You may have read that last year I announced that I’d be ending my involvement in Tommy’s War at the end of 2023. Since then I’ve been giving a lot of thought about what happens with Tommy’s War after 31st December.

After a lot of soul-searching I’ve decided that I’m going to keep Tommy’s War running into 2024 and possibly beyond and the website at www.tommyswar.com will continue to sell the full set of figures for the foreseeable future.

What changed?

It’s been a difficult few years as I’ve been busier in my career (and recently changed jobs) and we’ve also had some illness in the family. I think it’s fair to say that after eleven years of running Tommy’s War I was pretty fatigued and to be honest I’d just lost some of my drive.

However, having a year without any new releases has given me a much needed break and I’ve got a bit of energy back. Ultimately, I’ve spent far too many years building Tommy’s War to let it go easily and when push came to shove I simply couldn’t sell the business or close it completely.

I also wanted to be sure that I can make sure I’m completing any orders, have spare parts available and deal with some of the questions that get posed from time to time.

I do receive a lot of emails from customers worried they might not be able to get particular figures if I closed at the end of the year, so I’m pleased to confirm that the range will continue for a while yet.

What does this mean for Tommy’s War?

I intend to continue to operate the website and mail orders, albeit in a more limited manner. I have no plans at all to release anything new and I won’t be attending any model shows.

My aim is to continue with the existing range (that consists of about 130 different products) and I’m working hard to hold stock of everything. Through 2024 I am to have stock of as many ranges as I can – and where products run out of stock I will be casting more so that they become available in the future.

The website is now updated with another significant amount of stock, I believe that this will mean almost every item is now available with the exception of the set “Gassed” (more about that below).

I’m planning on monitoring stock closely as ordering stock of any item starting to run low. When “Gassed” is back in stock then I think I’ll have every single release available. That will be quite a momentous occasion because I think at almost every point in the past there is something that is out of stock.

I’ve been fortunate with Tommy’s War that sales have always been good, and blessed with some fantastic customers, and it’s a nice problem to have really that when I restock those figures sell so quickly (despite casting in ever-increasing numbers)

When will “Gassed” be back in stock?

There has been an issue with “Gassed” for some time now, in that one figure has a broken little finger on one hand. It’s a minor issue but in a busy schedule I’ve simply not had time to look at the problem in detail.

However, now I’ve got all of the product lines in stock it’s giving me time to get that issue fixed.

First, I need to check the master, if the master is OK then we can create new moulds and fix the issue quickly. I have around 60 sets of “Gassed” in stock and only need that one arm casting (it’s very frustrating!). However, if the master is broken then I need Nino to repair the hand, this could take several months.

I’ll update the website when I know more, but it could be 2024 when the set is back for sale. But I will be casting additional sets (on top of the 60 I have in my warehouse), so once fixed supply won’t be an issue.

Moving on

There are a few tasks I want to complete with Tommy’s War. I’m overhauling the quality control part of the business so that I can spot missing, broken or incomplete parts earlier. I also want to redesign the front of the website so that it’s more attractive to visitors and views better on mobile devices. As part of this I want to overhaul the photography.

There is a lot going on in the background to make sure everyone that wants particular figures can get them and I’m optimistic for the future.

Tommy’s War marches on!