Expeditionary Force Greeks Are Arriving in to the U.S.

12 Responses to Expeditionary Force Greeks Are Arriving in to the U.S.

1. Ed Borris says:

   November 20, 2013 at 6:14 PM

   They are really nice I saw them at OTSN, I was impressed.

   Reply
2. Berthoux says:

   November 21, 2013 at 5:34 PM

   Great news!!! but a little expensive isn’it?
   TSSD will release some WW2 Battle of Berlin in March? Germans? Russians? Germans & Russians? Or just a playset with ruined buildings and the old reference?
   Best from France.

   Reply
   • admin says:

     November 21, 2013 at 7:25 PM

     Hello Mathias
     Yes they are nice, but I have to agree they are expensive.
     From what I have read on TSSD’s site, the playset will new buildings . Very likely TSSD will use their existing figures for the playset like Marx did. We will have to wait for more details.

     Reply
3. Don Perkins says:

   November 22, 2013 at 8:55 AM

   At $228.00 for a complete set you get a total of 56 unpainted plastic figures (10 horses + 46 infantry and riders). That equates to $4.06 per figure, which is almost exactly $1.00 more per figure than the Conte Spartans, when they were released.

   For a further comparison, that price equates quite closely to a brand-new complete boxed Barzso playset.

   It’s way too expensive, and such a price is difficult to understand, considering the figures are produced and come out of China, where production/labor costs are supposedly so much less expensive.

   I also have to wonder why the price of these figures are almost twice as much as the same company’s Civil War figures that just came out months ago.

   Is this a price-marketing test by the company, to see just how much the market will bear? Is Expeditionary Force trying to see if toy soldier collectors will pay ANYTHING to get new, well-designed plastic figure production? Is Jamie Delson their market-price advisor?

   A complete set of the contents, as shown on the TSSD website, really looks nice, especially in that vibrant red color. But as a person of basically middle income means, I don’t think I can justify such an expenditure, and will have to pass, just like I did when the exhorbitantly priced miedeval Russian plastic came out at OTSN.

   Either that, or I will have to reluctantly accept the conclusion that I can afford new plastic production, or I can afford vintage figures, but I can’t afford both, and will therefore have to choose between one or the other.

   Actually, the more I think about the pricing on these new Expeditionary Force figures, the more disgusted and angry about it I become.

   Reply
   • Ed Borris says:

     November 22, 2013 at 10:56 AM

     I arrived at my conclusion on the pruchase of the Greeks a little differently. I think my reasoning is easier and less stressful, while they are really nice figures I have little to no interest in that era, so it is easy to say I will not purchase them. Thankfully, my lack of interest in that subject matter saves me the difficult choice of purchasing them or passing. Sometimes it’s good to have tunnel vision.

     Reply
   • admin says:

     November 24, 2013 at 7:12 PM

     Don
     It boils down to how much you want the item and how much you are willing to pay.

     Reply
4. Don Perkins says:

   November 22, 2013 at 11:30 AM

   Yes, you’re right, Ed. Unfortunately for me, Greeks, Spartans, Romans, and Trojans are one of my high-interest areas of collecting. Adding to my stress (good word, Ed) is the contemplation that six new sets of equivalently priced Persian Immortals will shortly be arriving on the scene as well, making a sudden total demand on my financial resources of nearly $500.00 (after tax and/or shipping is added in).

   If the figures were not so well-designed and attractive, it would make my decision a lot easier.

   Of course, I could just wait awhile, to see if there’s some sale, or if after-market prices at shows are lower. At the Michigan Toy Soldier flea market last Spring, one collector had a large box of Conte Spartans (there must have been about a hundred figures in the box) that he was selling for just $1.00 per figure. But of course that was about 10 years after their initial release date by Conte. I really don’t feel like waiting that long.

   Reply
   • Ed Borris says:

     November 22, 2013 at 11:48 AM

     Yeah that is unfortunate that it is one of your main points of interest and the fact that they are such nice figures only compounds the problem.

     Well, when I am faced with a similiar dilemna, I sell something that I don’t require quite as badly to offset the expenditure. When I first started out I didn’t like to sell anything I purchased, but soon came to realize if I wanted to keep up with the new stock, I would have to unload some of the old stock. At first it hurt, but I soon overcame that feeling and sometimes I actually made a nice piece of change on the old stock I sold off.

     Reply
5. Don Perkins says:

   November 25, 2013 at 1:12 PM

   A few years back I sold major components of my collection at the Michigan Toy Soldier Show, the Indiana Show, and, to a lesser extent, at OTSN.

   I have come to regret selling almost everything I sold. The only exception was the nice Conte Viking Ship, which took up too much room because of all the oars which extended out of both sides.

   I had decided to narrow my collection because I was running out of room to even store much of it in a way that allowed me to access it in a reasonable way. I sometimes couldn’t find things I knew I had. I then figured out a way to better organize my collection. At that point, it was too late. And a number of items I sold I subsequently had to pay higher prices to reacquire, and I still haven’t been able to replicate all the Timpo, Barzso, Starlux, Elastolin, Ideal, Marx, and Atlantic which I let go, often at bargain prices.

   I’m still unhappy at the prospect of how much I would have to pay to obtain the new Expeditionary Force Greeks and Persians. But thanks for your thoughts as to how you’ve been able to create a reasonable, realistic balance.

   Reply
   • Ed Borris says:

     November 25, 2013 at 2:49 PM

     I know how you feel, but life is way too short to harbor regrets, so once I make my decision I live with it. Unfortunately some of my decisions aren’t always the best, but you can’t cry over sold soldiers. Of course in some cases I over did my collecting, no one needs 10 Gibbs Custer sets or 500+ 60mm cavalry figures in multiple colors. I certainly regret selling off the cavalry figures, but that’s the way it goes some times, the money at the time seemed more important than the toys.

     Reply
6. Don Perkins says:

   November 25, 2013 at 4:42 PM

   Yes, I can remember walking into the Hyatt-Regency room of Ed Borris at OTSN 3 years ago and being confronted with about 6 Gibbs Custer sets. You must have sold a few by the time I got there. I didn’t know Ed at that time but the site of that many Gibbs Custer sets all lined up in one spot remains etched in my memory.

   Reply
   • Ed Borris says:

     November 26, 2013 at 7:05 AM

     Yeah I sold them all off except two, sold my last one for sale at the last OTSN. I love those sets, probably because I was denied one as a kid and I always wanted one, I think I went overboard though. Funny how that works, I always wanted a Battleground set as a kid and never got one, but I have no interest in one now.

     Reply

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