NagoyaHammer.com

Here is something wierd. 4Ground, one of the bigger names in MDF has filed for bankruptcy. The company is being liquidated and their debts written off. Bad news, right?
Legal details are here
At the same time, they have launched a new website:
https://www.4groundpublishing.co.uk/ and are operating under a slightly different name.

Seems kind of odd?

Also of note, they did a Kickstarter a while back which is currently 1 year behind schedule. Said kickstarter was registered in the old 4Ground name, y'know, the one that is bankrupt.

Now, hopefully this is all just a case of poor communication on their part and a consolidation of their assets into a new, leaner form, but unless you have any pressing need for new terrain anytime soon, it may be worth waiting to see if there is any fallout from all this before ordering from them.

Hmmn. That’s a bugger - I liked their stuff. The whole bankruptcy thing is a bit odd. Smells a bit like they got themselves into a situation with the Kickstarter, and are now ducking through legal loopholes to avoid sending people what they paid for, a la Maelstrom Games / Mierce miniatures. (remember them? )

It seems that it’s just some consolidation in the market. I will confess I don’t keep up with the number of hobby terrain makers but from what I gleaned there were a lot of mdf terrain makers over the past few years. And I’m not sure what the finances are like for such a business but it seems if you can’t stay ahead of your competition and continue to innovate, you stand a chance of being lost in the crowd.

Man, kickstarter's dangerous. I'd guess declaring bankruptcy is some kind of accounting wizardry to get out from under that, yeah. Job has a point as well about MDF manufacturers, although 4Ground has always done a good job of placing themselves as more of a boutique, high-end manufacturer - definitely miles apart from the glut of "barely textured MDF cubes" out there, but I guess if people want cheap, barely-textured MDF cubes over expensive, well-designed, pre-painted buildings it might be hard to compete.

Having bought quite a few things from the company over the years, I do hope that this is just a juggling of assets to help them stay competitive. The more terrain options we have the better.