Jeffshiu's Miniatures 120mm WWII German Panzer Grenadiers (KHARKOV 1943)1944

[Nap]

I tried to order this vignette.....it doesn't work! No answer from Jeff, or he doesn't want to! Who knows.......what a pity, what a pity

Have you tried sending a message here on PF to Jeff ?

Nap

 

[Hauke aus Rinzeldorf]

Eine Email sollte reichen....er möchte mir kein Set verkaufen,weil ich ein kritischer Käufer bin der es gewagt hat sich über die Qualität zu beklagen! Dann soll er seine Figuren behalten und an andere Opfer verkaufen! Danke Jeff

 

[Richie]

Eine Email sollte reichen....er möchte mir kein Set verkaufen,weil ich ein kritischer Käufer bin der es gewagt hat sich über die Qualität zu beklagen! Dann soll er seine Figuren behalten und an andere Opfer verkaufen! Danke Jeff

Your not in the elite 50, personally I think he should be excluded from this forum the way he conducts his business and the way he treats genuine pF members.

 

[Hauke aus Rinzeldorf]

Ich habe noch so viele Sets von ihm die ich bauen muss.....dass werde ich auch tun,aber ich werde sie dann als unbekannt benennen! Damit er nicht so viel Arbeit hat mit Leuten die sich sowas leisten wollen .....ich sehe keinen Grund ihm noch mehr Geld zu schicken, die werden komischerweise auch von anderen Leuten Angeboten,das müsse dann wohl Zweigstellen sein oder Unterhändler!

 

[Steve headley]

Hi Terry Again, just wanted to add my thoughts. If you suffer the amount of recasting that Jeff obviously does, it’s going to make you more protective of the product. He puts a lot of work into them and then to have it copied it’s bound to make you paranoid about things.

Do I agree with cutting back on who he sells to I think is a little drastic but it’s his business model at the moment and that’s how he feels is best for him as the producer. The lack of communication is a different subject. He should endeavour to answer them Evan if it’s to say he’s out of stock. Just a simple response would be good.

He has a good following no doubt about that but he should communicate a little more. As to excluding him from PF is In my opinion a little extreme. We have no idea what his problems are, it’s obvious some fans are lucky enough to get kits others are waiting to hear from him. But to exclude him does no one any favours.

I’m sure things will settle down and he will get more confident in widening his market again. The biggest help to him would be if people did not support the pirates who do this. But hey people love a bargain no mater how poor the recast is they will still buy it. And that in turn harms the the business model of the original company.

Don’t give up on him as frustrating as it is, showing support goes along way to showing the manufacturer that he has a market and that he can start to trust in hobby again and the positive support should help him to start to communicate a lot better.

Terry

TFB Miniatures Team

 

[bigtodd]

This is a never-ending bashing on Jeff when he posts. It is boring and redundant.

Jeff's products are amazing and I am a big fan of his work. The price for his figures are great. Other mfgs producing in 120mm charge 50% more which they are allowed to do. I have never had issues ordering from him and always received my orders quickly. I am not in the elite 50, I don't think there is such a thing. You just need to be quicker when ordering on limited runs.

I missed the Early bird Marina kick starter 54mm, 25 slots. I got over it and did not ask for them to be removed from PF.

We should just accept that each mfg is different, and are doing the best they can and just move forward.

 

[Babelfish]

If you suffer the amount of recasting that Jeff obviously does, it’s going to make you more protective of the product. He puts a lot of work into them and then to have it copied it’s bound to make you paranoid about things ........ The biggest help to him would be if people did not support the pirates who do this. But hey people love a bargain no mater how poor the recast is they will still buy it. And that in turn harms the the business model of the original company.

The irony is that through a combination of refusing to sell to all but a small inner sanctum of "chosen men" and poor communication, he is probably driving customers into the arms of the very same recasters that he's so paranoid about. So it's self-defeating, and the recasting issue becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Some would call it irony, others might say he's shooting himself in the foot. In my opinion, in his own way Jeff's doing as much to harm his own business model as the pirates are.

His latest thing is to ask prospective customers to send him photos of their hands (yes, you read that right ). For example a friend of mine in the UK recently tried to order Jeff's 1/9 dispatch rider figure, but Jeff wanted him to send a photo of his hand next to the motorbike kit before he'd consider selling him the figure. Apparently, the purpose of this was to "prove" my pal was a genuine punter and not just buying in order to recast Jeff's product. Not long after that I read of a similar case on one of the Facebook modelling groups.

And you say he puts a lot of work in: Well yes he does, but at the same time a lot of his recent works have been rather rough round the edges. This is as clear as day from some of the photos that accompany his announcements. I have quite a few of his older pieces (from the days when you didn't have to jump through hoops and beg to be allowed to buy his stuff) and the older releases are far superior in terms of casting and finish.

He has a good following no doubt about that but he should communicate a little more.

He has a shrinking following. There are still some die-hard fanboys out there, but I know guys who've said they won't buy off him any more because of the insulting way he now treats his customers.

As to excluding him from PF is In my opinion a little extreme. We have no idea what his problems are, it’s obvious some fans are lucky enough to get kits others are waiting to hear from him. But to exclude him does no one any favours.

I wouldn't exclude him either, but I can understand where Richie is coming from when he says that. As for what his problems might be? Well who knows, but we all have problems of one sort or another, and if you're running a business you work around it. Besides which, the recasting issue isn't unique to Jeff. Other producers have the exact same problems, but none of them have resorted to this sort of nonsense.

I’m sure things will settle down and he will get more confident in widening his market again.

Don't hold your breath. He's been like this for a long time now, and if anything he's getting worse. I do think it's a real shame though because he's without doubt a very talented and prolific sculptor and has delivered some excellent and original figures over the years.

The thing is, by far the biggest source of pirated figures is China, which is Jeff's own back yard. So maybe he should be looking a bit closer to home for where he's being ripped off, rather than assuming that guys in Europe and North America or wherever are the ones stealing the bread off his table.

- Steve

 

[Steve headley]

Hi Steve. I get where your coming where your coming from. I have to agree the showing of hands is a little bit out thier and I just don’t get it. I think what I was trying to say is It’s obvious he has issues that have caused him to change his business model and by the looks of things (I’ve taken a close look at his casting from the past to the present) the quality does seem to have dropped a little. This could be for a couple of reasons he maybe rushing to get the sets out in which case he is not smoothing out the master. Hence the ruff looking parts on some figures. Or the molds have had their time and need renewing both easy fixes for him.

At the end of the day he should be given a chance to sort out what he believes his issues are. Every company works different some are one manbands some like us are a small team. We all have issues going on both within the company and outside off it. I know from my time with TFB just how issues can come up and depending on the situation is how you deal with it. We have had our fair share of issues and it is hard to sometimes look beyond the issues and see clear light of day.

Bashing Jeff the way some of the posts have come across don’t help it can drive the issue deeper. People will buy from him others will look elsewhere, it’s what happens I personally hope Jeff gets to see the bigger picture and opens back up because he does have a market and it’s a shame he’s missing out on it.

Terry

TFB Miniatures Team