Nathan Caroland Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 Posted tonight on FoD. The house that Shae built huh? Well, there are times in life where you come to a crossroads. In many ways for me, at the moment, I am at such a place. All kinds of considerations to be taken into account and...hard decisions to be made. A few months back I finally got back to releasing stuff for Spyglass. You may remember various comments along the lines of 'vote with your wallets', with regards to zO. Well, you did, and the public in general did too. It's been cool that you guys rabidly asking for zO have mostly backed it up with some sales coming my way. Alas, the public at large did not. Not so much a case of slightly slumped sales as rather tragic. Eventually you reach the point where you have to do the sums and paperwork that you've put off... Spyglass is not making the money it needs to. I'm not talking big picture here. I know I've been away dealing with other things. It'd be unlikely that I'd return and be making money hand over fist (planning luxury holidays and so on..) without a build first. But unfortunately my profits don't cover my living costs. Frankly they wont cover my costs if I leave the rent out of the equation. Or if I don't count the rates too. A few weeks back I had decided to stop Spyglass Miniatures entirely and just do something else. I've since changed my plans a little but it's not exactly great news. Just a little less drastic. Basicaly Spyglass will be scaled back on two counts. 1. New releases. I can't justify the time it takes to produce new sculpts for Spyglass. Not as a rule. There's the possibility of the odd new release in the future if I get the urge to sculpt something that fits the ranges but otherwise I shall be stopping. Best chances for new figs will be zO. Mainly because I like the idea and, chances are, I'll have the urge to sculpt something now and then. But, for the moment, it's time to think about my financial future. 2. Sales. I will be stopping direct sales soon and Spyglass will only be available through a few trade accounts. I'll have a list of retailers sorted soon. I'll be wiping out the the Spyglass website and replacing it with a list of retailers page. So, somewhat the end of an era for me. I would really like to thank everyone for supporting me over the years. Especially Andy, who has let me pimp my wares through this forum. It's been a fun ride, but I have to take the route that will make the future brighter for me. Spyglass is not that route. As for the future, there are a few irons in the fire as we speak. And I've not been put off the idea of running my own minis company. But I think I'd do it differenty with hindsight. Easy enough to say but then the minis industry has changed a whole lot in the last few years. Cheers one and all. Steve B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricJ Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 yes, officially sucky Steve is a great guy with a lot of talent, If you're reading this, I wish you the best of luck in all your future endevors, and I'm still planning to paint anything zO I can get my hands on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gi6ers Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 SteveB also mentioned that Heresy will be selling the Spyglass stuff in the near future. I feel a little sad about this and also guilty of not buying enough of Steve's stuff. I wish him the best of luck for his future endeavours... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pr0fane Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 Yes, it is sad. But perhaps there will be a silver lining to this cloud. SteveB has been and continues to be, a huge asset to Dark Age Games. Not only as a sculptor and painter, but with excellent input to our creative process. I definitely wish him well no matter what his future plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveB Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 I'm glad you mentioned that input thing. Otherwise I'd get all guilty about not having actually produced anything in a (pun alert) Dark Age Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supervike Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 It takes a bunch of moxy to admit when something is not working, and even more to do something about it. You've great talent and that won't change. Keep your chin up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Caroland Posted December 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 I was surprised myself to hear the news and I'm sorry to see things go this way, but as you said, have to do what pays the bills at the end of the day and I certainly wish the best for you Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabberwocky Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 Good luck going forward! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jubilee Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 Sad news indeed. I suppose that means no Christmas Dot, either.. =( Good luck, Steve! /ali Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricJ Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 I hadn't realized Steve was working with Dark Age! I'm sure out of the loop sometimes I am looking forward to seeing your future works, whatever they may be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anatora Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 Valloa and I are very sorry about Spyglass's situation, but we will continue our support by carrying the line for as long as Steve continues to sell it to us. His work is lovely and we look forward to seeing his sculpts through his work for other companies and maybe an occasional Spyglass mini. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveB Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 I hadn't realized Steve was working with Dark Age! I'm sure out of the loop sometimes To be fair I haven't sculpted anything for DA in ages now. But I was one of the primary sculptors on the line right back at the beginning. In fact I think Grafter, Rizzen and Werner are the only people who have been with the company as long as me. Sculpted a few minis, painted the odd mini and actually wrote the background fluff for the Brood army (then second drafted by Huff). And I hang around behind the scenes at DA a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drake Farstrider Posted December 8, 2005 Report Share Posted December 8, 2005 This is unfortunate. I hope to be able to pick up some stuff after the new year Steve. No money right now. :mad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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