Yavid:
Here are a few HBG updates for you. First, the Neutrals are the next set due out. They are on schedule for May 1st. Second, not sure how long ago you checked the German #2 set, but it shows June 1st. However, I think that date got pushed back a bit since there were color issues and markups on some sets ahead of it (Minors and Russians). The Russians will be next after Neutrals since the sculpts are already done for them. I would think they may be done around June 1, but I will let Coach confirm that. That means a good guess for Germany #2 would be around the beginning of July, but it’s impossible to do anything more than guess at that right now since the sculpts are not even done. That is the most important part of the process.
To answer why nations were done instead of units:
Each set of sculpts are injection molded on a single “tree” or “sprue”. This sprue can only be a single color, like a model kit. So, if we did a set of all paratroops, for example, they would all be the same color. So you would end up with every sculpt in every color… not too cost effective. Plus, doing it this way also gives the flexibility of choosing a different color for a given set of sculpts anytime we want. Changing colors is cheap. Changing molds is EXPENSIVE!