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Initial Look at GW Resin Models
May 24, 2011 by beerogre
The email notification from Games Workshop, bills this as "the biggest hobby development in years"... which frankly displays an almost indescribable level of hubris, when you consider the resin work coming out of places like Studio McVey.
But never mind... here's the pictures of the resin stuff that's due out soon...
Don't forget gang... when these are released, it will be following the price increase, so you'll be paying more for these than you ever did for metal.
So what are your thoughts on these?
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They look nice but, as you say, claiming to be the biggest development is a typical GW delusion or arrogance depending on what sort of mood I’m in …..
Like every upcoming GW release following THAT letter from Mark Wells, they can shove it right up their sphincter. I would rather eat my own flesh than buy these overpriced resin miniatures.
Yep that’s a perfectly understandable response. However I told the GW to shove it years ago, and 8th edition WFB killed any lingering fondness I had for them right off!!! Take it as an opportunity to look at other superior games… Infinity springs to mind 😉
http://thefrontlinegamer.blogspot.com/
I quite like 8th 🙁
Well I don’t! lol. To each their own but for me they’ve dumbed it down too much, you might not want to read my blog where I refer to it as 40k with square dancing units and lots of dice rolling… oooohhhh look at the pretty dice. lol.
http://thefrontlinegamer.blogspot.com/
I agree, I like 8th allot.
There are a number of things about 8th that I don’t particularly like, but I think that they still managed to put out a very good game!
Sure they look nice but to be honest their metal models rose to extortionate prices with all the price hikes. So I for one won’t be buying any of their new “Finecast” range. Resin should be cheaper than metal models to produce anyway so i am not sure how they work that one out. And as for “the biggest hobby development in years”.. well thats just a joke really!
Try sumthing original GW! Big FAIL!!!
Will be interesting to see if the Blood Knights will also cost 80 ****ing euros a box or if they increase the price as usual. Does anyone know if the details are really better than metal or if its totally bla bla from GW?
Haven’t seen them in my hand so I can’t comment. But what I will say is that its not inconceivable that they are more detailed as the substance and way resin moulds are made tends to pick up more detail off of the master and resin itself flows better into fine detail than metal does. I heard people asking how its possible as its coming from the same sculpt BUT it is for the above reasons. Just think of it as the hike in clarity you get watching an old movie on blu-ray, the process there captures more of what was on the original negatives… not saying they are more detailed though… just that its possible.
So now the Blood Knights cost 51.25 pounds (after the last price increase in January) and now they will cost even more?? I was hoping they would cost sth like 20 – 25 pounds the most when in resin. So Dragon Princes here I come (they make great Blood Knights conversions)
The newly realeased resin models will be as detailed as the Forge World models (and the prices they’re charging they should be, its about the same as forge world now!), but any of the current metal models will look exactly the same as far as I can make out.
61.50 pounds they cost now…only 10 pounds more expensive. Phew!!! Great bargain!
Way to go GW!!!
FineFail of the day
http://s1106.photobucket.com/albums/h376/mechanicalhorizon/?start=all
Over priced , look the same as the metal ones for the most part.
I was actually hoping they’d use this change to roll out some new sculpts, especially for some of the older models.
I should have remembered that I was thinking of GW and just not bothered.
My sentiment exactly.
They look great, they always have… even in metal… but i still cant see the needed price rise and justify to myself the need to go out and buy “finecast” when the molds are the same
Oh come on!!! Its GW marketing speak, does anyone really believe its ‘fine cast’ as well? Nope, its clearly resin. lol. They do it all the time, you either live with it or just laugh at them. Its not just Studio McVey putting out fantastic resin pieces that puts GW and Forge World stuff to shame either, the Kingdom of Death stuff is also fantastic… and there are others.
The question should be, is this a wise / sensible move for the GW? I kinda think it is, as long as they can mass produce the stuff without too many miscasts / air bubbles because their customer base are exactly used to having to do any modelling on their figures. Resin is arguably a better substance to produce miniatures in than metal, but it all depends on how they do it I guess. Still it won’t get me back playing the turd that is 8th or 40k. lol.
http://thefrontlinegamer.blogspot.com/
*quote*The email notification from Games Workshop, bills this as “the biggest hobby development in years”… which frankly displays an almost indescribable level of hubris, when you consider the resin work coming out of places like Studio McVey.*end quote*
hahahahahahahahahaha
Kingdom Death, Enigma, Scibor, Microart etc etc etc etc etc etc
Oh dear, oh dear……………. every day, every announcement gets them less respect.
I can’t really see them improving too much on existing models, but future designs could potentially be even better than the current level of design……. but at what cost?
I’m sure they will continue to update models to multi-part plastic kits, which i for one think is great.
As for the price, i don’t think GW can go much higher with their prices but rather move to a different model. The soul of your firstborn child sounds about right.
Have they said anything about how robust the resin is? I want to know if they are more or less likely, than metal and plastic, to break if they are accidentally knocked off the table.
Yep and I’m sure that’s something a lot of people will want to know. Sadly can’t be answered until you get them in your grubby little mitts and see what sort of resin it is. Two things I will say though:
1) glued on pieces and joints should be less likely to break because the substance is lighter and also because resin is slightly porous and super glue just bonds better with it.
2) I think regardless of what ‘type’ of resin they’re using fine pieces like spear swords etc. are just more likely to snap off as opposed to metal because resin is a more brittle substance, but flip side is that the models should be lighter and so impacts might not be as heavy and therefore less likely to cause breaking…
Ok that last bit might be clutching at straws. I think the more interesting thing will be how more likely they are to break in transit with those awful GW figure cases!!! Perhaps this could be a future article for BoW, testing how more breakable resin is in certain situations… could be funny.
http://thefrontlinegamer.blogspot.com/
Eventhough I think It is really overpriced, I must say they look pretty neat.
Looks nice. I’d like the see them next to the metal versions. Higher prices for lower production cost product is really rubbing the salt in right after banning the international sales.
The announcement is typical marketing text, just read something from a car maker, so nothing new here.
The models are what I was expecting, the folks who tought that this will be more intricate than the old metals were wrong, because these are just recast of the old ones. I’m curious about what kind of new molds will GW release in the future.
And for the metal vs. resin part, I’m happy I hated metal, but we will see. I might re-buy my Zoanthropes in resin because the metal ones can only stand on flat surfaces, they are a pain in the ars to stand up on terrain such as a crater.
While that is true i dare you to find a car manufacturer with marketing text “All new model; introducing the unique feature ‘rolling-circles’, using a combination of metal alloy and rubber.”
If they’re so amazingly detailed and have such crisp casting – then why have they used the original metal models for the painted versions?
Seriously, take the Chaos Champion for example, the painted one is the exact same picture that they’ve had for ages as the metal picture on their site.
Can you even spot the difference?
While I too am cynical I think I won’t judge them on some pictures… just yet. They’re in the stores this weekend I believe for previewing and I’ll try and take some shots and post my thoughts on my Blog. Colour me sceptical but not totally.
http://thefrontlinegamer.blogspot.com/
I’ll be taking my unpainted Grimnar along this weekend and plonking him next to the new one for a comparison.The store manager is creaming himself having seen and held the new stuff already and hes not afraid to to say when he doesn’t like things so I will remain optimistic, at least until I see the price list anyway.
Some side by sides with the old metals would be great , beasts dudes….?
I have the eldar model in unpainted metal, I cannot see any discernible difference between the two, the weight would be the only one I could think of.
The hype though, well thats something else. All marketing depts overstate things to generate product interest, but these guys are taking a crack in the pavement and passing it off as the grand canyon.
Heh, I like that, I have plastic-resin figures from years ago.. (a priestess with a set of keys on a halberd?? Can’t remember the make.)
Or How about Warlords Unleash Hell figure from last year?
Scale modelling its been the norm for at least a decade. I guarantee this is not a GW R&D output, but just bought tech.
Glad I got out of GW years ago. 🙂
Well, I don’t expect any company to promote a change like this one by keeping a low profile… So yes, it is typical marketing text : better, lighter, and aaahh well did we say it was more expensive ? 🙂
The mistake was to make this coincide with the new embargo policie for resellers. It puts a darker light on this price increase.
I wasn’t a fan of metal miniatures, so this change was long overdue for me. Lighter miniatures, less likely to crash on the ground, easier to assemble for larger kits… I ‘m sold.
As for the price increase, as long as we have no details on the manufacturing process, it’s hard to say if it’s unfair or not… If metal molds are involved, price increase is somewhat justified. And anyway, those kits are rarely the core of an army (not for me anyway). I’m not against a somewhat expensive HQ (relatively speaking!), and if the overall quality is upped, the better.
Speaking of Quality and detail level, I’ll wait until I get my hands on one of those. I wanted to buy a Coteaz anyway, I’ll be set on this very soon 🙂
They look really smooth and fully of detail. But if i have to pay extra money for a somewhat cheaper material GW can shove it where the sun don’t shine. I love there models but another fecking price increase they are getting too cocky.
They look fine, usual GW standard. But I agree that using a cheaper material, then raising the price is a bit excessive (and all this “finecast” stuff is a bit off, I mean people have used resin for ages, its nothing particularly new!)
I also lol’ed at the picture of the crowded Games Workshop store…. if you look at the shelves its way before the last Space Marine update 😛
Comparative prices have nothing to do with material cost. I’ll bet you carbon fiber is cheaper than aluminum but that doesn’t change prices on after market car upgrade kits.
Just seeing these models makes me angry. I have always hated metal so to finally see this day is exciting! .5 seconds later all I see is their insulting trade polices, fake letters explaining price increases and all the dollar signs glowing in GW’s eyes. It leaves such a bad taste in my mouth for something that was supposed to be a welcomed change.
I agree with you Nobzey to the dots on the i in Increase. I have always thought that resin would be a better material than metal due to weight, conversion simplicity and detail… not to mention price, however GW has managed to take a material that is relatively inexpensive and find a way to charge a ridiculous price for models created from it.
I wish that the money grubbers would just sell their shares and move on to other capitalist pursuits and leave the harmless “I just want to have fun” wargamming community alone for a while. I don’t think that it is unreasonable to ask GW for a bit of an incentive to us so that we want to buy their products, thats part of the economic system the so apparently love so I can’t see how they are blind to this practice.
A small price decrease on bulk items like Stormvermin or Bretonnian Men-at-Arms would be a great gesture by the, but we all know that is about as likely to happen as Santa Claus is to give coal to the CEO’s of GW for being naughty.
Anyway I guess I’ll just get enough models from different ranges to use in my makeshift games of Warhammer Quest / FFG’s brilliant WHFRP 3e.
Some of these sculpts are really old and don’t really deserve to be in a “fine cast range”, would have made more sense to retire some of them and re-release equivalents – Dante and Abaddon stick out most for 40k.
Fantasys getting hit pretty bad overall considering its meant to be mass miniatures orientated the prising is cazy – £9.50 for a fairly bog standard dwarf lord? I’d rather have a box of ten mantic ironclads instead 😛
if only GW weren’t so greedy…
Dante is the only metal I would currently want, as I’m building an army based around Blood Angels, however, when you compare it to the other models in the range now it looks very out of place, given its probably close to 15 years old its not surprising.
Sanguinary Guard are very different to Dante, in fact, I was thinking of using a sanguinary guard sprue as a base for converting my own plastic Dante so he at least looks like hes part of the same army as the rest.
I did not both Mephiston and Sanguinor are absent from the finecast price list we’ve seen, the former is old and needs a new sculpt (its very static), the latter is a disaster I’d like to see redone.
But yes, I agree, lotf of this stuff needs redoing, not rereleasing at higher cost.
I have only one problem with this move as I see it. Most of the big models are chunky and lack detail because the where designed with a rather heavy ore in mind. Look at the Ogryn and commander Pask just for example. With that in mind recasting in “fine cast” is going to do little to nothing for detail as the mold has no detail. I am truly vexed at the idea of them just using the same old casts. They seem to be passing on a great chance to impress us all with all new molds that truly take advantage of resin.
The models look the same. There is an illusion of more details due to matt gray resin vs. blinking metal. Plus some Photoshop action.
And FW resin bits break very easily (guns, spears etc.)
While true about FW resin, its not the only show in town. There are more plasticised resins out there that are less brittle but don’t ‘flow’ quite as nicely into the moulds, thus negating the main benefit of resin. I’ll have to wait and see what they’re like. If they’re rubbish though I won’t hold back.
I have heard in the GW grape vine that what they are planning in doing is take the resin models in to boxs of three, for example tau pathfinders might become in a box of 5 for like £22.50.. Which is a joke but what do you expect from GW.
As much as I don’t like the price increase – the models do look nice, and I have to say that I’m pretty glad that they are not doing metal any more. Being one more for the playing side of the hobby I couldn’t stand sitting there trying to get the super glue to take hold, or pinning massive wings or arms onto a monster or demon prince before I could even start considering painting the thing.
That’s the biggest plus to this release imo, but it doesn’t excuse the price rise for something which is essentially cheaper from all accounts in material cost. I probably won’t be buying any of these finecasts off the starting block, depends what they do in the resin/poly and how it looks.
Are these photos supposed to be awe inspiring or shocking or something? I could’ve done the same thing four years ago with a can of gray primer. They are the exact same models in a new medium that has a different set of modeling challenges.
As I understand they will even come on little resin sprues, a massive waste of material and counterproductive for their cost cutting incentives.
wow.. so its ‘slightly’ more detailed. Really going to notice when I’ll be standing half a meter away while I’m playing. Worth the ridiculous price? pffft!
Looks up from building a Black mamba meh gose back to putting it together and gose to play more heavy gear.
Saying this is the biggest development in the hobby just rubs me up the wrong way. Haven’t many other companies (including their own Forge World) cast in resin for years so far?…
…Utter Bollocks.
They say that they’ve had their ‘new’ formula for resin tested by a toy company and found nothing dangerous about it.
Riiighhhhht… so does that mean that they’re absolutely, positively, 100% certain that the dust from ‘their’ resin doesn’t cause cancer? Because letting it near young kiddiwinks that won’t take the proper precautions or even read any health warnings is really going to f**k them over in the long run if they aren’t.
And what about quality control? They don’t give a crap with their metals and the moulds for those last ages. The moulds for resin don’t last anywhere near as long and they’re potentially going to end up with a hell of a bloody lot of them.
Having all this detail is going to be fine for the first few batches but if they don’t replace the moulds regularly, once they start to break down then the quality is going to plummet.
Somehow i think that having very small and slightly brittle plastic figures near “young kiddiwinks” will pose greater risks than that of them possibly dying of cancer in ten years.
I think resin could be much nicer to work with so in some ways I feel its an improvement.
How could they possibly be more expensive than the metal models? GW metal models are the most expensive matter in the known universe.
On a funny side note. It is said that ink for regular printers is more expensive than cocaine.
They look great but… fairly sure when I have them in my hand (which I won’t because I’m not spending money on an item that was already over-priced in the first place) that they will be more or less the same as the White Metal models though. Perhaps slightly crispier, perhaps not.
Well at least GW might stop peddling the myth that metal miniatures are terrible, hard to work with…etc…etc…
Really it was surprising how much bad mouthing of metal and pushing of plastic GW did considering a large level of their product was metal.
To be fair most of the bad things GW tended to say about metals DID apply to GW metals.
There are companies out there however who make beautiful metal miniatures, which have little if any flash, mould lines that are almost unnoticeable, that fit together perfectly and as such require very little glue.
The most obvious example off the top of my head would be Hasslefree minis which I have always found a joy to work with.
Wether these models are nice or not, just dont buy them! If you, in any way, disagree with the conduct of GW over recent years then save your money and spend it on a game system made by a company that gives a shit about you and not just have much money you have in your pocket.
M’eh…
Big whoop. I would have liked to see new poses or new details. Why should I give a damn about this?
Sorry GW. I don’t need anything you have offered here. And your going to charge more for them than the metal ones? SORRY… I don’t get your basic logic here at all.
“LETS MAKE RESIN MODELS CAUSE DEY IS CHEAPER TO MAKE AND CALL DEM SOME COOL, SLICK NAME LIKE FINECAST SO THEY SOUND SPECIAL, DAT WAY WE CAN HYKE THEM ABOVE METAL PRICE HERP!”
F**k off.
OMG!!!! I JUST REALISED, ITS GAMES WORKSHOP PATENTED “FINECAST RESIN” THAT IS NOT POISONOUS FOR CHILDREN…. ITS PLASTIC. PLASTIC CALLED “FINECAST RESIN”. CAUSE PEOPLE SPEND MORE MONEY FOR FORGEWORLD THAN CITADEL, ALL BECAUSE OF THAT MAGIC WORD.
Wonder what all those companies called finecast or have a finecast range feel about the GW branding.
I was not a fan of multipart metal so applaud a resin/plastic switch…They look nice as per normal…but finecast and a revolution…mmmm
At first glance I do not see any detail that Infinity or WarMaHordes fails to put forward. Again the GW press machine rolls double ones.
Sorry Lads. Gonna need to COMPEL me to spend my money, when for less I can get equal or greater detail on MORE models.
TBH the fine metal figures of the Infinity range still wee from a great height over most resin mini’s in terms of detailing, especially those of Forge World. GW will still sculpt in the same way and their mini’s still won’t be as ‘fine’ as many of their competitors.
Resin Hive Tyrant and Storm Troopers are about the only thing I look forward too with this change.
Why oh why didnt they do this for the Grey Knight realease??? Buying a resin Drago at launch would have been much better than having to buy him again a month or so later.
Ive manufactured resin models for over 22 years , and i can tell you i that model of the knight on th eleaping horse does not have a metal leg , it will break , no way around it. Resin is great for minis , but there are some things that just dont work for a object that is handeled all the time. Resin is more expensive unless you are making short runs , then it can make since. Now if the resin models are made like in china, then it can be made cheaper , then that brings up all kinds of issues. none mini related. with resin , you can get detials you can/t in metal , but then again you lose out on the strength for small detailed items like swords , horse legs, ect. the wieght of resin is great for shipping, thats a bounse. \
but it takes longer for resin to cast and the molds do not last as long .a great mold will give you between 40 to 100 castings per cavity. so if youhave a mold that has 10 figures in it , you can get 10 united every 15 minutes at best and thats pushing it. resin needs time to set , then you have to remove them carfully, then set the molds back up. repete process, then once the resin is set , you have to go over it to make sure you have no bubbles and clean the model of flash and any spurs. this could take a bit of time , so there is where the big raise in price would be.
Now one thing that going to resin allow you to do is a sculpture or model can be made of almost any thing and go striaght into rubber and then be produce into resin castings , you dont have to worry about the sculpt being made out of material that can with stand vulcantion process. so if a sculptor made a CG model and had it grown , that model could then be molded and cast in resin. this is the same for wax , sculpty , wood , plastice ect.
all in all this will all depend on where thay take it . Me Ive been priced out of most of thier models for years, i tend to look for good trades to get older models , hopefully that dont price them selfs out of buisness ,
They look nice, but GW has pushed me too far with prices and even more so their conduct.
I’ll stick with Battletech, Infinity, and my Historicals.
Amen to that!!!
i know everyone is (inlcuding me) outraged with the recent GW activity but if no one bites me for it, i would say that for us converter out there this change has really helped as resin is alot easier to chop and change than metal! just tryin to put a positive point out there 🙂 but stil… “”””RAGE””””
FW resin is quite hard to use in conversions. Mostly because it is brittle. Not as soft as plastic or lead. It breaks easier then it allows you to cut it.
So we’ll see about this resin
So here’s a question that hasn’t been addressed yet..GW has always had good customer service when it comes to replacing mis-cast, broken models, or models bought with missing pieces….with the recent price increase and what appears to be some potential for breakage, will this affect their policy? Especially if they get an increase in calls? Also, under their theory, does this justify me asking for a raise at work if I start wearing cheaper suits with more designs on them?
also what about the metal bits in tanks and vehicles, monster etc (basically all the mixed plastic / metal kits)???? will they still have metal??
I appreciate it costs money and trial-runs to switch to Resin but it’s still confusing. The cost of their metal models were offensive to the point that I refused to buy them at retail – I assume others do the same. Now they are re-bringing them out and an even more costly price ?
The confusing issue is this: most of their metals are “buy once only” models such as Heroes and Characters. Now this might imply that they should raise the cost of Resin to their usual disgusting prices as kids etc and those new to the game will fork out that money for a Karl Franz model etc. I doubt many kids or new players will buy more than one or two but whatever. But, what about everyone else? Where’s the incentive to buy these new resin? Or buy a duplicate? Surely GW should be trying to get players to buy the new Resin and even replace their old metal models with the newer ones, the only way to do this, surely, is a reasonable, cheaper price. Just a few thoughts, I don’t know.
You’d think so poosh but sadly I don’t think the people running GW are capable of sensible rational thought… and GWs customers are to blame. I mean EVERY year they have an above base cost inflation price rise, and every year people just suck it up and buy the stuff. Sure some peeps drop out like me, but others join. If the core of their customers over night said screw this its too expensive I’m off to play Warmachine, Infinity or whatever, they’d either learn fast or die horribly.
I have to say I can see the difference… its not a metal colour.
I don’t know why they would release blood knights if they are going to be MORE expensive than they already were, no one buys them at the old price let alone if they will be more expensive, I just bought an empire knightly orders box to use a blood knights at less that gives me 8 of them, GW really need to get a clue with what they are doing, one of the staff members actually tried to convince me to wait and buy the new blood knight models, what a f***ing idiot
I bought a box :p
But only on eBay, at a much cheaper cost *smug*
They indeed look the same as ever, same GW standard… Only in resin. The sculpts are therefore as non-detailed as ever.
It reminds me of what Fenryll did back in 1991… A french student started doing non-toxic resin casts because he was fed up with the crappy, heavy, badly sculpted plastic and metal minis from GW. Same look same detail level… Only everyone else but GW has progressed by now !
The only difference is that fenryll is incredibly cheaper. Has always been. As are all of the other brands I know that deal in resin. And teh quality is at least equal… Way better in most cases.
Hubris from GW ? Yes, very much so, in my opinion. Perhaps even impertinence.
BoW Romain
I think the work of fenryll is really good. But so is the one of GW. I think the GW standard is actually pretty high. You’re right about the prices, but fenryll doesn’t have stores and fenryll doesn’t have a huge range of rules as GW does.
“The biggest hobby development in years”…
Please GW, don’t make me laugh…
The could model a gun and a foot with hole in it.
First of all I think they look awesome.
Second I think it’s not fair that so much of you guys complain about the product just because it’s from GW. I don’t think that it’s ok what they have done with the new terms of use either, but i think you have to see the product from a objective point of view. I think this really is high quality work and i’m even ready to pay more to get this kind of models. I hope that they’ll release some of the models which don’t have a modell yet such as thunderwolves or some special nid characters.
We’re not complaining just because it’s GW. We’re complaining because they seem to think that simply recasting their old sculpts in resin and then hiking up the price is the greatest thing in the hobby ever. I’ll agree the models look nice, and I’m glad you’re willing to pay the extra. However for most of us these models have finally passed the point where they’re good value, especially since these are still the old sculpts, made with a cheaper material and yet are far more expensive.
You’re just not getting what you paid for, and the price is not controlled via capitalism because GW have a monopoly. GW charge whatever price they want. The metal line were not worth the money, and these resin are not worth it either. Do you really think it’s cool to charge £20+ for one cavalry character? £6.25 was pretty offensive for a Warrior Priest, now that price is gonna go up. When you have that warrior priest in your hand do you go “yeah, I’ve got what I paid for, I can feel it”? Doubt it. I think maybe their pistoleer boxed set was a kind of kit I could look at and go “yeah, £12 well spent” .. but now they’re raising the price on that, so I won’t be buying another box.
Yeah the scupts are still the same, but I think thats ok, because the old sculpts look good. And why should they change something which is already good. You got a point with the price rise, but I think they would have increased the price anyway, even if they didn’t change to resin. They have done that in the past aswell.
The problem kicks in when you combine old (if okay) sculpts, the phrase “The biggest hobby development in years…”, the use of stock images of the original metal miniature rather than miniatures in the new material, and a price increase…. Whether the new material can hold finer detail does not matter if the same molds are being used – finer detail will not magically appear just by using the resin – new sculpts with finer detail will be needed.
Also, nice as resin can be, it is a slower process to make resin miniatures, production is going to fall. At a guess, sales have dropped to a point where a slower means of production is acceptable.
Though I’ve been a hardcore PP fan for the last while (MKII warmachine got me back in the fold), G.W. was the company who’s games got me into the miniatures hobby in the first place. Frankly, what they are doing is breaking my heart (exaggerating to get a point across). They make great games and awesome miniatures, but for me this is the last straw! These Resin models look the exact same as the metal ones, and calling them “finecast” doesn’t make they better sculpts. In Fact, by making them into resin, it’s going to make it harder for new, young players to get into the hobby. How many 12 year olds do you know that will clean up the mold lines, fill gaps from flaws, and wash their models?
Being in Canada, the recent price increases also have me outraged. Not only do we have artificially inflated price compared to the U.S. simply because we’re north of the border, they’re also going up by an average of 20%. Our dollar has been at parody or higher for the last 3 years, and above the 90% marker for the last 11 years! When I hear our G.W. rep have to tow the line and say that it’s because of historical values of the Canadian dollar, I’m repulsed.
So G.W. plans to pass on an already inflated price increase to us up here in the great white north, and start selling us an less forgiving and cheaper to manufacture product while they’re at it? Last I checked, the molding process for resin was interchangeable with pewter, so I can’t even make sense of it from an angle where production costs have significantly increased.
So to conclude my rant, G.W. isn’t getting another cent out of me. I wish it wasn’t this way, but I’ve had enough. You don’t stay in an abusive relationship, even if it’s a business one.
Sorry, i’m British forgive me .. though that does make us Brothers! But can’t you just hop down to America and buy your miniatures? Again.. sorry if this is a stupid question, I can’t appreciate what it’s like to live in Canada etc.
I was also wondering what you meant by “washing” your models? .. sorry if that sounds stupid, I consider myself of average skill when it comes to modeling, but I had no idea what “washing” means other than in a painting-context.
He means literally scrubbing the models in soap and water, or as I recommend for resin a strong cleanser like Comet.
The resin has an oily mold release on it that will effect any paint that’s applied – sometimes years later.
… that seems like a lot of effort? Is it at all possible that GW can/have pre-washed these items prior to packaging? Or is that another stupid comment I’m making?
Not stupid. It’s a good question. I don’t know of any resin models or kits that don’t need to be scrubbed – it’s just the nature of the beast.
It’s not as hard as it seems, just put the models in a dish or container, hit them with soap or Comet and warm water, and scrub them quick with an old toothbrush.
Just received the newsletter in my mailbox : “The biggest hobby development in years…”… :o))
GW inventor of the (overpriced) resin cast models? Why not? They also invented starter boxes containing two plastic armies… a couple of year after Fantasy Warriors did… They invented Warmaster one year after Hobby products released Demonworld…
Unsuscribded right away. ^^
Anyone read or seen an inspector calls lately? Having just sat my english literature paper, the character of Mr Birling is starting to sound ridiculously like GW. whats his famous quote at the beginning of the novel? “lower costs and higher prices”
Looks… expensive
Quality control cries, they could at least try to put a model that is not miscast in the article…
Whats the leap here? GW are using the same masters that they made to make the molds for their metal models to make the molds for these “new” resin models. Are we supposed to believe that extra detail is added to the model because resin is imbued with the power of pixie dust that somehow “makes the details on models crisper”? The simple fact of the matter is that they’ve switched to a much cheeper material that offers no extra advantages and expect the customer to pay a premium for them. Compare these models to whats comming out of Sparten Games & Studio McVey. “Finecast” indeed.
Well, for my 2 cents, i don’t believe there’s going to be a massive increase in detail if at all. But, a friend of mine was saying, which makes sense to me… the resin will generally cost less to buy and the shipping costs for GW is going to plummet as the weight is nowhere near that of metal. you could say, this should mean the cost of figures be the same… perhaps even lower to the consumer?
I think this might be true for some models, but all their plastic kits are getting more expensive aswell.
to be honest, my personal reaction was just simply laughing out loud. “finecast”, “The biggest hobby development in years” ect. I guess it’s worth it for the laugh!
You know this whole gig with the price jack and thinking wargamers are substandard in the intellect department on a global scale…
Will have a very adverse effect on our hobby as a whole this year the proof is more than obvious. Thanks Game Workshop !!!
I really hope the other game makers step up as well …(we are gonna need them)
You guys stop and consider for second how many new people to the hobby we just lost over this whole thing. If I were new and researching this hobby and witnessed all this madness brought on by just one company(GW) I would drop this like a bad habit as well…
Crazy
I just got off the phone with one of the guys I war game with, it all now comes crashing down with this 2 part question-
Is miniature war gaming your hobby ?
Or
Is Games Workshop your hobby ?
I don’t really think you can have it both ways anymore after this last price increase…
If its GW hey thats fine and you make more money than I, Think I will stick to the first part of question as my answer.
PS- Man, that Studio Mcvey is the deal WOW!!!
Europe has all the bad ass mini makers accept for Privateer Press.
We need more game makers here in the states to off set the madness…
omg not another gandalf figure i gotta buy lol ill reserve judgement till i get my hands on it
This is just GW reselling the same stuff, with lower durability and higher price. It’s not only outrageous, it’s insulting to see they consider their fan base to be mindless zombies that’ll buy whatever they put in front of us.
GW’s ignorance and arrogance will be their downfall…warmachine/hordes all the way!
I’m not a fan of GW (see me previous comments) but PP would attract more customers with more plastic or resin minis because many of their metal miniatures are a nightmare to assemble for the average gamer (multipart common troopers with 6 pieces or more are something they should ban or produce in plastic = see Menoths Knights Errants for example…).
They could be fantastic, better than metal, lighter, etc. I don’t care if sanding or cutting the resin will make me sick! Have they said anything at all about how toxic resin can be? Even if it’s a plastic/resin mix it could still pose a health hazard if you don’t use a respirator.
Heya CD they’re claiming its non-carcinogenic but I’d still wear a face mask when working with any resin because fine dust of any type getting into your lungs can’t be good for your health!!!
god i am just so sick of gw, i really am… you know, i really fear for where my beloved hobby is going……….
The models look good as always but price is the big issue yet again. I can understand high prices for special characters (since you will only but one and they are great sculpts) but for units… Bloodknights (5 models) cost $110Can while mantic’s revenant cav unit (10 models) costs ~$40Can and look just as good. Or GW Dragon Prince’s go for $35.75Can. I might pick up Astorath but I won’t be splurging, especially since GW aren’t having any sales of the old metals.
ok 1st of all im glad there getting rid of the metal models i had a 3000 point IG army 95% of it was metal which really was a pain to move around.2nd why do people who no longer play with gw stuff give a sh*t what gw is doing? if you dont like gw theres plenty other games about.3rd a lot of people are complaining that its the same figures would you rather that they make new ones that wont even see daylight for years and put the price up even more when they do get released.4th people keep saying how resin is cheaper than the metal hmmm not the way gw (MIS)casts (if they miscast a mini in resin its gone while if they miscast in metal they can and do smelt it down again for reuse) 5th i think the bigger sets of metal minis ie 5+ minis will eventuly get new plastic kits just dont hold your breath i once to a vow to not shave until they relased the mini i wanted and also died when i triped over my beard going down the stairs 6th yeah i agree with every1 about them being c*nts for putting the prices up i just got back in2 40k last year and i refuse to buy from them direct unless ive no choice but remember all the websites that sell for a discount dont really need to up there prices that much ie if gw put up say a battleforce £10 im sure its not an xtra £10 they charge the websites
Here may be a reason to complain : people have invested a lot of money in GW games and they realise that if they want to make their armies evolve or build a new army to stick with the latest army books, they’ll have to pay a higher cost fort it. Not to mention that older “order of battle” armies will be obsolete one day or another due to army books re-editions…
People invest a lot in “the hobby” but they don’t get rewarded at the end : all their investment is lost. You have to realise that GW, who was once a genius company (see all their “Specialist Games”) as became a very conservative entity, wrapping their supposedly innovative moves into corporate talk and one of the most expensive miniature gaming company around the world! And re-editing with a few changes the same rules’ corpus… I mean only a couple of SME miniature game companies have such high prices and they produce (most of the time) skirmish games!
As far as I’m concerned, price is not a definitive turn off, but the way GW runs is business IS a turn off. For examle : I’ve just bought Bloodbowl 3rd ed at my FLGS. I was about to order some star players and team from GW. I will NOT. I’ll convert some proxies from my mini collection and buy better sculpted minis from alternate mini companies at the same price!
i totaly agree with you that the best games gw have ever done are what they now call specialist games long ago think it was 2nd or 3rd ed bloodbowl i ran 2 seasons with 4-5 other people which was great i love necromunda mordhiem warhammer quest(which they really should make again) and even gorkamorka but like ive said in other posts as you only need 20 minis for your gang,team etc gw wont give it much love they would rather you buy 100-300+ minis for WHFB or 50-300+ mini for 40k.personly ill never play WHFB ever again as my to faverite armies got fecked big time ie undead got spilt into tomb kings and vampire counts and my chaos(khorne) army got spilt into 3 beastmen demons and warriors of chaos.ive just started playing 40k again(havnt played since 3rd ed even though i did buy 4th just b4 i left gw sweet bossem) and 1st thing i noticed was how many more tanks and minis you now need to play a descent sized game.
I really wish people would stop whining about gw. If you don’t like what they do don’t give them your money simple. I don’t like the fact that my hobby just got more expensive but at the end of the day it is a hobby which means it is a luxury and non essential to everyday life. Citidel monitored have always been expensive and most hobbies aren’t cheap. It’s gutting I will now be able to buy less this year but I enjoy the hobby so I will continue. I do like the fact that I won’t have to paint metal models anymore I always disliked them.
I like “THE” hobby : I mean assembling, painting and playing with minis. That is the “hobby”. No need to “game-worship” any company to satisfy my hobby needs. And most of them do respect their customers and make a little more effort to maintain affordable prices if you take into account their size and production capabilities.
How can you explain how GW’s resin mini will be more expensive than those of a very small business like Zenit Miniatures???
Larger than needed overheads on GWs part. They’re a fat company with a fat structure and a ponderous business model that only worked because of the lack of other credible information sources… its why they hate the internet so much, they can’t control it. Its like this metal model thing… its nonsense!!! You didn’t like GWs metal models, other companies metal figures are far different and far superior than their plastics, and I’d bet resin pieces will be. They haven’t made the best models for years now but still people think they’re the best, they’re so far behind other smaller more nimble companies its untrue, they’re desperately trying to play catch up on their product. Citadel miniatures haven’t always been expensive either I remember the days when they were cheaper than Ral Partha and even their stablemate Marauder… wow how times have changed.
Yeah, GW did *not* invent the hobby, or my hobby. They make great models and average game rules.
I love Space Marines and the fluff of 40k, but the latest price increase makes it very hard to justify buying more from them. I see the figures from Mantic, Infinity, Battletech, Napoleonics, and Flames of War, all of them cheaper per army than GW, and think to myself that it’s just time to move on. I really need a commander for my Blood Angels, but I hate to pay the price that a resin Captain Tycho will be for just one figure.
Well, you do have other options for Blood Angel characters, though I’m not sure if this particular model will be any less expensive………. but it is very nice LOL 😉
http://sciborminiatures.com/en_,shop.php?art=1054
If GW is moving into resin, why does forge world exist now? I mean, I know its more for specialist gamers, but the fact that they now have moved to resin should mean that the price they pay to manufacture resin minis should go down. I assume this because the bulk amount of resin that would have to be bought to sustain production, witch would mean lower production costs correct?
not a chance off prices going down the way i c it gw/fw will still be dear as its not the costs of the model that keeps theprice up its the concept/develment that keeps it up you do know how hard it is for them to think of another leman russ turent
@ yslaire
How can you explain how GW’s resin mini will be more expensive than those of a very small business like Zenit Miniatures???
Because GW thinks that casting old sculpts in resin, calling them “finecasts” and increasing the price to extorionate levels is part of their intellectual property.
Because thats not how it works. Its not just about cost of production. Its about demand. More people want to buy GW figures. So the price is higher. Its the same reason a 2 bed house in London costs more than a 2 bed house in Salford. More people want one.
The other economic factor people miss is they think the cost of a producing a figure is the cost of the raw materials. The cost of the second figure GW produce might be £1 but the first one might cost them tens of thousands of pounds. In R&D, sculpting, design etc. You can say many things about GW but they dont scrimp on that stuff.
*extortionate
Step 1) Admit GW makes great product
Step 2) Refuse to pay astronomical prices
Step 3) Fill out most of your army with ebay/mantic/conversion pieces
Step 4) Admit you really need that one model, and no substitute will do
Step 5) Secretly buy model, hang head in shame
Step 6) Console yourself because at least you painted it with Vallejo paints
Step 7) Repeat as desired
-AND / OR-
Just play Mantic/Warmachine and act like you don’t miss your GW army.
Ironically, it sadly seems that buy virtue of pouring so much damned money and time into your army, you love it that much more, but hate the company that much more fiercely.
Theres some truth in that kennyog… I’ve never been just a GW gamer so it hasn’t hit me as hard and for the past 2 years I’ve not brought a single GW product. But for those who are still ‘invested’ in the GW hobby there have been a lot of bitter pills to swallow. I have my own steps:
Step 1) Admit you’re in an abusive relationship
Step 2) Realise that the things you thought made it worth sticking at actually aren’t that good
Step 3) Break free of the abusive relationship
Step 4) Get over it, they’re are other products out there GW isn’t ‘the hobby’ no matter how hard they try to tell you they are.
@sirangry but some of us like it like that if gw was a race in 40k i think they would be dark elder
That’s probably right, they would be Dark Eldar!!!
Step 1- I think some of us need to get out more (The problem could go a little deeper than GW) I don’t know maybe start with getting laid.
Step 2- After you do get laid, understand that both the Babe and GW are bitches who like to threaten to take you to court. If you breathe a word of how lousy a lay either one of them were.
Step 3- Understand that when the Babe finds out how much you actually spend on GW plastic. The only sex you will ever get from that day forward will only come From GW.
thankfully for me, GW don’t and likely wont make any Umbra or Enslavers (you know the actually cool races in their backround) so theres no chance they’d see money from me. Khurasan and RAFM however do make eldritch squiggly floating lovecraftian things – at good prices too.
lol loved step 6
Could not believe this when I first heard it not sure how I feel about it really as I prefare the plastics you can make pretty much any figure you need from judicous use of bits sites etc.
As far as Hubris goes they can claim they are the best because most of their customer base are totally ignorant of other manufacturers they really think GW is all there is. The extra detail is going to be wasted on a lot of the younger gamers who seem to paint with a six inch brush any way, so in short I am confused about this move other than a poor excuse for the usual price hike.
Not just a price hike, with the cost of metal going up the switch to resin will increase profit margins.
For those who really struggle to let go of GW check out ebay. Its not actually cheap but you might get lucky and find a bargain and at least you’re not giving GW any more money.
I stopped buying new GW stuff from online retailers ages ago, and cant remember the last time I bought anything directly from them.
And as a side note I sell a product made from resin (approx 1.5 – 2kg) and acrylic which is damned expensive, for £80. On GW pricing scale that would cost about £300-500.
Ah GW i sense your end will come sooner than we think, also I actually now think that if GW werent around we would see some amazing companies rise from the ashes. All the old GW sculptors/artists would be released and millions of hobbyists money would be released into the market for other companies to use.
GW is more of a cancer these days, the sooner GW is gone I think, the better for the hobby.
Im not sure GW going would be good..however a big drop in market share would be fine together with a healthy support for the Specialist game ranges, sensible stores who dont almost mug you as soon as you enter, a healthy attitude to the real hobby and a price cut. For me I would also prefer a rule rewrite for the “gw game engine” as i dont enjoy the system anymore…go away for 1 hour while i roll 5667787876 dice and then reroll them twice before we can the go hand to hand and reroll the dice all over again. Of course the buckets of dice is the reason a lot of people enjoy GW…each to their own i guess
Any1 else noticed that the pictures they give us of painted finecast models are the coverart pictures of the boxes??? Just wondering… 😕
Well I have to comment on this, I went into my local GW today and got asked the question that all GW staff have been posting on thier Facebook pages as to “what is going to be your first Finecast miniature?” after a bit of chatting with the store manager about it and my generally well i’m going to need some real convincing on this product as from the pictures I have seen they only look as good as the old metal mini’s.
Anyway I brought myself a new Bit of reading material and the GW employee asked me if I was going to be in the store on saturday when the finecast is released. To this I replied i will come in and have a look and was told that if i was not convinced could I keep any negative comments to myself and not voice them within the Store and with that you can just see that GW is not worried about thier customers one bit i have been collecting and playing GW product for the last 16 years and today has kind of made me think Screw you GW. I’m sure Privateer Press would be glad of my money and my support.
You know i’m tempted to go into GW on Saturday.
Then when they ask me what my first Finecast product is going to be I can say “I’ve already bought one. Want to see?” and whip out a Khador starter set.
lol u trying to give the gw staff heart-attacks
What I will do is what I suspect many people will do. Pick and choose. I just bought the WFB Vampire Counts book. I have some old GW skeletons, like 1985 vintage some of them, but I’ve bought a load of Mantics as they are 40% of the price of GW skeletons and they are similar standard. Or similar enough for Rank and File. But I might buy a GW character figure or two as I’m not convinced by the Mantic character figures as much. If somebody wants to tell me where some good undead chatacter figures can be got I’ll buy them.
I do think people need to calm the rhetoric a bit. Nobody is making anybody buy GW figures. Its not a moral issue, they have decided on a high price and will see who pays it. Some will, some wont. GW are the big bad company and there to be shot at but they do make a lot of pretty nice figures. They just charge more than some people are prepared to pay.
Haha I was talking to this 13 year old in my local independent and he said that when he wants to grow up he wants to get into GW and become head/CEO where he has lots of say. then he said once he’d done that he would work out a reasonable price, that doesn’t make little to no profit, but not loads. Then he would drop the prices on GW products. Get more customers and more profit and be liked. Then he would go to Mark Wells home (or grave) an told him that we were right all along.
What a kid.
could someone tell me if this finecast is safe?
GW says yes………… but who really knows. Seems to be a weird plastic resin magic mix
Went in to the local GW today. The place was deserted and the employees were marking up the prices : ( definitely not like the pics they posted of ppl lining the streets. I checked out the new resin (they had opened an azhag box), It looks good but there is a lot of flash and all the old gaps that the metals had are still there (like the gap in the chest of azhag’s wrvynn spelling?) so you will need greenstuff or equivalent still. The prices really turned me off. With the prices on some boxes I could buy a whole battleforce or a box of ten mini’s. GW really missed a good marketing chance here to generate hype or generate sales IMHO. Like ‘buy 1 finecast get a box of plastic 50% off’ or something along those lines.
forgot to add: Incubi are now $49.50Cdn (originally ~$35) so all I can say is I’m glad I picked up the metals when they were released instead of the resin. My local independent store is still selling the metals at pre-markup prices (and they only charge 3% sales tax instead of the normal 13% on GW items) so I’ll just give them more of my business. Which is a shame since the GW guys here are pretty helpful with games/painting and the store has a lot of tables. You’d think since Mark Wells said GW’s retail stores were hurting they’d try to make the stores more competitive instead of blaming the independents and raising instore prices.
OK I just finished going to my local GW store to take a look at the new finecast models. I will try my hardest to give an honest opinion on them.
1. They look just like the older metal version. In some the rivets do seem to stand out a bit more as well as some edges are a bit sharper in my opinion.
2. FLASH!!! I never seen minis with so much flash on them. Also due to it being cast in resin the minis have more casting channels. Some are just along the seem edge, but others have them all over so air pockets are minimal.
3. I was ready for them to be light but not as light as they really are. I got my hands on the Nurgle Deamon Prince, and its a rather heavy mini, yet this fincast version was super light. Lighter even than plastic.
4. Durability. I had my fears that they would brake easy as many of you have said. The thin parts do seem to snap as I tried on a off cut channel shaft. It was really easy to be honest. But one of the staff showed me they are better handling impacts than metal and plastic. As he nudged a fincast as well as a plastic mini off the table. I was ready to pick up the pieces but only the fincast was intact. He said due to it being so light the impact is less and therefore more durable when dropped.
5. Price. Not a single model had a price tag on them. Just out of the shipping box.
As said by muadsa, it was dead, not many people in the store, just some kids and this is a weekend. Most weekends should be packed me thinks.
Heres what I think of it. Since I saw the models in resin today, I think they look beautiful (besides some of the flash that appears on some). Now, I know everyone here is complaining about the price hike and how their going to stop buying stuff from games workshop. But you know what, I will tell you the honest truth to me it is not a big deal. They have been doing this for three years now year after year (so the price hike is not because of the resin, the resin was just put out at the same time). Now I will agree nobody including me wants to see prices go up. It happens. People will continue playing just like me because they love the hobby. The real problem is they are affecting the community in a big way. Most of us want a quit and yet don’t at the same time. It is now going to be even more difficult to get more people into the hobby then ever. This is all making me afraid and worried about GW for the future as people who follow them slowly start to crumble as the prices go up and less models are bought from GW. Imagine 5 years from now, you might see 2 or 3 people max in a store and battle forces costing $200Cnd each. All I got a say is they need to start figuring out a way to keep the prices right for the quality and stabilized so they can deal with the future. Remember GW, were not made of money and were not all rich.
Games Workshop have produced some outstanding games and models over the years. Their plastics are the best in the industry. I happen to love warhammer, and I do like 8th. However, I’m starting to feel like GW are taking our genuine love for their games and background, and shoving it right up our collective hoops.
Right I’ve done my first two Finecast vs Metal comparison Blogs:
http://thefrontlinegamer.blogspot.com/
I think its fair to say I’m underwhelmed and right now I’m an angry Panda!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88U-R5mqcJ8
Finally I am not the only wargamer who is pisst off and asking WTF is up with pushing BoW around ???
GW is “Once upon a time” It is only wise to start looking at a future hobby without GW…
Thank you Games Workshop. I was hooked on the minis you produce for years. Everytime I saw a new mini I would ‘collect’ it very much like an addict. I will make it clear that i am a mini’s collector rather than a wargamer these days and thus base my buying on the item looking good and being value for my hard earned money. This latest move to ‘resin’ with a truely eyewatering price increse for good measure has finally cured me.
I do feel sorry for the poor employees in your shops. It did come as a great surprise that the manager and staff of my local GW outlet were blissfully unaware of the ill feeling this latest kiddys piggy bank raid by the wealthy ‘owners’ of GW has created. I do think they know now. Never seen such a major store so deserted.
I have declared my GW collection complete and finished now. Time to move on and stop funding the GW pension fund.