Mierce Miniatures

[me_in_japan]

Bit of a delicate subject this one. I like Mierce, I really do. I think their sculpts are good, and what contact I've had with them has been commendably polite and professional, far more so than many other miniature companies I've had to contact for one reason or another.

But... (yeah, y'all saw that coming.)

I was one of the many folks who got burned by the fall of Maelstrom games at the end of October. However, the only models I was owed were all Mierce miniatures. The statement on the Maelstrom site said Mierce would honour all owed minis, so I figured it was worth a shotty and mailed them on their webform. I got a very polite, apologetic response, and was given another address to contact, which dealt with transfers of Maelstrom orders to Mierce minis. I duly did so, and again, received a nice polite response saying my order would be transferred over, no problem. This was in late November.

Since then, nothing. No goods. No response to any emails I've sent (all of which, so far, have been sent to the transfers address I was given.) Nuffink.

What I'm wondering is: Has anybody out there actually received any Mierce minis that they had ordered through the Maelstrom sale, and which were subsequently passed to Mierce? I want this company to be good. I want it to do well. But, at the moment all I'm seeing is more Maelstrom-a-like behaviour. Promise, promise, promise, but no delivery.

Will somebody please tell me I'm being overly cynical here? I'd really like to be, just this once. *sigh*

 

[grefven]

Shoot them another e-mail, I am quite confident that you will get help. I, too, ordered several Darklands items (worth £250 with the -50% off) with the MG fire-sale and I received them. Perfectly packed, perfectly protected. Yes, there was a small issue because I had moved address between ordering and the shipping. So I initially only got 1 of the packages sent (correct address on 1, the old on the 2nd). I received excellent communication from several members of the MM team and all was straighten out in the end.

Excellent communications, excellent service. I am going to continue shopping with MM. But I know there are other people that got issues with MG and rightfully so.

 

[me_in_japan]

Thanks, grefven - good to know. Yeah, I'll wait a wee bit till after new year and see if I get a response. I mailed them on Christmas eve, but obviously there's a fair chance they were already on holiday. We shall see what the new year brings. Hopefully minis...

 

[yxalitis]

I too, have had nothing but excellent service from Maelstrom, Eye of the Storm, and Mierce (yes, all three).
This includes replacement parts sent out for damaged stock, on three separate occasions, all sent no fuss, with apologies, in a short timeframe.
I nabbed some bargains during their 50% off sale, all delivered without fuss.
I know that there are some out there who will pounce on any thread regarding this company any type in 12 mile high flaming letters "DO NOT BUY", so I thought I'd offer a counter view.

I am extremely excited about their forthcoming releases, I have already purchased the Chimaera, Tree Ent thingy, Blood-Maw, Krull, Tarask, two snake dudes, and the new Cthulhu.

 

[me_in_japan]

I'm still waiting for a response from them to the mail I sent them on December 24th.

 

[dieusurterre]

British authorities probably caught up with them... As far as i know closing a bankrupt company and transferring all the assets so it can't be ceased it's illegal, so they won't last long

 

[Kalidane]

British authorities probably caught up with them... As far as i know closing a bankrupt company and transferring all the assets so it can't be ceased it's illegal, so they won't last long

The details made public in this matter suggest it didn't go down quite like that. You'll have to spend a few hours reading on other forums if you want to know more about it. It's probably not worth the bother.

 

[simeon6]

I think what Maelstrom Games did to their loyal customer base was scandelous. I have been buying from Maelstrom for the last couple of years and like many others, placed good sized orders in their 'Warehouse' moving sale - never received any of it. Dont tell me they didnt know what was happening becuase that is BS.

I will never buy a Mierce Miniature again. I look forward to confronting them at Salute this year if they are around. W@nkers.

 

[yxalitis]

You know for those of you who never received their order from Maelstrom, the LAST thing you want to do is to slow or impair the profitability of the new company.
You have two choices, harp on about your loss, and warn the world, OR support them in their latest endeavours.
Why on Earth would you do the latter?
If they go bust, no one wins, not you, not them, not any future potential purchases of their fine products.
If they are successful then maybe you'll get recompense for your lost orders, a business that is doing well can afford to help out when they can.
Food for thought.

 

[TrystanGST]

Ah - but if a company has already made off with your money once, why on earth would you continue to give them money, hoping to get it back?

 

[simeon6]

Ah - but if a company has already made off with your money once, why on earth would you continue to give them money, hoping to get it back?

Exactly. If you think Mierce will compensate those who were conned by Maelstrom you are very naive my friend...

 

[me_in_japan]

I think it's asking a bit too much of the philanthropic spirit of those who had money taken by maelstrom to ask them to forgive and forget. It's akin to having your TV stolen, the culprit identified, and being told to give him your house keys. Maelstrom took people's money. In some cases quite a lot of their money. People want to punish 'maelstrom' for that wrongdoing.

That's one side of things. But, it's actually not the view I take. I think maelstrom did wrong, no doubt, but I absolutely don't think people should take it out on Mierce. Yeah, they have the same owner, but the staff at Mierce are, I believe, not the Maelstrom staff. And heck, even if they are, what happened with Maelstrom isn't their fault. Rob Lane needs to be held responsible and pay back people what they're owed. The shelf stacker at Mierce? Not so much.

As it happens, Mierce got back in touch with me recently to apologise for the delay in my order. They said there had (probably) been a mix up at the maelstrom end of things, and that I'd have my outstanding minis sent to me by the end of the month. Obviously, I take all this with a grain of salt, but if they were just after my money, what would the point be in stringing me along? As things stand at the moment, I'm willing to believe that the staff at Mierce are decent guys, trying to atone for the bad name of their company's business partner. So far as I'm concerned, I'm willing to give them until the end of January to do so.

 

[morgueuk]

I think it's asking a bit too much of the philanthropic spirit of those who had money taken by maelstrom to ask them to forgive and forget. It's akin to having your TV stolen, the culprit identified, and being told to give him your house keys. Maelstrom took people's money. In some cases quite a lot of their money. People want to punish 'maelstrom' for that wrongdoing.

That's one side of things. But, it's actually not the view I take. I think maelstrom did wrong, no doubt, but I absolutely don't think people should take it out on Mierce. Yeah, they have the same owner, but the staff at Mierce are, I believe, not the Maelstrom staff. And heck, even if they are, what happened with Maelstrom isn't their fault. Rob Lane needs to be held responsible and pay back people what they're owed. The shelf stacker at Mierce? Not so much.

As it happens, Mierce got back in touch with me recently to apologise for the delay in my order. They said there had (probably) been a mix up at the maelstrom end of things, and that I'd have my outstanding minis sent to me by the end of the month. Obviously, I take all this with a grain of salt, but if they were just after my money, what would the point be in stringing me along? As things stand at the moment, I'm willing to believe that the staff at Mierce are decent guys, trying to atone for the bad name of their company's business partner. So far as I'm concerned, I'm willing to give them until the end of January to do so.

Hey buddy - I admire your compassion, you're a nice guy. but the truth is the profits from those Mierce miniatures you are willing to support are going to pockets of the same guys who defrauded people like me out of hard earnt money, not the guys stacking shelves on minimum wage...i dont think anybody should be held accountable for the fact they defaulted on a £100k debt except themselves. The fact there was a massive marketing campaign by them up until they closed the door encouraging people in our community like me to send them cash is DISGUSTING.

Our community, by and large, is full of great people who honestly just want the best for the hobby. What Maelstrom did to me I will not forgive and I urge caution to those people ordering from their new 'venture'.

Fool me once, shame on you.....fool me twice.............

VETO Mierce...the models are pretty crap anyway.

 

[grefven]

I have to disagree that the miniatures are pretty crap. Yes, some are not appealing to me, but in all fairness, the sculptors that are working on the MM items are among the top of the business (Thomas David, Stephen Simon, Allan Carrasco, etc.). Feel free to diss the company, but don't disrespect the awesome work of the sculptors!

 

[morgueuk]

I have to disagree that the miniatures are pretty crap. Yes, some are not appealing to me, but in all fairness, the sculptors that are working on the MM items are among the top of the business (Thomas David, Stephen Simon, Allan Carrasco, etc.). Feel free to diss the company, but don't disrespect the awesome work of the sculptors!

You are right Grefven, I take it back, the models aren't crap, just not all to my taste either.

 

[SkelettetS]

The models are not bad sculpted. but as the sculptors are commissioned they have nothing to do with concept, it makes me entitled to diss the models. i do like most of them though, just sayin'

 

[Pygmalion]

You know for those of you who never received their order from Maelstrom, the LAST thing you want to do is to slow or impair the profitability of the new company.
You have two choices, harp on about your loss, and warn the world, OR support them in their latest endeavours.
Why on Earth would you do the latter?
If they go bust, no one wins, not you, not them, not any future potential purchases of their fine products.
If they are successful then maybe you'll get recompense for your lost orders, a business that is doing well can afford to help out when they can.
Food for thought.

I can understand what you are saying.

But ...

This does not seem to have been a simple closing. Quite a lot of people lost thousands and thousands of pounds to Maelstrom.

Mostly the actions of the people formerly associated with Maelstrom feel to me like delaying tactics rather than any sort of thought-out plan, as if by holding off things just a little longer the world could somehow turn out all right. It seems to me to be sheer optimism, and perhaps blind optimism at that, to hope that they will change without some very strong evidence first.

Has there been any serious attempt to apologize for the Maelstrom debacle? Or to compensate any of the people affected by it? Or even just to apologize sincerely, without excuse or buck-passing? Has there been any indication that if business gets better they will go back and make good all the people they took money from?

After the way Rob Lane handled the end of Maelstrom I do not see why anybody would trust him without his first demonstrating markedly better behavior, let alone trust him to run Mierce or the Mierce Kickstarter properly.

This does not suggest that supporting Mierce in this ... mirage, pretense, ignoring of recent reality ... is a good or prudent idea.

I'm not saying Rob Lane cannot or will not fix this, only that he cannot expect to be trusted until he has demonstrated trustworthiness.

 

[me_in_japan]

I'm still pretty on the fence about Mierce. The fact that they're now running a KS campaign is slightly galling, as they still haven't sent me the minis I paid for in October. You would have thought that sending out the minis they owe people would take precedence over pulling in more cash. Or maybe not. I dunno - part of me can see the business sense in running a KS for their range. They are, to all intents and purposes a start-up company. Getting the funds to launch the range does make sense. But still, I can't help but feel my hackles go up at the notion that sending me what I'm owed is less important than pulling in new customers.

 

[Pygmalion]

I'm still pretty on the fence about Mierce. The fact that they're now running a KS campaign is slightly galling, as they still haven't sent me the minis I paid for in October. You would have thought that sending out the minis they owe people would take precedence over pulling in more cash. Or maybe not. I dunno - part of me can see the business sense in running a KS for their range. They are, to all intents and purposes a start-up company. Getting the funds to launch the range does make sense. But still, I can't help but feel my hackles go up at the notion that sending me what I'm owed is less important than pulling in new customers.

The whole pulling in new customers thing troubles me.

It troubles me to suggest that former customers of the company's owner should hope for its future success in the hopes of maybe getting their money back or getting the goods they ordered. First off, that almost never happens (although perhaps understandably, people who have lost wealth in similar manners often hold onto that hope, some of them for decades). Secondly, that's the sort of thing that makes people complicit in the possible losses of others, as there is as yet no sign of a change in the business practices that led to this debacle.

Mierce's statement reads like a shield against creditors. The mention of legal technicalities suggests that that will be the response to anyone asking for their money or goods -- that as the legal entity they bought from is no more, technically and legally they will not get them.

If the company in question has not shown clear, unmistakeable signs of fixing things, it should not be given the leeway and assumption of goodwill one would normally give a company.

Rob Lane made a mess, and this does not look like he is trying to fix it, but rather like he is trying to leave it behind. And I am very sorry, but in cases like this it is generally the people who are owed money or goods who are left behind.

 

[me_in_japan]

Well, I have to hold my hand up and admit I had some doubts I'd ever see my minis, but lo and behold what should be in my mailbox today but a package containing all the stuff I was owed by Mierce. Fair play to them - they came through and did what they said they would do. Tbh, when I weigh up the pros and cons of Mierce (as distinct from Maelstrom) they come out looking pretty good. On the down side, it took 3 months for me to get my stuff. Balanced against that is the fact that (given that they're, legally at least, not Maelstrom) they're not obliged to send me anything, and the fact that their customer service is actually rather good. Their emails were always polite. I rate politeness pretty highly, personally. Finally, their sculpts (at least the ones I have) are really, really good. Aragorn Marks did em, and it shows. Good casts, too. Comparable in quality to FW or maybe even Studio McVey.

So, would I buy from them again?

y'know, I honestly probably would. Tip of the cap to Mierce minis. Credit where it's due. Ya done good, chaps.