Reply To: Open gaming mini license

[blinky465 17028xp 0]

I’m with @maledrakh – my resin printer has completely changed my whole outlook on the hobby. From a personal point of view, miniatures are no longer “precious” – they can be disposable, meaning I can be “fearless” when painting. It’s made me enjoy painting miniatures again (after many, many years of just watching from the sidelines).

I too have no interest in buying physical minis any more (I was never the most voracious buyer, but even I have a good few hundred pieces of lead and plastic knocking around that will probably never see a paintbrush). But I’m more than happy to stick 6-8 on a plate and print them off and paint them over the course of a week.

Being able to “digitally kitbash” is another benefit of swapping physical for digital models. But for me, it’s the immediacy and the repeatability that knocks bits of lead and plastic into a cocked hat.

Like @maledrakh my “pocket money” now goes on .stl files. And it’s money that probably wouldn’t have gone on physical models anyway – £7-£8 for a dozen .stls which can be printed multiple times looks like good value to me. £5-£8 for a single mini? Nah. I’m now regularly spending £30-£50 a month just on minis (before I got my printer, I’d probably spend that in a whole year). My spend on minis has gone through the roof – yet it feels like I’m spending relatively little, but getting *loads* of minis to paint every month (plus the option to print multiple copies for pennies).

I still relate it to the music industry.

Yes, there are people who still boast about buying vinyl and CDs and niche releases; but the fast delivery mechanism (and relatively cheap price) of downloadable/streaming music is how *most* people get their music now. I’m still convinced that – as more people “take the plunge” and invest in a 3d printer, it’ll lead to more people (like me) not only switching to .stl but *increasing* their spend on digital models.

GW can only ignore it for so long. It may take the best part of a decade (personally, I don’t think it’ll be quite that long – given how resin printing was relatively niche when I got mine, it already feels “mainstream” within the hobby) but I still reckon – as a publicly listed corporation – they won’t be allowed to ignore an ever-increasing market forever.