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So...I had a day off today and apart from buying a pair of shoes, some trousers and a bacon sandwich, I have been painting the first five of the Enforcers. It is a slow process because I have been burning the candle at both ends at home and at work...so I am taking everything steady.
I had a choice...dig out some of the mechs to paint up so that I would have finished Tunnel Fighter units or buy more APCs while I am in the mood to assemble and paint them.
...so I have three more APCs are on the way from Scotia Grendel :).
I have been thinking a lot about my hobby lately.
With GW bringing out the 'Finecast' range, I have been thinking about the cost and quality of miniatures.
I quite happily pay £15-00 for five Grymn. That would make a squad of ten £30-00. They are metal and mostly single pose.
...So how much would a squad of ten troops cost me from other manufacturers...whether metal, plastic or resin?
Ramshackle Sci-fi troops are £16-00 for 12 resin troops.
Heresy Sci-fi troops are £36-00 for 12 metal troops.
Ground Zero Games sci-fi troops are £13-20 for 10 metal troops (they are 25mm scale).
Pig Iron Heavy Infantry are £18-00 for 10 metal troops.
Black Scorpion Sci-fi Aliens are £21-50 for 10 metal Aliens.
Games Workshop Space Marines are £23-00 for 10 plastic tactical marines.
Games Workshop Imperial Guard are £18-00 for 10 plastic miniatures.
Forgeworld Space Marines are £50-60 for 10 COMPLETE resin tactical marines.
Forgeworld Imperial Guard are £35-75 for 10 resin miniatures (Death Korps)
East Riding Miniatures Interpol troops are £12-50 for 10 metal miniatures.
Copplestone Castings future wars troops are £17-00 for 10 metal miniatures.
Em4 Sci-fi troopers are £5-10 for 10 plastic miniatures.
Em4 Sci-fi troopers are £12-80 for 10 metal miniatures.
Antenocitis Workshop GOT troopers are £40-00 for 10 metal/resin miniatures (I'm not sure of the material).
So...we have a squad of ten miniatures ranging form a rather amazing £5-10 to a staggering £50-60!
That got me thinking about the huge debate that constantly goes on about the pricing of certain manufacturer's miniatures...and I would say that I quite regularly join the chorus of 'that is expensive'.
When you look at it, the cost of miniatures is nothing compared to the value we place on them. Some people like to buy cheap, easy to paint miniatures so that they can rank up a huge army cheaply and with minimum painting effort. Others would be happy to spend an armies worth of cash on a select few miniatures that would be painted up to the highest of standards over many months.
Let's not forget the amount of value we place on where the miniatures have come from...are they from a huge company with an extraordinary range of products or are they from a struggling 'boutique' manufacturer who has to sell enough miniatures, just to stay afloat?
With metal prices being very high and the cost of plastic rising, we are all going to notice that the miniatures we love so much are increasing in price. There will come a time when we look at our collections and stop seeing the time and effort that went into them and start seeing the cost and value that we have lavished on them.
The big question is...'When will they become too expensive to buy?'
And there is only one person who can answer that...and that would be you.
...and another thing...
The shelf in my cupboard has started to bow under the weight of Tunnel Fighters...I think it is time they moved to the varnish table soon so that they can be varnished and packed away...
See you over the plains of reflection...
2 comments:
The cost of figures is something I think all of us have been thinking about lately, with the various announced price increases and "finecast".
With higher figure prices, it becomes that much harder to build a platoon or regiment, let alone some sort of full army.
As for myself, I could never buy another figure, and still paint for years and years, so I am less invested in what current prices are, but it does keep me from starting anything new. Maybe that is a good thing.
It is funny...once you start looking around at the cost of miniatures, you suddenly realise how much you are actually spending!
I always thought that the Grymn were relatively cheap but they are above middle ground where pricing is concerned and they are much smaller than standard 28mm miniatures.
I am happy paying the price for them because they are completely unique and the company that makes them is run by friends of mine.
I am also quite lucky in the fact that I have a bit of money to spend on toys as a result of not smoking, drinking very little and being a bit of a hermit on the quiet!
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