Warren's Fish Blanks

Jimmy is a good friend of mine. Actually he was quite pissed that his name was being thrown around with false info and asked me to let people know he never said, or would have said that. I cant use the words he said in regards to the matter on this forum though.

 

Thank you "Sotired". JG was who I was thinking of that I read in a post by Jimmy I believe somewhere on the internet. It was driving me nuts, thanks again!

 

Jesus Christ MB - it was an honest mistake on my part! I confused JG with AA! I was just trying to help others for crying out loud! I believe it was Jimmy that stated JG went out of business - I read it on FB I think??? Honestly, I'm surprised he didn't figure out my error right away! Please extend my apologies to Jimmy. Not sure why it's such a big deal, but if it's important to him then again, my apologies.

 

I'm pretty sure FishArt isn't trying to put Rich outta business. I bet that mistakes aren't good for business either, so I get that too. Maybe, Jimmy and Rich and Marty can work out whatever they need to from here on out.

As for a Warren's 40" grass carp....can't say I've experience, however, what are the other options?

 

I appreciate the attempt at refereeing 1fish. But, I'm pretty sure nobody reads most of my long winded posts anyway! I'm also pretty sure my mistake in this thread (which I've already edited out) had zero impact on Rich's business or Jimmy's good name. A LOT of jumping to conclusions and blowing things WAY out of proportion by somebody, but I'm not going to mention any names - ha! And really, there's nothing to "work out". It was an honest, minor mistake on my part and I apologized. That's it. I cannot do any more than that. If somebody wants to make a much bigger deal out of it than it is, then that is up to them with the way they react.

 

JG's were purchased by Waters by Klaus. You can order anything from the old JG line from them.

 

Ahh, I was trying to figure out how Jimmy lawrences' name got confused with Jimmy Warrens and I guess one or more of the posts are gone. So it's a little hard to follow.

Here is the bottom line. Just because FishArt had a bad experience with Rineharts doesn't mean that is the standard. I got a ready to paint largemouth bass from them off of the Warrens line and it was excellent.
Any business, Rineharts, LC, McKenzie etc that have to rely on employees to do finish detail work is constantly struggling with quality control. If you've ever tried to hire someone to do this part of your business you know what I'm talking about. I have had issues with every brand of replicas I've ordered from time to time (except Dave Campbell lol) . It's part of the job.
There are hundreds of fish out there that should have never got molded as they were poor specimens or a poor job of molding or positioning them was done. Some of them I did myself lol. When you make your own molds, lay up your own parts, finish your own mistakes it makes you have a little better understanding of what the other guy is dealing with, but no one who does fish for a living has enough molds so that he doesn't have to rely on other suppliers.
These suppliers are all good people trying to put out a quality product. The bigger they become the more they have to rely on other people to do the tasks. Stuff happens, get over it.

 

Not to beat a dead horse, but just so you're up to speed on what happened - I read a FB post (or maybe it was a post on here embedded in another post?) by James Lawrence - assumed that was Jimmy Lawrence that stated JG sold their line. Then, later on in this thread I mistakenly stated it was AA that sold their blanks, but of course it was JG. Mental fart on my part.

As far as your comments go - I agree they've all had some issues. But, IMO the "ready to paint" stuff at Rinehart has much larger issues than any distributor I've ever used. And I've used them all. IMO I believe the problems they're having involve two issues. One, I do not believe their finisher has studied fish at all even though I've been told she has an art background. Fins attached at ridiculous angles, incorrectly sized fins and even had a pec fin muscle cutting into the gill cover! Shoddy seam work, etc., etc., etc. And, I'm not the only one who has complained either. I would buy unassembled if I were to ever consider buying another blank from them again, but I won't. And this is because of reason number 2. Their poor customer service in their fish department and the way they do not back up their products. I don't NEED to win ever job. And the funny thing was Dan commenting that "we can help you build your business" w/o fully understanding that that goes both ways! You EARN my business by providing a quality product and good customer service. I want to feel like you appreciate my business. Rinehart = Epic Fail there... JMO, but feel free to search the archives here for more info!

 

Blanks id avoid like the plaque. Infact ill turn down the job if they are the only ones i can get it from. Research, Lake Country, Starfish. Id rather get a arp over any of them. Atleast with a arp i get it in 2-3 days, dont pay a ton, and can be pleasantly surprised if its real nice! Starfish have that odd rubbery coating, Lake Country unless a rarly used signature mold are brutal( parts dont fit, fins for the wrong species, bad anatomy, etc...) same goes for Research. All depends on what your expecting the final product to look like. You can put a smoking paint job on a shit blank and it will still look like shit. Put a OK paint job on a smokin blank and it going to look alot nicer.

 

Marty, The horse was dead long ago, you just keep giving it CPR.

 

Its a roll of the dice. If you can find one it could be gorgeous. You never know. Specially if its something that doesnt get alot of blanks pulled from. Ive got a original arp brown trout blank in the shop that is freaking fantastic( i usually get blanks from Mark Oslund or Dave campbell). You never know.

 

Mud bat
Your response for quality of blanks is very ridiculous
I’ve bought from all these guys good and fair
But the statement on lake country was wrong,
Out of hundred or more from them I’ve only had one bad blank and they made it good
CL

 

Have i bought as many as you have over the years? Probably not. Ive purchased probably 45-50 blanks from them. Id say 90% are what i would consider over priced junk. Mostly poorly carved scales, bad anatomy, un usable fins, heads that dont fit, extremely heavy, etc. If i was paying less per inch it would be a moot point. Everyones version of a nice blank is different.
ive also heard that LCR blanks used to be a whole lot nicer.

 

If you was around in early 80s your choices was bob davis and Archie Phillips and a few others,
Working with those you would come to realize how the quality has improved, and what it takes to make a fair to rough blank good

 

Thats why i dont use LCRs if ive gotta spend 10,15+hours fixing shit or buying new fins, i may as well buy i blank thats nicer and costs just a little more then what LCR is charging.

 

Man, I got a bunch of blanks from Bob Davis, they were pretty good but holy crap, those fins!!! Half an inch thick!!! Him and ol' Archie were the only game in town then.

 

Now these new guys want a paint by numbers blank
They will learn one day
Can’t understand how you spend 10 -15 hours fixing a blank

 

I remember back in 82 at piedmont community college
Bob Davis made a repo crappie and bubba Phillips skinned a 8lb bass in 3.5 minutes and was blindfolded
I knew Archie well, and the one thing he taught me was charge for what you do