How it all began...
Arcane Miniatures has now been in operation since
Spring of 2003. Initially it was begun as a miniatures
painting service, starting with the inevitable Ebay
sales and growing successful commission based business.
Then, one day I discovered Rackham's Confrontation
range online, and had one of those 'what if' moments.
Looking around for more of these fantastic figures,
it was clear that there were limited places to buy
from, and it coincided with a period of time where
I was getting more and more fed up with the office
routine and having a 'proper' job - I wanted to
be painting more minis!
World domination
is planned...
So, in December 2003 a tentative enquiry was sent
over to the UK distributor of the Confrontation
range. Were they interested in having a new retailer
on their books? A web based one? And, by golly,
they were!
Fast forward 3 months and the first box of goodies
arrived. It was like having Christmas all over again,
except this time I'd have to sell (sob) these figures
and start making some cash. The first shopping version
of this website was put together, a few dozen box
sets and blister packs were posted on Ebay, and
- slowly but surely - sales began to come in.
Sell more ranges?
OK!
It was pretty clear almost immediately that Confrontation
on its own was not going to make anyone a millionaire.
So, teeth gritted and sphincter held, more ranges
were ordered - Warmachine, Dark Age, Starship Troopers...
slowly, the product selection began to flesh out,
and as it did so sales began to go up.
By early 2005 it was pretty clear that this project
had legs, and it was shortly after this that I gave
up the full time job to concentrate on Arcane Miniatures
full time. Now things had become a little more serious,
but everyone - friends, family and customers - was
very supportive.
There's blady hundreds
of them...
Since that point, it really has been a case of finding
fantastic new ranges to sell. Despite the gloomy
predictions that surround this hobby, I can't think
of a better period in which to be involved with
it. The sheer amount of high quality miniatures
available is staggering, and it's a privilege to
be bringing some of the lesser known names into
the UK and making them more widely available.
So, next steps? Well, world domination is still
probably a *little* way off (maybe in 2008!) but
there's plenty of life left in this hobby for the
far foreseeable future... and while there is, Arcane
Miniatures will be here to promote and sell as many
ranges as it can physically handle.
Happy shopping,
Russ @ Arcane
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