SPARTAN PLASTIC ANNOUNCEMENT

THE  WAIT IS ALMOST OVER!

Dear Conte Plastic Collector

Thought you might like to know that the factory started running all 23 Spartan poses today..!!!!......then proceeded to close for a holiday until next Monday!!!

The production/assembly/packaging process  should be complete by mid May as there are tons and tons of these being made.... and with  any luck  and assuming all quality control inspections come out ok, etc., we should at last see these wonders in June. All of  what follows is advisory & subject to change. Please do NOT call the office for updates--we will post news here on our website when we know more!

Please do call the office if you want to pre-reserve sets.

I will be posting pictures of set configurations and poses and such on our website  very shortly.  I hate the delays on these more than anyone but we are a small fish in the world of plastic production and had to await our humble 'turn'.

In answer to some inevitable questions,..... these will be coming in scarlet Spartan red first. We are also doing some sets in bronze and silver although most of our feedback was 55-60%  or better in favor of the scarlet and the production run has been weighted accordingly. There are nine different blistercards. Each card will have 7 poseable figures. There are only 7 figures per card as the spears/shields and size of the figures themselves makes it tougher to fit more onto our usual card!   The 23 poses have come from our fine pewter line/range but it should be noted that these 23 can be posed or moved into countless (literally hundreds) of unique poses.  This is the first time our plastic poses have had more undercuts and less blockout than our fine pewter figures!

Five of the poses will be on every card & each of the nine cards will have 2 unique poses only available on that particular card. The 5 poses which repeat are the 3 'phalanx' poses(rows 1,2 & 3) and the 2 'shield wall' poses which everyone needs loads of .  The other 18 unique poses include 4 figures in bare or bandaged head, one with a pulled back helmet and everyone else helmeted.  The officer has a  unique 'transverse crest" helmet. Please, no whining about needing to buy all nine cards to acquire all 23 poses..........true Spartans would never whine....

As debuted  & acclaimed at OTSN these fellows are poseable and generally have removable/interchangeable heads/helmets, moveable arms/wrists and in some cases forearms which swivel. Weapons are also generally interchangeable.  Ugly 'blockout' so common to plastic figures has been virtually eliminated......one can 'pull back' cheek guards as an example and find a fully detailed face underneath!!!

These are without a doubt the best plastic figures we have made to date and have 'pushed the engineering & molding envelope" more than I originally had thought possible.  I hope the long wait will be more than justified when collectors finally see these miracles .....the tremendous upfront costs on sculpting and mold making (double what we usually spend) are clearly worth it when you behold one of these creations.

As others have been reporting, prices are really rising in China with both labor and the cost of plastic skyrocketing.   Suggested Retail on each card looks to be approximately $22.00 although I am still trying to finalize this. Final details should be available before the end of May.   Anyone wanting to pre-reserve sets can let the office know any time you'd like...you will -of course- get the best possible 'deal' which is finalized for early buyers....At the outset we will probably ONLY be filling orders for all 9 sets at one time in order to allow us to maximize the number of sets  which we can sort, pack and which we can rush out......when things slow down, we'll probably  allow folks to pick & choose sets by set number or order less than the 9 sets but for right now we are only accepting reservations for all 9 sets at one time.

I'm contemplating a early buyer special---probably the first 300 ( a fitting number methinks?)-- being able to receive a single color pewter--scarlet or bronze- Leonidas figure by buying all 9 different  sets and sending in 'proof of purchase' coupons which will be on each package.  (Naturally, those who buy direct from us will not have to do the proof of purchase 'thang' as we'll know automatically that you bought all sets).  The Leonidas figure probably won't be available for a few months after we start selling the blistercards......I may offer something else instead but as of today, I think Leo deserves the star treatment!

I may be forced to limit each customer to buying no more than 45 cards(315 figures? ) in any one color at the outset to make sure everyone has a chance to get their '300"......I am hearing from alot of dealers/collectors outrageous needs for these handsome devils and have doubled our factory order and hope we have enough to meet demand.

Personally, i am planning on using some silver Spartans as Greek allies to help defend 'the pass'.....smaller numbers of silver and bronze sets will also be available.

Oh yes, Immortals are in process now and depending upon cash flow and sales of the Spartans look likely for  late 2008...sooner if Spartan sales are robust.

Thanks! Hail Leonidas!

RC