Alliance Distributor in US dropping most of B5 miniatures?

[Centauri_Admiral]

I have to say that as I'm not a retailer I don't know immense amounts on this issue; but from my experience over the last couple of months [and for 6 other people in my club] the problems we are having getting ahold of miniatures is down solely and completely to the distributors . . . at least thats how we have been lead to understand it, from our local[ish] LGS.

I have been waiting for some miniatures since august 2007, every time we get some sob story, but then just recently we learned that the distributor for our LGS has been fulfilling orders abroad, over and above those that have been made in the UK.

As I said, I don't know much about what goes on in the background, and I can certainly understand how demand outstripping production, can bring about a very unsavoury situation but I hardly see that as Mongoose HQ's fault [not pointing fingers at anyone in this thread]. HOwever we were told about two months ago, that the company that is producing the minis over in the US, decided to take a significant proportion of the stock that had been produced to a convention. How true that is . . . I don't know; could be wild rumour but I doubt it. Whether there are inherant problems with getting these miniatures produced in the UK, again I don't know, but it seems to me that while alot of you guys in the US are frustrated at lack of miniatures, at least the bloody stuff is being produced in your country, we have got to wait for the lazy arses to ship across quite a vast amount of water before we can lay our hands on stuff. Or go out of our way to swindon to pick up miniatures, something one of my mates is now doing, the others have started ordering direct from mongoose.

Anyway, back to my original point, distrubtors . . . . to my mind, seem to be taking the mick. I'm personally at the point of writing the distributor that is holding back my stuff a very stern letter; mentioning something about the distant trading act, the sale of goods act, trading standards . . . . . . . and the fact that he has my money, and has done for over 5 months, might end up in a small claims court.

If more people who are being messed about by distributors did the same; perhaps it might scare them into pulling their fingers out.

 

[ShopKeepJon]

I have to say that as I'm not a retailer I don't know immense amounts on this issue; but from my experience over the last couple of months [and for 6 other people in my club] the problems we are having getting ahold of miniatures is down solely and completely to the distributors . . . at least thats how we have been lead to understand it, from our local[ish] LGS.

Yes, but you live on Centauri Prime. The logistics of shipping to you local game stores is incredibly complex! Send a Vorchan off to Earth and I'm sure Mongoose would be willing to pack it full of goodies to take back. :lol:

Seriously though, I only know about the situation in the United States. The problem with the major US game distributors not stocking some of the Mongoose product lines has been around since before the release of 2nd. edition and isn't showing any signs of changing. Mongoose hasn't spent much time pointing fingers, but all sides have been pretty honest with me when I asked them directly what was going on.

The good news is that some of the smaller, more specialized distributors are now starting to carry ACTA and should make it easier for stores to get it. (If they are willing to sign on with another distributor, which many are not. There are many good financial reasons not to... but that's another issue entirely.)

If somebody took your money in August and you still haven't gotten any product :shock: , cancel your order and try to get your money back. Then place an order with a reputable dealer.

ShopKeepJon

 

[wkehrman]

k3ndawg-

I find your avatar hypnotic... and nauseating.

-ender502

Kinda like k3ndawg in person...

...only without the hypnotic part...

 

[wkehrman]

Our LGS has had repeated difficulty with Mongoose either not returning calls or not completely fulfilling orders with little or no explanation. The reason the distributors like ACD and Alliance are not carrying the older stuff, is they're having a hard time order too and don't want the same hassle when trying to order large shipments of the older figs.

Mongoose has had trouble with Battlefield as well. They weren't able to keep up with demand and had to scale back production.

Things that make you go, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

That's odd. I didn't have any of these problems.

As for the distributors, that's not what I was told when I asked...

ShopKeepJon

As a shopper at the same LGS, I can confirm k3ndawg's story. I tried getting the owner to order stuff for me, all of the PO's (or invoices, or whatever they are) came back from the distributors marked either not yet available or out of stock. This occurred for three weeks. Then someone (msprague, I think) said to contact Mongoose directly. Again, three or four weeks of e-mails to various addresses (this is back in October, IIRC) came back with no response.

I content myself with exchanges with local gamers.

If Mongoose wants my money, they'll have to get through my LGS. The Ohio warehouse is too far to drive for my weekly games.

 

[Centauri_Admiral]

I have to say that as I'm not a retailer I don't know immense amounts on this issue; but from my experience over the last couple of months [and for 6 other people in my club] the problems we are having getting ahold of miniatures is down solely and completely to the distributors . . . at least thats how we have been lead to understand it, from our local[ish] LGS.

Yes, but you live on Centauri Prime. The logistics of shipping to you local game stores is incredibly complex! Send a Vorchan off to Earth and I'm sure Mongoose would be willing to pack it full of goodies to take back. :lol:

Seriously though, I only know about the situation in the United States. The problem with the major US game distributors not stocking some of the Mongoose product lines has been around since before the release of 2nd. edition and isn't showing any signs of changing. Mongoose hasn't spent much time pointing fingers, but all sides have been pretty honest with me when I asked them directly what was going on.

The good news is that some of the smaller, more specialized distributors are now starting to carry ACTA and should make it easier for stores to get it. (If they are willing to sign on with another distributor, which many are not. There are many good financial reasons not to... but that's another issue entirely.)

If somebody took your money in August and you still haven't gotten any product :shock: , cancel your order and try to get your money back. Then place an order with a reputable dealer.

ShopKeepJon

Oh man that had me in stitches!PMSL

I shall send my finest right away.

 

[MongooseMatt]

Forgive me for being cynical, but didn't we have this discussion like two months ago? And all that led to the whole State of the Mongoose and promises of restock shipments as well as new quality guidelines for miniatures?

Indeed - and we have not been idle in those two months. We will be making a 'grand announcement' in a short while in conjunction with some other things we have been doing, but as many people reading this will have a vested interest;

Our miniatures production is now completely up to date, with orders being turned around within days, be they small mail orders or large distributor restocks. A new QC system is in place to trap both miscasts and mispacks. The smaller distributors and retailers are already feeling the effect of this, and we will be re-opening discussions with the larger US distributors in the New Year.

In short, the problems have been fixed, and we are now moving forward on miniatures production.

 

[k3ndawg]

k3ndawg-

I find your avatar hypnotic... and nauseating.

-ender502

Kinda like k3ndawg in person...

...only without the hypnotic part...

It's good to know, no matter the forums, I always have good friends. :roll:

 

[H]

Forgive me for being cynical, but didn't we have this discussion like two months ago? And all that led to the whole State of the Mongoose and promises of restock shipments as well as new quality guidelines for miniatures?

Indeed - and we have not been idle in those two months. We will be making a 'grand announcement' in a short while in conjunction with some other things we have been doing, but as many people reading this will have a vested interest;

Our miniatures production is now completely up to date, with orders being turned around within days, be they small mail orders or large distributor restocks. A new QC system is in place to trap both miscasts and mispacks. The smaller distributors and retailers are already feeling the effect of this, and we will be re-opening discussions with the larger US distributors in the New Year.

In short, the problems have been fixed, and we are now moving forward on miniatures production.

Matt, ID spoke to Alex about a month (maybe longer ago) and placed a big order direct. . . they got a few centauri in with the rest due in " . . alas i don't think it ever got out of ohio! I want a kabintak damnit... and a g'vrahn...or two . . . ..

 

[MongooseMatt]

Matt, ID spoke to Alex about a month (maybe longer ago) and placed a big order direct. . . they got a few centauri in with the rest due in " . . alas i don't think it ever got out of ohio! I want a kabintak damnit... and a g'vrahn...or two . . . ..

That order did indeed get out of Ohio!

 

[H]

must be stuck in the post!

anyhoo, if the G'Vrahns never make it to ID, I'll want two at the campaign day thanks

 

[Centauri_Admiral]

must be stuck in the post!

anyhoo, if the G'Vrahns never make it to ID, I'll want two at the campaign day thanks

Sounds to me like mongoose HQ is going to get ransacked on the campaign day; I'll be trying to lay hands on:

An omega command
A poseidon
some hermes
some of the new hyperion assault cruisers [if they are about]

And depending on whether the order I placed with an LGS arrives before then:

Another sulust
nolo'tars
Sharlin

And some undisclosed drakh stuff.

 

[EDFDarkAngel1]

Heh. Let me tally what I have been trying to order for the past few months.

Omega x1
Poseidon x1
Delphi x1
Explorer x1
Hyperion x10 (I know, I know)
Chronos x2
Hermes x4

Ka'Bin'Tak x1
G'Vrahn x2
Bin'Tak x2
G'Quon x3
Var'Nic x2
G'Karith x1
Dag'Kar x1
Ka'Toc x2
Sho'Kar x2
Sho'Kav x2

Adira x1
Octurion x1
Dargan x2
Liati x1
Altarian x2
Darkner x4
Corvan x2
Haven x2
Kutai x2

Vorlon Box
Heavy Cruiser x1

Shadow Box

All of those have been sold out and unavailable since, at least, September. I probably could order them through FRP or something else, but my LGS can't order them at all.

Dark Angel.

 

[darklord4]

...my LGS can't order them at all.

Why not just get them from FRP, and then buy the LGS owner lunch a few times

 

[Davesaint]

Forgive me for being cynical, but didn't we have this discussion like two months ago? And all that led to the whole State of the Mongoose and promises of restock shipments as well as new quality guidelines for miniatures?

Indeed - and we have not been idle in those two months. We will be making a 'grand announcement' in a short while in conjunction with some other things we have been doing, but as many people reading this will have a vested interest;

Our miniatures production is now completely up to date, with orders being turned around within days, be they small mail orders or large distributor restocks. A new QC system is in place to trap both miscasts and mispacks. The smaller distributors and retailers are already feeling the effect of this, and we will be re-opening discussions with the larger US distributors in the New Year.

In short, the problems have been fixed, and we are now moving forward on miniatures production.

Matt,

Could you let us know which distributors you are currently using in the US? This way we could see if our LGS would be willing to order through them.


Dave

 

[Lordpappanqui]

On a bright note-

I just received my minis through my LGS this past Friday.

[[this was an order that was placed in mid-October, and I was told that the minis would not arrive till mid-January, but here they are and sooner than expected!!!]]

Now, I have to make the time to open the boxes up and put together the minis... 8)

 

[roegames]

As the owner of a game store, I can confirm that Alliance and ACD are not carrying most of the ACTA line. It's very frustrating...

However, Mongoose was very responsive when I contacted them directly. Tell your local game store owner/manager that Mongoose sells to established businesses with no minimum and a reasonable discount. They should be able to stock ACTA without too much trouble by ordering directly from Mongoose.

Please be patient with your local store. Ordering directly from companies is much less convenient, involves added paperwork and usually takes longer than getting stock from a distributor. Just remember, buying from your local game store is the only way to convince them that it is worth the trouble to stock ACTA miniatures despite the inconvenience...

Also, ACD is now under new ownership and their inventory is changing. If enough retailers ask about ACTA, who knows... It might be best to point this out to your local store as well...

ShopKeepJon

As another game store owner I can second what ShopKeepJon says. I have pestered Alliance to restock B5 ACTA and pushed it up the chain a few levels. Brick Wall there! However, let your FLGS guy know that ordering from Mongoose dirctly is pretty painless. You can have them contact Alex Fennell or me and I can tell them how to get set up. Alex would be a betterbet though. Thanks for supporting your FLGS though!!!