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Fighting 15s is clearing its remaining stocks of Eureka Miniatures and AB Figures and is pleased to announce that the incredible Eureka Meltdown sale is now on!

We have vastly less stock than a year ago when we gave notice that in September 2019 we would cease being Eureka’s and AB’s agent, but none the less we still have plenty to dispose of, even though customers have been taking advantage of some amazing prices over the past six months. Although the selection of codes may not be the best, it’s hard to argue about the value. We have very little left in the way of stock of AB Figures.

The meltdown sale is, as it suggests, terminal. If prices were to fall any further we might just as well melt down the remaining stock and turn it into something else. By mid-summer 2020 we will review the stock situation with this option in mind.

Fighting 15s is currently able to continue trading during the coronavirus epidemic, even with the UK in lockdown. We operate entirely by mail order and work from home. We are using Royal Mail’s click and drop service to buy postage online, and orders are posted when we make essential trips to buy food. There may, accordingly, be slight delays in the dispatch of orders. While the postal service is still working, we will continue to post out orders.

And yes I know it’s 1 April. This is not an April Fool!

Fighting 15s’ clearance sale of figures from AB Figures and Eureka Miniatures has begun: some prices in the online shop are now at levels that haven’t been seen for about 10 years.

All the codes listed are genuine imported stock made by Eureka Miniatures in Australia, and therefore quantities are limited to what is to hand: Fighting 15s cannot obtain any more of these items. If a code isn’t showing, we do not have it in stock. Stock levels are live, although to find how many are available of a code you have to add them to the cart until the system says there aren’t any more. It’s a quirk of the shopping cart that we cannot change.

We have rationalised the listing for AB Figures to just the quick codes, because a number of categories for some nations were empty. Therefore you’ll find all the remaining Imperial French, for example, on one page of the shop, not divided up into Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery and Generals. Items should still be searchable by code.

Link: https://www.fighting15sshop.co.uk/

Or should that be E-less day? But certainly not AB-day, which belongs in a bathroom. Yes, the bad jokes don’t stop.

With slightly more than two months to go before Fighting 15s stops being Eureka Miniatures’ agent, and therefore also AB Figures’ agent, what is going to happen?

Eureka Miniatures has now chosen its new agent. That agent takes up the reins from 5 September and may take orders from customers for AB Figures and Eureka Miniatures from that date, but no earlier. Up until that date Fighting 15s is still the agent and is the point of contact for orders for AB Figures and Eureka Miniatures in the UK and EU. For forthcoming new releases, such as Eureka’s 15mm Sumerians, the new agent is obviously the best point of contact now. All questions about stuff you’ve seen on the Eureka US site but which aren’t officially released yet or even available on the Fighting 15s site or on Eureka Miniatures’ site in Oz can also be directed at the new agent.

In accordance with Fighting 15s’ letter of notice to Eureka, Fighting 15s will continue to cast licensed figures and supply Eureka and AB Figures from stock for orders placed up to and including 3 September 2019. For new orders from 4 September, Fighting 15s will supply items from existing stock only. At some point we will temporarily close the AB and Eureka sections of the website for maintenance to introduce live stock levels – that way, when they are re-opened it will only be possible to order what is actually in stock. In practice, Fighting 15s will hide the AB and Eureka sections of the site sometime after hours on 3 September, and gradually reveal those categories for which stock still exists, along with live stock levels so that is not possible to order more of a code than remains in stock. The Gladiator Miniatures and Martian Empires sections of the site are ready for live stock levels to be enacted and therefore will not be switched off.

Licensed casting at Fighting 15s will cease on 4 September except to complete orders placed up until and including 3 September. The new agent does not have casting facilities at present, so all their stock is likely to come from Australia to begin with.

The new agent may decide to buy our remaining stock or if not, as outlined in our letter of notice, Fighting 15s will continue to dispose of any remaining stock. The new agent has already blocked me on Facebook, so the prospect of handing over remaining stock is in doubt.

Fighting 15s flags (Flags for AB) will remain with Fighting 15s and is unaffected by the change in agency. I will try to remove any Flags for AB branding as soon as possible.

Colonel Bill’s, Fighting 15s UK shows agent, will be unable to place new orders for stocks of AB Napoleonics and Eureka SYW from Fighting 15s as from 4 September. Because Colonel Bill’s has paid for and therefore owns its existing stocks of these figures, remaining figures will continue to be available through Colonel Bill’s while stocks last. Stuart at Colonel Bill’s will be taking on some of our Gladiator Miniatures lines of figures. Eureka’s new agent will be taking AB Figures and Eureka Miniatures to shows at some point in the future.

I intend the transition to go as smoothly as possible given that it’s a massive change. I look forward to your custom for AB Figures and Eureka Miniatures up to 3 September, and for Gladiator Miniatures, Martian Empires and Fighting 15s flags and figures afterwards.

Ian
Fighting 15s and Gladiator Miniatures

Fighting 15s’s visit to Salute each year is also the time I get an opportunity to talk to Nic Robson of Eureka Miniatures and Tony Barton of AB Figures about the future. This year there was a bit of a shock in store, because I gave Nic five months’ notice that Fighting 15s will stop selling Eureka Miniatures and therefore, by association, AB Figures in the UK.

Fighting 15s will, therefore, cease to be Eureka’s agent from 4 September 2019. The plan is that Fighting 15s will continue to cast licensed figures and supply Eureka and AB Figures from stock for orders placed up to 3 September 2019. From 4 September, Fighting 15s will supply orders from existing stock only. During the notice period Fighting 15s will not back-order items.

My aim is quite simply to take semi-retirement. The unsociable hours that have resulted from the pre-Brexit rush for orders have simply prompted me to take the decision a year earlier than I intended. I want to concentrate on my own ranges, on revitalising the Gladiator Miniatures and Martian Empires lines acquired from Black Hat Miniatures, and on my much-neglected hobby and garden. The Flags for AB range will be rebranded Fighting 15s flags and continue to be available through Fighting 15s. And Fighting 15s’ shows representative Colonel Bill’s will add Gladiator Miniatures ranges to its offering at UK shows. I will no doubt be able to find time to modernise the website and take the required new pictures for Gladiator Miniatures.

In answer to the obvious question: I would have to stop being Eureka’s agent at some time in the future, and this is simply a good time to do so. Nic, Tony and I remain good friends. I have hugely enjoyed representing their ranges over the past 15 years for Eureka and 13 years for AB.

Nic and Tony will be discussing what will happen about Eureka and AB in the UK, and what they intend will be revealed in due course. Please don’t unduly pester them for information: an announcement will happen when they have made a decision.

Ian
Fighting 15s