villagers. The third "Thor's Hammer" will up the ante a little with the Vikings actually attacking a 'castle' while castle defenders/ men at arms defend against siege towers, battering rams and such. And somewhere along the line we'll also unleash the COG ...

Playset #1 looks likely to ship in time for Christmas 06. #2 possibly late Spring 07. #3 in time for OTSN and the Hackensack toy shows. It all depends upon our suppliers responding to our needs, which is at times extremely frustrating. Photos of #1 will be placed on our web site very soon along with some peeks of sets #2 and #3 as the sculpting is 90% done on these. Many of our photos will show parts from the different playsets 'mixed together' as well as huts from past Medieval playsets. Please be careful to read and view the playset specific photos/descriptions before ordering.

What About The Painted Pewter Collectors?
I'm pleased to report that everything being shown for playsets and plastics will also be available in painted pewter versions during 2007. Just as soon as the factory can 'catch up' with our Spartans, BOSS and SOS pewter sets they will be starting upon this complete Viking range for metal collectors......

--The Viking Ship with a tan resin crew. This is the same hand-painted ship which sells to metal collectors with a painted crew for $349 or higher. There are 29 crew members consisting of the helmsman and 28 rowers. The ship has room for 26 rowers so you can select who gets left at home. The rowers are a mix of right and left hand orientated positions and while I thought we had 14 different rowers, I just counted 17 different head and body configurations in the sample playset I just looked at......plan on approximately 14 different rowers plus the helmsman (say 15 new poses for plastics collectors).

The ship is a thing of beauty and is over 25 " long and over 20 " tall. Comes complete with stand, removable sail/mast/oars/rigging, etc...... nicely detailed throughout--perhaps the single best large model we have made to date.

--Exclusive sculpts of a Warrior Monk attacking a Viking on a terrain base (all figures are removable from their terrain bases and of course have their own small figure stands; all exclusive figures are hand cast in a polyurethane blend made for us)

--Exclusive sculpts of a Monk being chased by a Viking as he runs past a Celtic Cross on a terrain base.

--Exclusive sculpts of a Monk on his knees with a spilled bag of coins with a Viking standing over him on a terrain base which has another Celtic Cross.

--Exclusive sculpts of the 'shopping' Viking complete with sheep under one arm, treasure chest under the other.

For those 'keeping track' there are 11 exclusive sculpts plus 5 large terrain bases (which are all pretty amazing)included in this set. If we use 15 as the number of new figures from the ship, this playset has 26 new poses for the plastic collector, plus:

--Signed/numbered Limited edition certificate. There will be only 333 of these sets ever made for sale to the public (a few more will of course be made for ole Rick to stage my raids!)

Ordering
As mentioned earlier, only 100 of these sets will hopefully ship in time for Christmas dependent upon the arrival of the exclusive figures. Once the first 100 are blown out the door, it may take us a few months to get Viking ships back in stock. Message: If you want this set sooner rather than later please contact us so we do not disappoint with a 'back order'.

If the exclusive figures are slightly delayed, we will be glad to ship you the ship separately if you are in a hurry and need something guaranteed for under the 'tree'...... but we hope to have it 'all' in time....let us know if you want partial shipments made....we'd appreciate the space in the warehouse.....

Opening price for the first 100 sets of Viking Raid Playset #1 "Hot Time In The Old Village Tonight" will be $299 plus shipping/handling.-which is my Christmas gift to plastics collectors as the ship alone with painted crew sells for this price or higher

Give Us A Hint On Playset #2
Playset #2 will have all sorts of fun items including a Viking chasing a pig while carrying a captive, several more sets of Monks & Viking interacting, a wolfhound attacking a Viking, Saxons being dunked in a well (presumably to loosen their lips as to where valuables might be), Vikings assaulting the church tower on scaling ladders, Saxons fighting back, a rather large Saxon woman chasing a Viking, Church tower defenders and so on......thank you for allowing me the opportunity to bring this period to life. I love doing this for all of us!