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Fate…
Fate at this point interjects, on the Saturday morning that I sit down to post a news item to the biggest miniature related site on the web www.theminiaturespage.com , there was a News item about an American company doing what we had planned in a similar way. Without Devil Dog Design (set up by J C McDaniel, an ex US Marine), TAG would have struggled to make an impact in a very busy market. Competition between the two new companies polarised a number of gamers into DDD buyers and TAG buyers. There was no-way that we could hope to win in a straight fight, their minis were as good as ours and they’re a US company in a market place that was 85% American.
Where we did win-out was, with our second group of minis. Seth’s depictions of the fighting forces of the warlords of Afghanistan were a huge improvement, and were met with much acclaim. US Gamers who had found DDD marines to their tastes, now had a natural opponent. We made definite efforts to play up an image of the “Bad-Guys”. Making minis that pushed the boundary of what gamers thought was tasteful. A mini of the worlds most wanted, horrific casualties and looting, were a normal day at work.
The Afghanis sold well, so we looked around for another opponent for US troops. Our attention was draw by many of our customers to “The Mog”.
Fighting in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, had resulted in a US lead intervention in 1993, which itself resulted in more fighting. Given a boost by Ridley Scotts excellent film “Blackhawk Down”, we made a range of minis suited to the street fighting in that war torn Capital.
The Miniatures were released to coincide with our first ever trip out as a company, to the Salute03. The show also saw the release of our second group of Afghans, this time including the Taliban and the final group of US Marines. The show for us was a great day out, and an opportunity to meet people we had only known as internet pseudonyms.
After Salute03, we were without a new miniature release for almost three months. Seth, who had learnt alot in his training period with us; wished to put his newly polished skills to work on a definitive group of US troopers, He chose to make Rangers for Somalia and the Second Gulf War.
Working on new dolls and weapons (smaller than those used on the Marines), these Rangers are still our best selling miniatures. Dynamic poses and a high level of detail made these popular with many gamers and painters.
The Rangers were made and selling when Seth decided that he would leave TAG to work for French Company Rackham. This left us in the lurch a little with a growing company but no sculptor. Thankfully, he had given us enough notice for him to be able to give us 24 final miniatures. The Iraqis that we made in this period (July 03) were designed to complement our Ranger and Marine ranges, covering Gulf War I & II as well as the Iran-Iraq war. The miniatures produced covered all the Bases of the Iraqi Army of that period by offering Regulars, Republican guards and fanatic Fedyeen Militia. Working hard we managed to get these made before Seth sailed for France.
That release marked the end of “Project TAG“and was the beginning of “Serious TAG”.
Up-until that point, TAG had been a side project for both of its owners. Steve needed something outside the grind of 9 to 5. I was working at being a free-lance mouldmaker and putting my knowledge into several other companies as well as running TAG on the side.But Seth’s imminent departure, asked some pertinent questions; did we want to continue? Who could we ask to work? Were we going to stay in the “Ultra-Modern” period?Steve was sure that he wanted to put more of his effort into our success and I could see that I needed to be more involved with the companies I was moulding for. TAG seemed like a future.
The decision was taken to find quality sculptors that we could rely-on for the growth of our mini ranges, luckily the first man on board was Seth, who having decided that France was a no-go returned to the fold. He was struggling with the U-M range and didn’t want to do anymore. He had received threats over some of the minis we had made in the first year and wanted a quieter life. His personal interest lay in 12th century Japan and had always wanted to sculpt a range of early Samurai.
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