Price is indeed a factor hurting the hobby. Manufacturers are caught between the vice of rising costs of raw materials (plastic IS made of petroleum), exchange rates (as most of this stuff is made in China and shipped internationally, or at least sold across borders), and depressed economies in most of the world. Yes, Mr. Lemche, we are in a crisis, but so is the world, we have been here before and the hobby will depend on those companies that can weather the storm by producing the best product for the lowest price while making a profit - free enterprise at its best. The strong will survive. As for those of us who are consumers, we are caught in a vice, too, with soaring unemployment, rising costs sapping away our discretionary income we find we have less money to spend on plastic sets that are inevitably rising in price. And face it, demand for plastic toy soldiers is fluid - as has been said, when it comes to a choice between buying milk for my kids and a new set of Pommeranian Piccolo Players the decision is easy to make (sorry kids).

Seriously though, many of us have lived through similar times. I watched the hobby die for all intents and purposes in the late 80s and early 90s as it seemed every company making soldiers either stopped coming out with new sets or went out of business. How many times has Airfix gone belly up just to re-emerge somewhere else or in a new carnation? My concern is that the majority of the folks involved in this hobby are getting older and I wonder if we go through another dormant period how many of us will be left when we come out on the other side?

But thinking like that will lead you to a depressing state of mind. My advice is to hunker down, keep things in perspective, and support the hobby as much as you can. I have been privileged to become acquainted with several of the folks who labor to bring us our precious blobs of plastic and consider many to be friends. Most of these folks, while needing to make a profit, are NOT in it to get rich. They are in it for love of the hobby. Most are folks like us who grew up playing with the little plastic guys on their living room floors and dreamed of playsets and figures they'd love to play with. Somehow they grew up and managed to get in position to make the toy soldiers they dreamed of playing with as children. These are the guys I try to support with my hard-earned coin. You can tell who they are by the effort and attention they pay to their customers. Their love shows in customer service AND quality of their product. That's where my money will go and hopefully we will all weather this storm together and the hobby will survive for another generation.

Sorry I went on for so long.