42 replies to this topic

[JoeGKushner]

As some of the new individual figures look like they're cracking the $10 price point for a single figure that appears to be normal sized, the anti-paladin by Bobby Jackson, I'm wondering if we'll see figures moving over to resin. I notice that even on the larger figures, outside of the frost giant, resin still doesn't seem to be on the rise. Even the recent Brood Dragon seems to have gone to P 65 route instead of resin.

[Goblyn]

only if it reduce the price or is gonna be the same figure in resin at 10


i remember when i buy the monsters ral partha box

all the figures were in cheap plastic full of air bubbles and it cost the same price the lead figures

[Dr.Bedlam]

I don't see Reaper doing this any time soon. They're geared for metal miniatures, and it's my understanding that the resin pieces have to be made by an outside firm... including the pieces that go with metal bits, like the frost giant king. Until or unless they add on a "resin wing" to the factory, that's going to be limited. That, and I can't see the Reaper peeps letting go of quality control like that.

[Goblyn]

of course not

what i mean was ral partha replaced lead with plastic but at the same price

[Reaperbryan]

At this time, Resin is not our favorite option. It is something we are working with in limited amounts at the moment, and are looking at options to increase the viability of resin throughout 2012.

We are well aware of the spike in Tin prices, and are always looking at ways to be more consumer friendly.

[Heisler]

Yes, Ral Partha did indeed do that for a very, very short time and then went back to all metal production.

[Baphomet69]

In my limited experience working with resin, it's far more finicky, isn't as cheap as you would think, and you can't just melt down bad casts and have another go...

[Reaperbryan]

In my limited experience working with resin, it's far more finicky, isn't as cheap as you would think, and you can't just melt down bad casts and have another go...

Baph nails it in one! Our experience thus far has shown that the chart's kind of a wobbly X.

Volume of the figure on the left side, Cost of materials on the bottom. Two lines, one Resin, One Tin. As Volume increases, both go up, through tin goes up at a flat rate, and resin both starts higher, and builds slower. There's a break point at which suddenly resin is equal in cost (to us) and as volume increases from that point, resin remains cheaper. For very small figures, resin is more expensive, even in volume runs of several thousand. For very large figures, resin is far cheaper.

Still, the downsides of working with resin remain major factors in our decision to not pursue a change to 100% resin at this time.

[Baphomet69]

Of course there's always plastic injection molding...

Some companies have gotten great detail in there plastics, though from what I understand, the steel molds cost an arm and a leg (but last forever). There are more and more companies going this route successfully, Mantic and Plastic Soldier Company for example.

Just imagine a fantastic Reaper mini on a sprue with multiple head/stance/weapons options... The mind reels, the mouth waters...

Just another option to consider in the future...

[Dr.Bedlam]

Of course there's always plastic injection molding...

Some companies have gotten great detail in there plastics, though from what I understand, the steel molds cost an arm and a leg (but last forever). There are more and more companies going this route successfully, Mantic and Plastic Soldier Company for example.

Just imagine a fantastic Reaper mini on a sprue with multiple head/stance/weapons options... The mind reels, the mouth waters...

Just another option to consider in the future...

It's an interesting idea, but I'm not sure about the feasibility. There are some figures Reaper has made for a very long time, and they remain in production. I therefore assume they are popular and continue to be great sellers. THESE might be candidates for injection molded plastic, assuming Reaper was willing to put the investment in... but there's have to be a hell of a lot of profit in that to make it worthwhile, I would think. As in "Reaper begins selling buckets of fantasy figures at Wal-Mart" profitable.

[Baphomet69]

I'm not at all sure of its feasibility for Reaper either, but I do not believe in the 'bucket 'o minis' at Wally-World argument (though that has its possibilities as well, especially with them now carrying the dinos - another gateway into the hobby?). The other mini companies that went the plastic route haven't had to do that. However, to be fair, the othr companies mentioned all focus on 'armies' of models (whether it's skellie's, dwarves or 15mm tanks). So it very likely may be a non-starter for Reaper, but it's a hell of a neat idea to me.

One sprue per figure, with several options. Make boxed sets with one each of several figures for adventuring parties, dungeon monsters, etc. they could even include simplified dungeon crawl rules based on R.A.G.E. (maybe just 3-4 pages). These I think would be a great idea for the more 'mainstream' stores, a la WallyWorld, again as a new gateway for young new players. I'm thinking something similar to the old Heritage sets like their Famous Monsters and Dungeon Dwellers sets. Maybe even include the basic paints in plastic strips like they did, and like come in the Learn To Paint kits. Just brainstorming here, of course...

[Adrift]

I'd like to stick with metal. I've painted resin, plastic and metal. Metal remains my favorite for reasons of detail, ease of work, ease of correction, etc.

Many of the bases I use to rebase a miniature are resin and they just don't paint as cleanly or crisply as I find with the metal.

Is it possible that price inflation of certain models has more to do with the person who sculpted it? Bobby Jackson is producing some of his own minis on his own line/name. Is it possible he just wants more money for minis 'not' under his own private line?

[Lars Porsenna]

I don't even think Wal-mart sells plastic kits anymore. At least my local examples don't...

If you want to pursue plastic injection molding for figures, IMHO it has to be figures gamers are going to buy multiples and multiples of. So it might work to do a sprue of dwarfs for Warlord, with several options. But a sprue of a fighter with multiple options? Zvezda tried this with their War of Ring figures, and having bought one, didn't work out so well. GW is starting to sell individual plastic figures in blisterpacks, at around $12 per. If you assume the normal "GW" tax, this is still going to be pricey per figure.

Damon.

[Reaperbryan]

Is it possible that price inflation of certain models has more to do with the person who sculpted it? Bobby Jackson is producing some of his own minis on his own line/name. Is it possible he just wants more money for minis 'not' under his own private line?

I'd like to state definitively that we do not add a factor into the cost for "oh, this is a Jackson" or any of our artists. We price figures by a factor of weight, complexity (ie. number of molds required) and casting time (ie number of pieces per mold divided by number of molds), as well as few other variables. Whodunnit is not a part of the equation, and while some sculptors do command a higher rate per figure than others, the difference, when factored across the several thousand initial release figures, is less than a penny per figure, so it has no substantial effect upon the MSRP.

[MiniCannuck]

Wow. Figures based on the cost of production rather than the collectibility/use in a game?!?!

Growing up with a certain British wargame company.... I don't understand your logic