The Starting Line Blog

2012 Season Update

by Forrest on 07/30/12

In the past 2 weeks I have attended 2 shows in Texas and 1 in Atlanta, Georgia. It is good to get back on the road for what is a limited time this season.

My observations are that I have always treated customers as friends and after 11 years I saw some old customers that are truly that. Times may be hard out there and I appreciate that. I have tried to maintain prices at an acceptable level for these many years.

While I have been in the marketplace I am usually out of the way and hard to see unless you come looking for me. In the off season I will attempt to rectify that.

Come see me Thur, Fri, and Sat in the DCI Marketplace in Indianapolis.

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2012 Season

by Forrest on 04/14/12

I have made great progress since last season on the following issues:

Licensing: I have obtained 5 year licensing agreements with the following corps:

Madison Scouts

Cavaliers

Santa Clara Vanguard

Glassmen

Kingsmen Alumni Corps

Crossmen

I am awaiting a decision by the Phantom Regiment. I will still produce the North Star "Chrome Wall" snare line and the Royal Aires contra.

The Cadets have chosen NOT to participate at this time. Contact George Hopkins, not me, with questions concerning this decision.

Also the Blue Devils have decided to revisit the issue at a later date.

I have also made some advancements as to the long delayed Madison Scouts 75-76 marching horn trio. Photos updated as I receive them.

The new and improved Kingsmen rifle is at the mold makers and should be back into production soon.

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Licensing Issues

by Forrest on 10/15/11

As many of you have probably noticed I am currently NOT offering for sale painted figures of the Cadets or the Blue Devils.

The roots of the situation are as follows: My original agreement that I had with DCI covered all of the corps that I produced. I paid DCI based on sales from each of the corps figures.

Sometime while I was gone serving my country the corps decided to take charge of their own images and marketing. I was only told this in June of 2011. In order to attend future DCI shows I am now required to obtain separate agreements from each of the corps that I produce. I was in the process of doing that when last month I was contacted by the Cadets and the Blue Devils to stop selling figures representing their corps'.

I thought for a moment why would anybody turn down free money but I soon realized that they didn't object to the IDEA, it was the AMOUNT OF MONEY that they objected to. If the Cadets had their way I would have to raise my price to over $30.00 for the same figure I which is now priced at $18.00.

So here is where it stands. I have proposals out to the other corps. The Cadets want me to invest all of the capital, time, and energy while they make all of the profits.

The Blue Devils want to take another look in the future and I appreciate that. Keep your fingers crossed that everyone wants to play. Since 1999 I have paid over $5000.00 in licensing fees to DCI. What else can I say. I thought it was about the kids and the experience. Not about building empires and amassing armies and countries like we were playing Risk! I gusee I still have a lot to learn.

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International Shipping

by Forrest on 08/25/11

I have made adjustments to the on-line store to more accurately reflect the actual shipping costs associated with international orders. I recently shipped a box to England for $18.55 while the store only calculated $7.50. I ate the cost because it was my lack of knowledge about the properties of the new website. I will attempt to better zero in on the actual costs so I can better tweak the numbers for fairness. Remember I have to pay for boxes and shipping materials besides the actual shipping service costs. Canada is a special case since it is not much more expensive than domestic shipping.

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Still improving the website.

by Forrest on 08/21/11

As I rummage around the the new offerings on my website service, I am slowly getting the knack of how things are working. I may need someone smarter than me to clean it all up in the end but the main point is that the store is up and running. Inventory levels are good and the Finals 20% off sale seemed to be popular.

I hope you signed up to get on my e-mail list. If not go to the Home page and sign up. That way you will be always up to speed as to what is going on.

The new and improved Kingsmen Rifle figures are on the way form Russia and when I get them they will be off to the mold makers.

Keep watching for updates.

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