ADB, Inc. Announces New Prices for Starline 2500 Miniatures

Jean

Mongoose
STAR FLEET ALERT
18 APRIL 2014
NEW 2500 PRICE STRUCTURE
=======
When ADB, Inc., became solely responsible for the manufacture and distribution of the Starline 2500 range of pewter starship miniatures, we conducted a top-to-bottom review of the manufacturing process and pricing structure. ADB, Inc., has today implemented a new strategy for manufacturing, pricing, and distributing this product line. This does NOT affect our other product lines.

DISTRIBUTION: These will now be distributed solely by mail order from our Amarillo, Texas facility. We will no longer be able to sell these to wholesalers or retailers because (to make any profit at all) we would have to raise the unit prices far beyond what any customer would pay (e.g., $20 for a cruiser). The actual cost of manufacture turned out to be higher than the original prices can support.

AVAILABILITY: If it's on our shopping cart, it's in stock in Amarillo and will ship within a day or two.

PRICES: In most cases, these have gone down. For a few large ships, they will go up. From now on, each ship will get its own price based on its cost of manufacture. We will not push every ship into a one-price-for-all packaging system. Prices will range from $5.95 to $19.95 (higher for battleships).

OVERSEAS: A new shipping option for miniatures (of all types) is available on our shopping cart that gives customers a more accurate cost ($24.95 to Europe for up to 18 miniatures from any of our ranges). Previously, the cart charged the rate for the largest flat-rate box (over $60). We then changed it to the much lower actual cost, but this left many customers confused and reluctant to order.

PACKAGING: We will no longer sell the ships in sets or boxes. We will sell only individual ships. Players will be able to design their fleet (for any of our game systems) and then buy exactly what they need.

QUALITY CONTROL: ADB, Inc., has always had a very high standard for quality control and has not had any significant returns of 2500-range ships dispatched from our warehouse. Our casting facility has always had a very low rate of defective ships that reach Amarillo.

ALL METAL: We have eliminated all resin ships from the range and will replace them with identical ships cast in pewter. The resin ships had insurmountable quality control and production delays.

NEW SHIPS: The 2500 range will continue to grow. As this Alert is dispatched, we have almost a dozen new ships in the pipeline: Kzinti DN in metal; Tholian PC, DD, TK5, CA, DN; Orion BR, DW, CA, BC, BCH, DN; Klingon C8 and B10 (in metal); Augmented Battlestation (in metal); and several more.
 
Go to their online store, some of these mini's are really well priced. Light Cruisers $12, Heavy Cruisers $13-14... Frigates and destroyers $6-8. 8)
 
Lincolnlog said:
Go to their online store, some of these mini's are really well priced. Light Cruisers $12, Heavy Cruisers $13-14... Frigates and destroyers $6-8. 8)

Yup - then add on £15 per order for postage to the UK and the price goes up. Sorry - but I still see ADB being the only place to get the minis as a bit of a step backwards.
 
Rick said:
Lincolnlog said:
Go to their online store, some of these mini's are really well priced. Light Cruisers $12, Heavy Cruisers $13-14... Frigates and destroyers $6-8. 8)

Yup - then add on £15 per order for postage to the UK and the price goes up. Sorry - but I still see ADB being the only place to get the minis as a bit of a step backwards.

This does work both ways. I buy Full Thrust minis from GZG in the UK, and postage gets pretty heinous as well. I've bought about 60 ships, paid about 73L (x 1.7 for USD)...
 
Rick, if we priced them properly for retail, then all of the prices would go up. We ran the prices and two frigates would cost a US consumer in the neighborhood of $20-$28 by the time we add in ships, stands, commercial packaging, shipping costs, and handling (it takes time to inspect each ship and to pack them up; we have to pay Mike to do the latter and Mike and the Steves to do the former).

What is happening is that because we reject flawed ships, the price per ship goes up. (It also hurts that the price of pewter has risen dramatically.) The hidden cost to you (getting a bad ship, time spent contacting the company, time spent verifying that the ships have been shipped to you, time spent waiting for them to arrive or time and aggravation fixing problems) is gone. The hidden price of paying for commercial packaging is gone.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that distributors in England didn't want to carry the product. So rather than have a high price for US and "International" players, we went with a lower price for everyone, but it has to be bought through us.

That's where things stand. We're taking a huge gamble with this, hoping that you'll understand what is going on.
 
Jean - I do understand completely and realise that this is probably the best move for ADB right now - I had just hoped that the minis would be available over here as well. I will just have to save up and buy more ships in fewer orders!
 
billclo said:
Rick said:
Lincolnlog said:
Go to their online store, some of these mini's are really well priced. Light Cruisers $12, Heavy Cruisers $13-14... Frigates and destroyers $6-8. 8)

Yup - then add on £15 per order for postage to the UK and the price goes up. Sorry - but I still see ADB being the only place to get the minis as a bit of a step backwards.

This does work both ways. I buy Full Thrust minis from GZG in the UK, and postage gets pretty heinous as well. I've bought about 60 ships, paid about 73L (x 1.7 for USD)...

Heh - saw a similar post by you on boardgamegeek about this! I agree though - shipping both ways can be an expensive pain (I hear that the shipping to Australia/NZ can be even worse). That's why I thought being able to get the Starline 2500's from both the US and UK was a huge boost to the game - sadly not any more.
 
Back
Top