This is not a recurring problem, you’re imposing that on a series of events from a false premise (i.e it’s a problem). Budget cuts? That sounds like the kind of stupidity you hear from people moaning about government budget cuts. The government does not have any money: it has other people’s money and that is finite. And likewise, Mantic have a fixed amount of money (indeed they may be borrowing a degree from a bank). What they invest in is wrapped up in risk. Think about how much effort went into making those stupid Dragon Cavalry – a great deal of risk. And they failed. I bet they sold about five of them nationwide… and they lost money on that. Each model they bring out is tied up in a series of risks. The question is, and the issue we are reacting to, is “is this risk sensible?”.

The skeleton metal parts for bowmen only existed due to a demand for them, which Mantic fans specifically asked for. It was – i must assume – cheaper to make the metal parts than engage in a brand new plastic sprue (especially since skeleton bowmen are not widely used, VC do not use bowmen, Mantic undead do not fit with TK). The Moraxe’s metal arms were likewise due to cost efficiency. The plastic warmachines have a primary use and then you can buy a variant with some expensive metal bits (metal is expensive). Now, would you rather they invested in a plastic sprue which had both variants and released that at a greater price, where you did not have the option but to essentially buy two products (where you discard some parts) – or, would you prefer them give you the option of buying either: where one of the more widely used varieties (the bolt thrower or standard cannon) is by far cheaper. Keep in mind the Dwarf plastic cannon can be fitted as a Frame Gun as well. None of these, I see as a “problem”, which is why I claimed your premise was false. Consider GW’s use of plastic kits that turn into two separate configurations: you are buying for the sum of all plastic parts – even though maybe a 1/4 of the plastics you will discard. If these models were sold separate and you had a choice, in theory, the price would go down (as less plastic sprues are included).

There is also the simple fact that metal allows you to create certain shapes and models that plastic cannot achieve due to the nature of the material and the production process. Mantic do not have the resources that other companies have.

The forgefathers and orx are a separate issue somewhat as it’s a different universe. But it does lead to this: when Abysal Dwarfs reused the Dwarf plastic sprues, and combined with metal, this was ok, why? ’cause the models looked great and it worked. They took a risk and they pulled it off.

Now when Mantic do this to the “Evil Elves” will it work? If they take the risk and the result is crap then our anger will surely be at a bad risk they took. They could have taken another risk and made brand new plastic sprues (and if those sprues were bad then this would cause anger also). It’s all about risk. They took a risk with the Abysal Dwarfs and it worked. But that doesn’t mean the same will happen again. It is far cheaper to design and produce hybrid metal Evil Elves then brand new plastic sprues (though more expensive to sell). But if they go ahead, and make hyrbids, and they are terrible (and I’d wager they will be bad) then they will lose money. But if they make a brand new plastic Evil Elf sprue and they are terrible they will fail and lose even more money than a failed metal hybrid collection (metal parts can be remelted). It’s very risky.

You seem to think the above FF sprue is a problem because of a lack of heavy weapons. Surely you can see that this allows them to sell 5 sprues of the above in a ten-man box set. Had they included extra heavy weapons on the sprue that would incur a higher cost in production which would be passed on, fairly, to the buyer. I assume another plastic sprue with the heavy weapons has been made, which you have not seen.

The Orx caused so much anger because it was a stupid risk to take and now I assume Mantic will suffer a lack in sales – something they deserve. But with the FFs, they have given you the option of buying an ok-looking economy product for a cheap price, I assume. AND – due to a lot of moaning from fans – they are not offering metal and/or plastic sci-fi legs: we don’t know that the other sprues will not contain sci-fi legs, note.

I think it was a bad risk to take with the FF. They should have produced brand new models – but we have to understand that FFs cannot be used in any other system other than Warpath, the fact that they are making them their primary army instead of something 100% guaranteed to make huge sales, is another massive risk. Mantic have limited capital. They have to account for every penny and balance that with risk. The money saved on the FFs legs (designing 100% brand new sprue would cost more) may free up some capital to be spent investing on a Human Army tank, for example. The reason the Orx reusing decision goes down so badly is because the end result was not good (but it’s not a problem a bit of modeling can’t fix).

I’m not defending Mantic’s stupid decisions and their inevitable, stupid, decision to make hybrid Evil Elves, (or the stupidity of making their dwarfs and elves not in scale with GW’s models) But the entire process of making a product is very complicated. And we need to appreciate it. Mantic have been honest about it and reacted to feedback. Unlike another company which doesn’t even allow comments to be made on their website.