Actually plastic molds are super expensive, the plastic itself is cheaper, but you can make metal casts in silicone. To mold plastic, not resin, they usually ,afaik, only use steel molds, because they're under pressure and the plastic is molten hot liquid. Pewter you could melt down on a stove burner and reuse for instance. That's why only high volume items like troops are usually made this way. I'm sure they are going to all plastic, eventually but don't expect to see any savings or lowered prices. Finecast is cheaper then plastic and metal to make and they're charging more for it, but you know that

As long as the plastics are multi-piece, they are close to the quality of resin or metal in terms of detail. Single-piece plastics suffer from flat areas and loss of details in certain areas but many of them are still quite good.

Radgast is excellent as are many of Thorin's company.

I love the fact that the Warg Riders boxed set has so many extra bits. I've been using the numerous extra heads and weapon arms for converting some of the more boring Mordor Orc models.

The direction GW is heading favors those (like me) who prefer quality over quantity. For those who wish to build large forces strictly for the purpose of playing the game, these new models and prices are extremely prohibitive.

I can understand those who want to use other companies models as proxies. Wargames Factory, Perry Miniatures, and many other provide much cheaper alternatives if you can live with the fact that they dom't match the imagery from the films.

Even if the quality is better, that by no means justifies the outrageous prices GW is coming out with now.

Well, if you happen to be in the US, check out these guys http://www.thunderboltmountain.com/collections/all/30mm

You can get 20 metal high quality minis for $55. Some will say they are 30 mm and will stick out, well, have you ever measured an osgiliath vet? Or a named wraith? They are all 30+mm tall. The new plastic gandalf is 30mm to the brim of his hat. That does not include the base.

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richmondwarmancers we play Lord of The Rings, Battlefleet Gothic, Infinity, some board games, and really whatever tickles our fancy..

Even if plastic models are more expensive to produce and/or are capable of crisper detail, to me there's a stigma of "cheapness" associated with them. For non-wargaming purposes, I'd rather own metal or resin, as those mediums feel less "toy-ish" and more serious, if that makes sense.

Games Workshop's models are very much for wargaming, even if they are on the upper end of that. All you have to do is have some experience with models made specifically for painting/collecting/modeling to realize that. And IMO, the quality of the sculpts and paint jobs are fairly poor lately across the board, especially compared to a few years ago, even if the detail on plasic models has improved.

I agree GW models are for gaming, despite their assertion otherwise (models first, rules second). I also agree plastic is a better, more convenient material for wargaming models. Easier to transport (less weighty), easier to move around and play with, etc.

I don't agree that the quality is worse now than years ago. Not at all. But, hey, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I guess if you think the quality is poor and the prices are too high, that makes for an easy decision to not buy anything

I don't really care about the prices because I don't buy directly from GW and the vast majority of my armies are complete (i just need the odd hero or monster here and there) but for someone starting out new, i agree that I wouldn't want to eb in their position.

Yeah. I'm in the same boat. Been playing SBG since inception and have more or less the entire model range.

For me it comes down to buying $50-$100 of new release minis a month and I get them 25% off with free shipping over $100 from an online seller. It's pretty manageable but I agree if I was trying to get into the game from the ground up, it would be very expensive.

It's the same reason I didn't get into Magic the Gathering a few years ago. The backlog of past sets (and incredible prices) was just too much to justify.